LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she likely will extend her stay-at-home order beyond April 30 even if she relaxes restrictions to reopen parts of the economy.
Whitmer said Wednesday that she hopes to talk more later this week about loosening the rules.
"For the near future we know it is not going to be safe, especially for vulnerable populations, to be out in the open," Whitmer said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
Her administration notified state employees of temporary layoffs necessitated by a drop in tax revenues due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The state will furlough 2,900, or about 6%, of its roughly 48,000 workers for two weeks to save about $5 million. The layoffs will last for more than 10 days.
"I've mentioned that I've made a lot of hard choices in the past six weeks, this was one of the hardest. But, this is the right thing to do to ensure that we can continue providing critical services to the people of Michigan," Whitmer said Wednesday.
Those furloughs include over 900 employees from the Michigan Department of State. The majority of MDOS employees being laid off are those who work in SOS branch offices, which are currently closed. All state employees will be automatically enrolled in the state's unemployment system, according to the department.
"We wanted to take that as one stressor off of their plates," Whitmer said.
Gov. Whitmer said this does not mean they will be jumping in front of others who have been waiting to get through.
The department will furlough workers beginning Sunday, April 26.
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