In a surprise move after receiving pressure from the legislature, Governor Walz has agreed to end his coronavirus peacetime emergency authority effective today, July 1.
The governor had planned on ending the authority on Aug. 1 but was under a lot of pressure from Republicans and even the Democrat-controlled House voted to end his authority sooner. As it turned out, the governor made this announcement just prior to the House vote.
“The Senate again quickly approved ending the authority and, hopefully, this puts an end to an extraordinary period in Minnesota history where one person, the governor, pretty much ran the state regarding all pandemic-related efforts and restrictions since March 2020,” NFIB State Director Mike Hickey said. “Minnesota’s sharply divided government contributed to this since the legislature can only resend his emergency authority, they do not have the authority to approve it.”
