#david eggert

[arcticdementor]

(link)

[gettothedancing]

You can read her new executive order here. She put it out hours before Michigan’s Republican-majority Senate was going to vote to repeal a law from 1945 that she’s relied on as a legal basis for expanding her authority during the pandemic. (x) But Lower (MI-R) is hinting that the repeal may still go forward.

More about the legal source of her authority:

Whitmer argues she derives her emergency authority from two separate laws: The Emergency Management Act of 1976, which requires a legislative extension every 28 days, and The Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945, which does require any legislative action for continuance.

There are significant differences between the two emergency power laws, Whitmer said Monday. In particular, the 1976 statute, which requires legislative sign off, shields health care professionals from legal liability for services provided at the request of the state.

If the Legislature decides not to extend the emergency declaration under the 1976 law, Whitmer wouldn’t have to do anything else to extend the stay-home order, said Peter Ruddell, a lawyer at Honigman law firm and a former aide to GOP Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow.

“Both laws give the governor incredibly broad powers” to take action under a declaration of disaster or emergency, he said, so Republicans would have little luck arguing in court that she needs their approval.

However, Republicans may be able to argue that she overextended her powers under the emergency declarations by broadening the scope to address the “health, economic, and social harms” of the emergency, Ruddell said. “Such a declaration of emergency could arguably be beyond the police powers of the state.”

Both sides may prefer to negotiate and stick with the 1975 law to protect first responders. But if it goes to court, Ruddell said, “this is untested. We’ve never had a separation of powers issue in this state that has reached litigation of this magnitude.”

[mystlnewsonline]

EAST LANSING, Mich. | Low-profile administrator replaces Engler at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. | Low-profile administrator replaces Engler at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. —Jan 17, 2019— Michigan State University ousted its interim president on Thursday, a week ahead of his scheduled departure, as the school stepped up efforts to finally move beyond the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.

Its new temporary leader, Satish Udpa, is a high-ranking but low-profile university administrator and former engineering dean who was promoted Thursday to take the…

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[mystlnewsonline]

LANSING, Mich. | Snyder signs bill to make Michigan ballot drives tougher

LANSING, Mich. | Snyder signs bill to make Michigan ballot drives tougher

LANSING, Mich.  — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday signed a law making it harder for groups to put proposals on the statewide ballot and vetoed one that would have hamstrung the incoming Democratic attorney general.

The term-limited Republican acted days before he leaves office after a frenetic lame-duck session in which GOP lawmakers passed measures criticized by Democrats as blatant and…

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[mystlnewsonline]

LANSING, Mich | Michigan GOP advances bill to make ballot drives harder

LANSING, Mich | Michigan GOP advances bill to make ballot drives harder

LANSING, Mich.  — Michigan Republicans moved Wednesday to curtail ballot initiatives by advancing a measure limiting how many signatures could come from any one region of the state, the latest proposal assailed by critics as an unconstitutional, lame-duck power grab from incoming Democratic officeholders or voters.

The House Elections and Ethics Committee passed the bill 6-3 along party lines on…

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[mystlnewsonline]

LANSING, Mich. | Michigan's medical chief to stand trial on Flint charges

LANSING, Mich. | Michigan’s medical chief to stand trial on Flint charges

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s chief medical executive will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter and other charges in a criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis, a judge ruled Friday.

Dr. Eden Wells is among five people facing an involuntarymanslaughter charge in connection to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area in 2014 and 2015. Wells is now the second high-ranking…

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[mystlnewsonline]

LANSING, Mich. | GOP seeks last-ditch laws in states where its power slipped

LANSING, Mich. | GOP seeks last-ditch laws in states where its power slipped

LANSING, Mich.— With their grip on power set to loosen come January, Republicans in several states are considering last-ditch laws that would weaken existing or incoming Democratic governors and advance their own conservative agendas.

In Michigan, where the GOP has held the levers of power for nearly eight years, Republican legislators want to water down a minimum wage law they approved before…

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