Wisconsin's Mask Mandate Saga Continues

Friday, February 5th, 2021 -- 12:01 PM

(AP) Wisconsin’s elected officials continue to play politics with the state’s mask mandate.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a new statewide mask order on Thursday, an hour after the Republican-controlled Legislature voted to repeal his previous mandate saying he didn’t have authority to make such a decree.

The Democratic governor said in a video message that his priority is keeping people safe and that wearing a mask is the most basic way to do that.  The Assembly vote to repeal the mask order came a week after the Senate voted to kill the mandate.

Republicans, who control both chambers, argued that Evers exceeded his authority by repeatedly extending the mask mandate without legislative approval. The repeal hadn’t even taken effect before Evers issued a new one.

Dr. Bud Chumbley, head of the Wisconsin Medical Society, blasted the Assembly’s vote to repeal, saying it “sends the wrong message at the wrong time.  Instead, we need all of our policy leaders to unify 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 care workers, hospitals, firefighters, pharmacists, churches, schools and more that opposed the repeal.

The Assembly voted 52-42 to repeal the mandate, with seven Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition.  The Supreme Court could end the legislative back and forth with a ruling in a pending case that says Evers must secure lawmakers’ approval every 60 days.

The court could also say he doesn’t need approval, thus forcing the Legislature to repeal every order Evers issues with which republicans disagree.  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 risks creating confusion and sending the wrong message about the importance of masks.

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