Rep. Shane Hernandez of Port Huron – chair of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee – said today’s announcement of upcoming temporary state employee layoffs is “unfortunate but necessary” because of budget pressures from the COVID-19 shutdown.

Hernandez also said he is disappointed to hear that special accommodations might be made for state workers needing to file for unemployment, when many workers laid off outside of state government have been struggling for weeks to file for benefits.

“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. “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 budget pressures necessitate state employee layoffs.

“The reality is COVID-19 and the governor’s overly restrictive ‘stay home’ orders are significantly reducing the revenues taxpayers provide for the operation of state government,” Hernandez said. “State government will have to make tough decisions – just like families and businesses across Michigan have made tough decisions during this challenging time.  The best way for our state to handle the problem of massive unemployment is to allow businesses which can practice social distancing to open up as soon as possible.

“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 said. “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.”

Hernandez is aggressively enforcing the Legislature’s oversight role of state government operations during the shutdown. Last week, he sent letters to state department directors to evaluate how they are managing staffing levels during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Hernandez asked state departments the following questions:

1)    What new methods are you using to help your employees fulfill their duties while working from home, and have you had to address any issues of employees not fulfilling their duties?

2)    How are you monitoring employee work hours and have you seen an increase or decrease in hours worked?

3)    What metrics are being used to measure performance and have you seen increases or decreases in productivity?

4)    Have you seen a reduction or increase in service demand and has there been consideration of reducing workforce due to potential revenue declines?

5)    Has there been any consideration of repurposing some of your employees to other duties within your department to manage the new workflow created from the stay at home order?

Responses are due to Hernandez by April 27.

Submitted by Tim Martin

The Michigan Department of State (MDOS) will temporarily lay off more than 900 members of its staff starting Sunday, April 26. The layoffs will last two weeks, and could be extended.

“This is an extremely challenging time for our state, our state government, and our department,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “This decision was not easy, but is necessary to responsibly steward taxpayer funds at this time.”

The Department is laying off all staff who are not able work full-time under the Stay Home, Stay Safe order. The majority of them are staff who typically work in Secretary of State branch offices, which are currently closed. All laid off MDOS employees, like all state employees who will be laid off at this time, will be automatically enrolled in the state’s unemployment system.

The layoffs will not impact MDOS services available to the public. Many driver and vehicle transactions can be carried out online and at self-service stations located in grocery stores across the state. A list of online services and stations is at Michigan.gov/SOS. Additionally, the Bureau of Elections remains open, as elections are considered a critical infrastructure sector in the Stay Home, Stay Safe order per the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Submitted by Jocelyn Benson’s Office, MI Secretary of State

The Community Foundation of St. Clair County began developing an Equity & Inclusion Committee in late 2019, and the new initiative is ready to launch. The committee is being led by Jazmyn Thomas and 14 other community members. Thomas is an Associate Planner at the Community Action Agency in Macomb.

The purpose of the Equity & Inclusion Committee is to support bold philanthropy that allows underserved groups to tell their own story, be supported, and become philanthropists in their own circles of influence. The first objective identified by the group is to focus on locally owned minority and women-led small businesses. They partnered with the Foundation’s  Thumbcoast Regional Response Fund to hire two consultants, Kanchan Wankhede of Great Workplace LLC and Shannon Schwabe from the Michigan Small Business Development Center (MI-SBDC).

Wankhede and Schwabe will help business leaders navigate current funding options and build relationships with the St. Clair County Economic Development Alliance (EDA) and the Blue Water Area Chamber of Commerce. Their consulting services are free to business owners in the targeted groups identified by the Equity & Inclusion Committee.

The committee is focusing its outreach efforts on Women, Asian, African-American/Black, Native American, Hispanic, NativeHawaiian/Pacific Islander, the Disabled and Veterans with the hope of expanding the influence and participation in philanthropy among underserved residents and stakeholders throughout the region.

“The Community Foundation is going to continue down our path of growth through diversity and inclusion. Over the years we have been sensitive to gender, age and geographic diversity, but we know there’s room for improvement for racial equity as well,” said Randa Jundi-Samman, Board Chair for the Community Foundation.

Members of the Equity & Inclusion Committee are: David E. Wandelt, Josh Greer, Shawn Shackelford, Tyrone Burrell, Nichole Hatcher, Bobby Brisby, Pilar Gonzales, Roni Lloyd, Cerees Hazely, Jazmyn Thomas, Alex Crittenden, Josh Presnell, Tony Miller, Tangie Christmas, Jeanette Ettin, and Kevin Totty (Foundation staff liaison).

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

The water levels of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron broke a 33-year-old record this spring. The Army Corps of Engineers also indicated high water levels will continue into the summer. It is likely that water on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron will set new record high levels over the next six months.

The Army Corps of Engineers told shoreline property owners that they should be prepared for damages in 2020 similar to, or worse than, what was experienced last year. Strong storm systems and resulting large waves have led to substantial erosion along much of the Great Lakes coastline, the Corps wrote in a recent press release, noting that significant erosion continues in many locations.

Properties along the bay of Green Bay, from Escanaba to Green Bay, and along the western shore of Lake Michigan have been battered by wind and storms from the east for the past year. Continued wet conditions across the Great Lakes, together with warmer than normal temperatures in January, led to greater runoff into the Great Lakes. As a result, water levels in all of the Great Lakes in January were higher last month than they were in January 2019.

The previous record for Lake Michigan and Lake Huron was set in 1987. Lake Superior set a new record high in January this year. The previous record was set in 1986. Lake St. Clair tied its record-high level that was set in January 1986.

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of April 22nd at 5:30 PM are as follows:

• State of Michigan: 33,966 confirmed cases; 2,813 deaths
• St. Clair County: 301 confirmed cases; 18 deaths
• Ontario: 12,245 confirmed cases; 659 deaths
• Sarnia-Lambton: 150 confirmed cases; 14 deaths

The St. Clair County Health Department reports that 7% of all of hospital beds are currently being used for COVID-19 patients. 39% of all hospital beds are available. The highest number of COVID-19 cases in the county are in the city of Port Huron and in Clay and Port Huron Townships. Most of the rural townships in the county have less than 20 cases each, with the majority having less than 10. Lambton County is experiencing a similar situation, with 78% of its cases of the virus occurring in its urban areas and 22% in rural.

In a press conference today, Governor Whitmer shared data from Unacast.com that gave the state of Michigan a “B” in social distancing. She credits the aggressive measures the State and its residents have taken as the reason Michigan is no longer in the top 5 states by number of positive COVID-19 cases. Michigan just moved to number 6 below New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and California. Michigan is #3 for the number of deaths related to COVID-19.

Please continue to rely on reputable sources for information on COVID-19:

• Centers for Disease Control:  cdc.gov/coronavirus
• State of Michigan: Michigan.gov/coronavirus  or Info Hotline  1-888-535-6136 Daily 8:00 am – 5:00 pm or email questions to COVID19@michigan.gov
• St. Clair County Health Department: COVID-19 Info Hotline (810) 966-4163 Mon – Fri, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm or email questions to covid19@stclaircounty.org
• St. Clair County Community Mental Health COVID-19 Support Line (810) 985-8900, available Monday-Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm
• Lambton Public Health: https://lambtonpublichealth.ca/2019-novel-coronavirus/
• City of Sarnia COVID-19 Hotline: 1-877-4-SARNIA (1-877-472-7642)

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

The City of Port Huron directed some of the $15,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds toward a seed giveaway program for residents. They partnered with MIgardener to create the Port Huron Sprouts program in an effort to bring self-sufficiency and food stability to our community amid the COVID-19 crisis.

MIgardener packaged 1,000 sets of easy-to-grow seeds along with instructions for new gardeners. These Family Gardening Packs include seeds for carrots, broccoli, lettuce, beets, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, green beans, cabbage and kale. MIgardener’s owners, Luke and Sindy Marion, are well-known for their backyard gardening abilities and prolific tutorials on their website and YouTube channel.

“Helping to provide long-term food stability for residents, creating new food sources, and giving families an activity to do during this challenging time is a win for everyone,” said Mayor Pauline Repp.

Residents who want to pick up a Family Gardening pack can select one from the box outside the Municipal Office Center at 100 McMoran Blvd. or email email their names and address to Sprouts@PortHuron.org

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand