Second Assembly District Representative Shae Sortwell is not pleased of Governor Evers extending his “Stay at Home” Order through 8 a.m. Tuesday May 26th.
“We need to be able to be with our loved ones, we need to be able to go about our day, we need to be able to restore our economy,” Sortwell told SeehaferNews.com. “This is causing real suffering and all I hear out of the Governor is more of the same…This is absolutely insane.”
Yesterday the Governor extended his original order that was set to expire next Friday saying “A few weeks ago-we had a pretty grim outlook for what COVID 19 could mean for our state. But because of the efforts of all of you Safer at Home is working.”
The state’s K thru 12 schools are closed for the rest of the year but some changes include allowing golf courses to open under certain restrictions- allowing lawncare and construction work and curbside pickup at public libraries and for some non-essential businesses.
Sortwell-a Republican from the Town of Gibson-says that The Governor signed an Executive Order March 12th declaring a public health emergency directing the State Department of Health Services to take all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent and respond to incidences to COVID 19 thus making his action yesterday illegal.
Sortwell explained, “When the 60 day clock runs out on May 11th, he has to get approval from the state legislature in order to extend beyond that. Now during that 60 days, he’s allowed to do a whole lot of things, he has a lot of flexibility… He put out this Stay at Home order, and he did that through his Department of Health Services Secretary who, under the emergency order…takes charge of that.”
A news release from the Governor’s Office states that Evers directed Department of Health Services Secretary designee Andrea Palm to extend the order or until a superseding order issued. Sortwell says the Governor skirted around this by utilizing Chapter 252 of the State Code saying that there’s a provision which calls for shutting down businesses and schools for a non-emergency or health incident.
Sortwell says this provision only applies to a locally concentrated issue.
Sortwell told SeehaferNews.com, “I can’t imagine any applet court or the state supreme court is going to think this makes any sense whatsoever. Giving an unelected bureaucrat more power than the state legislature. I think it’s high time that the Senate come together and throw her out of office, because she’s just as guilty for this illegal action.”
State Republicans are also discussing possibly taking action to curb Evers’ powers. The local legislator adds “The Governor is not above the law and must be held accountable.”
