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

Senator Anderson issued the following statement:

“At the beginning of the outbreak, we were told the governor’s emergency powers were needed in order to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. We achieved that goal months ago. We have the supplies we need and we know how to be safe. The virus is serious, but it is no longer an emergency. It is time for the governor to give up his excessive power and start working in good faith with the Legislature.”

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