By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


A COVID-19 Livingston County Business Community Town Hall Webinar was held Tuesday afternoon.

The event was hosted by Ann Arbor SPARK and the Hartland, Howell and Greater Brighton Area Chambers of Commerce. It featured local lawmakers, state officials and others representing the business community. Part of the hour-long conversation focused on frustration related to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders, the impact on businesses and what the future holds for Michigan’s economy. GOP lawmakers and allies in the business community feel that certain operations should be allowed to start up again if they adhere to social distancing guidelines. During the Governor’s latest public address, Whitmer said the state has tough days ahead in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, but that a return to normalcy was "on the horizon". It’s not soon enough for some. One participant questioned the Governor’s unilateral control to decide when and if the lockdown continues. She asked what elected officials are doing to combat that and bring power back to the people. The woman noted that small businesses and people are getting crushed - even with all of the state and federal help. She said suicide rates are up and other problems are happening – adding further it appears the governor is turning a blind eye to everything. She concluded by saying people need to get power back and its getting ridiculous with how much was put in to that last executive order.

State Senator Lana Theis said she understood the frustration – stating there is lots of disagreement on both sides on how things should be handled. She said a prolonged court fight won’t help anybody because that would just cause delays and the goal is to get people back to work as soon as possible. The Brighton Township Republican said the legislature is working to encourage the governor to push harder and allow businesses that can safely get back to work to do so. That being said, Theis said the Governor’s power is not unusual and most of the rest of the states in the country have a very similar power but none of the other governors have gone quite as far as Whitmer on this issue. While some people agree with where she’s at, Theis said she thinks it’s possible to do both – to be very concerned about the scenarios and safety of people but also get people back to work safely. Theis said she thinks a lot of businesses can function in this environment and not increase their threat and be just as safe at work as they would be at home.

Republican State Representatives Ann Bollin and Hank Vaupel echoed those thoughts. Bollin said they’re working to explore what’s going to happen when everyone returns return to work but thinks it will likely be phased and that would be the prudent thing to do. Bollin said the legislature has been looking at the budget and looking ahead, adding she felt it’s important to have these conversations because people who are running small businesses and know best what they need to get their jobs and people back to work in a safe manner. Bollin noted that she’ll be hosting a series of virtual round tables by economic sector or small business group to get input on how everyone thinks they could safely return to work. More information on that is provided in a separate story on our website. Bollin stressed they are trying to help and fight on behalf of small businesses and nothing is falling on deaf ears. Bollin says they’re trying to leverage all resources and there is a lot of collaboration going, which is important to remember, adding it’s not about a big fight but getting back to work and getting through this crisis.

Vaupel commented the situation is nothing to be taken likely but everyone wants to get the economy going and get back to work. He noted that laws give the Governor power to declare a state of emergency and others give her authority to react rapidly. He said one way that could possibly change the governor’s current powers would take at least a two-thirds majority of the legislature and that isn’t going to happen. Vaupel said he believes the most prudent way is to try and negotiate as they have been with the governor so that occupations that can be safe and work within CDC guidelines can go back to work. He agreed they definitely have to phase things in, which will require everybody working together but thinks a very good effort is being made at this time. Vaupel said his office gets a lot of calls questioning why nothing is being done. He said they can only work with the Governor, which is what they’ve tried to do. Vaupel said the legislature is constantly in negotiations with the executive’s office trying to come up with a reasonable solution to both save lives and try to get the state back working again and try to help the economy. Vaupel said it’s not that things aren’t being done; it’s just that it’s difficult in these times to try and balance the two.

Also featured was President of the Michigan Small Business Administration Brian Calley, an organization that has stayed up to date with federal resources including the CARES Act and various program available for businesses. It has a resource based website that features daily briefings at 3pm. Calley said the big topic of conversation has been the Paycheck Protection Program and he’s confident those funds will run out this week. He said businesses should push that along if they haven’t heard back yet from their bank or investigate other options for needed cash flow. Various advice was also given related to Michigan’s overwhelmed unemployment system. Calley noted that on Monday, benefits were opened up to self-employed and 1099-contractors. He said it has not gone smooth and was never going to. Calley said he has been telling people to expect to be frustrated because there is so much pent up demand and the system was never designed or developed to handle this level of activity. He said there is no system in government that was designed to handle the type of stress on it right now. Calley noted they’ve talked t a lot of businesses who don’t feel right applying for unemployment because they’ve never done it. Calley stressed it was changed by the Federal CARES Act in recognition of the fact that people were put out of business due to things completely out of their control. He said the system wasn’t invented for someone who is both the employer and the employee but bugs are still being worked out – adding people should not feel guilty but be prepared to be frustrated.

Sean Egan, the deputy director for Labor with the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, gave a further update on unemployment, the process and different programs. He noted there have been over 1 million new claims since March 15th. Egan said sever capacity is being added and more employees are being brought on to keep up with demand. He said so far UIA has paid out about 350 million to almost 600,000 Michiganders. He said while that might offer little comfort to those who haven’t been able to access the system but assured that claims are backdated to the date of layoff. Egan said he’s been fielding questions about the state work share program, which is still available to any business that is essential and continuing to operate but needs to cut back staff. He noted there are also tax credits available for paid leave and benefits through the IRS.

Egan reminded that individuals on paid sick leave or other paid leave are not eligible and those who quit work without cause are not eligible and that hasn’t changed. He said people still need to meet the minimum cum eligibility to get benefits. Egan said if someone has been denied but is actually eligible due to expanded guidelines, he stressed they do not need to apply again. He said the UIA is doing “sweeps” to recapture anyone who has applied but is eligible for either the $600 federal benefit or both the Michigan and the federal benefit. Egan mentioned some college students and other groups as examples, saying they are still getting denial letters but there is nothing they need to do as they will actually qualify. He says that includes self-employed and 1099-workers who have already put their information into the system as officials are going back through claims to make sure those eligible receive benefits. Egan said a lot of workers that wouldn’t have qualified previously have already gotten a denial letter which is scary but they are aware of issues and working on it. Above all, both Egan and Calley stressed to not refile a new claim and create two different files in the systems because then it just takes longer for someone to get approved. Egan said they’re directing everyone to the state coronavirus website, which is updated regularly and has a new format. The link is provided.