Scoring Emergency Executive Power in All 50 States (2021 Edition)

RESEARCH METHODS & SCORING

Maine Policy examined each state’s emergency powers statutes by utilizing either the state government website or Justia, an online legal database. This research was conducted to determine the extent of legislative oversight, powers delegated to the chief executive, and the process for initiating or terminating a state of emergency declaration.

Every state received a numerical score between 1 and 20 across five categories for a total score of up to 100 points. The highest score denotes the most stringent executive powers, allowing for the greatest accountability from the people’s branch, the legislature. The lowest score denotes the weakest check on executive powers and the greatest potential threat to liberty.

As the primary focus of this report is the checks and balances on emergency executive authority, the categories which deal with the process of initiating a state of emergency and time limitations on emergency declarations were weighted double in relation to the other three categories: the process of termination, whether a governor’s powers persist after official termination, and the ability of the governor to alter statute or regulations during an emergency. Though, time limits on emergency powers are effectively useless if a governor is the sole judge of whether an emergency exists, as is the case in Hawaii, Vermont, and Washington, among other states.

In 2019, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Law Program surveyed the emergency authority of US governors to alter statute and/or regulations. These findings were largely affirmed and included in Maine Policy’s analysis. While this particular aspect of law is crucial to understanding the scope of a chief executive’s powers during an emergency, it means little if legislative checks on the governor’s ability to declare and continue states of emergency are weak.

This analysis does not measure the extent of governors’ authority to regulate the sale, possession, or transfer of firearms during states of emergency.