by Scott McClallen
After two orders from the Michigan Supreme Court, the State Board of Canvassers unanimously certified the Unlock Michigan petition aiming to revoke Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers.
The petition heads to the GOP-led Legislature where it’s expected to be quickly approved, spokeswoman of Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey of Clarklake, Abby Walls, said.
“Seeing as opponents have finally run out of absurd challenges, we will take it up as soon as Secretary [Jocelyn] Benson sends.”
Fred Wszolek, the spokesman for Unlock Michigan, welcomed the news.
“We’re looking forward to the next and final step on the long read: passage by the Michigan House and Senate of our initiative to repeal this law so abused by Governor Whitmer,” Wszolek said in a statement.
The Board in April of 2020 deadlocked 2-2 on multiple motions.
The Unlock Michigan petition, filed in October 2020, dates back to the early COVID-19 pandemic when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer enacted the most severe restrictions in the 12 Midwest states via 1945 pandemic powers the petition aims to annihilate. Those far-reaching orders included threatening criminal charges for operating a motorboat, visiting a secondary home, and banning stores larger than 50,000 square feet from selling gardening supplies. Entire professions, including barbers and landscapers, were deemed “non-essential.”
But on Oct. 2, 2020, The Michigan Supreme Court tossed many of Whitmer’s executive orders, but split 4-3 on whether the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act “is an unlawful delegation of legislative power to the executive branch in violation of the Michigan Constitution.”
The Senate is scheduled to meet Thursday.
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Photo “Michigan Supreme Court” by Steve & Christine CC BY 2.0.
