Dear friends,

I hope you are staying safe and healthy. These may be troubling times, but I know that we, as a community, will get through this together!

With all the confusion around the COVID-19 situation, I am inviting you to join me for a live tele-town hall this Wednesday, April 1, at 5 p.m. with Dr. Russell Faust, medical director for Oakland County. This is a time to learn more about what we’re doing to fight the virus and to answer your questions directly. Scroll below for more details on this event.

Please know that while the Legislature may be temporarily suspended, my staff and I continue to work remotely and are available to serve you during this time.

I also will be sharing the latest information on my Senate Facebook page. If you have any questions or need to get in contact with me, feel free to call my office toll-free at 1-855-347-8015 or by email at [email protected].

In your service,

Senator Jim Runestad
Serving the 15th State Senate District

Information on this outbreak is changing rapidly.

The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. For those who have questions about the state’s actions to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, please call the COVID-19 Hotline at 1-888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

You may also email questions to [email protected] and subscribe to email updates containing the latest information. While we continue to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19, there is no reason to be scared or to panic. I encourage everyone to be calm but persistent.

If you or someone you know needs to file for unemployment benefits, you can do so by going to http://www.michigan.gov/uia, or by calling 1-866-500-0017. Due to the overwhelming number of claims being filed, the Unemployment Insurance Agency has developed a schedule for filing to help cut back on wait times.

The schedule for filing online is:

The schedule to file by phone at 1-866-500-0017 is:

The Michigan Small Business Relief Program has $410 million in grants to award and another $10 million in low-interest loans to offer. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation expects 1,100 businesses will be eligible for these two economic relief programs.

Grant funding will be up to $10,000 to each small business (50 employees or fewer) that has demonstrated financial hardship from the COVID-19 virus. Loans are available between $50,000 and $200,000 to qualified small businesses (fewer than 100 employees) that have been financially harmed by Executive Order 2020-9 and cannot access credit from other financial entities.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Michigan small businesses and nonprofits will have access to the $1 billion that Congress has provided to the Small Business Administration for economic injury disaster loans. Contact my office for more details about all that is available to small businesses.

I voted to dedicate $150 million toward fighting coronavirus in Michigan. This includes funding for monitoring, laboratory testing and infection control. It also includes funding for critical health care payments to hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, nurses and testing labs.

This weekend the president also approved Michigan’s disaster declaration request, which frees up federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts. The federal government also granted the governor's request for emergency protective measures, including funding for transporting and prepositioning equipment and costs related to emergency operation centers, medical supplies and personal protective equipment, and other medical care. This is great news as we continue to work together to keep our community safe.

Last week the deadline for filing federal, state and local income taxes was extended to July 15, 2020. This brings our Michigan filing deadline in compliance with the federal deadline.

I disagree with the Michigan Department of Education’s decision to not count virtual learning hours as instructional time. I know there are issues of equity for all students that will need to be resolved, but these are unprecedented times, and we shouldn’t be holding back parents and educators who are stepping up and ensuring these children are continuing to learn from home.

All across our district, teachers, parents and students are stepping up to keep their students engaged and learning. As a state we should be doing all we can to encourage this.

If you have any further questions about coronavirus, please join me for my tele-town hall this Wednesday. Or feel free to contact my office at any time. We are here to help!