Michigan House Votes to Repeal Emergency Law Used by Governor to Issue COVID-19 Restrictions

Michigan House Votes to Repeal Emergency Law Used by Governor to Issue COVID-19 Restrictions
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seen at Beech Woods Recreation Center in Southfield, Mich., on Oct. 16, 2020. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Bill Pan
Updated:
The Michigan House of Representatives voted early Friday morning to repeal a law Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used as authority to issue a series of public health orders in response to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

The House voted 57-43 to repeal the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945, which authorizes the governor to proclaim a state of emergency but also lays out no role for the state legislature in rejecting or extending a state of emergency and puts no time limit on such an emergency. Whitmer has repeatedly cited the emergency powers law to justify broad restrictions since March, when the state of emergency was first announced in response to the spread of the CCP virus in Michigan.

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