Committee hears ‘Balance Act’ to let legislature terminate or limit emergency orders after set periods

Senate Bill 5,434, titled the "Balance Act," drew a lengthy public hearing on Feb. 14 as committee members, the governor’s office and a range of organizations debated how — and how quickly — the legislature should be able to check gubernatorial emergency powers.

For the record, Danielle Creech, committee staff, briefed the committee on the bill’s core mechanics: under current law a governor may declare a state of emergency that remains in effect until the governor terminates it; some emergency orders that waive statutory obligations already expire after 30 days unless extended by the legislature via concurrent resolution. The Balance Act would (1) authorize the legislature to terminate a state of emergency by concurrent resolution when in session; (2) allow the four legislative leaders (majority and minority leaders of both chambers) to terminate the emergency in writing if the…