In early 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D.) promised to return a part of her wage throughout of the coronavirus pandemic. She stopped after 5 months– even as her event and mask constraints dragged on for more than a year.
Whitmer in April 2020 said she would “lead by example” and return 10 percent of her $159,300 wage to the state’s treasury department throughout the pandemic. According to state records acquired by MIRS News, nevertheless, Whitmer ended the promise simply 5 months later on in September after cutting 3 checks amounting to $4,917 back to the state. The Democrat’s pandemic constraints lasted considerably longer than her self-imposed pay cut promise– Whitmer minimal indoor events and needed face masks in public for 15 months.
The discovery marks Whitmer’s newest in a long line of COVID mistakes..
Throughout the pandemic’s early stages, the Democrat unleashed draconian stay-at-home orders that shuttered local companies but enabled big corporations to remain open. Whitmer likewise implemented a policy that required nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients who were released from healthcare facilities, a choice that Republicans argue resulted in increased deaths in senior centers. Meanwhile, as the pandemic raged on, Whitmer broke her own COVID rules during a dinner party at a Michigan State University bar and left the state to party maskless at a crowded Washington, D.C., cocktail joint.
“Governor Whitmer shut down the state far longer than the months she sacrificed, upending the economy and lives of Michiganders,” Michigan Rising Action executive director Eric Ventimiglia said in a statement. “Despite pledging to ‘lead by example,’ Whitmer … continued to enjoy a generous, taxpayer-funded salary.”
Whitmer’s staff did not return any requests for comment.
The Democrat got in the Governor’s estate in 2019 after focusing her project on a promise to “repair the damn roadways.” More than 3 years into her period, nevertheless, Michigan’s “degrading” roadways are costing homeowners almost $5,000 a year in cars and truck repair work, an April report from nationwide transport research study not-for-profit TRIP found.
Whitmer’s infrastructure shortcomings and notorious pandemic actions now have the Democrats participating in a tough reelection bid. According to a January Detroit News poll, just 40 percent of Michiganders would vote to reelect the Democrat. Forty-eight percent of participants stated the state is on the “incorrect track,” compared to 36 percent who stated it is on the “right track.”
Whitmer’s potential GOP challengers consist of previous Detroit Police Department head James Craig, Michigan State Police captain Mike Brown, and Detroit entrepreneur Kevin Rinke. Republican politicians will choose Whitmer’s opposition throughout the state’s Aug. 2 primary.
