On Wednesday, I joined House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, and Senator John Howe to discuss our proposal to end Governor Walz's Emergency Powers in a safe and orderly way. . You can watch the full press conference here.
By all measures – from vaccination rates to falling cases and hospitalizations, the emergency is over and it is time for the Governor to acknowledge that fact and end his emergency powers.
Our proposal allows for a safe and orderly end to these powers while returning the legislature, the voice of the people, to its status as a co-equal branch of government. We listened to the Governor's concerns and our bill allows for him to retain ability to administer testing and vaccines.
This is a good faith proposal and I hope the Governor will work with us to end this state of emergency and finish the budget well ahead of the July 1st shutdown date.
This bill ends the Governor's Emergency Powers with regard to COVID-19 and does not allow him to reissue them. It allows Minnesota to continue vaccinations and ensures we do not jeopardize any funds coming from the federal government to respond to COVID-19.
As I said at the press conference, once we come back into session, we must reform Chapter 12 – the area of our law that deals with emergency powers. Chapter 12 needs to be re-written, factoring in our experience over the last year, to better balance the need for quick action with a speedy return to normal governance. I will continue to work towards this end.
You can watch my comments during the press conference here.
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