Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to take 10% pay cut during COVID-19 pandemic
LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Monday she will take a 10% pay cut during the COVID-19 pandemic and has asked her executive staff to take a 5% cut as well.
The governor made the announcement saying she knows people are suffering and wants to help wherever possible. According to Business Insider, Whitmer made $159,300 in 2019, which would be a cut of more than $15,000 for the year.
Whitmer spoke during a 3 p.m. press conference and you can watch it fox2detroit.com/live or in the embed below.
Gov. Whitmer also addressed the impending end of her Stay Home, Stay Safe order on April 30. She said the next ten days will determine what will happen on April 30.
The speech comes after Michigan reported it's fewest new cases in a single day since March 26. On Monday, 576 new cases were reported with 77 new deaths. The last time Michigan reported fewer than 600 cases in a day was on March 26.
Whitmer's speech is following a cadence of regular press conferences held by the governor and Khaldun on Monday afternoons.
Chief Medical Executive and Chief Deputy Director for Health, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, also announced expanded testing for all essential workers in Michigan, including first responders. Even if they don't have symptoms, they can get tested for the virus.
During last Monday's press conference, Whitmer and Khaldun said cases were starting plateau but cautioned against reopening the state as it could be disastrous and set Michigan up for a resurgence in cases.
Michigan has been under a Stay Home, Stay Safe initiative since March 23 and it was extended to the end of April That extension also brought an increase of state restrictions on the previous order.
During a press conference on Friday, Whitmer said she would start releasing details about her plan to reopen the economy next week.
Whitmer said reopening the economy will be based on facts, science and the best medical advice the state can get. She said she plans to start putting information out by end of next week and more details the week after. The Stay Home, Stay Safe order expires at the end of April.
“Social distancing is still crucial. When we start returning to work, we will begin with low-risk sectors. As a state, we may re-engage our strategy by region, depending on what the data tells us,” Whitmer said.