• Having failed to achieve their political objectives through the normal legislative process and having had their lawsuit deemed “meritless” by the Court of Claims, legislative Republicans are continuing their political theater through the appeals process by asking the judiciary to intervene and cast aside our state Constitution’s carefully crafted design.
  • The majority party in the Legislature — not the Legislature as a whole — seeks the Court’s assistance in a political battle to change the law to conform to their policy preferences, while making little discernable effort to respond to the present pandemic in the 100 days since COVID-19 was first identified in Michigan.
  • House Democratic Leader Christine Greig and the House Democratic Caucus submitted an amicus brief to vindicate the powers of the Legislature—by giving full effect to the text of the laws the Legislature has adopted, and by ensuring that the Legislature’s power is not hamstrung in the future.

LANSING, Mich., — The House Democratic Caucus filed an amicus brief today in the Michigan Court of Appeals to defend the constitutional authority of the Legislature. Rather than focusing resources and attention on saving Michiganders’ lives and livelihoods, legislative Republicans continue to waste scarce taxpayer dollars to achieve their partisan political agenda through the judicial appeals process and undermine Governor Whitmer’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Last month, the Court of Claims issued a swift and decisive ruling that the legislative Republicans’ challenge to the Governor’s authority to declare a state of emergency under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act — as enacted by the Legislature — was meritless and failed to establish a reason to invalidate executive orders issued by Governor Whitmer.

“Having already had their day in court, the Republican legislative leadership continues to pursue their partisan political agenda in the appellate court without regard for the state’s staggering budget deficit, the ongoing public health crisis and current efforts to safely reopen our economy,” said House Democratic Leader Christine Greig (D-Farmington Hills). “As Michiganders are facing unimaginable financial distress and uncertainty and the ongoing threat of a deadly virus, our focus and priority must be supporting the pandemic response and addressing the significant budget shortfalls.”

Democrats are seeking to preserve the plain language of the Legislature’s duly enacted statutes and ensure similar distractions are avoided during future state of emergencies.

The Michigan House Democrats’ amicus brief is available here.

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