Whitmer vetoes bill to limit use of threat alert system

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed a Republican-sponsored bill that would have restricted state officials’ ability to use the Public Threat Alert System to announce new laws or executive orders.

The Democratic governor says the system has only been activated once in the five years since it was created.

The state used a different, federal system last year to send alerts about Whitmer’s stay-at-home and mask orders to wireless devices due to the coronavirus pandemic. That angered GOP lawmakers who said it should only be activated for "immediate" threats.

That system would not have been affected by the legislation.