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Whitmer calls on Trump admin to let state step in for unpaid, working federal employees

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the federal government needs to let Michigan help federal employees who are still working but aren’t being paid.

Thousands of Michigan residents are currently furloughed without pay because of the partial government shutdown. Those that aren’t working can apply for state benefits. But there’s some confusion about whether the state can help people that are still working but not getting paid.

Whitmer says she and two other governors were told by the labor department that they can’t offer unemployment benefits to working employees. Now they want a second opinion – or a change of the law.

“Because we don’t want our hands tied when there are people struggling,” she says.

This is the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history.

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R