Whitmer Talks on Cooperation With GOP in Pandemic Plans

Governor Gretchen Whitmer made several stops Thursday through Northern Michigan. The Governor stopped in Clare to oversee a road project before heading to Traverse City to sign a bill funding the Natural Resources Trust.

Then she finishes the day with a tour of a vaccination clinic in Petoskey.

Through all that, she sat down with 9&10 News for an exclusive 1-on-1 interview to talk about vaccine rollout and the continued budget battle in Lansing.

Republicans and Democrats have butted heads on how to handle the pandemic but as the state is hitting the final stretch, it seemed like the two sides were getting closer together.

“We’ve got billions of dollars that have been sent to Michigan from the federal government,” said Whitmer.

For much of the pandemic, Republican leaders in the legislature wanted Michigan’s COVID-19 response to be metric based and regional.

They seemed to be getting their way with the new ‘MI Vacc to Normal’ plan but this week reports surfaced of Republicans saying they were blindsided by this move.

“I’m a little perplexed by their reaction to it because they helped inform it,” said Whitmer, “They were certainly at the table and part of all the discussions that we had.”

The legislature reportedly was close to an agreement on re-engagement, allocating federal COVID dollars and their role in future pandemics.

Whitmer says their ideas helps shape the ‘Vacc to Normal’ plan.

“For instance, looking at the 70% as the right number, it’s not a moving target,” Whitmer said, “That’s the target, that’s what the Republican leadership asked for.”

That idea of herd immunity, 70% vaccination rate, is the goal for lifting all restrictions and spending all funding.

Whitmer last month said the best case scenario would be to hit that goal by mid-May but it was a long shot. This week, President Joe Biden set a goal for the entire country by Independence Day.

“We could get the Fourth of July goal,” said Whitmer, “We absolutely could but it’s going to take all of us.”

While the timeline to hit the 70% vaccination goal is still in flux, the budget deadline is not. The governor and the legislature have a self-imposed deadline to get the budget plan finalized by the end of June.