November 19, 2020
The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
United States House of Representatives
H-222, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Republican Leader
United States House of Representatives
H-204, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
S-230, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
S-221, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Mr. President, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy:
As we write to you, the State of Michigan has recorded over 8,100 COVID-19 related deaths, and like several states seeing a surge in the virus, new restrictions to limit gatherings are in place for the coming weeks in an effort to curb infection rates. These targeted and temporary steps are informed by public health experts to avoid overwhelmed hospitals and death counts like we saw in the spring and to protect our medical workers, first responders, and other essential workers who put their lives on the line every day. Not since the spring when the COVID-19 pandemic first arrived in Michigan has the situation been so dire for our residents, and the livelihoods they depend upon. That is why we align today to implore you to take swift action to take up and pass a COVID relief bill that meets the scale of this crisis.
The coronavirus is not only a public health emergency, it is an historic economic crisis that could take years to overcome without significant intervention. Michigan businesses continue to grapple with the worsening pandemic, with small businesses especially impacted. Some have been able to get back on their feet as our cases remained steady through the summer and many are just edging by, but many may never return without additional relief. Nearly 3 million Michigan workers have applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits since the start of the pandemic, with more than 600,000 still receiving assistance. Rising infections are likely to lead to more layoffs, which will only drive this number higher. It is imperative that Congress take action now to extend the UI provisions of the CARES Act, such as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, to continue providing relief to those who lost their job through no fault of their own and to bolster the larger economy.
Any future relief package must also include robust aid to states and localities to help combat the virus, mitigate its economic fallout, and protect essential services. Federal support was critical to enabling Michigan to mount an aggressive pandemic response and stabilize our economy in the early months of the pandemic. Now, during the worst surge we have seen yet, Michigan and states across the country need more support to protect our families, frontline workers and businesses, like restaurants, entertainment venues, hotels, and countless more. Absent substantial, new, and flexible federal aid, Michigan will continue to experience revenue shortfalls in the year ahead that will require difficult budgetary choices, which in turn will have painful impacts at the worst possible time on our communities, workers, and families across the state.
We have taken extraordinary steps to protect the health of our residents and our economy, but we can't do this alone. More federal support is needed now if we're going to get through the difficult months ahead. To that end, we again urge you to work across the aisle to pass a bipartisan recovery package to help our residents, workers, and businesses in need.
Sincerely,
Democratic Leader Jim Ananich
Michigan State Senate
Governor Gretchen Whitmer
State of Michigan
Democratic Leader Christine Greig
Michigan House of Representatives
cc:
State of Michigan Congressional Delegation