Tri-City Sun

Several Republican lawmakers are criticizing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of a bipartisan bill that was aimed at giving tax relief to businesses and individuals harmed by COVID-19 shutdowns, Sen. Kevin Daley (R-Lum) reported on MiSenateGOP.

Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) said that there are many individuals and local businesses struggling to make it through the pandemic, due in large part to the governor’s restrictions, including her stay-at-home orders. 

“Whitmer’s stay-home orders and the closing of businesses have caused many companies to go out of business and have put families and those living paycheck-to-paycheck in difficult situations,” Runestad said on MiSenateGOP.

Runestad and Daley sponsored Senate Bills 936 and 935, respectively. Sen. Curt VanderWall (R-Ludington) sponsored SB 937. All of these bills cumulatively would have given much-needed cash flow to businesses that were impacted by Whitmer’s restrictions, allowing them to put off the payment of sales taxes and income tax withholdings until later this year. 

“The bills my Senate colleagues and I sponsored and that received broad bipartisan support in the Senate and House would have relieved some of these cash flow issues. It is unconscionable for Gov. Whitmer to deny this assistance to so many who are suffering due to her actions. We should be doing all we can to help folks suffering from the effects of the virus and the shutdown," Runestad said, according to MiSenateGOP.

Daley said that many families are finding it difficult to provide basic needs, and these bills were promising options to give vital help now. 

“These bills would have provided real relief to those in need, yet the governor chose to veto the legislation and continue to ignore the Legislature as the state responds to the coronavirus,” Daley told MiSenateGOP.

VanderWall said that the executive orders are actively causing challenges for many small businesses in the wake of the coronavirus. “It is heartless for the governor to deny them this relief after making decisions that could bring an end to their livelihoods,” he told MiSenateGOP.