Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requests major disaster declaration for Michigan amid coronavirus

Detroit Free Press (MI)

Mar. 26--LANSING -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday she has sent a request to President Donald Trump for a major disaster declaration for Michigan.

If the request is granted in full, it will help the state provide meals, rental assistance and temporary housing, mental health therapy and counseling, and "much-needed additional capacity" as the state's health care system struggles to keep up with the expanding coronavirus pandemic in Michigan, Whitmer said at a news conference.

"While the people and businesses of the great State of Michigan have shown incredible resilience and cooperation throughout this difficult time, we cannot weather this storm alone," Whitmer said in a news release.

"I am hopeful that the president will grant my request for a major disaster declaration in full and within a matter of days so we can provide more services to Michiganders who need them."

The federal assistance Whitmer requested Friday included programs that would provide:

-- Housing assistance

-- Nutrition assistance

-- Disaster counseling and management

-- Disaster legal assistance

-- Help for roads, bridges, utilities, parks and other infrastructure.

Whitmer, a Democrat, came under fire from Republicans and others Wednesday after the Free Press revealed the state had not yet made a request for a major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Trump administration has already declared major disasters for New JerseyFlorida, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, California and Washington.

But for Michigan, where the number of confirmed cases topped 2,200 Wednesday, placing it fifth-highest in the nation for the number of COVID-19 cases, with at least 43 deaths, "FEMA has not yet received a request for a major disaster declaration," spokesman Michael Hart said Wednesday.

Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for Whitmer, said Wednesday morning that state officials were "reviewing and looking into" a request to FEMA. By Wednesday afternoon, after the Free Press published a story on the issue, Brown said officials were "working urgently" on a disaster request.

Whitmer said at Thursday's news conference there were two reasons the request had not been made sooner.

First, "it's really important that we get these requests to Washington (D.C.) right," Whitmer said, and it was beneficial to watch what other states were able to get and unable to get in the requests they made.

Secondly, while requests for federal aid are "important pieces," Whitmer said her administration's "action to get people in Michigan to stop communicating this disease among each other is the highest priority, and that's where we spent our energy."

The delay, however, opened her up to criticism from Republicans.

"Michigan's hospitals are filling, doctors and nurses can't find medical equipment and our local residents are going without crucial tests," said state Rep. Shane Hernandez, R-Port Huron, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

"But in all the time Gov. Whitmer was on national television over the past week attacking President Trump for not sending funding, she apparently never found a few minutes to actually put in the request," Hernandez said.

The federal programs the state sought to tap include: disaster unemployment assistance, disaster crisis counseling, disaster case management, individuals and households program, disaster supplemental nutrition assistance program, disaster survivor assistance, disaster legal services, and voluntary agency coordination. All of those would help individuals, Whitmer said.

The governor also requested critical public assistance programs related to debris removal, emergency protective measures, roads and bridges, water control facilities, buildings and equipment, utilities, hazard mitigation, and parks and recreation.

"The strain on Michigan's infrastructure during the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic has been great," Whitmer said.

At odds with the federal government

Whitmer has apparently had some run-ins in recent days with FEMA as the state has tried to find needed supplies and tap into the Strategic National Stockpile, a repository of materials maintained by the federal government to be used in disasters or during outbreaks.

For instance, last week, Trump suggested governors should try to get materials such as masks, swabs and ventilators on their own. But U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said Thursday that when Whitmer and the state had a line on getting materials, including masks, from a supplier, they were told that FEMA had grabbed them instead for the stockpile.

And rules governing use of the stockpile often dole out supplies based on the size of a state's population, not on need, Peters said.

"I'm working with FEMA to try to make changes to that program," said Peters, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees FEMA. "Michigan had orders in place... then suddenly to have FEMA swoop in and say we're taking those masks and putting them in the National Stockpile (is wrong)."

Meanwhile, Michigan's entire 16-member congressional delegation signed a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who is overseeing the president's coronavirus task force, expressing their and Whitmer's frustration. In it they said Michigan had "received two allocations of PPE (personal protection equipment) from the Strategic National Stockpile" but that the shipments were "well short of the requests and we believe inadequate given the circumstances. On March 19th, Michigan requested 200,000 swabs from the SNS that to date have not been received."

On Wednesday night, Peters arranged a call between Whitmer and FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor and another shipment of urgently needed suppliers was arranged.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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