Today on the Senate Floor the GOP introduced Senate File 1, a bill to revoke the current and future Governor’s ability to close businesses or limit their capacity using the power of an executive order.
In response to this bill, DFL Assistant Minority Leader Foung Hawj (DFL-St. Paul) released the following statement:
“Today the Senate Republicans put forward a bill that was, again, nothing more than partisan politics. Senate File 1 would restrict the Governor’s emergency powers in a time of crisis and open businesses without any way of enforcing safety measures for our workers or our community members. Our time would have been better spent discussing public policy and bipartisan solutions to help our workers and ensure their safety. Anything less is politics. We have been through extremely challenging times over the last year and we are not out of the woods yet. We need to come together to fight this pandemic and protect our communities – not spend time fighting each other.”
Throughout this unprecedented health crisis, Governor Walz has made decisions based on facts and public health, while seeking to support businesses and communities across Minnesota. Governor Walz has also outlined the preconditions that he would like to see prior to lifting his executive orders, which include a continued mask requirement and protections for workers from retaliation when asking for a safe workplace.
Senate Democrats, including Senator Hawj, put forth multiple amendments to ensure worker safety provisions would be included with the bill, but none of those amendments moved forward.
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