Credit: Office of the Governor, YouTube
As Minnesota moves towards what is expected to be a return to relative normality as the launch of the COVID vaccine accelerates, Governor Tim Walz rescinded a series of executive orders that he enacted in response to the outbreak of the pandemic.
On Friday night, Walz announced that he was rescinding executive orders “which are no longer needed”, which includes 20-03, which imposed restrictions on visitors to Minnesota veterans’ homes.
“Now that the vast majority of residents and employees have been vaccinated, Executive Order 20-03 is no longer needed,” said Walz.
“Receiving the vaccine allowed grandparents to hug their grandchildren again and allowed Minnesota residents to recover some of the parts of their lives that they had to give up,” added Walz. “For our veterans, it means they can safely visit their loved ones. I am excited to announce that – because the vast majority of residents and employees have been vaccinated – the limitations on visitors to our veterans’ homes have been lifted safely.”
The others terminated include Executive Orders 20-25, which allowed the Department of Public Security to suspend continuing education requirements for law enforcement officers and extend license renewal requirements for firefighters, detectives and protection officers.
Orders 20-41 and 20-57 were also terminated, which expanded access to distance learning in schools and summer school options during the 2019-20 school year, which are no longer needed after the end of the school year.
Finally, Walz terminated 20-102, which amended two previous executive orders, expanding access to unemployment benefits during the pandemic. The terminated order element gave the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development extra time to calculate employers’ “experience ratings”, which the governor says is no longer needed due to changes made by DEED with the help of the Legislature.
In addition to rescinding five, Walz also signed a new one on Friday, EO 21-15, which prevents the most recent $ 1,400 stimulus payments from being counted as eligibility for programs operated by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
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