CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH REP. SARA CAMBENSY (D-MARQUETTE)
CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH REP. BEAU LAFAVE (R-IRON MOUNTAIN)
Governor Gretchen Whitmer called for unity in her virtual State of the State message Wednesday night.
But two Upper Peninsula state representatives from opposite sides of the aisle say that’s tough to do when Whitmer makes decisions without their input, as she has done for nearly a full year now during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Whenever you have power concentrated for a lengthy period of time in one branch of government, the people lose out,” state representative Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette) told RRN News. “That’s why I’ve been most vocal about the closure of our restaurants. When we’re looking at supporting our small businesses, and helping them the best way we can, using those regional approaches would certainly allow us to reopen our restaurants and businesses at 50 percent capacity. And I think that’s what we need to do.”
State representative Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain) has been a frequent vocal critic of the governor, and even introduced Articles of Impeachment against her. He said flat out on Wednesday that he’s not buying Whitmer’s unity calls.
“When Governor Whitmer says you need to come together and unify, it means ‘Republicans shut up and do exactly what I tell you to,” LaFave told RRN News. “It’s ‘unify with what I agree with’, not let’s sit down at a table, as co-equal branches of government, and hash out our disagreements. I’ll give a little, you give a little, and maybe nobody walks away totally happy, but you’re working together. But it’s ‘no, I don’t have time to listen to the legislature, do whatever I tell you. So whenever you hear ‘unity’ from the governor, it means ‘Republicans shut up’.”
“This is why I supported the Republican legislation that puts some oversight on the Health and Human Services department after 30 days,” Cambensy added. “When we don’t have a seat at the table, our constituents who reach out to us first, don’t have a seat at the table. It”s not just a Republican issue. There are many of us on the Democratic side who feel the same way.”
LaFave agreed with Cambensy that the re-opening of restaurants at 25-percent capacity next Monday isn’t good enough.
“The best stimulus you can give, the best way you can improve the economy, is to let people go back to work,” he said. “But she seems wholly uninterested in that. Twenty-five percent opening of restaurants? They almost might as well be completely shut down.”
“We’ve switched from using regional data, infection rates, and hospital capacity, to using international epidemiology studies and national studies,” Cambensy said. “Our numbers look good in the U.P. Our hospital capacity looks good for the number of COVID patients.”
LaFave criticized the governor’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans, saying that sending more to populated areas, and targeting minority populations, is wrong.
“Making the decision on who gets the vaccine based on skin color is racist,” LaFave said.
Cambensy noted that the Upper Peninsula received double the allotment that it was promised back in December, but agreed that the U.P. must not be left behind.
“To keep up with the vaccinations of our older population in the U.P., we’re going to need at least 400-to-700 vaccines a week,” Cambensy said. “If we drop below that, I do fear that we will be put behind.”
Both LaFave and Cambensy said that they have been flooded with complaints from constituents over the governor’s decision to keep high school contact sports off-limits until at least Feb. 21.
“Our youth are young, active, and for the most part, healthy,” Cambensy said. “I just think that other states have found a way to do this without major outbreaks. Why can’t Michigan?”
LaFave was even more blunt.
“If students, and parents, and coaches, and school boards, feel as thought it’s safe to resume sports, then I certainly don’t understand why Lansing, and, particularly Governor Whitmer, should be able to tell them no,” LaFave said. “We have elected school boards for a reason.”
The interviews with Cambensy and LaFave were done before the governor delivered her address.
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