COVID-19 Committee Website Invites People to Tell Their Stories

          A website devoted to the many stories and experiences from people across Michigan who have been impacted by decisions made during the COVID-19 outbreak has officially been launched, state Rep. Matt Hall, chairman of the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, announced today.

MI COVID Story will provide a resource for people who wish to share personal accounts of problems that have arisen from executive orders Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued during the COVID-19 emergency. The site will work in harmony with the ongoing work of the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“I have received thousands of calls and emails from people explaining how life has changed for them because of our state’s decision-making process as this crisis has unfolded,” said Hall, of Marshall. “Many legislators tell me the same, which shows the wide-reaching nature of these decisions from this administration. This website will allow us to listen to concerned citizens across Michigan, communicate those experiences and have their backs, which is representation at work in a time of emergency.”

The website will allow stories to be categorized. People can choose whether their experience applies to essential versus non-essential business directives from the administration, difficulties securing needed unemployment benefits, interactions with state agencies, health care treatment, and more.

The bipartisan Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic features both House and Senate members. It will provide key legislative oversight by evaluating decision-making and preparedness both within the administration and state departments to find out what has gone wrong. Recent hearings addressed problems people have been having with the state’s unemployment system, allowing residents who have been without paychecks for weeks to share their frustrations from being unable to support themselves and their families.