Soon, they might only directly affect a few hundred.
Work-from-home orders, business and school closures, indoor mask mandates all made every resident of the state aware that Walz had extraordinary powers â and was using them in ways that touched their lives. Month after month Walz extended his declaration by 30 days, an act that allowed him to create more than 100 executive orders, ranging from the licensing of truck drivers and medical staff to the hurried purchasing of medical supplies.
Courts in the state and elsewhere consistently ruled that a state of emergency meant executives could act as one-person legislatures to enact measures to respond to the pandemic. But emergency powers also became one of the most divisive issues in American politics.