Sen. Jason Rarick | Facebook
Sen. Jason Rarick | Facebook
It’s time to end Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s emergency COVID-19 powers, said State Sen. Jason Rarick (R-Brook Park).
“I believe the governor should refrain from extending emergency powers any longer,” the senator said in a note to constituents. “He is passing mandates that carry fines and potential imprisonment penalties – nothing so severe should be decided by one man alone.”
During the recent special session of the Legislature, the Senate voted to end Walz’s emergency powers.
“The House chose otherwise,” Rarick said. “We are currently living through the state’s longest peacetime emergency in history. The governor first put the state under emergency powers on March 13, 2020.”
Several COVID-19 relief bills were introduced during the special session, the senator said, but did not fare well.
They all “failed in the House or were simply not brought to the floor for a vote,” he said. “The bills were funded by either the Federal CARES Act or the Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, meaning they added no additional expense to the state.”
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