Walz extends his executive authority; GOP leaders press for transparency in decision-making
ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Walz on Monday, April 13, issued an order extending his peacetime emergency through May 13 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The move pushes out the deadline for the governor's extended executive authority and it ruffled the feathers of Republican lawmakers who said the governor should loop them in to make decisions in responding to the growing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Minnesota.
The governor on March 13 declared a state of peacetime emergency due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, and has since issued dozens of orders significantly altering day-to-day life in Minnesota.
In the effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, Walz closed schools, restaurants, bars and areas of public amusement and ordered that Minnesotans stay at home until at least May 4 unless they are performing essential tasks. And on Monday, Walz left the door open to prolonging those deadlines, but he said he hadn't decided yet whether those orders would have to remain intact beyond May 4.
"The virus will lay out the timetable for us," Walz told reporters. "Yes, we all want to open up tomorrow. But people will die if we do that."
Walz said he was working with health officials to determine the safest way to allow idled workers to get back to their jobs without causing a spike in COVID-19 cases that could overwhelm the state's health systems.
Republican legislative leaders on Monday said they hoped to see more businesses open quickly to reduce the burden on the state's economy. And they called for answers about what was guiding Walz's decisions about when to allow Minnesotans to go back to work.
"He clearly understands the emergency caused by COVID-19," Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, said. "We need to be assured he also understands the economic emergency caused by his response."
House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, called on Walz to open up discussions about when restrictions would lift, saying "it should not be up to a few commissioners in St. Paul to be the sole decision-makers for thousands of businesses and millions of employees."
The Legislature on Tuesday could end the peacetime emergency with majority support in each legislative chamber. But given the divided nature of the body, it appeared unlikely that could succeed. A small faction of Republican lawmakers known as the New House Republican Caucus put forth a separate resolution to end the peacetime emergency. That resolution would require two-thirds support in each chamber.
Discussions about when to reopen businesses and begin allowing more Minnesotans to go back to work are ongoing, Walz and economic development officials said. And efforts to slowly reopen areas of the economy could be constrained given a lack of supplies to test workers for the illness and for antibodies that could indicate whether someone has already been sick.
Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove on Monday said state officials were having consistent contact with regional chambers of commerce around the state and had been taking suggestions from Minnesotans about ways to get people back to work safely.
The slowed economy also hit the state's coffers, state budget officials said, and general fund receipts in February and March came in 3.8% lower than what they'd expected before the pandemic took hold. Walz and his commissioners would take a 10% salary decrease and the state would freeze hiring for nonessential workers, Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans said.
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Topic: corona pandemic~ (Read 566422 times)
