Posted on 04/30/2020 9:27:21 PM PDT by madison10
The Michigan House adjourned Thursday afternoon without taking up an extension of the state’s coronavirus state of emergency, setting the stage for a legal fight between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Republican-led legislature.
Michigan’s state of emergency is due to expire at the end of the day April 30. The emergency declaration gives the governor additional powers to issue executive orders during an emergency situation.
Whitmer contends she retains emergency authority during the COVID-19 pandemic regardless of what the Legislature does, but Republican lawmakers critical of the administration’s COVID-19 response maintain a 1976 law requiring the governor to seek legislative approval for an emergency after 28 days applies in this case.
The governor asked the legislature to extend the state of emergency another 28 days, although she said she believed it should likely be longer to respond appropriately to a virus that’s infected more than 40,000 people and killed 3,670 in Michigan alone. She said legislative approval was necessary to extend liability protections for frontline workers like doctors, nurses and first responders.
Instead, the Michigan House amended a Senate bill that initially would have limited the number of days a governor could unilaterally declare a state of emergency. The House-amended version would codify many of the executive orders Whitmer has issued over the last several weeks, such as price gouging protections and extensions of tax deadlines.
Related: Protesters congregate at Michigan Capitol in rally against stay-home order
A release from House Speaker Lee Chatfield’s office states the modified bill replaces the “current controversial state of emergency and unilateral executive orders with similar legislation that protects the emergency measures put into place over the last two months.”
“The idea we want to put an abrupt end to the state of emergency and go back to normal immediately is a lazy political talking point,” Chatfield said in a statement. “We all agree Michigan must continue taking strong steps to fight the spread of this disease. But we can both protect the public health and protect the individual people who make up our great state."
House members voted on the bill 59-41 along partisan lines. MLive has contacted the governor’s office for comment.
Among the other actions the House took Thursday was the approval of a resolution that gives Chatfield the ability to sue the Whitmer administration and challenge actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Members of the Michigan House of Representatives must defend the Legislature’s role as the sole lawmaking body and as a co-equal branch of government in Michigan’s constitutional system,” the resolution states.
The votes occurred as hundreds of protesters rallied against extending the state of emergency, both inside and outside the Capitol. Participants stood shoulder-to-shoulder on Capitol grounds and eventually gathered in front of the House chamber, chanting, “Let us in. Let us in.”
The Senate is also in session Thursday, but remains in recess as of 3 p.m. The Michigan House is next scheduled to meet Tuesday, May 5.
The battle is on for America ! May 1 is tomorrow. A very big day !
Most orders expire today. April 30
So the legislature just wants to wrap all of Whitmer’s actions into a bill so they can say she sought the Legislatures approval. Republicans are such wimps.
It appears that those armed protesters inside the Michigan State House had a good affect.
She knows she cannot lawfully do so no matter what she says.
If she could do whatever she wants there would be no need tovask the legislature to extend the emergency.
Her asking them is proof she cannot lawfully do it and that she knows she cannot.
Doesn’t matter. Karen just extended it to May 28. She really should consider living in a bunker for the remainder of her term.
Doesn’t matter. Karen just extended it to May 28. She really should consider living in a bunker for the remainder of her term.
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Time for one of those “Hitler learns...” parody videos.
Maine restaurant owners are defying the orders too- their liberal gov is a spendaholic- and she’s begging the gov for money because her state is now a financial disaster- it was a disaster even before the virus- but now it’s more so- Another business owner in Cali i think it is is also defying orders-
We’re gonna see a lot of that in the next week or so as liberal governors try to keep their stranglehold on businesses i n their states-
She needs to know who is the boss, go Michigan!
So which is it for Michigan, as its legislature says, or as its governor says, here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3840660/posts
The governor...she controls the state police and they will make the arrests and do the enforcement without hesitation. They will "just be following orders" gleefully.
First they have to find the lawbreakers.
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