UP Gazette

State Rep. Triston Cole (R-Mancelona) -- who is running for Antrim County Sheriff -- has a plan to reopen Michigan’s economy, which he outlined in a news release that was published on the Michigan House Republicans website.

On the same day, House Republicans announced a plan for a rolling restart, based on prevalence and risk factors of COVID-19. The plan would involve a task force determining county-by-county restriction easing, based on when it’s considered to be safe.

“This plan puts health and safety first, because protecting Michigan families from COVID-19 remains our top priority,” Cole said on Michigan House Republicans. “As this virus starts to slow down, it makes sense to begin lifting restrictions first in the areas that have seen lower concentrations of the virus. This tiered approach will allow us to safely reopen businesses, put people back to work and methodically get everyone back to their normal routines.”

The roadmap features three steps, and the first is to transition to a risk-based regional approach.

In the first step, there would be three tiers of counties, labeled as: highest risk, heightened risk and standard risk. Each tier would have different restrictions, based on its risk level. A transition task force would be established in this step, with nine voting members and four legislators as nonvoting members.

In step two, when the highest-risk counties moved to heightened risk, and heightened risk counties moved to standard risk, efforts would move to safely re-energizing the economy, with limited reopening of public restaurants, gyms and theaters that can implement safety features, eliminating bans on parts of the travel industry.

The third step in the plan is returning to a "new normal." This involves codifying necessary protections and temporary continuation of certain commercial crowd-control measures.

“The governor is in a tough position, and I appreciate her dedication to keeping people safe. Still, many of her orders have been overly restrictive and placed unnecessary burdens on people and job providers in northern Michigan. It’s time to start acknowledging that issuing one-size-fits-all restrictions on the entire state isn’t the right approach,” Cole told Michigan House Republicans.

“Metro Detroit has been hit hardest by COVID-19 – and it makes sense that the strictest precautions should be taken there. It also makes sense to start lifting restrictions in other areas, while still keeping a close watch to ensure that public health is not compromised. My colleagues and I stand ready and willing to work with the governor and begin the process of reopening our state.”