Agenda - Council - 03/30/2020 - Emergency Special

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healthcare facilities remain able to accommodate those who require intensive medical intervention. This Executive Order is consistent with a growing nationwide effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. On March 16, 2020, President Donald Trump issued guidelines to limit gatherings of more than 10 people. As of March 24, 2020, twenty-four states representing almost 200 million Americans have issued orders or public health directives closing non -essential businesses or limiting residents from participating in non -essential activities. Limiting activities to only those which are most essential and practicing social distancing at all times are vital tools required to mitigate the community spread of COVID-19 in Minnesota and nationwide. On March 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response ("CISA Guidance" —attached to, and incorporated into, this Executive Order). The CISA Guidance identifies workers who conduct a range of operations and services that are essential to continued critical infrastructure viability. This federal guidance provides a baseline for Minnesota's efforts to ensure critical infrastructure and services are maintained while slowing the spread of COVID-19. In Minnesota Statutes 2019, section 12.02, the Minnesota Legislature conferred upon the Governor emergency powers "in order to (1) ensure that preparations of this state will be adequate to deal with disasters, (2) generally protect the public peace, health, and safety, and (3) preserve the lives and property of the people of the state." Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 2019, section 12.21, subdivision 1, the Governor has general authority to control the state's emergency management as well as carry out the provisions of Minnesota's Emergency Management Act. Minnesota Statutes 2019, section 12.21, subdivision 3(7), authorizes the Governor to cooperate with federal and state agencies in "matters pertaining to the emergency management of the state and nation ...." including "the direction or control of ... the conduct of persons in the state, including entrance or exit from any stricken or threatened public place, occupancy of facilities, and ... public meetings or gatherings ...." Pursuant to subdivision 3 of that same section, the Governor may "make, amend, and rescind the necessary orders and rules to carry out the provisions" of Minnesota Statutes 2019, Chapter 12. When approved by the Executive Council and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, such orders and rules have the force and effect of law during the peacetime emergency. Any inconsistent rules or ordinances of any agency or political subdivision of the state are suspended during the pendency of the emergency. Any person who willfully violates such an order or rule is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days. For these reasons, I order as follows: 1. Beginning on Friday, March 27, 2020 at 11:59 pm through Friday, April 10, 2020 at 5:00 pm, all persons currently living within the State of Minnesota are ordered to stay at home or in their place of residence except to engage in the Activities and Critical Sector work set forth below in Paragraphs 5 and 6. 2