LANSING – As the coronavirus showed no signs of abating in Michigan yet, state lawmakers, many wearing face masks and gloves, came to the state Capitol on Tuesday to get their temperatures taken, then voted to extend the state's emergency declaration through April 30.

“We needed to come in,” Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on his way out of the chamber after the brief session and vote. “A 23-day extension is reasonable. We can come back and do more.”

The surreal Senate session — 24 of the 38 members showed up — featured Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist wearing a black "Everybody vs. COVID-19" T-shirt, but no face mask, to preside over the proceedings and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, singing the hymn "It is well with my soul" to open the session.

Quoting from the Bible's 1st Epistle to Timothy, Shirkey said in his invocation that "Jesus tells us to not be timid."

"May those words ring soundly through us today and from this point forward as we wrestle with very important, life-threatening, incredibly challenging decisions, on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis," he said.

The Senate session was quick, with members trickling in over several minutes and the vote on extending the emergency declaration taking less than a minute. The voice vote, where there is no recorded tally and instead a simple yay or nay carries the day, was conducted with no nays. The whole session took 13 minutes.

It took three hours for the House of Representatives to check in as only a small number of members were allowed into the House chamber at a time. But once 78 of the 110 members had shown up — at least 55 were needed for a quorum — the House leadership quickly took a voice vote to extend the declaration, too, and adjourned until April 16. There were no nays.

The extension passed by both chambers was far less than the 70-day extension that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had requested

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, tried to have the declaration extended through June 16, which would comply with Whitmer's request, but that amendment failed on a voice vote and the resolution passed without any dissent.

“The coronavirus waits for no one, and that’s why Gov. Whitmer must be equipped with the full authority to respond to this pandemic quickly. We tried to extend the state of emergency for the full 70 days as requested, but at the end of the day this shortened time frame is what was in front of us for a vote," he said. "I wish the extension was longer, but we will continue to keep moving forward and doing our jobs just like millions of Americans are being asked to do.”

Whitmer said after the vote that she has generally been working well with the Legislature during the coronavirus challenge.

“We don’t agree on the length of the emergency — the action they took today,” she said. “That’s their decision. They can come back as much as they want to, even if it is contrary to the best practices” advised by health care professionals.

“They can do that, and I’m not going to weigh in on it much more than that.”

The main significance of having the Legislature vote to lengthen the state of emergency is that Tuesday’s vote ensures continued protection from civil liability for actions that police, firefighters and other first responders take in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, Whitmer said.

Whitmer has emergency powers under two different Michigan statutes. One, the Emergency Management Act, specifies that the Legislature must vote to extend an emergency declaration after 28 days. The other, the Emergency Powers of Governor Act, has no cap on the length of the emergency declaration and no requirement that the Legislature vote to extend it.

However, the powers under the Emergency Management Act are broader.

Asked Tuesday why she even felt it was necessary for the Legislature to vote to extend the state of emergency, Whitmer said there are several specific differences between the two statutes, but the main one relates to special liability protections given to first responders under the Emergency Management Act. That alone is the main reason she needed the Legislature to extend the state of emergency, she said.

Asked whether she has the power to extend other orders — such as her “stay home” order or other orders that may still be pending — beyond the current April 30 expiration of the state of emergency, Whitmer said she can do so because of her powers under the Emergency Powers of Governor Act.

To get to the vote, though, legislators had to navigate some extraordinary procedures to even get into the Capitol

At entrances to the Capitol on Tuesday, officials asked House members, the media and members of the public a series of questions related to whether they had experienced recent symptoms or had contact with anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19. A pharmacist then took their temperatures with a no-touch thermometer. Senators were screened separately inside their nearby office building, before crossing the street to enter the Capitol.

Though many senators and state representatives showed up for the session wearing surgical masks and gloves, Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, presided from his elevated seat, wearing neither.

“I’ll have to ask,” said Gideon D’Assandro, a spokesman for the speaker, who added he thought it was because Chatfield had to speak into a microphone to conduct the business of the House.

In his invocation, Chatfield said, "What we’re doing this morning, Lord, is asking you for wisdom and discretion and I pray Lord, that as the father of lights, you will illuminate us as to the best path forward. I would pray that you continue to watch over President Trump and Governor Whitmer as they lead this country and state respectively. Give them wisdom and discernment as to the best decisions that should be made to ensure that we can keep our country moving forward and keep our families safe.

Whitmer's original emergency declaration was for 28 days and the parts of it subject to the Emergency Management Act were set to expire Tuesday.

Michigan's "stay home" order is set to expire April 13. Whitmer said Monday she expects to extend that order sometime this week.

The legislative session Tuesday was the first legislative session day since March 17.

The protocol for the meeting was developed as the coronavirus is rapidly escalating across the state and has hit several lawmakers. State Reps. Karen Whitsett and Tyrone Carter, both Detroit Democrats, have tested positive for the coronavirus and Rep. Isaac Robinson, also a Detroit Democrat, died of a suspected coronavirus infection.

James LoTempio, 51, of Delta Township near Lansing, was among about 30 demonstrators outside the Capitol on Tuesday, calling for getting Michigan back to normal as soon as possible. Most of them were connected with a Facebook group called Michigan United for Liberty.

"There's got to be a balance between protecting us and taking away our rights," said LoTempio, a disabled veteran who used to fly drones for the U.S. Navy.

"People are out of work, and we can't sustain that," he said. "People are out of work and losing their homes."

The governor "wants to keep that going."

LoTempio said his wife lost her job as a school employee at a juvenile home near Eaton Rapids.

More:Michigan lawmakers taking extraordinary precautions when legislature convenes Tuesday

More:Legislative leaders at odds over extending Gov. Whitmer's emergency declaration

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