OKEMOS, Mich. — Labeling the governor’s Stay Home, Stay Safe executive orders as “a life and death issue,” the Michigan Nurses Association filed an amicus brief (friend of the court) in support of Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The governor is being sued by Michigan state House and Senate Republicans, who will argue in court today that Whitmer does not have the power to issue orders that have shut down a major part of the state’s economy in efforts to guard against coronavirus.
The MNA, based in Okemos and describing itself as the largest union for RNs in the state, argues that Whitmer has authority granted in the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945 and the Emergency Management Act of 1976.
“The Michigan Nurses Association has a special interest in protecting the Governor’s ability to act because our members, many of whom are fighting on the COVID-19 frontline, rely on the protections afforded by her executive action,” said Jamie Brown, RN, president of the Michigan Nurses Association.
