Gov. has no authority to continue state of emergency: Mich. Supreme Court

The governor does not have authority under either of the state’s emergency statutes to continue the coronavirus state of emergency, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in questions related to a federal case on Friday.

Two laws -- the Emergency Management Act from 1976 and the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act from 1945 -- govern how states of emergency are declared and handled in Michigan.

Neither, the court found, gave Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the authority to continue declaring states of emergency or issuing unilateral orders under them past April 30, when her initial declaration would have expired.

“We conclude that the Governor lacked the authority to declare a ‘state of emergency’ or a ‘state of disaster’ under the EMA after April 30, 2020, on the basis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we conclude that the EPGA is in violation of the Constitution of our state because it purports to delegate to the executive branch the legislative powers of state government-- including its plenary police powers-- and to allow the exercise of such powers indefinitely," wrote Justice Stephen J. Markman in the majority opinion.

“As a consequence, the EPGA cannot continue to provide a basis for the Governor to exercise emergency powers.”

The court’s order comes at the behest of U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney, who found a federal case needed input from the state courts on whether Whitmer has the authority after April 30 to renew any executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether Michigan’s state of emergency laws are constitutional.

The underlying federal case was filed in May by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation on behalf of four west Michigan medical providers and a patient seeking a knee surgery. At the time, Whitmer’s orders banned elective procedures.

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/10/gov-has-no-authority-to-continue-state-of-emergency-michigan-supreme-court-rules.html