ST. PAUL, MN — Ahead of an expected announcement this week by Governor Walz loosening Minnesota's COVID restrictions, Representative Donald Raleigh, R-Circle Pines, is calling for transparent and concrete dates and/or metrics for the end of the peacetime emergency. Just this week, Florida lifted all remaining COVID restrictions, and Governors of Democrat states like New York and California have established target dates for the lifting of capacity limits and other COVID restrictions. Other deep-blue states like Connecticut lifted capacity limits starting as far back as March.
"Our hard-working families and especially our small businesses have been kept out of the loop on what the Governor may or may not do next, but we have to have a clear understanding of the timelines on when our businesses will be able to fully open and have the remaining restrictions lifted", said Rep. Raleigh. "With State Fair planning telling us that things will be "pretty close to normal," it is obvious that emergency powers are no longer needed. We must return to our constitutional form of government where the Governor and the Legislature work together. Emergency powers are to be used in the initial phase of a crisis, not during a period where they are no longer needed to keep people safe. We have to end the emergency powers and return the power to the people, and they must end now."
House Republicans have voted more than a dozen times to end the peacetime emergency, and have put forward numerous proposals to end or modify the Governor's Chapter 12 powers, as well as proposals to establish timelines and metrics that would end the peacetime emergency. Democrats have refused to advance those proposals in the House, and have even stonewalled proposals from their own party to wind down the Governor's emergency powers.
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