The Michigan Supreme Court ruled late today that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lacked "the authority to declare a 'state of emergency' or a 'state of disaster' under the 1976 Emergency Management Act after April 30 and that the 1945 Emergency Powers of Governor Act is in violation of the Constitution because it "purports to delegate to the executive branch the legislative powers of state government."
Mere hours before the ruling, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had ordered tighter restrictions on public activity in the Upper Peninsula under the Safe Start Plan, which rests on Executive Orders issued by her.
Whitmer said the U.P. has "the most concerning numbers in the state" after numbers started "sharply increasing" after mid-September, and said the region has 283 absolute cases per million and a 5.1 percent positivity rate for COVID-19 cases.
MAC has legal counsel reviewing the ruling and will be advising over the course of the weekend and next week about legal implications for county operations and board meetings.
