A step closer to “pick a side”....

The group collecting petitions to limit Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's emergency powers is primarily being funded by a nonprofit that doesn't have to disclose its donors.

Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, a Lansing-based organization with ties to Senate Republicans, gave $660,200 to Unlock Michigan from June 9 through July 20, according to a new campaign finance report. Unlock Michigan is the ballot committee that wants to repeal a 1945 law that allows the governor to declare a state of emergency and keep the declaration in place without input or approval from the Legislature.

The emergency declaration is what allows a governor to take unilateral actions, such as requiring masks to be worn in public spaces or issuing a stay-at-home order. The group needs to collect more than 340,000 signatures to initiate the repeal, which Whitmer couldn't veto if the GOP-controlled Legislature approved.