For the fourth time, Senator Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) and the Minnesota Senate voted to end Governor Tim Walz’s peacetime emergency powers relative to the COVID pandemic. The state is current in the midst of its longest peacetime emergency in history. Gov. Walz first put the state under emergency powers on March 13, 2020.

“We are well, well past the ‘emergency’ portion of the outbreak,” said Sen. Newman. “We have been managing the crisis well. We no longer are worried about PPE or lack of ICU beds. We know how to manage the crisis and we know how to stay safe. The infection rate is still low and has remained stable for months.  

“The founders never intended for governors to be able to keep an iron grip on emergency powers in perpetuity. It is time for the governor to give up his powers and start working in good faith with the legislature on the best path forward – not just for beating the virus, but for our economic vitality.”

The vote to end the governor’s peacetime emergency powers was 36-31, with one Democrat joining all 35 Republicans supporting the resolution.