State Representative Shane Hernandez, Republican, of Port Huron has been involved in two initiatives addressing the state’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. Hernandez, chair of the Michigan House Appropriations Committee sent a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, expressing concern over the awarding of a COVID-19 infection tracking contract to a company which has self-described ties to the Democratic party. Yesterday, the Governor cancelled the contract. Hernandez also played a role in crafting a regional approach to “opening up” the state in response to the COVID-19 mitigation shutdown. According to Hernandez, the Republican framework is an alternative to the Governor’s restrictive approach. The plan calls for a transition task force that uses a tiered scale to rank counties by virus activity, hospitalization rates and capacity and adjusts restrictions accordingly. Whitmer has said there could be relaxing of restrictions as soon as May 1.
