On Monday, the Minnesota Senate voted on a bipartisan resolution to end Governor Tim Walz’s peacetime emergency powers relative to the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote aims to end the state’s longest peacetime emergency in history, which began when Gov. Walz first put the state under emergency powers back on March 13, 2020.

“Today is an important day for Minnesota and one that Governor Walz told us to be prepared to dread in fear,” said Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria). “Today is the day that Governor Walz told Minnesotans that we were supposed to experience our peak in cases and deaths. Fortunately, to the benefit and credit of our residents, that simply hasn’t happened. Unfortunately, though, the low death toll and decline in new cases hasn’t stopped Governor Walz from continuing to make unilateral choices for Minnesotans. In light of that, the Senate has voted to end Governor Walz’s emergency powers related to COVID-19 to force the Governor to work with legislators on solutions that benefit all our communities moving forward. “

The vote to end the peacetime emergency was passed 36-31 with bipartisan support. The resolution now heads to the House, where it requires majority support before it can be adopted.