Another attempt by Republicans to end Governor Tim Walz’s COVID emergency powers failed last night on the second day of this second special session — with House Democrats refusing to pass a resolution that the Republican-controlled Senate approved the day before. Prior Lake Republican Tony Albright said to the governor, consider the continued economic damage: “The repercussions will last, for some, a lifetime! Do you really want to live with that? Do you want that to be your legacy?”
Saint Paul Democrat Dave Pinto responded Governor Walz is not the cause of economic losses — COVID-19 is. “We are up at 3.4 million infections across the country. We’re adding 60 thousand new infections a day. We’re up to 135 thousand deaths…. There is no way in which this emergency is past,” Pinto says.
House Republican leaders say they won’t allow a bonding bill for state public works projects to pass unless the governor gives up his emergency powers.