{"id":1486684,"date":"2022-05-21T08:16:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T12:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1486684"},"modified":"2022-05-21T08:16:39","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T12:16:39","slug":"michigan-gov-whitmer-pledged-to-cut-her-pay-for-duration-of-pandemic-silently-stopped-after-five-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-gov-whitmer-pledged-to-cut-her-pay-for-duration-of-pandemic-silently-stopped-after-five-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Gov. Whitmer Pledged to Cut Her Pay for Duration of Pandemic \u2013 Silently Stopped After Five Months"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmichigan-gov-whitmer-pledged-to-cut-her-pay-for-duration-of-pandemic-silently-stopped-after-five-months%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1486684&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/\">Democrats<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Michigan Democrat ended her salary sacrifice even as her pandemic restrictions dragged on<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\"><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tMichigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) \/ Getty Images\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/collin-anderson\/\" title=\"Posts by Collin Anderson\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Collin Anderson<\/a> \u2022 May 20, 2022 2:39 pm<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>In early 2020, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) pledged to give back a portion of her salary for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. But she stopped after 5 months\u2014even as her gathering and mask restrictions dragged on for more than a year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whitmer in April 2020 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/state-watch\/493768-michigan-governor-whitmer-taking-a-pay-cut-to-offset-coronavirus-impact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> she would &#8220;lead by example&#8221; and return 10 percent of her $159,300 salary to the state&#8217;s treasury department during the pandemic. According to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mirs-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/9390-Checks_Melinn%20FOIA%20Request.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>state records<\/span><\/a><span> obtained by <\/span><i><span>MIRS News<\/span><\/i><span>, however, Whitmer ended the pledge just five months later in September after cutting three checks totaling $4,917 back to the state. The Democrat&#8217;s pandemic restrictions lasted significantly longer than her self-imposed pay cut pledge\u2014Whitmer limited indoor gatherings and required face masks in public <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/it-michigan-end-gathering-mask-restrictions-tuesday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>for 15 months<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The revelation marks Whitmer&#8217;s latest in a long line of COVID blunders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During the pandemic&#8217;s early stages, the Democrat issued <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/coronavirus\/weed-up-hoes-down-in-whitmers-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>draconian stay-at-home orders<\/span><\/a><span> that shuttered local businesses but allowed large corporations to stay open. Whitmer also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/report-number-of-michigan-nursing-home-deaths-42-percent-larger-than-whitmer-disclosed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>implemented a policy that<\/span><\/a><span> required nursing homes to accept positive coronavirus patients who were discharged from hospitals, a decision that Republicans argue led to increased deaths in elderly facilities. Meanwhile, as the pandemic raged on, Whitmer <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2021\/05\/24\/michigan-gretchen-whitmer-social-distance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>broke her own COVID rules<\/span><\/a><span> during a dinner party at a Michigan State University bar and fled the state to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/whitmer-parties-maskless-at-dc-hotspot-before-bailing-on-mcauliffe-event\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>party maskless<\/span><\/a><span> at a crowded Washington, D.C., cocktail joint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Governor Whitmer shut down the state far longer than the months she sacrificed, upending the economy and lives of Michiganders,&#8221; Michigan Rising Action executive director Eric Ventimiglia said in a statement. &#8220;Despite pledging to \u2018lead by example,&#8217; Whitmer \u2026 continued to enjoy a generous, taxpayer-funded salary.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whitmer&#8217;s office did not return a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Democrat entered the governor&#8217;s mansion in 2019 after centering her campaign on a pledge to &#8220;fix the damn roads.&#8221; More than three years into her tenure, however, Michigan&#8217;s &#8220;deteriorating&#8221; roads are costing residents nearly $5,000 a year in car repairs, an April report from national transportation research nonprofit TRIP <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilx.com\/2022\/04\/14\/report-michigan-roads-cost-drivers-4845-vehicle-repairs-annually\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>found<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whitmer&#8217;s infrastructure shortcomings and infamous pandemic response now have the Democrat engaged in a difficult reelection bid. According to a January <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/poll-just-40-percent-of-michigan-voters-would-reelect-whitmer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span>Detroit News<\/span><\/i><span> poll<\/span><\/a><span>, just 40 percent of Michiganders would vote to reelect the Democrat. Forty-eight percent of respondents said the state is on the &#8220;wrong track,&#8221; compared with 36 percent who said it is on the &#8220;right track.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whitmer&#8217;s prospective GOP opponents include former Detroit Police Department head James Craig, Michigan State Police captain Mike Brown, and Detroit businessman Kevin Rinke. Republicans will nominate Whitmer&#8217;s challenger during the state&#8217;s Aug. 2 primary.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats Michigan Democrat ended her salary sacrifice even as her pandemic restrictions dragged on  Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) \/ Getty Images  Collin Anderson \u2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1486684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}