Michigan State Representative for most of Lenawee County, Bronna Kahle, helped unveil a roadmap toward recovery for the county, and the entire state of Michigan.
The House Republican strategy calls for a rolling restart of Michigan’s economy based on region of the state, recognizing COVID-19 prevalence and risk varies by county. Rep. Kahle noted this approach could allow Lenawee County to safely move toward a limited reopening and return to normalcy more quickly than areas harder hit by coronavirus, such as metro Detroit.
“This has been a challenging, stressful time for all of us,” said Rep. Kahle, of Adrian. “COVID-19 has tragically claimed lives and upended livelihoods. But as strategies have helped flatten the curve and lower the caseload in many areas of our state, I am thankful for the opportunity to look ahead to better days.
“This roadmap to recovery will be presented to Gov. Whitmer, and I am hopeful she will work with me and the rest of the state Legislature to make our state’s comeback a reality. A one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work for the majority of Michigan. This common-sense, data-driven regional approach would give our families, friends and neighbors some much-needed hope for the future.”
The approach would include the creation of a ‘transition task force’ to place counties into one of three tiers based on coronavirus activity and other factors such as hospitalization rates and capacity. Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties – which have nearly 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the state – would be in the tier with strictest restrictions. Other counties would be placed in tiers with fewer restrictions.
The same task force would help determine which jobs and activities could be resumed safely, starting from the premise of federal CISA guidelines which in some cases are not as restrictive as the prohibitions now in place in Michigan. The task force would make frequent recommendations to the governor to reflect changes in coronavirus activity.
“While I understand the governor’s goal is to protect public health – and I absolutely share that priority – some of her restrictions have gone too far,” Rep. Kahle said. “Adopting a regional approach moving forward and using the federal safety guidelines, like our neighboring states, will help safely ease restrictions for Michigan families and workers more quickly. I have been listening to the people of Lenawee County and I know we will get through this together—and we will rebuild our way of life. This is a goal we can all support.”
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*Information from the Office of Michigan State Representative Bronna Kahle*