A day after thousands of people converged on the Capitol to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest stay-at-home order, Republicans in the Legislature followed suit, introducing bills that would strip powers away from the governor.

The bills come at a time when Whitmer has tightened stay-at-home restrictions, which have shuttered businesses and are keeping people in their homes as a way to try and stop the spread of coronavirus.

The bills introduced in both the House and Senate would repeal the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act, which gives wide power to the governor to declare a state of emergency in times of “great public crisis.”

Another bill would amend the Emergency Management Act of 1976, which allows the governor to declare a state of emergency for up to 28 days, to reduce the number of allowable days to 14.

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“The 1945 law is more vague and less constrained. We do not feel that law applies to the situation we’re facing today,” said Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte. “And we feel that we have a balance of power in state government and we need to put more legislative control into that power balance.”

Whitmer first declared a state of emergency on March 10, when the first two cases of coronavirus were reported in Michigan. On March 16, she closed restaurants and bars, then issued her first stay-at-home order on March 23.

When the first state of emergency was about to expire, the Legislature voted unanimously to extend it to May 1, although Whitmer had wanted it to last through mid-June.

But that legislative authority wasn’t enough, Barrett said. Whitmer put new restrictions in her second stay-at-home order last week that put stricter rules on which businesses had to close and banned travel to second vacation homes as well as trips between households.

The order comes at a time when more than 29,000 Michiganders have tested positive for coronavirus and 2,093 people have died.

“After that happened, when the governor tightened up some restrictions, that’s why you saw the backlash,” Barrett said. “The governor is no longer acting in a rational way.”

But she still holds the veto pen and expects to wield it if the legislation reaches her desk.

“Gov. Whitmer will not sign a bill that would diminish her ability to protect citizens of this state from a deadly disease that has already killed thousands of people in Michigan,” said Bobby Leddy, deputy press secretary for Whitmer.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.