In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, a state executive order is a directive issued by a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

that regulates operations of the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

and certain aspects of citizen life. Powers of state executive orders are limited by the respective state constitution and/or executive and

state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, o ...

, and are also subject to the provisions of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

and any applicable federal law. Similar to presidential executive orders, they are subject to

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

and can be invalidated if determined to violate any statutes or codes by which they are governed. The majority of them carry the force of law and remain in effect until revoked, suspended, canceled, proven unlawful, or expire by a date or condition set forth within itself. In 38 of the 50 states, there is no requirement for orders to undergo administrative procedure, which controls how they are formed and enacted. Six states mandate legislative review, and another six have these requirements only for executive orders of a certain type, like those having to do with the creation of agencies.

Basis in state constitutions

Powers of executive order can be either constitutional,

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

, implied, or ‘general authority only' (Wyoming). In most state constitutions, there is no specific provision for the power of governors to issue executive orders. However, in many of those constitutions, there is a provision stating that the “executive power shall be vested in the governor” (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) or “the supreme executive power of this State, shall be vested in a...Governor...” (Nevada), or similar. These sections supplement and give way for executive and state law that grants the powers of issuance of executive orders to governors.

Powers

State executive orders are usually enacted less frequently than bills passed by state legislatures. They are especially used in the midst of a public health emergency or

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

. During a state of emergency (which usually can only be declared through executive order), the powers of the governor may be expanded beyond their normal reach. This allows for the release and reallocating of various state funds and resources to assist local governments and communities in dealing with crises, as well as modification of laws to aid in such. Additionally, in many states, orders can be used for a large range of executive actions, including but not limited to: *Temporarily suspending or modifying any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule, regulation, or parts thereof *Granting clemency *

Commuting Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regu ...

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ing a

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

sentence *Declaring a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

*Creating state agencies *Redirecting state agencies and departments to help a certain purpose *Issuing directives necessary to cope with a disaster or emergency Note that some of these powers can only be invoked ''after'' the declaration of a state of emergency.

Reactions and controversy

In light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, virtually all US state governors have issued some type of order either putting in place a stay-at-home mandate or advisory. As tensions escalated and Americans grew tired of quarantine, there were many

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

in response, especially in Michigan. These protests called for “reopenings” of states, and many have brought into question the

constitutionality Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

of long-term quarantines and other large-scale societal changes imposed by governors.

References

{{Reflist All Wikipedia articles written in American English Law State law in the United States Public administration Sources of law

Basis in state constitutions

Powers

Reactions and controversy

See also

References