“ House signs petition ordering Governor to end the public health emergency
Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com
Matt Doyle
Oct 23, 2020 2:49 PM
House signs petition ordering Governor to end the public health emergency
Kai Hendry / CC
House Republicans sign a legislative petition ordering the Governor to end the public health emergency and suspending the Governor’s ability to issue new orders for a week, triggering a likely court battle.
House Republican Caucus Chair Blake Miguez says members preferred to handle concerns about COVID restrictions with legislation, but his veto threats left them no other choice.
“Eight months later in a pandemic having one person controlling and making all the decisions was not something that the Legislature felt comfortable with,” said Miguez. He says his constituents demanded action on the limitations “We want a voice in this process, our constituents are asking that we have a voice.”
Only one bill limiting Governor Edwards’ unilateral public health authority passed and Edwards has all but confirmed he will veto it. The bill would have allowed, on a majority vote in the House and Senate, for certain portions of his public health orders to be struck down.
House Democrats blasted the petition. Chair Sam Jenkins spoke on the House floor saying those that deny the reality of COVID need to go back to their district and talk to some COVID victims.
“If you have not seen someone who was sick, I mean critically sick to the point where they had to be hospitalized, if you have not talked to a family that has lost someone to COVID then maybe that reality has not set in for you,” said Jenkins who added “Our Governor never shut down the state of Louisiana, it was a virus that shut down the state of Louisiana,” and “A petition is not a cure.”
Governor Edwards has described the petition as reckless and irresponsible for public health and says its adoption would jeopardize federal emergency funding. He is likely to challenge the petition in court, but Attorney General Jeff Landry has advised the House GOP Caucus that the petition should hold up and he is prepared to defend it.
The petition began circulating over the summer amongst the House’s more conservative members but failed to gain enough signatures then.”
“Eight months later in a pandemic having one person controlling and making all the decisions was not something that the Legislature felt comfortable with,” said Miguez.
That abuse should also be a federal matter since the US constitution give the feds the responsibility to ensure that the states have a representative form of government. Current these governors have made themselves dictators.