Name: Whitmer: GOP threat to withhold school COVID-19 funds is 'cruel and reckless'
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Whitmer: GOP threat to withhold school COVID-19 funds is 'cruel and reckless'

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Detroit Free Press LANSING –&nbsp;Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke of unity and common ground and looked past conflicts with the Legislature in Wednesday, but she hit back at recent actions by GOP lawmakers in a Thursday morning news conference.Whitmer called Republican threats to withhold school funding over disagreements about her response to the coronavirus pandemic "cruel and reckless," and said the Legislature continues to complain about her exercise of powers that were in fact granted to the executive branch by the Legislature."The executive has to be nimble and quick when lives are on the line," Whitmer said during an online news conference.Congress gave bipartisan approval to a coronavirus relief package that included billions in aid for Michigan schools and "to hold these things hostage to try to change the balance of power in Lansing is just cruel and reckless."Whitmer also gave her most detailed defense to date of what is possibly the most specific complaint from Michigan lawmakers and other critics: Why, if the governor is relying on science and metrics to make her decisions, can she not set out specific metrics that must be reached in order to resume high school sports, for example?"Metrics matter, absolutely," Whitmer said, but: "Fidelity to a specific number and percentage is problematic."The governor said she understands why lawmakers and some members of the public are calling for specific numbers that must be achieved to resume specific activities. "I understand&nbsp;— people want to know," she said.However, early on in the pandemic, many states set such specific metrics, and "every state that has done that has had to change that along the way," she said. "That's why we've been reticent."More:More:As an example, she said 5,000 cases in Ingham County can mean very different things, depending on what percentage of those cases are the early coronavirus strain and what percentage is a newer strain, first detected in the United Kingdom, that is much more highly contagious. Also important is exactly where those cases are located, she said. Are they spread throughout the county, or mostly on the campus of Michigan State University?"We're focusing on metrics," but the context is also important, she said. "That's the hardest thing, I think, to wrap your head around."She also said the administration has invited Republican lawmakers to data modeling meetings, but in many cases "they do not show up to the meetings."On Wednesday, hours before her annual speech,&nbsp;, citing what they said was her refusal to cooperate with them. House Republicans announced they would withhold billions in federal funding for education unless Whitmer agrees to a law that would strip her and the health department of emergency health powers.Whitmer said that she chose not to respond to those actions in her Wednesday night speech because she wanted to memorialize the more than 14,000 coronavirus deaths Michigan has experienced since she last gave a State of the State address, the sacrifices health care workers and others have made, and the progress the state has made."I'm not going to sink to have this argument that apparently some members of the Legislature want to have," she said.Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.&nbsp;Follow him on Twitter .&nbsp; and sign up for our .&nbsp;.

Detroit Free Press LANSING –&nbsp;Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke of unity and common ground and looked past conflicts with the Legislature in Wednesday, but she hit back at recent actions by GOP lawmakers in a Thursday morning news conference.Whitmer called Republican threats to withhold school funding over disagreements about her response to the coronavirus pandemic "cruel and reckless," and said the Legislature continues to complain about her exercise of powers that were in fact granted to the executive branch by the Legislature."The executive has to be nimble and quick when lives are on the...

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Paul Egan

The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties.  The Free Press is also the largest city newspaper owned by Gannett, which also publishes USA Today. The Free Press has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and four Emmy Awards. Its motto is "On Guard for 189 Years".

Whitmer: GOP threat to withhold school COVID-19 funds is 'cruel and reckless'

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