The second special session of 2020 began last night and bills have been filed that seeks to scale back the governor’s authority during an emergency. House Republican Mark Wright of Covington proposes that any emergency declaration extended beyond 30 days should see more input than just the governor.
“I know that the governor is consulting with CDC and his staff, it’s not like by himself, but at the same time the legislature is the appropriate place to have some of this conversation and negotiate some of these orders,” said Wright.
Governor Edwards has said you can’t respond to a public health emergency by committee.
But Wright says his legislation could result in future emergency orders being more effective because it will have the backing of the legislature as well.
“There’s a lot of value in a future governor being able to say I framed this executive order, but the legislature has approved it after 30 days, I think there is a lot more balanced there than we have now,” said Wright.
Wright calls the legislation an additional layer of checks and balances and says similar consultation with lawmakers exists at the federal level as well.
“At the federal level, there’s the War Powers to Act where Congress gives the President 90 days to act militarily, but after that Congress has to declare war,” said Wright.
(picture of State Representative Mark Wright)
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