Gov. Whitmer’s focus on national politics in her bid to be named Biden’s running mate comes at the expense of finding solutions for the ongoing unemployment payment problems in Michigan.
April 29, 2020
VIDEO: Michigan Unemployment Agency Director Doesn’t Know If Planning Increased For Potential Issues…
In an interview today with the Detroit News, Michigan’s Unemployment Agency Director Steve Gray stated that he did not know whether there was planning for increased unemployment issues by Gov. Whitmer before she announced her first stay home order on March 23rd.
Craig Mauger from the Detroit News asked:
“Before the governor issued her stay home order on March 23rd, did you all have conversations with the governor’s office where you said we don’t have enough staff to handle this continued surge in unemployment claims; did those conversations happen before March 23rd?”
Steve Gray, director of Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency responded:
“Um, you know, I don’t know whether or not they happened before March 23rd and I probably shouldn’t comment on any specific conversations that we’ve had with the governor’s office.”
Michigan is experiencing “depression level” unemployment rates as a result of Gov. Whitmer’s orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Estimates suggest at least 180,000 Michiganders still haven’t been able to access relief funds as a result of the state-mandated unemployment crisis.
Nearly a month ago, Whitmer’s administration acknowledged there were problems with the system but as ABC 12 reported Gov. Whitmer “didn’t announce any specific improvements.”
Now over a month into the state-mandated unemployment crisis, Director Gray also told the Detroit News that the agency is still only able to handle around 5,000 calls a day when they are receiving about 150,000 calls per day. And quite shockingly, Gray couldn’t give any direction as to when those experiencing claim problems would have them resolved saying “The line is tens of thousands long” and “I don’t want to make any promises because then when we’re not able to get it done by then and people are going to be upset and call about what’s going on.”
Gov. Whitmer’s focus on national politics in her bid to be named Biden’s running mate comes at the expense of finding solutions for the ongoing unemployment payment problems in Michigan. Whitmer’s administrator in charge of this agency admitted today that he didn’t know of any planning to handle the massive layoffs before the stay home order was made. The lack of planning and focus on Michigan issues is extremely concerning over a month into this state of emergency and 1.1 million Michiganders out of work. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action.
Michigan Rising Action released a video yesterday titled Whitmer’s Politics, which focuses on Gov. Whitmer’s own statement from a recent interview saying “politics is everything right now” while Michiganders struggle across the state.