HC 8

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 04/14/2020 11:02am

A House concurrent resolution
relating to Minnesota's peacetime emergency; terminating the peacetime emergency
pursuant to the authority granted under Minnesota Statutes, section 12.31, subdivision
2, paragraph (b).

WHEREAS, Governor Walz signed Executive Order 20-01, a declaration of a peacetime
emergency on March 13, 2020; and

WHEREAS, the Executive Council of the State extended that peacetime emergency for up
to 30 days, on March 16, 2020; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature has appropriated $519,120,000 to help hospitals, clinics, medical
professionals, first responders, and all Minnesotans with the response to the infectious disease
known as COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, the governor's intentions in declaring a peacetime emergency were honorable,
aiming to save lives and slow the spread of the infectious disease known as COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, a good policy may go on too long, and a wise decision at one time may become
a burden at another; and

WHEREAS, the continuation of the executive orders creating a peacetime emergency has a
huge, terrible, and persistent effect on the people of Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, the executive orders will continue to result in the suspension of business activities,
the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, and a significant disruption to the state's economic life;
and

WHEREAS, the unnecessary continuation of the governor's executive orders risks a deep
and lasting recession; and

WHEREAS, state revenues to the general fund are falling, raising the dark harbinger of
budget reductions, and the attendant harm to Minnesota schools, roads, law enforcement, and public
services; and

WHEREAS, the impact of continuing the governor's executive orders extends beyond the
economy to the social well-being of Minnesotans, increasing social isolation and the possibility of
increased mental health complications, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, and marital
dissolution; and

WHEREAS, the governor's executive orders are well-intended but harmful to Minnesotans,
arbitrary in their impact, unlawful in their effects, and misguided in their application; NOW,
THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota, the Senate
concurring, that the legislature exercises its authority under Minnesota Statutes, section 12.31,
subdivision 2, paragraph (b), terminating the peacetime emergency declared under Executive Order
20-01.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is
directed to prepare an enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and
those of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Rules and
Administration Committee, and the Secretary of the Senate, and transmit it to the Governor of the
State of Minnesota.