Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said Saturday that he believes there's no current public health emergency necessitating the Legislature to move quickly on new coronavirus pandemic regulations after the Michigan Supreme Court struck down Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive orders.

One day after a landmark rebuke of the governor's actions from the state Supreme Court, Shirkey said lawmakers will take their time to sort out which of Whitmer's executive orders aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19 should be codified into law.

"Things, I don't believe, are an emergency, nor do I believe they're necessarily urgent, but they are important," Shirkey told Crain's. "So I think we've got the time to do that."

In a split 4-3 decision, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Whitmer has exceeded her legal authority since April 30 by declaring a state of emergency every four weeks and issuing numerous executive orders governing everything from crowd sizes to restaurant capacities and the number of people who can attend a wedding or funeral.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/government/shirkey-no-urgency-negotiate-covid-regulations-senate-gop-wont-support-new-mask-mandate