{"id":70684,"date":"2021-08-09T22:28:57","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T03:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=70684"},"modified":"2021-08-10T00:07:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T05:07:14","slug":"70684","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=70684","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/09\/andy-beshear-gretchen-whitmer-tom-wolf-covid-19-andrew-cuomo\/\">6 Governors Stripped Of Power Because Of Overreach During The COVID-19 Pandemic<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lawmakers in 46 states have moved to limit governors\u2019 emergency powers wielded during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing executives have overextended their authority.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pennsylvania voters in May approved two amendments to the state\u2019s constitution proposed by Republican lawmakers that sought to limit the executive power of Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf, while Republican lawmakers in Michigan voted\u00a0in July to repeal the Emergency Powers Act of 1945, a law used by Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to issue widespread restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic without consulting the legislature.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The power struggles between legislatures and governors are not necessarily partisan, with the overwhelmingly-Democrat legislature in New York voting to limit Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s emergency powers in a bill passed in March.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>State legislatures in six states limited their governors\u2019 emergency powers wielded during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing executives have overextended their authority.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As of June 2021, lawmakers in 46 states have introduced legislation stripping governors of certain emergency powers, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goerie.com\/story\/news\/2021\/06\/07\/covid-states-limiting-governors-emergency-powers\/7512483002\/\">USA Today<\/a>. Legislatures justified their actions as necessary to restore a balance between the branches of state government, pointing to examples of executive overreach and the centralization of power in the hands of governors.<\/p>\n<p>While in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Michigan Republican lawmakers have curtailed the emergency powers of Democrat governors, the cases of legislatures limiting executive authority in New York, Ohio, and Idaho demonstrate that power struggles between lawmakers and governors are not necessarily partisan.<\/p>\n<h4><strong><b>Kentucky<\/b><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The Republican-dominated Kentucky legislature in February\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ci.uky.edu\/kentuckyhealthnews\/2021\/02\/03\/legislature-overrides-vetoes-of-three-bills-limiting-governors-emergency-powers-beshear-files-lawsuit-to-nullify-those-new-laws\/\"><u>overrode<\/u><\/a>\u00a0Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear\u2019s vetoes on three bills designed to limit his executive power. One bill prevented the closure of schools, businesses, and churches during the pandemic so long as they met certain requirements, while another limited Beshear\u2019s executive orders that restrict the function of schools and businesses to no longer than 30 days, with extensions granted by the legislature.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/07\/09\/kentucky-governor-andy-beshear-mask-mandate-explosion-coronavirus-cases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Mandates Wearing Masks Amid Rise In Coronavirus Cases)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The legislature also granted itself the power to cancel any of Beshear\u2019s emergency orders, and automatically limited all emergency restrictions affecting businesses, schools, churches, and local governments. Though the bills were enacted, Beshear\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumnews1.com\/ky\/louisville\/news\/2021\/06\/10\/beshear-s-coronavirus-orders-under-court-scrutiny\"><u>filed<\/u><\/a> a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality, which is currently ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans in the state legislature had been highly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lex18.com\/news\/state-of-the-commonwealth\/lawmakers-criticize-gov-beshear-over-new-covid-19-decisions\"><u>critical<\/u><\/a>\u00a0of Beshear\u2019s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing the governor had not properly consulted with lawmakers when enacting emergency restrictions, and that power was too centralized in his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we take this virus seriously, we will not be cover for his unilateral decision-making,\u201d Republican state Rep. David Osborne said, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lex18.com\/news\/state-of-the-commonwealth\/lawmakers-criticize-gov-beshear-over-new-covid-19-decisions\">LEX 18<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Republican state Sen. Matt Castlen, a sponsor of one of the bills, cited the need to have the state legislature\u2019s input when enacting emergency restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe gladly look forward to having a seat at the table representing all corners of Kentucky in the decisions going forward,\u201d Castlen said in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.legislature.ky.gov\/publicservices\/pio\/release.html#veto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"piano-newsletter\" class=\"piano-newsletter\">\n<div class=\"tp-container-inner\"><strong style=\"font-size: 19px; letter-spacing: 0.13333em; text-transform: uppercase;\"><b>Pennsylvania<\/b><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pennsylvania voters in May\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/pennsylvania-votes-curb-democrat-gov-tom-wolf-emergency-powers-covid-pandemic\"><u>approved<\/u><\/a>\u00a0two amendments to the state\u2019s constitution proposed by Republican lawmakers that sought to limit the executive power of Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jdsupra.com\/legalnews\/recent-amendments-to-the-pennsylvania-5226666\/\"><u>amendments<\/u><\/a>\u00a0permit the legislature to cancel a governor\u2019s emergency declaration with a simple majority vote rather than the previous two-thirds vote, and force the governor to renew emergency declarations through the legislature every 21 days.<\/p>\n<p>Wolf\u2019s restrictive lockdown orders, especially some of the more unusual policies such as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/11\/23\/pennsylvania-suspends-alcohol-sales-night-before-thanksgiving-coronavirus\/\"><u>ban<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on alcohol sales over the Thanksgiving holiday, were criticized by citizens,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/12\/20\/pennsylvania-businesses-indoor-dining-ban-gyms-governor-tom-wolf\/\"><u>business owners<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and lawmakers alike. He was also the subject of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/23\/department-of-justice-investigation-gretchen-whitmer-tom-wolf\/\"><u>scrutiny<\/u><\/a>\u00a0from the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his handling of the pandemic after he ordered nursing homes to accept new residents who had contracted COVID-19, though the DOJ declined to investigate in July.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans in the state legislature cited executive overreach in Wolf\u2019s handling of the pandemic as the reason for the amendments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>6 Governors Stripped Of Power Because Of Overreach During The COVID-19 Pandemic Lawmakers in 46 states have moved to limit governors\u2019 emergency powers wielded during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing executives have overextended their authority. 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