COVID-19 and Variants - MDHHS Guidance

Dear Mrs. Miller,

Thank you for your interest in public records of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (hereinafter “Department”).
Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

- Copies of any emails, data, statistics, scientific models, policy guidance, and/or public health guidance used for, or related to, public policy decisions about COVID-19 and/or any of its variants (including but not limited to the Delta, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Iota, Eta, Zeta, Kappa, and Epsilon variants) beginning today (7/28/2021) and ending on the officially-declared final day of the pandemic. Please also include any attachments to those e-mails.

Because the requested information is part of a rapidly developing ongoing public health crisis, I ask that the requested information be provided to me on a regular rolling basis in order to reduce fees and search time.

Please limit your search to only e-mails sent to or received by any of the following individuals:

- Gretchen Whitmer: WhitmerG1@michigan.gov
- Mark Totten: TottenM1@michigan.gov
- Dana Nessel: dananessel@gmail.com, miag@michigan.gov
- Elizabeth Hertel: HertelE@michigan.gov
- Tricia Foster: FosterT13@michigan.gov
- Joanna Huls: HulsJ1@michigan.gov

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

I am willing to pay up to $25 for the requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds this amount, please notify me in writing for permission prior to beginning work on the request.

I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Your request has been assigned the following tracking number: H012401-072921. Your request has a legally received date of July 29, 2021. You will receive a response by the Department by August 05, 2021. Unfortunately, we are unable to expedite requests and the time permitted for response by the Department may be extended beyond August 05, 2021 by ten (10) business days.
In accordance with the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq, the Department provides copies of existing non-exempt records. Records which are exempt from disclosure under state or federal law will not be provided, or records may be redacted to separate exempt information. The FOIA does not require the Department to create new records or answer queries.
You can monitor the progress of your request at the MDHHS Public Records Center and you will receive an email when your request has been completed.
Regards,
Bureau of Legal Affairs,
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

RE: Public Records Request, Reference # H012401-072921.

Dear Mrs. Miller,

This notice is issued in response to your request, legally received by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (Department) on July 29, 2021, requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq. Your request is denied.

Section 3(1) of the FOIA, MCL 15.233(1), provides, in pertinent part, that “[a] person has a right to subscribe to future issuances of public records that are created, issued, or disseminated on a regular basis.”  For the following reasons, the Department cannot process your request, under section 3(1), for what you describe as, “[c]opies of any emails, data, statistics, scientific models, policy guidance, and/or public health guidance used for, or related to, public policy decisions about COVID-19 and/or any of its variants (including but not limited to the Delta, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Iota, Eta, Zeta, Kappa, and Epsilon variants) beginning today (7/28/2021) and ending on the officially-declared final day of the pandemic.”  The request does not qualify for a subscription because the type of information that you have identified is not prepared in accordance with, or otherwise released under, a predesignated or regular schedule.  A subscription applies only to a public body’s public records that are issued on a steady or uniform and, thus, predictable basis.  See Gendler v Flint Community Schls, 2005 WL 1750798 (Mich App). In short, the requested records are not created by the Department and the Department’s responses, if any, are not prepared on a steady basis or, as stated above, prepared in accordance with a predesignated or regular schedule.

As to the denial, the Department is obligated to inform you that under MCL 15.240 §10 the following remedies are available:

1. Appeal this decision in writing to the Legal Affairs Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services, PO Box 30195, Lansing, MI 48909. The writing must specifically state the word “appeal” and must identify the reason or reasons you believe the denial should be reversed. The Department must respond to your appeal within ten days of receipt. Under unusual circumstances, the time for response to your appeal may be extended by ten business days.

2. File an action in the appropriate court within 180 days after the date of the final determination to deny the request. If you prevail in such an action, the court is to award reasonable attorney fees, costs, disbursements, and possible damages.

The Department’s FOIA policies and procedures are available at Policies and Procedures. (https://u8387778.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=bQH7YI59fmjg-2BFK-2B4CL7ZCVnF2IEzbUouc6c6qyDFhOfcjor9BO5ssg-2BBD5qDymA80JhsdLCAFRqPpbsGMrQaZru9-2B8KqicHNxhrFA7orjc-3DjX7Y_kFWfnD5qNmRA7ptPg98YI0umuJ0K1sOeK5fzG3MA-2BCfm1H53iiJnRhplaa-2BDPY33onzC2j7cgpl0aU2ZucyOZBNUfLTZoLuAGKwah-2FXDQTsGXCNqL4xrf75zwk1-2B8t4pa5rEFCK3LwIjQ-2F2oBb5k8Dqb4vhz6yL3Hmi9l-2FJ-2BXiGhkdUolzPqZqf7UrU0Nrfd5jgtnx2hiLiow9WdyQxXhOLD4QrYbbd3foL4sQiOVwSzW0t2dh-2B1HTUMZe-2BOBUQbUuKeLpOYvAcKhMFB7tuPTacy5JAENabO2oqRLW5-2Bak3PPss1Zi0j6TICaYf9vobjvKgYNzqu29y8aeZr3qaTfHjf2P6gqvKqVOL28Ac-2B8PfwOiy4VSi75-2FgZ3Mk29WqD8BHNOfuHflTGOEakfaaIKg-3D-3D)

Sincerely,

Bureau of Legal Affairs