A ssuming all things go as planned without any exten- sions, Gov. Gretchen Whit- mer’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order is set to end at 11:59 pm on June 12, with certain industries such as auto manufacturers being allowed to partially reopen before then. This extension is part of a carefully cre- ated protocol, known as MI Safe Start, which gradually eases stay-at- home restrictions based on how well COVID-19 cases are decreasing in the state. While Whitmer’s COVID-19 response has been lauded as an effec- tive way to enforce social distancing after the state reopens fully with- out conditions, many of Michigan’s workers will face the harsh economic realities that being away from work has inflicted upon them. While Whitmer’s most recent order allows for manufacturing workers specifically to go back to work despite the stay-at-home exten- sions, more needs to be done so job holders in all fields can see some degree of security. In order to make sure that Michigan’s economy does not tank in a manner consistent with the sustained high unemploy- ment and homelessness of the Great Depression and the Great Recession, the state government should boost spending significantly, preparing businesses to keep the workers they already employ and making sure ten- ants can pay rent without fear of evic- tion. For many Americans in Michigan and elsewhere, working from home is simply not an option. Including din- ing staff, salespeople at non-essential businesses like malls and department stores and other industries, many people are losing their jobs because they are not allowed to report to work due to stay-at-home orders. People are also losing their jobs because busi- ness revenues have plummeted due to stay-at-home orders. Naturally, this causes unemployment to rise dra- matically. Many have also resigned to avoid contracting COVID-19. While there are reports of hun- dreds or even thousands of firms hiring workers in Michigan right now, these numbers are quite decep- tive as these businesses are in spe- cific fields, like healthcare, which do not cover all of the newly unem- ployed. With regards to Michigan specifically, the state’s unemploy- ment numbers exceeded 1 million workers filing for unemployment benefits, which is around 21 percent of the state’s workforce. This is up from 180,000 people filing for ben- efits before the COVID-19 outbreak, a rate of about 4.3 percent. This is a level not seen since the Great Depres- sion and made Michigan the state with one of the highest unemploy- ment rates (8 percent above average) in the country. While it is entirely possible that many of these jobs will return once the economy reopens and businesses have in-person con- sumers, many establishments have gone out of business due to the afore- mentioned lack of revenue. In Michigan’s restaurant industry alone, approximately 10 percent of all restaurants in the state may have closed permanently (precise hard data is difficult to come by given the pandemic) in the month of April. To this end, Michigan legislators like U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., have supported and co-sponsored legislation such as the Essential Worker Protection Act, which calls for a federal interagency task force overseen by Cabinet members and other high-level officials to super- vise federal support of newly unem- ployed manufacturing workers in Michigan. This task force would also supervise the allocation of credit to businesses to make sure they, and the jobs they provide, stay afloat during this crisis. Although Whitmer does not have the individual power to authorize this level of financial oversight, working with the state legislature to pass appropriations boosting the funding already being considered at the federal level would be an ideal pathway to building a financial safety net not just for manufactur- ers, but for all industries who need the money to keep their workers employed. This will help ensure an improved level of employment growth and stability that can be sus- tained after Michigan is reopened. Even though Michigan’s govern- ment temporarily halted evictions for failing to pay rent with a March executive order from Whitmer, those who owe rent will be hit with those bills the state reopens, even if they don’t have a job yet. 4 Thursday, May 28, 2020 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com OPINION 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. BRITTANY BOWMAN Editorial Page Editor Alanna Berger Zack Blumberg Brittany Bowman Emily Considine Elizabeth Cook Jess D’Agostino Jenny Gurung Cheryn Hong Zoe Phillips Mary Rolfes Michael Russo Timothy Spurlin Miles Stephenson Joel Weiner Erin White Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. EMMA STEIN Editor in Chief EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS TUHIN CHAKRABORTY | COLUMNIST Tuhin Chakraborty can be reached at tchakra@umich.edu. Whitmer’s exit plan is key to Michigan’s recovery P residential nominees consider a smorgasbord of factors when mulling the vice-presidential nomination question. Could the person step into my shoes and effectively gov- ern? Will the person excite the party base and get it to the polls? Is the person popular among independents and mod- erates? Does the person have national name recognition? Is the person a fun- draising machine? Do I like and can I work with the person? Does the person have skeletons in the closet or severed heads in the freezer? There is one additional vital question: Will the selection adversely alter the bal- ance of power in the United States Sen- ate? Typically, the answer is no. But when it’s not, when either it’s a yes or a maybe, the hopes of that aspiring nominee are usually dashed instantly. For this rea- son, many folks have discounted the possibility that former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will pick Sen. Eliz- abeth Warren, D-Mass., for the Demo- cratic VP spot. In the 2020 elections, the Democrats could retake control of the Senate and Massachusetts has a Repub- lican governor, who would appoint her replacement. So why would the Demo- crats make retaking the Senate even harder for themselves? For Warren, the calculation is more nuanced. And if Biden does want to run with her, he can ignore the “maybe” answer to the question, as long as War- ren files her Senate resignation by June 23, 2020. Let me explain. Each state decides, via its election laws, how a U.S. Sen- ate vacancy gets filled. In one group of states, the sitting governor appoints someone to serve until the end of the vacating senator’s term. In a second group, the governor makes an interim appointment until a special election. A third group of states fully circumvents the governor and holds a special election to fill the vacancy. Since 2004, Massachusetts has fallen into the second category. Before that, Massachusetts fell into the first catego- ry. Why the change? Because in 2004, the Democratic Party nominated former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for presi- dent. If Kerry had won, he would have resigned his Senate seat, precipitating the appointment of his successor by the sitting Republican Gov. Mitt Romney. Prior to the 2004 election, the Senate had 51 Republicans and 48 Democrats (plus one independent, who caucused with the Democrats) — which meant every seat mattered. But Kerry lost, returned to the Senate, the Democrats lost a net of four Senate seats and the law change had no effect until five years later. In August 2009, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., passed away. At that time, the Democrats held a 60-vote, filibuster- proof majority in the Senate (thanks to former Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., switching parties in April 2009 and former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., ulti- mately winning the Minnesota Senate seat in July 2009). Then Democratic governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, appointed an interim senator, Democrat Paul Kirk, to serve until the February 2010 special election, which Republican Scott Brown won, busting the Democrats’ filibuster-proof major- ity, which the Democrats have not recovered from since. Karma is a … well, we all know what karma is. Senate vacancies can matter, which is why presidential nominees consider them. House vacancies don’t matter because… well, presidential nominees rarely pick a House member for VP and because vacant House seats are filled via special election per Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. Sure, one seat might flip the House. But in recent history, since the 63rd Congress in 1913 when the number of representatives increased to 435, a one-member party change could only have flipped the House during two Congresses (in the 65th Congress between 1917 and 1919 and at various points in the 72nd Con- gress between 1931 and 1933). Since 1932, presidential nominees have chosen a sitting U.S. Senator as run- ning mate 18 times. Only two of these running mates represented a state that had a governor of the opposing party: 1988 Democratic VP nominee Lloyd Bentsen, a senator from Texas — of “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” fame — and 2000 Demo- cratic VP nominee Joe Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut. In 1988, the Democrats held a +10 seat advantage in the Senate. Though the Democratic presidential nominee, former Mas- sachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, still should not have risked losing a Demo- cratic Senate seat. In 2000, Republi- cans held a +10 seat advantage, but the election netted the Democrats five seats, which evenly split the Senate. Had Al Gore won the presidency, his vice presidential nominee, then Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., would have resigned his Senate seat, leaving the Republican Connecticut governor to appoint a Republican to replace him (at least until a low turnout special elec- tion with an uncertain outcome). Elizabeth Warren must resign ZACHARY SHEINBERG | OP-ED Zachary Sheinberg is an attorney and LEO intermittent lecturer at the University of Michigan Ross and can be reached at zachs@umich.edu. 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