By Jennifer Gomori, MAPE Editor

Out of an abundance of caution for our members and other Carl Parsell Memorial Golf Outing participants and supporters, MAPE officials have regrettably decided to cancel the 2020 golf outing. The 30th annual event was originally scheduled for June 11 at Links of Novi.

This was a difficult decision as money raised from the event is used to provide scholarship funds for deserving high school seniors who plan to continue their education at an U.S. accredited university, college, community college, junior college, two- or four-year accredited degree-granting institution, or vocational training institution that grants a certification or license. MAPE officials will still be awarding one $2,500 scholarship in 2020, which will be announced in May.

The Carl Parsell Scholarship Fund was established in honor of Parsell, a pioneer in the law enforcement union movement, following his passing in 1990. MAPE has been awarding scholarships in Parsell’s name since 1991.

While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s most recent extension of the Stay at Home Executive Order (until May 15, 2020) does allow golf courses to reopen to the public, her order does not allow the use of golf carts due to social distancing guidelines of six feet between individuals.

With the state's unemployment system overwhelmed by applicants during the pandemic, many are struggling to file for unemployment benefits. As system overload and crashes prevent many from filing their applications in a timely manner, the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) is assuring everyone who applies and is eligible to receive benefits that they will receive those benefits back-dated to the time each individual was laid off from their job due to COVID-19.

The UIA has a series of how-to videos to help navigate the unemployment system and assist you with filing a claim.

View the full playlist of videos for employees here.

Keep in mind, it’s best to apply online during non-peak hours, between 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The 24-hour website operates faster when fewer people are on the site. Visit Michigan.gov/UIA to get started.

UIA Director Steve Gray answers FAQs about unemployment benefits

Watch the full video here.
Steve Gray, UIA Director

How to file a claim?

Watch the how to file a claim video here.

How to file for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)?

Watch the how to file for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance video here.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) confirmed that funds from the $850 million in Byrne Justice Assistance Grants can be used for "hazard pay" as well as personal protective equipment (PPE), according to Jim Curran of Karoub Associates. The BJA also shared important information about disability and death benefits related to contracting COVID-19 for officers and their survivors.

Public Safety Officers who can prove they were exposed to COVID-19 while working and contracted the virus because of that exposure may be eligible for disability benefits, and if they die because of COVID-19, their survivors may be eligible for death benefits.

Under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Act and its implementing regulations, conditions caused by infectious diseases, viruses, and bacteria may be found to be an injury sustained in the line of duty.

To establish eligibility for benefits for a public safety officer’s death or disability due to COVID-19, the PSOB Act and regulations require evidence that it is more likely than not the disease resulted from the officer’s exposure to the disease or the virus that causes the disease, SARS-CoV-2, while performing a line of duty activity or action.

For more details on qualifications, please click here to read the Bureau of Justice Assistance letter.

Improve mental, physical health by getting enough rest

Excerpted from an article in the MESSA DiscoverYou March/April 2020 newsletter

Do you get at least seven hours of sleep each night? If not, you should plan to hit the sheets earlier tonight.

Overworked or overstressed adults often tend to treat sleep as a luxury rather than a necessity. However, getting enough sleep is as critical to your overall well-being as eating and breathing. Research shows that robbing yourself of sleep can impact your ability to store memories and concentrate, as well as regulate your mood and appetite. It can lead to weight gain and a weakened immune system.

The problem is that too many people don’t get as much sleep as they should. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get at least seven hours of sleep every night. However, more than one-third of adults report they usually get less than that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Shorting yourself on sleep puts you at greater risk for developing chronic conditions, according to the CDC, including:

  • CancerMESSA logo RGB Blue no tag R 2
  • Heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • Depression
  • Heart attack
  • Kidney disease
  • Stroke

Unemployed individuals are more likely to qualify for increased weekly benefits and extended collection periods because of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 National Emergency. Also, individuals who would not normally qualify - due to being self-employed, an independent contractor, or for other reasons - may now qualify for benefits.

As of March 30, 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, under the Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), entered into an agreement with the Department of Labor to implement Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Compensation programs, providing the following to Michigan residents:

  • Benefits to low-wage workers, gig-workers, workers with a limited work history, individuals who are self-employed, and independent contractors who, due to the pandemic, can no longer work
  • An increase in weekly benefits to unemployed workers by $600 a week for up to four months
  • An extension of benefit payments from 26 to 39 weeks

Importantly, the eligibility window to apply has been extended from 14 to 28 days from the individual’s last day of work.

Please click here to begin your application for Unemployment Benefits.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters wrote a letter March 31 to the Administrator of FEMA and the U.S. Attorney General detailing the urgent needs of medical workers, law enforcement and first responders and their inability thus far to obtain adequate amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE).

"I urge you to work together to ensure that these workers have access to PPE as our country works to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Peters wrote in the letter. "Frontline personnel across the country have not received the protection they desperately need as they risk their own safety to perform essential duties in their communities. In a survey recently published by the United States Conference of Mayors, approximately 91.5% of the responding cities do not have an adequate supply of face masks for their first responders, including police, fire and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and medical personnel, and 88.2% do not have an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect these workers."

Please click here for the complete letter, including Detroit Police Department and Wayne County Sheriff's Office confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, as well as questions Peters posed about FEMA and the Department of Justice response to these urgent PPE needs.

By Bryan Davis, MAPE Legal Analyst

Due to the widespread economic impacts realized as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), federal funding has been a subject of significant concern and importance. Over the past several weeks, emergency federal funding has been allocated towards combating the spread of COVID-19 and, at this point in time, funding has occurred through two separate bills.

The first phase of federal funding was found in an emergency spending bill, aimed at bolstering response efforts to the outbreak of the coronavirus, with approximately $7.8 billion being allocated to directly address the outbreak and another $500 million allocated to extend telemedicine services to seniors. Notably, the bill also appears to dedicate $300 million to ensuring the purchase of vaccinations when such vaccinations become available.

The second phase of emergency federal funding was found in the form of the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” signed into law March 18, 2020. The Families First Act was primarily aimed at addressing issues such as unemployment benefits and paid sick leave. Specifically, the Families First Act provides that, for employers with more than 50 employees and less than 500 employees, two weeks of paid sick leave are to be provided if such employees are confronted with the coronavirus, including: medical diagnosis; quarantine due to COVID-19; symptoms from COVID-19; care for another who is quarantined; or care for children due to school or childcare closing due to the coronavirus.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) introduced legislation to improve the latest package to address the Coronavirus pandemic and helped the Senate pass this bipartisan legislation. The third Coronavirus package includes Peters’ legislation to expand unemployment benefits and support small businesses, hospitals and health care professionals.

The bill includes Peters’ Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act, which would create an unemployment compensation program to provide federally funded benefits to people unable to work because of COVID-19. It would expand who is eligible for unemployment to include workers who have exhausted their state unemployment benefits or other workers who would not usually qualify, such as self-employed workers like small business owners, freelance workers, independent contractors, and seasonal workers as well as individuals who’ve recently started or were about to start a new job. Workers could receive benefits for up to 39 weeks.

Click here for more information on Peters' involvement in the coronavirus legislation.

The Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) developed a chart detailing what to do next based on possible COVID-19 exposure.

Please click here for MDHHS "I think I have been exposed to COVID-19, what should I do?" informational chart.

For more detailed information, please visit the Michigan.gov/coronavirus website.

The Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity released an email titled Resources for Workers and Employers Affected by COVID-19. Below is the complete email with key links to important COVID-19 resources for Michigan Employees regarding Filing for Unemployment as well as several resources for Michigan Employers:

Dear Michigan employees and employers,

Governor Whitmer, in an effort to protect all Michiganders, today signed Executive Order 2020-21 that directs residents to remain at home or in their place of residence to the maximum extent feasible. A summary of her, "Stay Home, Stay Safe,” Executive Order is available online. 

For purposes of this order, critical infrastructure workers are those workers described by the Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in his guidance of March 19, 2020 on the COVID-19 response.

Below you will find available resources for workers and employees affected by COVID-19. If you have questions related to the governor’s order or the resources below, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We will continue to do everything we can to provide economic relief to employees and businesses affected by COVID-19.

Jeff Donofrio, 
Director

MESSA is offering full coverage — with no deductibles, co-pays or coinsurance — for medically necessary testing and treatment for COVID-19 for all MESSA members and their covered dependents.

MESSA will also cover fully all medical and mental health telehealth visits with in-network providers through June 30. There is no cost to members or their covered dependents. MESSA members have easy access to Online Visits, where you can visit a doctor or a therapist without leaving your home using a smartphone, tablet or computer. To get started with Online Visits, go to messa.org/onlinevisits or download the Blue Cross Online Visits app.

Additionally, MESSA members have free access to NurseLine, which is staffed 24-hours a day by registered nurses. Call NurseLine at (800) 414-2014.

For more information on these services to MESSA members and their covered dependents, please visit https://www.messa.org/covid19

More state funds were approved for coronavirus (COVID-19) response. The Legislature approved $125 million additional General Fund dollars for coronavirus response with $50 million specifically set aside to expand health care capacity before recessing until March 25 and scaling back session days to just one day per week through mid-April. With COVID-19 impacting governments, schools, businesses and the public, the effects are crippling Michigan as well as the entire country. Some actions taken by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to curb the spread of COVID-19 include: Healthcare workers, police, sanitation workers, correctional officers, postal workers and other key governmental employees will be able to drop their kids off at emergency, unlicensed day care operations from now until April 15. Employers and schools will be allowed to maintain a disaster relief child care center without a state license for those people working that is defined as “essential” jobs. The entire U.S.-Canada border will be closed to non-essential traffic and so willl the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Some Amtrak routes affecting Michigan are being modified. The Governor has requested the U.S. Small Business Association issue an Economic Injury Disaster declaration for the state and is in talks with Michigan companies about producing medical and other items needed for the coronavirus pandemic. She extended weight and other delivery-related restrictions for vehicles carrying essential supplies to mitigate the spread of the virus until April 13 at 11:59 p.m.

For more information on COVID-19 legislation and other recent legislation, please click here for the March 2020 Karoub Report.

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