Gov.Whitmer swings on barbers pole
Owosso barber aids petition drive to limit Whitmer's powers
Lansing — Karl Manke, the Owosso barberwho defied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home ordersis helping with a new petition campaign that wants to limit her unilateral emergency powers.
Through the state's initiative process, a committee called Unlock Michigan hopes to gather 340,047 valid petition signatures to repeal a 1945 law that allows the governor to declare a state of emergency and keep it in place without input from the Legislature.
If the committee can hit the signature threshold in a 180-day period, its repeal proposal would need votes from the Republican-controlled House and Senate but not the signature of the Democratic governor to become law.
"Any attempt to strip away the powers of the governor during this crisis is irresponsible, dangerous and foolish," Whitmer said during a press conference last week.
But Fred Wszolek, a Republican political consultant and spokesman for Unlock Michigan, countered that under the current reading of the law, any person could become governor and decree a state of emergency for the four-year term because of a "hailstorm."
"The Whitmer administration is going to say we don’t need politics as part of emergency management. We’ve got evidence of the need for her to listen to more voices," said Wszolek, who referenced the spread of the virus in Michigan nursing homes.
The state of emergency declaration is what gives the governor the unilateral power to issue stay-at-home orders or to close specific businesses, like gyms. Currently, there are two state laws that allow a governor to declare a state of emergency.
There's a 1976 law, the Emergency Management Act, under which the governor can declare an emergency but must get the approval of the Legislature to continue it after 28 days.
Then, there's the 1945 law, the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act, which doesn't include a timeline for the Legislature to have a say and appears to allow the governor to decide when to rescind an emergency declaration.
Unlock Michigan would leave the 1976 law in place but repeal the 1945 law.
The Republican-controlled Michigan House and Senate have challenged Whitmer's use of both laws to declare emergencies. The case is pending in the Court of Appeals after Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled in May that Whitmer had the authority to continue Michigan's state of emergency without the Legislature's approval under the 1945 law.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/24/owosso-barber-helps-new-campaign-limit-whitmer-power/3253770001/