• Photo Credit: mlive.com

LANSING - The Michigan House of Representatives and the Senate met on Tuesday, April 7 to vote on Governor Gretchen Whitmer's “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order. Governor Whitmer and the Democrats were asking for a 70 day extension, but only got a 23 day extension.

Michigan House of Representative Democrats Julie Brixie and Robert Wittenberg did not attend today's hearing. Julie Brixie mentioned that she thinks it's, “Troubling that the Republican leaders continue to insist that the Legislature convene to extend a rescinded executive order." When asked about Brixie's decision, Representative Robert Wittenberg told HOMTV that, "I am not attending either because I just had a baby. I am urging my colleagues to take extreme measures, because we have two colleagues hospitalized and one deceased due to COVID-19." Only 78 representatives out of 132 attended today’s session. At least 55 are needed for a quorum.

An extremely brief session finally got underway after a three hour check in process. Many representatives showed up to the session wearing masks and gloves. Everybody entering the Capitol building was screened with a series of questions and had their temperature taken. This accounted for the three hour delay.

In the meantime, Whitmer still has emergency powers under Emergency Powers of the Governor Act that are not subject to the 28 day limit, although those powers are not as broad as those under the Emergency Management Act.

HOMTV reached out to Republican representatives but got no responses.