MADISON, Delete. (AP) – The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature on Thursday rescinded Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ mask mandate, setting aside warnings from health experts to make Wisconsin one of only 10 states without a statewide warrant.
The Assembly vote came a week after the Senate voted to strike the mandate. Republicans, who control both chambers, argued that Evers exceeded his authority by repeatedly extending the mask mandate without legal approval. The repeal will take effect Friday, after both GOP legislative leaders sign it.
Evers could defy the legislature by issuing a new order and enacting a new mask mandate, a move that would force the legislature to vote again to withdraw. The last mask mandate had been in effect since August. Local mask ordinances, including one in Milwaukee and Dane County, including Madison, remain in effect.
Evers did not immediately comment on his next move.
Dr. Bud Chumbley, chief of the Wisconsin Medical Society, cast the vote, saying it is “sending the wrong message at the wrong time.”
“Instead, we need all of our policy leaders to unite behind the same message: wear a mask to protect yourself and others, prevent additional deaths and restore our economy,” he said in a statement.
The Medical Society was one of nearly 60 organizations representing businesses, 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 parties.
The Supreme Court could end the legislation back and forth with a ruling in a pending case stating that Evers must obtain legislative approval every 60 days. The court could also say he doesn’t need approval, forcing the legislature to revoke any injunction Evers disagrees with.
Health experts say masks may be the most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, killing nearly 6,000 Wisconsinites, and that a revocation risks creating confusion and spreading the wrong message about the importance of masks.
“We should wear masks,” said Democratic state representative Robyn Vining. “Masks save lives.”
Republicans say the issue is not about masks, but whether Evers can legally issue multiple emergencies during the pandemic. The legislator claims he cannot and must get their approval every 60 days. Evers maintains that the changing nature of the pandemic allowed him to issue multiple orders and mask mandates.
‘I know you want to make it about masks. It isn’t, ”said Republican leader Jim Steineke. “It’s about the rule of law.”
The coronavirus has died down in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the US, but health experts have warned of an ongoing danger, including the emergence of new and more contagious variants. According to the National Academy for State Health Policy, all contiguous states of Wisconsin have some form of mask mandate.
The repeal is the latest defeat for Evers, who has fought to fight the pandemic. Republican lawmakers last year persuaded the state’s Supreme Court to drop his house arrest and a state court of appeal stopped the limits he had set on indoor meetings.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Assembly Republicans sent Evers a letter saying they would support a more limited mask mandate that applies to places “susceptible to transmission of the virus.” Republicans said this includes healthcare facilities, nursing homes, public transportation, government buildings, assisted living facilities, public schools, universities, and prisons.
Republicans called on Evers to submit a rule proposal to carry out such a mandate, promising that such a request would be judged “fairly and judiciously”.
The Assembly also passed a bill containing a provision designed to ensure that the state does not lose about $ 50 million a month, which pays for food stamps for about 243,000 low-income people in the state. Federal law says there must be an emergency to receive the money. The Senate would meet on Friday to approve the bill and send it to Evers.
Evers has not said whether he will sign the bill. It would also ban the closing of churches during the pandemic and prohibit employers from getting workers vaccinated against the disease. It also gives the legislature control over how federal money is spent fighting the virus.
Evers had backed an earlier, more limited version of the bill.
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