My staff and I continue to serve you and we’re available to provide help where we can. Please call 866-305-2038 toll-free or 517-373-7840. People may also email my office at [email protected].

To stay up to date on other legislative and district communications, follow me on social media at Facebook.com/SenEdMcBroom or Twitter.com/senedmcbroom.

On Thursday, state health officials reported 406 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 additional deaths, which bring the state’s total number of positive cases to 56,014 and total number of deaths to 5,372. In the 38th Senate District, there have been 99 cases and 15 deaths. This information and more is available at www.Michigan.gov/coronavirus.

Many Upper Peninsula workers have reached out to my office for assistance with filing unemployment and getting benefits. My staff and I are more than happy to do what we can to help and have been forwarding inquiries to the Unemployment Insurance Agency to help escalate people’s claims.

I have set up a page on my website dedicated to helping people with their unemployment claims. Please visit SenatorEdMcBroom.com/unemployment-assistance/, where you’ll be asked to submit relevant information, including your name, claim number or letter ID number, phone number, address, and a brief description of your problem.

Providing this information will help my office to assist you in resolving any issues with the UIA. While I cannot guarantee that the UIA will contact those who reach out to my office, we will work to make the connection occur.

If you are having continued problems and need further help, please send an email to [email protected].

The Senate Oversight Committee, which I chair, has been holding hearings in recent weeks to discuss the decisions made by Gov. Whitmer’s administration to put people who have COVID-19 in nursing homes.

You can hear more from me on this issue from an interview I recently had with WJR radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uty2ZEwnu3g

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer partially reopened the Upper Peninsula, effective Friday, May 22.

Like many residents in the Upper Peninsula, I was pleased to hear the governor announce that she has decided to allow some restaurants, bars, retail and office locations to go back to work. While this is a welcome development and something that I have been calling for, it does not go far enough, and I worry it may be too late for some.

One life lost to this virus is one too many, but the broader effects of this shutdown have been deep and wide. Livelihoods throughout the U.P. have been irrevocably lost. This could lead to the loss of homes and the inability of people to even feed their families. Perhaps worse, I have been in touch with families who’ve lost people to suicide and those who have considered it due to despair or untreated pain.

This isn’t working. No more picking and choosing who can and can’t be open or who is and isn’t essential. The governor’s announcement wasn’t clear, and that repetitive lack of clarity is both insulting and unnecessary. So beyond needing clarity about what she says, we also need her to be open with us about how and why she is arriving at her decisions. If she had even bothered to call just one U.P. legislator about these or past decisions, we could have helped make sure many more things were clear and not left to be cleaned up or fixed later.

Every life is essential, and we have to move forward because, while this virus likely isn’t going anywhere soon, our economy and people’s livelihoods are by the day. We have to be able to trust one another to be smart, be safe and get back to living.

Rep. Beau LaFave and I recently derided the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for its early termination of a lease to Saucon Minerals of the Groveland Mine property in Dickinson County.

The company was exploring the production of an iron ore concentrate and an organic fertilizer from discarded materials located in the property’s tailing ponds. The project was projected to be a $71 million investment in the area.

Saucon’s innovative plan for the Groveland Mine would have brought about 100 jobs to the area, both construction and operational, and it would have restored the property to its natural habitat as it cleaned up waste products from the previous operation. The company had reached out to the DNR in February to discuss renegotiating the leasing agreement, before the annual payment was due, and instead of having discussions and answering the company’s questions, the department issued a termination letter in mid-April.

You can read more about it here: https://www.senatoredmcbroom.com/u-p-lawmakers-deride-dnr-on-termination-of-lease-at-groveland-mine-site/

The state Senate recently approved $524 million in available federal COVID-19 funds to provide financial assistance for front-line health care and public safety workers, including a nursing staff pay increase and bonus pay for local law enforcement, as well as deliver much-needed personal protective equipment to front-line workers.

Health care workers and public safety officials have been putting in extra time at great personal risk to help ensure the health and well-being of us all during the coronavirus outbreak. We acted to help support those who are supporting us by utilizing federal funding to ensure they have enough protective equipment and to provide them some financial help to take care of themselves and their families as the battle against COVID-19 rages on.

For more on what is included in the bill, visit: https://www.senatoredmcbroom.com/mcbroom-votes-for-funding-for-front-line-workers-others-affected-by-covid-19/

The Pure Michigan Business Connect has established a COVID-19 Procurement Platform designed for Michigan businesses in need of non-medical grade PPE to keep their employees safe and healthy as they go back to work.

For more information, visit: https://www.michiganbusiness.org/ppe/

InvestUP recently partnered with the Miller Canfield law firm to host a webinar to offer insight and guidance to U.P. businesses on establishing workplace safeguards and the reopening of specific industries.

The full webinar is available to watch for free at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LDJNQio3PR3XKCFEulRkTmn3qyfMXAvs/view?sslid=MzcwNDM2tTAzNTMwBgA&sseid=MzIwNTe3MDM2NwQA&jobid=5c595654-372d-4e80-8e8e-66cb1ad6daab