ST. PAUL, MN — Ahead of an expected announcement this week by Governor Walz loosening Minnesota's COVID restrictions, Representative Paul Novotny, R-Elk River, is calling for transparent and concrete dates and/or metrics for the end of the peacetime emergency. Just this week, Florida lifted all remaining COVID restrictions, and Governors of Democrat states like New York and California have established target dates for the lifting of capacity limits and other COVID restrictions. Other deep-blue states like Connecticut lifted capacity limits starting as far back as March.
“For more than a year, the Governor has pushed the legislature aside, made a mockery of our constitution, and made unilateral decisions that have caused significant economic and social harm for Minnesotans,” said Rep. Novotny. “With the emergency phase of the pandemic long over, it’s past time for the Governor to give up his powers, end the lockdowns, and let Minnesotans make decisions for themselves and their families.”
House Republicans have voted more than a dozen times to end the peacetime emergency, and have put forward numerous proposals to end or modify the Governor's Chapter 12 powers, as well as proposals to establish timelines and metrics that would end the peacetime emergency. Democrats have refused to advance those proposals in the House, and have even stonewalled proposals from their own party to wind down the Governor's emergency powers.
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