Michigan’s state Senate has approved a measure that would require notice when the governor leaves the state as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s trip to Florida continues to attract scrutiny.
Weeks after Whitmer took a private plane to visit her ailing father in Florida, which some argue violated federal tax law due to the trip receiving funding from nonprofit organization Michigan Transition 2019, the upper chamber in the Michigan state Legislature voted in a 20-16 party-line vote to approve Senate Bill 458, which states “an individual that assumes the powers and duties of the office of the governor … shall make a good-faith effort to deliver notice to” the Senate’s majority and minority leaders, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the minority leader of the House.
“It is important for us to know who is acting in the role of governor. That’s simply what this bill seeks to do,” state Sen. Tom Barrett, the bill’s primary sponsor, said during the period of debate preceding the vote.
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Democrats uniformly opposed the measure, with state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. saying, “The days here get sillier and sillier. … It seems relatively silly.”
“If you are wondering where the governor lives, it’s in a space rent-free between the sponsor’s head,” he said, calling the legislation “the equivalent of an internet troll.”
Barrett retaliated that the Democrats “can’t argue the merits against it … [because] this bill has a real purpose.”
“When the governor of the state of Michigan leaves the state, he or she transfers their authority to the person next in the line of succession. … No one here has argued that that isn’t the case,” he continued. “What this bill does is simply says whomever takes over that responsibility of the duties of governor of the state in the temporary absence of the governor would simply have to notify the bipartisan legislative leadership that they are acting in the place of the governor temporarily. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
Barrett appeared to take a veiled shot at Whitmer, saying, “You can’t say that traveling out of state and notifying the Legislature that somebody else is acting temporarily as governor is a security risk, but real-time posting your photo at the Landshark in East Lansing is not,” referencing a bar where Whitmer was photographed seemingly violating her state’s COVID-19 protocols at the time.
On May 23, Whitmer was spotted at the Landshark Bar & Grill in East Lansing when a photograph emerged showing the governor and several others, who were not wearing masks, with their tables pushed close together. The arrangement violated the state’s Department of Health and Human Services May 15 order mandating that all parties be separated by 6 feet.
Whitmer apologized for the incident, and the state rescinded the rule. The health officer for Ingham County told the Washington Examiner that the bar wouldn’t be cited or fined.
As Whitmer’s use of a private plane was partially funded by Michigan Transition 2019, which spent $27,521 on travel through May 14, including payment for the flights, according to a memo from JoAnne Huls, her chief of staff, some state Republicans say there may need to be an inquiry into the financial arrangements behind her trip to her father.
“We will be issuing a letter to Gov. Whitmer with specific questions related to her junket to Florida. Based off the response we receive, the Oversight Committee will consider doing hearings on this scandal,” state Rep. Steve Johnson, the chairman of the Michigan House Oversight Committee, said in an email to the Washington Examiner. “The people of Michigan deserve answers on what the governor is trying to hide and why.”
After Huls acknowledged the administration used “a chartered flight for this trip,” a Federal Aviation Administration representative said Detroit-based Air Eagle, the company the plane of which brought Whitmer to Florida and back, doesn’t hold a certificate authorizing charter-type services.
It’s premature “to conclude that a violation of federal aviation regulations occurred,” a statement from the FAA reportedly said. “The FAA is looking into the matter.”
Reports indicated that multiple aides to the governor, including Elizabeth Hertel, the director of Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, and Tricia Foster, the governor’s chief operating officer, traveled out of state in April despite April 5 guidelines issued by Hertel warning would-be travelers that “travel increases your chance of spreading and getting COVID-19.”
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The mounting scandals have damaged the governor’s public image, and she now faces six recall efforts. After Whitmer sued to prevent the petitions from proceeding, Judges Kathleen Jansen and Michael Gadola of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the Board of State Canvassers “correctly” approved the six recall petitions in accordance with state law.
Counsel for Whitmer has said the governor plans to appeal the ruling.
