Lansing Sun

Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) has endorsed a petition drive to repeal a 1945 Michigan law that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is citing to continue her emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We did not extend her emergency powers beyond the end of April, and she has continued to operate just completely on her own with no legislative oversight of any of the mandates she is placing on our employers, individuals, schools, anything,”  Barrett said on "The Frank Beckmann Show." “We want to restore the constitutionally guaranteed form of government in Michigan, which gives every person in this state the right to representative democracy.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Whitmer has been “seeking to fulfill the role of the legislative and executive branch at the same time," said Barrett on the radio program.

Sen. Tom Barrett | #MiSenateGOP

The “Unlock Michigan” movement seeks to repeal  the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act.

“It repeals the law that allows a Michigan governor to govern by decree, without end and without accountability,” the Unlock Michigan website states.

Barrett disagrees with Whitmer that the law gives her the authority to act without legislative approval. Nevertheless, repealing the law would “force her to respect the role of government that each branch plays,” the senator said. “I look at this as a citizens' override of the governor to be able to restore that constitutional form of government to our state.”

Whitmer carried Barrett’s senate district in 2018, but Barrett said constituent feedback on this issue has been about five-to-one in favor of his position.

“This is anecdotal evidence, but the people I talk to as I’m out and about in my district... are definitely at least skeptical of the governor having unchecked, unilateral power for the duration of their term,” Barrett said. “That’s true for any governor. We would not trust any singular individual with unilateral control of our state and our governance for any longer than is absolutely critical in a time of emergency.”