Michigan counties are still suffering due to the country’s most excessive decrees from Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
June 5, 2020
Whitmer’s Shutdown Has Consequences: 17 of Top 25 U.S. Counties for Unemployment Are In Michigan
Seventeen of the top twenty-five U.S. counties for high unemployment as of April 2020 are in the Great Lakes State. Michigan counties are still suffering due to the country’s most excessive decrees from Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Cheboygan County led the U.S. nationally in April with 41.2% unemployment followed closely by Mackinac County at 38.1%. Roscommon, Montmorency, Oscoda, Clare, Arenac, Charlevoix, Tuscola, and Manistee round-up Michigan’s counties in the top 15.
Whitmer has come under fire for her lack of planning or metrics for reopening the state. Chad Livengood, the senior editor at Crain’s Detroit Business wrote: “Whitmer’s disjointed reopening strategy undermining her coronavirus curve-flattening success.”
As Michigan counties lead the country in unemployment, the Detroit Free Press reports that some Michiganders “have still not received benefits they’ve been waiting for since the beginning of the pandemic in March.”
Fox 17 reported: “Unemployment delayed more than two months for some filers” earlier this week.
“for the most part, people are tired of waiting. They’re tired of calling, emailing, submitting questions online and getting no response. It is beyond surprising how slow this department is making progress,” said Michigan State Representative Julie Calley of District 87.”
The lengthy wait times have some lawmakers ready for a change of leadership at the Michigan Unemployment Agency the Detroit News reports.
With problems persisting, 20 lawmakers — 19 Republicans and one Democrat — sent a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday requesting the “removal and replacement of the UIA leadership team.”
“Our state has been shut down for two months and we are still receiving calls from people pleading to get their assistance from the state,” the letter said. “It is clear to us, the leadership in the Unemployment Insurance Agency is not doing the job they were put there for and it is time for us to move in another direction.”