Michelle Ugenti-Rita /Photo by Howard Fischer/Capitol Media Services
By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
A veteran state lawmaker is moving to strip Gov. Doug Ducey of the powers he assumed when he declared an emergency 10 months ago.
The resolution by Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, says that Ducey’s March 11 emergency order has interfered with individual rights. That specifically refers to the stay-at-home edicts the governor issued early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
That has since been allowed to expire.
But Ugenti-Rita said other actions by Ducey remain, including restrictions on how some businesses can operate, have wreaked havoc on the economy.
People out of work has all but depleted the $1.1 billion the state had in March in the unemployment insurance trust fund. Reduced business activity has also cut into sales tax revenues. And Ugenti-Rita said there are projections that up to a quarter of the businesses that shut down during the pandemic will never return.
The senator told Capitol Media Services on Wednesday that she is not disputing the governor’s decision to declare an emergency when the virus first exploded on the scene.
“I have no problem with a governor exercising their authority to issue an emergency,” she said. “But at some point there needs to be an end date.”
