The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the state’s House of Representatives for possible workplace violations following a COVID-19-related complaint.
MIOSHA hasn’t released details about the ongoing investigation, only that a House employee filed the complaint about a hearing with Rudy Giuliani last Wednesday.
In contrast to the Michigan House of Representatives, the Michigan Senate was in session on Wednesday. But what they can get done is limited, as any decision they make can’t go to the House until next week.
Republican Speaker Lee Chatfield canceled session for the rest of the week following news that Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and the head of his election challenges team, tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. A House staff member also tested positive. Giuliani was in Michigan last week for a House Oversight Committee meeting on alleged election fraud in Detroit.
The news prompted fears by some lawmakers that Giuliani — who was unmasked for the entire five-hour hearing — may have spread the virus while in Lansing.
New numbers Wednesday show that since March, eight representatives, three senators, and 37 staff members between both branches in the Michigan Legislature have tested positive for the virus or are suspected to have it.
That figure doesn’t include Democrat Rep. Isaac Robinson who died in March. It is believed Robinson’s death was caused by complications from COVID-19.
That leaves at least 12 legislators, including Robinson, with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections, or 8% of Michigan’s lawmakers. That’s nearly twice the number of their constituents, with about 4.5% of Michiganders testing positive for the virus as of Dec. 9, per state data.
Those are just the legislators that we know about, as lawmakers are not currently required to publicly share their diagnoses.
Another issue on the table has been pushing legislation forward, perhaps most pressingly legislation for a COVID-19 relief package. At this point, the Michigan House does not have a way to hold a session virtually in the case that they need to effectively shut down the House again. The last day of the 2020 session was expected to be Dec. 17.
WWMT reached out to Republican Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Matt Hall, who invited Giuliani to Michigan, multiple times for a comment about why the statewide mask mandate, which requires anyone in an public indoor setting to wear a mask, was not enforced in the hearing but did not hear back.
