Evers Vetoes GOP COVID-19 Bill
Senate abandons bipartisan legislation and includes provisions Evers promised to veto.

Governor Tony Evers addresses the media on April 16th. File photo from the Department of Health Services.
Since the start of the legislative session, Governor Tony Evers signaled to Republican lawmakers that he would veto any legislation aimed at repealing powers currently being used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling these provisions “poison pills”, and on Friday he did.
The legislation was a $100 million COVID-19 bill and it was the first piece of legislation sent to the Governor’s desk in more than 290 days. It represented a last minute reversal by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Senate after previously passing a compromise bill with bipartisan support.
In order to secure adoption of the legislation, senate leadership compromised with the Evers administration on a bill which then passed on a bipartisan vote on January 12th.
Then, after assembly Republicans amended the bill, restoring provisions that Evers was sure to veto, the Senate called an extraordinary session Friday morning and passed that version of the bill, reversing the effort at compromise.
“I am vetoing [the legislation] in its entirety because I object to the provisions in the bill that would make it more challenging to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in Wisconsin,” Evers wrote in his signed veto of the bill, saying the legislation took away “existing tools available to public health officials and employers.”
Evers said the version of the bill that garnered bipartisan support was a “good faith effort at finding common ground.” And said, “While that version did not contain every provision that each side would have liked, it would have nevertheless moved Wisconsin forward in addressing many critical issues, including flexibilities for unemployment benefits.”
Prior to Evers’ veto, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu released a statement saying, “I don’t think the Governor could or would veto an issue of this magnitude. This is a true consensus bill that will greatly help the people of Wisconsin.”
Evers, in announcing his intention to veto the bill Friday, said “Wisconsinites know a compromise when they see one, and this isn’t it.”
Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley called the Senate’s actions Friday an “extraordinary failure.”
More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- WI Daily: 206 New COVID-19 Cases - Urban Milwaukee - Mar 6th, 2021
- Surprising No One, Senator Johnson Votes Against Relief for Wisconsin Workers and Families - Opportunity Wisconsin - Mar 6th, 2021
- U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Votes to Pass the American Rescue Plan and Support Wisconsin - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Mar 6th, 2021
- WI Daily: 350 New COVID-19 Cases - Urban Milwaukee - Mar 5th, 2021
- DHS and Laboratory Partners Identify Variant Strain B.1.351 of SARS-CoV-2 in Wisconsin - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Mar 5th, 2021
- Many South Side Seniors Now Eligible for Vaccination at Kosciuszko Community Center - Sup. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez - Mar 5th, 2021
- State Vaccine Hotline Up and Running - Graham Kilmer - Mar 5th, 2021
- County Targeting Vulnerable ZIP Codes for Vaccine - Graham Kilmer - Mar 5th, 2021
- Ron Johnson Pushes Conspiracies Ahead of Possible Third Term - Shawn Johnson - Mar 5th, 2021
- Gov. Evers, DHS Announce 1 Million Wisconsinites Have Received at Least One Dose of the COVID-19 Vaccine - Gov. Tony Evers - Mar 5th, 2021
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
Republicans created a political talking point for their blame Evers platform after trying to starve people and wanting to add to the 6000 + dead WInites.
All to satiate their 30 % QOP base in the state.