LANSING, MI (AP)-- Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed Republican-sponsored legislation that would have given additional health providers legal protection from lawsuits in any state-declared emergency and extended the immunity during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Democrat said Monday she would have considered signing the bill if it only had attempted to "mop up" an issued created when the Legislature refused to lengthen the COVID-19 emergency. But she says the measure goes "much further" and would have given health facilities broad immunity in any emergency regardless of the circumstances.
The legislation was supported by hospitals, doctors and nursing homes but opposed by plaintiffs' lawyers.
