ST. PAUL – Minnesota House Republicans on Tuesday once again sought to end the executive powers Gov. Tim Walz first enacted in mid-March. For a fifth time, House Democrats blocked such an effort.
State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, said that, while urgent action may have been warranted four months ago in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the time has long passed to restore balance at the Capitol by involving the Legislature in decisions related to the situation.
“There seems to be no end in sight for when the governor’s unilateral rule may end because, so far, he is unwilling to give up his power and the House majority is unwilling to step in and participate in the decision-making process,” Anderson said. “The governor declared a peacetime emergency back in mid-March so he could make quick decisions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. That act may have been warranted four months ago, but we are now surpassing 120 days under his emergency powers and the time for instant decisions has passed. We now are in a management phase and all 201 legislators should be involved in deciding how we can best re-open our state while protecting our most vulnerable citizens. That is how our representative system of government was designed and how our state functions best.”
While the Senate approved a similar measure on Monday, the first day of the current special session, Tuesday’s House move fell on party lines.
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