MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate planned to vote Tuesday on a resolution to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate despite criticism from him and other Democrats, health care workers and public health leaders who say it would only worsen the coronavirus pandemic early in the vaccine rollout.
The Senate and Assembly would have to pass the resolution to undo Evers’ mask order. The Assembly was meeting Tuesday, but its Republican leaders haven’t said whether the resolution would get a vote. The measure has 29 Republican cosponsors in the Legislature and was the only item up for a vote in the Senate.
Fourteen groups, including the Wisconsin Medical Society, Wisconsin Hospital Association and public health organizations, registered their opposition to the measure.
“The Governor’s mask mandate saves lives,” the Wisconsin Council of Churches said in a statement opposing the repeal. “Ending it will cost lives.”
No groups had registered in support of the resolution hours ahead of the vote.
“This clearly isn’t about public health,” Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an obstetrician from Green Bay, said at a news conference before the vote. “It’s about political games, power and control.”
Democratic lawmakers faulted Republicans for not passing any COVID-19 legislation since April and failing to reach a deal with Evers so far this year.
Republicans “are hell bent against anything Gov. Evers does to save lives and it is as destructive as it is tragic,” said Democratic state Sen. Kelda Roys, of Madison.
State Sen. Melissa Agard, of Madison, called the Republican effort to repeal the mask mandate “ludicrous.”
“Today the Republicans in Wisconsin are choosing yet again to divide us and put us in harm’s way,” she said.
Republican critics argue that Evers exceeded his authority by issuing multiple emergency declarations during the pandemic, which allowed him to extend the mask mandate beyond the 60 days allowed under the law without getting the Legislature’s approval. Republicans say Evers had to seek such approval for any order to last beyond 60 days. Evers contends that the changing nature of the pandemic, and the ongoing response, warranted new emergency declarations.
The resolution is supported by several members of the Legislature’s health committees. No one in Assembly leadership was a cosponsor.
Evers’ mask mandate is also being challenged in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which heard arguments in November and could issue a ruling at any point.
Wisconsin’s mask mandate, which took effect in August, is slated to run until March 20. If the state ordered is repealed, local orders in place in many of the state’s most populated areas, including Milwaukee and Madison, would remain in effect.
The Assembly on Tuesday was also taking up a COVID-19 response bill that the Senate that the Senate passed and Evers supports. The Assembly was expected to make changes to the bill, which would then send it back to the Senate.
The bill as passed by the Senate would limit liability for COVID-19 claims against businesses, schools, governments and health care providers. It also would extend the waiver of a one-week waiting period to receive unemployment benefits only until March 14. Evers would rather extend the waiver into July. It also would ensure that Medicaid would cover COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, and guarantee that SeniorCare, the state’s prescription drug discount program for senior citizens, would cover vaccinations.
Assembly Republicans earlier approved a much more expansive bill with numerous provisions that Democrats opposed. Those included barring employers and governments from requiring employees from getting vaccinated; prohibiting the closure of churches and limiting the closure of businesses to two weeks at a time during health emergencies; and requiring a two-thirds majority school board vote every two weeks to keep schools online only.
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