Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature
Skip Navigation Links
  • LRL Home
    • >
  • Virtual File
    • >
  • Item

    • Virtual File - Item

    Title: Letter from Gov. Walz to legislative leaders regarding a wind-down of the peacetime emergency
    Article Date: 1/7/2021
    Source:
    Author:
    Type: Other
    URL:
    File: letter from gov walz to legislative leaders regarding emergency powers_1-7-2021.pdf 

    Text: January 7, 2021

    Dear Legislative Leaders:

    As the legislative session begins this week, I recognize our shared interest in finding a pathway to work
    collaboratively to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and to ensure an orderly end of the peacetime emergency
    when it is no longer needed. To accomplish this, we will need to work together to ensure our response maintains
    the needed speed and flexibility to responding to the pandemic, including safely and effectively distributing the
    vaccine. While the recent trends in the pandemic's trajectory are encouraging thanks to Minnesotans' hard work
    and sacrifice in recent weeks, we are not yet out of the woods. The pandemic will continue its tragic impact all
    over the state until everyone has access to the vaccines.

    With a light now at the end of the tunnel, I encourage you to begin the work of enacting into law the core
    provisions of the emergency response that have been keeping Minnesotans safe. This will be needed to facilitate
    the wind-down of the peacetime emergency and related emergency executive orders at a time when the pandemic
    presents a less significant and rapidly evolving challenge to Minnesota. Core provisions to prioritize include but
    are not limited to:

    • Commonsense measures to ensure that businesses continue to provide safe environments to enable
    commerce to thrive.
    • Increased protections for workers from unsafe working conditions and retaliation from raising concerns
    about workplace safety.
    • Changes to the Unemployment Insurance program to continue to enable more job seekers to receive
    timely support
    • Requirements to wear face coverings in public indoor spaces and indoor businesses.
    • Flexibility for school districts to enable local determinations of learning models with appropriate safety
    precautions.
    • Continuation of the evictions moratorium with a specific timeline for its end to avoid surprises and a surge
    in evictions.
    • Protections for Minnesotans against price gouging on essential goods and services and garnishment of
    COVID-19 relief payments.

    In the December special session, we showed Minnesotans that we could put aside politics and provide support
    for small businesses and workers. I look forward to continuing this spirit of collaboration as we enter the 2021
    session.

    Sincerely,
    Tim Walz
    Governor

    Search



    Date: to
    Topics: (Show Topics)
    LRL Historical Resource