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Michigan Gov. Whitmer angers GOP lawmakers after using statewide emergency alert system for message on masks
By Morgan Phillips
Published July 16, 2020
Republican lawmakers in Michigan are planning to introduce bills to limit what the state’s emergency alert system sends after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent a statewide alert to cell phones urging residents to wear masks.
Sen. Peter Lucido and Rep. Bradley Slagh will introduce legislation next week to restrict the emergency alert system to time-sensitive emergencies or natural disasters, according to local reports.
“This is an overt abuse of a service designed to alert people of legitimate emergencies — the governor has gone beyond the scope and intent of the law and is now somewhere over the rainbow and approaching Oz,” Lucido said in a statement, according to MLive.
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On Monday afternoon a text alert informed Michigan cell phone users of Whitmer’s executive order to wear a mask in indoor public spaces and outdoor spaces where social distancing is not possible. It also said that businesses must refuse service to those who do not wear a face covering.
Previously, Whitmer’s administration has used the emergency alert system to notify residents when her stay-at-home order went into effect in March.
The state’s Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirley said in a Tuesday statement that he encouraged people to wear masks in public and to avoid altercations over wearing a mask.
“No citizen should challenge another regarding the wearing of a mask,” he said. “There is no reason to risk your health or your life over the debate of wearing masks in public.”
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A security guard was shot and killed in Flint, Mich ear.lier this year when he told the gunman’s daughter she needed to wear a mask inside a Family Dollar.
As of Thursday, 38 states have instituted a statewide mask requirement.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michigan-gov-whitmer-gop-statewide-emergency-alert-system-masks