CLICK TO HEAR COIMMENTS FROM HOUSE SPEAKER LEE CHATIELD
House and Senate have filed a lawsuit against Governor Gretchen Whitmer, accusing her of exceeding her authority in extending a state of emergency without legislative approval in the battle againsy the coronavirus.
The Republican-led legilature filed the lawsuit in the Court of Claims Wednesday morning, claiming that the governor’s extension of the executive orders are unconstitutional. The governor claims that she has all of the authority that she needs under a 1945 statute that grants governor’s emergency powers in times of crisis.
Republicans claim that law is superceded by a 1976 law that requires a governor get legislative approval for extending emergency declarations every 28 days. The legislature extended her state of emergency in April, but refused to do so again last week. The governor extended the declaration anyway Thursday night.
Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, who also represents the eastern Upper Peninsula, gave this statement”
“In Michigan, our governor has said that we’re all in this together. I couldn’t agree more. But that means we should also all be working together. This is an unprecedented challenge, and it requires an unprecedented partnership. But unfortunately, the governor rejected our help and declared that she was above the law. This was a sad day for our state, because nobody wanted to see a fight in the courts. This all was very avoidable.
We’ve attempted to partner with our governor to fight COVID-19, but she rejected and decided to go it alone. We’ve offered cooperation, but she chose the courts instead. People in our state need help, and by working together, we can provide it. This was avoidable, but today we filed a lawsuit in our state to challenge her unconstitutional actions. The law in Michigan is clear, and nobody is above it.”
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