Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement that she was calling for temporary 10-day layoffs for a portion of Michigan state employees has elicited praise and criticism – from the same legislator.
Whitmer made the announcement Wednesday. She noted state employees would be temporarily laid off for 10 workdays during which they’d qualify for both state and federal unemployment insurance while still receiving health insurance and other benefits.
Her announcement that laid-off state employees wouldn’t need to file for unemployment insurance but would be automatically enrolled rankled state Rep. Shane Hernandez, R-Port Huron, who is also chair of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee.
In a press statement, Hernandez called the layoffs “unfortunate but necessary” because of budget pressures from the COVID-19 shutdown. But, he’s also concerned state employees are receiving special accommodations not granted other unemployment filers.
In her news conference on Wednesday, the governor asserted state workers weren’t “jumping the queue” for unemployment benefits, but also noted laid off government workers would be automatically enrolled.
Many workers in the private sector have been unsuccessfully attempting to file for unemployment benefits since the end of March.
“While I am sympathetic toward these state employees who are being laid off, there is absolutely no excuse for making special accommodations when the unemployment filing system is still not processing claims in a timely manner for the hundreds of thousands of private sector employees across the state,” Hernandez said in a statement.
“It would be one thing to automatically enroll a state employee if the system was working for others, but at this point, the focus needs to be on making the system work for everyone,” Hernandez said.
“I know there are many state employees working hard night and day as part of the response to COVID-19 – I am grateful for and inspired by their efforts,” Hernandez continued.
“It’s also clear not all state employees are part of the COVID-19 response, and their workloads may be affected with much of Michigan’s economy in shutdown mode. More than 1 million Michiganders already have been forced out of work because of this crisis – state government is not immune. It’s unfortunate but necessary.”
