Senate Republicans today added an amendment to the State Government Finance bill to immediately end Gov. Walz’s emergency powers related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Senator Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) issued the following statement:

“The ‘emergency’ portion of the outbreak is over and has been for some time. There’s nothing about the state’s response that can’t be managed in coordination with the legislature. The founders never intended for governors to be able to keep an iron grip on emergency powers in perpetuity, but that’s what is happening here. States throughout the country are ending their emergency powers, and it’s long past time for Minnesota to do the same. There simply is no longer a reason for one man to continue to maintain such an iron grip on expansive emergency authority.”