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Whitmer signs bills to extend unemployment to 26 weeks

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed bills to lengthen state unemployment benefits to 26 weeks, from 20 weeks, through the end of the year. 

The laws enacted Tuesday largely codify changes the Democratic governor had ordered early in the coronavirus pandemic. The Michigan Supreme Court recently struck down a law that was the underpinning of various orders, making the unemployment and other orders invalid.

Whitmer urged the Republican-led Legislature to next make the 26 weeks of benefits permanent, which is the case in 40 other states.

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