Yesterday, Governor Walz announced that the ‘Stay at Home’ Executive Order will extend from April 10th to May 4th. The Governor cites federal guidelines, the actions of other states, and data modeling as the reason for the extension. So far, the data model the Executive Branch is using has not been released to the legislature or the public. Senator Jason Rarick (R- Pine City) made the following statement in response –
“It’s difficult to stomach yesterday’s ‘Stay at Home” Order extension without knowing the exact numbers and modeling the Governor is using. The public deserves to know better details on why they are being told to stay in for another month. They don’t need to be protected; they need answers.
Social distancing seems to work, and we have low numbers in Minnesota. That being said, there are plenty of major retailers that remain open for essentials, and they have proven they can manage to operate safely.
Other businesses should be allowed to re-open soon if they’re expected to survive, especially in rural MN. It’s not unreasonable to expect they will be able to operate safely, as well. I would have liked to see the Governor follow in the footsteps of South Dakota and other states who have based their decisions off of population and I will continue pushing for a change. Let’s re-open Minnesota.”