Mayors and governors across the U.S. are going cold turkey on the authoritarian control they’ve held for nearly 15 months and simply ending their pandemic-era emergency orders.
But not Gov. Polis.
Polis has become a full blown power junkie with a tight grip on his rule, agreeing only now to relinquish a little bit of control over time.
Having created, amended or extended roughly 400 executive orders since March 2020, the governor told The Denver Post he’s ready to let go of the unprecedented authority he’s maintained.
“The pandemic still exists,” he said, but “our hospital capacity is no longer threatened. We have 60% of the population vaccinated. So at this point, we would go to kind of regular order, which means the legislature passes laws, I can sign laws, and you can see the phaseout of those executive powers over time.”
The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases reported in Colorado has gone from a high of nearly 5,000 in November to 591 this week.
We’re going to go out on a limb here and say the two-week period to flatten the curve has run its course.
Polis doesn’t need to phase out his executive powers over time.
Governing is not a rehab clinic.
Polis needs to get back on the wagon and release the reins of power in one fell swoop.