Whitmer vetoes ban on fining employers for COVID violations

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed a bill that would prohibit Michigan’s workplace safety agency from fining employers for first-time violations of COVID-19 rules and require them to be reimbursed if they violated 2020 executive orders that were later declared unconstitutional.

The Democratic governor said Friday that the Republican-sponsored legislation would cause the state to fall below minimum standards required by federal law, which would have "disastrous consequences."

The bill was approved on party lines by the Republican-controlled Senate last week.

The sponsor has said his bill would "give some grace and relief to the employers in our state."