For the fourth time, Senator Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo) and the Minnesota Senate voted last Friday 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.

“When Gov. Walz invoked a state of emergency back in March, we were told it was absolutely necessary in order to ‘bend the curve’ so hospitals would not be overwhelmed,” said Sen. Anderson. “We achieved that goal months ago. We have enough PPE. We have enough beds. The percentage of tests that come back positive remains low. 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 bipartisan vote to end the governor’s peacetime emergency powers was 36-31, with one Democrat joining all 35 Republicans supporting the resolution.