MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – The Wisconsin Republican-controlled legislature on Thursday revoked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers ‘masked mandate, ignoring health experts’ warnings against turning Wisconsin into one of ten states without a state order.
The Assembly vote 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 will go into effect Friday, after it was signed by the two Republican Party legislative leaders.
Evers could challenge the legislature by issuing a new order that launches a new mask mandate, a move that would force the legislature to vote again to revoke it. The last mask mandate was in effect since August. Local mask ordinances, including one in Milwaukee and Dane County, which includes Madison, remain in effect.
Evers did not immediately comment on the action of the legislature.
The Assembly voted 52-42 to revoke the mandate, with seven Republicans joining all opposition Democrats.
The Supreme Court could end the round-trip legislation with a ruling in a pending case that says Evers must ensure 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 creating confusion and sending the wrong message about the importance of the 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 an Amery bar and the Wisconsin Pro-Life group convinced a state appeals court to kill the boundaries it had set at indoor 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, more limited version of the bill.
About 60 organizations are registered to oppose the repeal of the mask’s mandate, including groups representing hospitals, doctors, nurses, EMTs, school administrators, businesses, children, Milwaukee schools, American Indian tribes, pharmacists, firefighters , local health departments, seniors, churches and dentists.