MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a new state mask order Thursday, an hour after the Republican-controlled legislature voted to revoke his previous term saying he had no authority to make the decree. .
The Democratic governor said in a video message that his priority is to keep people safe and that wearing a mask is the most basic way to do it.
“If the legislature continues to play politics and we don’t wear masks, we will see more preventable deaths and it will take even longer to get our state and our economy back on track,” Evers said.
The Assembly vote to revoke the mask order came a week after the Senate voted to kill the term. Republicans, who control both houses, argued that Evers exceeded his authority by repeatedly extending the mask’s mandate without legislative approval. The repeal had not even taken effect before Evers published a new one.
Republican leaders did not immediately return messages to comment on Evers’ new order.
Dr. Bud Chumbley, head of the Wisconsin Medical Society, criticized the Assembly’s vote to revoke it, saying it “sends the wrong message at the wrong time.”
“Instead, we need all of our political leaders to unite behind the same message: wear a mask to protect yourself and others, prevent further deaths, and restore our economy,” he said in a statement. communiqué.
The Medical Society was one of nearly 60 organizations representing companies, health workers, hospitals, firefighters, pharmacists, churches, schools, and more that opposed the repeal.
The Assembly voted 52-42 to revoke the mandate, with seven Republicans joining all opposition Democrats.
The Supreme Court could end the round-trip legislatures with a ruling in a pending case that says Evers must secure legislators ’approval every 60 days. The court could also say it does not need approval, forcing the legislature to revoke all orders Evers issues that Republicans disagree with.
Health experts say masks may be the most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has killed nearly 6,000 Wisconsinites, and that a repeal runs the risk of confusing and sending the wrong message about the importance of masks.
“We should wear masks,” said Democratic State Representative Robyn Vining. “Masks save lives.”
Republicans say the problem is not masks, but whether Evers can legally issue several emergency health orders during the pandemic. The legislature argues that it cannot and must guarantee its approval every 60 days. Evers argues that the changing nature of the pandemic allowed him to issue multiple orders and mask mandates.
“I know you want to do it with masks. It’s not, “said Jim Steineke, the Republican majority leader. “It’s about the rule of law.”
Coronavirus has declined in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the United States, but health experts have warned of an ongoing danger, including the emergence of new, more contagious variants. All of Wisconsin’s neighboring states have some sort of mask mandate, according to the National Academy of State Health Policy.
The repeal is the latest defeat for Evers, who has fought to fight the pandemic. Last year, Republican lawmakers persuaded the state Supreme Court to overturn his stay-at-home order. and a state appellate court stopped the limits it had set on internal meetings.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Assembly Republicans sent a letter to Evers saying they would support a more limited mask mandate that applies to sites “susceptible to virus transmission.” Republicans said they include health services, nursing homes, public transportation, state government buildings, assisted living centers, public schools, universities and prisons.
Republicans asked Evers to submit a proposed rule to enact this mandate, promising that this request would be “reviewed with fairness and judgment.”
The Assembly also passed a bill containing a provision designed to ensure the state does not lose about $ 50 million a month in paying food stamp benefits to approximately 243,000 low-income people. Federal law requires that there be an emergency health order to receive the money. The Senate was scheduled to meet Friday to pass the bill, sending it to Evers.
Evers has not said whether he will sign the bill. It would also ban the closure of churches during the pandemic, and neighborhood employers would not require workers to be vaccinated against the disease. It also gives the legislature control over how federal money is spent to fight the virus.
Evers had supported an earlier and more limited version of the bill.
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