By Jason Mercier
Mar 30, 2022 

No fooling, Oregon Governor Kate Brown is rescinding her state’s COVID state of emergency on April 1 along with the requirement for state government employees to be vaccinated in order to be employed. Governor Inslee, however, has given no indication he plans to end his 759 days and continuing of governing by emergency proclamation anytime soon. From Governor Brown’s executive order ending Oregon’s COVID state of emergency:

“But thanks to our collaboration with the Legislative Assembly and state agencies, the emergency declaration itself is no longer necessary to our ongoing COVID-19 response . . .

I am confident that we can navigate those challenges, together, relying on the normal governmental process set forth in our laws.

As this pandemic and other disasters like catastrophic wildfires have taught us, a sudden crisis can require the Governor to invoke extraordinary emergency authorities, in order to respond immediately and to keep people safe. But those powers must be used carefully and sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary, as they temporarily alter the normal balance of power. Emergency powers cannot--and should not--go on forever. Instead, response efforts should be transitioned to normal government processes and authorities, as soon as possible, to ensure that essential checks and balances remain in place . . .

Because of these efforts, Oregon now is in a position in which it can meet the challenges of COVID-19, using normal legislative and agency authorities and processes. For that reason, it is time to end the COVID-19 state of emergency.”