Walz’s Emergency Powers Remain in Place Following MN House Vote

Gov. Tim Walz will hold on to his emergency powers despite GOP efforts to end them today.

The Minnesota Senate voted today to terminate the emergency powers that Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote was 39-29, with three Democrats breaking ranks to vote with the Republican majority. But the DFL-controlled House voted 73-61 to reject the move.

Republicans say Walz has, with his use of those powers, hurt Minnesota economically and has not gotten better results than other states that have fewer COVID-19 restrictions.

Positive coronavirus cases in Minnesota increased for the third straight day, following a previous trend of four straight days of declines. The state confirmed 490 new cases and 25 more deaths, pushing up the number of deaths of long-term care residents to over 1,000. There are now nearly 30,000 total positive cases. 403 patients are hospitalized as of Friday and 191 are hospitalized in ICU.

There have been no new reported cases or deaths today in Crow Wing, Cass, Itasca, or Beltrami Counties.