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Examining the legislature's move to restrict the governor's emergency powers

Posted at 6:22 PM, Jul 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-23 19:20:15-04

(WXYZ) — In tonight's 7 UpFront segment we're looking at the new restriction on the emergency powers of the Governor of the State of Michigan.

The Republican-controlled House voted this week to adopt a petition to repeal the act that granted expanded power to the Governor. Governor Whitmer used those powers through much of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We're being joined by State Representative Doug Wozniak of the 36th District in Macomb County to talk about it.

You can see the full interview in the video player above.

"The emergency powers law was enacted in 1945 because of riots. The 1945 law allowed the governor to make emergency decisions, but be unchecked by any other branch of the government for an unlimited amount of time. A 1976 law followed up that said we'll limit that time to 28 days, wherein the governor has to go back and confer with the legislature, agree on a system to go forward, and, after that, go forward with whatever her ideas or his ideas would be at that time," Wozniak says.