During a press conference at a vaccine location, Gov. Kevin Stitt took one question regarding a special session to resolve meetings, voting, & public policy matters. He said he's been open to the idea of a special session 'if the pro temp and speaker want one'.
He did not specifically say that the special session would be precipitated by a Health Emergency Declaration, like the action he took in early April. That statutory clause allows the proper implementation of emergency orders with a 30-day sunset and a legislative oversight committee. Recently, the governor appears to be making new laws on his own, by declaring either a state of civil unrest (riot & insurrection) or a natural or manmade disaster emergency. Neither of those last two categories are in any way applicable to the spread of a new virus strain, but the governor seems to prefer them as they allow him an open-ended sort of martial law powers. No previous governor has exercised so much emergency powers since Alfalfa Bill Murray declared martial law some 30 times in his tumultuous one term as governor in the early 1930s. Murray even led soldiers to war against Texas in a dispute over a border bridge near Durant. |
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Last week a judge temporarily blocked much of the Governor's orders pertaining to 6 plaintiff restaurants and taverns who filed suit. That hearing will proceed on Dec. 30th. The governor wants to force the businesses to stop operations just during the peak hours of 11pm - 2am, when most taverns make the most income of their business day.
Plaintiff's attorney, Frank Urbanic, has asserted that these extra rules were not lawfully created, nor were they properly complete, because the language of the rules do not specify a penalty for infractions. ABLE Commission has assumed the powers to make up their own arbitrary penalties, which is beyond the statutory and constitutional powers granted to any state agency. The comments on a special session came at the tail end of a press event about nursing home vaccines. |