Whitmer joins GOP governor from Maryland in joint coronavirus plea to Washington

LANSING – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has joined Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, in a joint plea to Washington, D.C., to get state governors what they need to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

“The coronavirus doesn’t distinguish between red states and blue states, and neither can we,” Whitmer and Hogan write in an op-ed in The Washington Post.

They add: “We don’t have any time to waste.”

Michigan, and metro Detroit in particular, has emerged as one of the nation's coronavirus hotspots, recording more than 7,600 cases and at least 259 deaths, as of Tuesday. Those numbers are among the highest in the nation. Maryland has reported more than 1,400 COVID-19 cases and at least 15 deaths.

Whitmer has drawn national attention through her criticism of the federal response to the crisis and the public rebukes that criticism has brought from Republican President Donald Trump, who on Saturday approved — in part — Whitmer's request for a major disaster declaration.

"We appreciate that the administration and congressional leaders have been listening to our requests and have begun making progress on some of them," Whitmer and Hogan write in the op-ed, published Monday. "But there is still far more to be done."

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The two governors call for:

Greater use of the Defense Production Act and improved federal coordination and distribution of needed supplies to shore up health care systems with more ventilators and protective equipment for health care workers. "The lack of any centralized coordination is creating a counterproductive competition between states and the federal government to secure limited supplies, driving up prices and exacerbating existing shortages," they write.

Substantial increased funding for states "to continue funding essential services such as police and Medicaid while balancing their budgets and meeting the spending demands of the pandemic."

More flexibility and fewer detailed reporting requirements in how governors spend coronavirus relief money so they can "quickly adapt as circumstances change and the demand for resources shift."

Preparing federal unemployment insurance for an "unprecedented surge," with about 3.3 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 21.

Keeping "mission critical" workers healthy, including those at the National Institutes of Health and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Many of those workers are based in the national capital region, which includes Maryland.

"In our own states of Maryland and Michigan, we’ve witnessed so many examples ... compassion and generosity — from Baltimore city residents coming together to form a quarantine response network that’s running errands and checking in on elderly neighbors to Ford Motor Co. quickly helping to expand production of the equipment that we need to keep our health care workers safe," Whitmer and Hogan wrote.

Whitmer, a national co-chair of former Vice President Joe Biden's Democratic presidential campaign, continues to face criticism from Republicans, who accuse her of grandstanding on national TV, while not requesting a major disaster declaration from FEMA until last Thursday.

"My governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, has revealed her true political colors," Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a Michigan native, said Sunday on Twitter.

"Instead of putting Michigan first, she took forever to request a disaster declaration from FEMA. What has she been focused on? Sitting in front of TV cameras and auditioning to be Biden’s VP pick."

Trump said at a White House briefing Tuesday afternoon that he had just spoken by telephone with Whitmer and "we had a great conversation."

Trump said the U.S. government sent a "large number" of ventilators to Michigan and more will likely be sent.

Staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this report.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.