ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – The Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday morning heard arguments Thursday challenging Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is just the latest of several lawsuits in recent years challenging the governor’s emergency powers. The Upper Midwest Law Center originally filed this lawsuit in 2020 on behalf of a number of residents, small business owners and churches arguing the governor’s actions were an overreach of power. This case specifically challenges the statewide mask mandate requiring Minnesotans to wear masks in indoor public places. The lawsuit argues only the state legislature has the power to make laws and Walz overstepped his power by issuing the mandate. Walz’s declaration of a peacetime emergency allowed for various COVID-19 mitigation measures to be implemented statewide, from fining businesses to banning residential evictions. The trouble begins with interpretation. What’s at stake is how to interpret a 1996 law called the Minnesota Emergency Management Act. It gives the governor peacetime emergency powers in a variety of scenarios. A public health emergency is not listed among those scenarios. However, according to the governor in 2020, COVID-19 falls under the category of “Act of Nature.” He used that authority to take executive action, including a mask mandate. There is no timetable yet for a ruling.