“Every step of the way, our state strategies to contain this virus and prevent its spread have been met with lawsuits, political rhetoric and obstruction,” said Evers in a video message announcing the mask’s new mandate. “Unfortunately, it happened again today, when Republicans in the Legislature came to vote against the public health emergency in our state and ended up demanding facial coverage in public places.”
The Assembly voted 52-42 on Thursday to revoke Evers’ previous executive order on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, according to online records from the Wisconsin State Legislature. Seven Republicans in the House joined all Democrats in Badger State in voting against the resolution after the same measure passed the state Senate last week.
“Wearing a mask is the most basic thing we can do to stay safe,” said Evers in the video. “If the legislature continues to make politics and we don’t continue to 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’ move on Thursday comes at a time when new daily cases in the state generally decline in the past month, but they still surpass 1,000 a day recently, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Wisconsin Republicans who control the state legislature and Supreme Court have already forced Evers to stay out. The decision by the state high court in May – at the request of the legislature – to block the order to stay at Evers’ home was the latest in a series of measures to prevent the governor from exercising power in the spring.
Other states have also faced clashes between their legislative and executive powers over the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, Idaho Republican Governor Brad Little sharply criticized the state legislature’s efforts to revoke a Covid-19 emergency declaration, urging state-controlled state House and Senate partners “to halt political gains and do what’s right for the people of Idaho. “
Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer extended her state’s coronavirus emergency declaration by executive order in April after the Republican-controlled legislature introduced a bill that would not renew the original statement. But in October, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that it had no authority to issue or renew executive orders related to Covid-19 after April 30.