Wisconsin's Mask Mandate in the Balance

Thursday, January 28th, 2021 -- 12:01 PM

(AP) The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted Tuesday to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate, despite warnings from virtually every sector of the health care community that doing so would impair efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Both legislative chambers have to pass the resolution in order to undo the mask requirement. The Assembly, controlled 58-30 by Republicans, scheduled it for a vote Thursday.

The Assembly on Tuesday passed an expanded COVID-19 response bill that may face a veto by the Democratic governor.  The bill would prohibit the closure of churches during the pandemic and bar employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated for the disease.

The Senate previously removed those provisions from a more limited COVID-19 bill that it passed and that the governor supports.

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