CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH JAKE PUTALA, UNLOCK MICHIGAN U.P. DIRECTOR
Unlock Michigan’s effort to repeal the 1945 emergency powers law that Governor Gretchen Whitmer used to impose COVID restrictions has made its final approval Wednesday in the Michigan House. The vote was 60-to-48 in favor.
Jake Putala was the Upper Peninsula director for the campaign. He says it was a true grass roots effort, noting that 1,300 people helped to collect more than 10,000 signatures across the 15 Upper Peninsula counties.
“I remind you that it was at a time when we had very few public events because a lot of county fairs and celebrations were cancelled,” Putala said. “So we had to set up our own events, in parks, alongside the roadway, by stores. And we managed to pull together a great team and a great deal of signatures.”
All four Upper Peninsula representatives voted in favor of repealing the law. Whitmer cannot veto it. The Senate also voted to repeal that law last week.
“Students, workers and small business owners are still feeling the effects of Gov. Whitmer’s misguided lockdowns,” said eastern U.P. state rep John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs). “Unlock Michigan will guarantee no governor can abuse the unconstitutional emergency powers law she used to bypass the Legislature, cripple the economy and close schools.”
“Gov. Whitmer ruling unilaterally had a profound impact on the functionality of our state as we went through COVID-19,” said western U.P. state representative Greg Markkanen (R-Hancock). “It also had a profound impact on the functionality of basic representation in state government. People were unable to have their voices heard – as legislators serve as the voice of the people.
“Because of this approach by the governor, numerous concerns people had – whether it was unfulfilled unemployment claims, families worried their children were falling behind by not being in a classroom or small business owners wondering what they had to do to resume their livelihoods safely and sensibly – fell on deaf ears,” Markkanen continued. “The governor was the one making the decisions alone.”
Whitmer argued that she acted to save lives as the virus spread in multiple waves across Michigan. Her restrictions were lifted on June 22, after being imposed, altered, and re-imposed from time to time. She had repeatedly labeled the Unlock Michigan campaign as “dangerous” and said that it will handcuff future governors who try to deal with emergencies. Whitmer had urged people not to sign the petition, but more than 350,000 people did anyway.
Republican lawmakers say governors can still act under a 1976 law, but that law has a 28-day maximum for emergency orders before legislative approval is required.
Instead, Whitmer has been using a 1918 law that allows her, through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, to issue orders that have no time limit on them.
Now, Putala says they’re getting together for another campaign to repeal that law as well.
“We had our summary language approved by the state Board of Canvassers and those petition sheets are in the process of being printed,” Putula said. “We’ll hit the ground again like we did last summer, collecting signatures and making sure that the MDHHS and local health agencies also have to have legislative input when they’re issuing these orders for long periods of time.”
The conservative think tank Mackinac Center For Public Policy sued the governor over the 1945 law.
“Events since the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision have shown the necessity of reigning in emergency powers,” said Patrick J. Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center. “Gov. Whitmer indicated she wanted to use it to make unilateral decisions about post-pandemic economic policies and even to overturn laws unrelated to emergencies, such as the state’s third-grade reading law. While the administrative powers given to bureaucrats still need better safeguards, the separation of powers has been strengthened and Michigan is now on a better path.”
It technically stays on the books until 90 days after the legislative session ends. The Michigan Supreme Court has also declared that 1945 law unconstitutional.
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