The Detroit News: Michigan can learn from emergency powers battles in other states
The pandemic is subsiding in America. Masks are coming off. People are gathering. There is light at the end of the tunnel. But in a few states, governors are still fighting tooth and nail to keep their emergency powers. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is suing his own state Legislature after it passed laws that put … ...
The death knell: How Kentucky’s governor’s abuse of executive power threw Goodwood Brewing in a tailspin
Located in downtown Louisville, Goodwood Brewing Company is one of the largest breweries in Kentucky. In 2019, it produced some 10,000 barrels (248,000 pints) of beer for sale in its taprooms and for distribution to 16 states. In March of 2020, the state forced Goodwood Brewery to close its doors for on-site consumption when the … ...
McKinney v. Vilsack
Jarrod McKinney began his farming journey about eight years ago with help from a federal loan for beginning farmers. Like many farmers in the Texarkana region, Jarrod raises cattle, tending today to 60 pairs. Like many farmers facing economic hardship in the pandemic’s aftermath, Jarrod was hopeful when he heard about a farm loan forgiveness ...
Morton v. Vilsack
Matthew and Joshua Morton are brothers and full-time farmers in Kell, Illinois. Like many Southern Illinois farmers, they grow soybeans, wheat, and corn on their farm. And like many farmers across the country, they have federal farm loans with an outstanding balance. … ...
The Hill: Can Kentucky’s governor ignore the law?
On June 10, the Kentucky Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a pair of cases addressing whether Gov. Andy Beshear can ignore the laws of the commonwealth. These cases will be watched by other states considering reforms to emergency powers. In litigation last year, Gov. Beshear correctly argued that Kentucky’s emergency-powers laws “ ...
The unintended consequences of CDC’s national eviction moratorium
Newton’s third law of physics is that for every action in nature, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That rule also seems to apply in the business world when it comes to regulations like an eviction moratorium. That is to say that regulation always has unintended consequences—some predictable, others less obvious. And that rule ̷ ...
As the world opens back up, emergency powers reform still matters
As the country continues to re-open after more than a year of living under COVID emergency orders, it may be tempting to ignore further calls to restrict executive overreach. But we must be vigilant in upholding our system of checks and balances before the next national crisis comes our way. Many will chalk up the … ...
Texans challenge government’s beachfront land grab
Galveston, Texas; May 24, 2021: Beachfront property owners filed a lawsuit today challenging a General Land Office order that unlawfully turns their private property into a public beach for two years. After Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Beta altered the beachfront in the Galveston area last year, GLO Commissioner George P. Bush issued an order ...
Sheffield v. George P. Bush, GLO Commissioner
Charles Sheffield is a long-time Texan and surfer who bought beachfront homes in Surfside Beach as a retirement investment. Merry Porter is a native Texan and resident of Surfside Beach who owns and uses a small beachfront home for rental income. In March 2021, without prior notice or compensation, the Texas General Land Office moved the public bea ...