In a bipartisan House vote to approve the Unlock Michigan petition, state Rep. Ken Borton supported the repeal of an unconstitutional law used by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to impose onerous restrictions on the people of Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When Gov. Whitmer decided to go it alone during the pandemic, her orders left struggling people in their wake,” said Borton, of Gaylord. “A solo approach was clearly wrong for our state. A governor must work with legislators to discover real solutions that work for everyone, and Unlock Michigan will help protect the people by protecting the legislative process.”
The Unlock Michigan citizens’ initiative repeals the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945 (EPGA), which Whitmer used to issue restrictions unilaterally during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled the EPGA unconstitutional in October 2020.
More than 460,000 Michigan residents signed in support of the Unlock Michigan petition. Although Democratic members of the Board of State Canvassers refused at first to certify the measure, the canvassers unanimously approved the certification last week, following two successive Supreme Court rulings instructing them to do so.
The Senate approved the initiative last Thursday. Under the constitution, the House’s approval today will enact the petition into law without needing the governor’s signature.
“House Republicans aren’t playing by the normal rules anymore, and that makes partisan hacks like Dana Nessel shake in their boots,” said Borton, R-Gaylord. “Instead of encouraging her own colleagues to consider legislation to address our concerns, she would rather threaten us with criminal charges for standing up for tipped workers and small businesses. Nessel should realize that we aren’t scared of her or her desperate attempts to weaponize the attorney general’s office as a last-ditch effort to extinguish what’s been a dumpster fire of a legislative term. Let her charge us; I want to look her in the eye in court while she tries to argue how my sticking up for restaurant workers and small businesses is a dereliction of duty.”
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