Legislature Must Take Action on Mask Mandate
Madison, WI —State Senator Duey Stroebel (R — Cedarburg) issued the following statement regarding governor Tony Evers‘ state-wide mask mandate:
“There is no new emergency. The Governor declared, and the Legislature did not interfere with, a full 60 day COVID emergency from March through May. If a Governor can declare multiple states of emergency for a single event, that is an astonishing grant of power to one man. The data on hospitalizations and the death rate do not justify this intrusion into personal, family and community affairs. The Governor wishing to pander to his liberal base, or scare voters before an election, does not justify circumventing the people’s representatives to achieve a policy he knows would not have the votes to become law.”
“The people of Wisconsin are smart, compassionate and full of common sense. They know when to take precautions for themselves or neighbors and when the hyper-literal enforcement of a universal rule written in Madison would be foolish. Tony Evers and his liberal supporters once again proposes a course of action to centralize power in Madison under the belief Wisconsinites can’t survive without Big Brother.”
“I call on my colleagues in the Legislature to convene as soon as possible to rescind this power grab.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- MHD Release: Milwaukee Health Department Launches COVID-19 Wastewater Testing Dashboard - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Jan 23rd, 2024
- Milwaukee County Announces New Policies Related to COVID-19 Pandemic - County Executive David Crowley - May 9th, 2023
- DHS Details End of Emergency COVID-19 Response - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Apr 26th, 2023
- Milwaukee Health Department Announces Upcoming Changes to COVID-19 Services - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Mar 17th, 2023
- Fitzgerald Applauds Passage of COVID-19 Origin Act - U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald - Mar 10th, 2023
- DHS Expands Free COVID-19 Testing Program - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Feb 10th, 2023
- MKE County: COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rising - Graham Kilmer - Jan 16th, 2023
- Not Enough Getting Bivalent Booster Shots, State Health Officials Warn - Gaby Vinick - Dec 26th, 2022
- Nearly All Wisconsinites Age 6 Months and Older Now Eligible for Updated COVID-19 Vaccine - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Dec 15th, 2022
- City of Milwaukee Bi-Weekly COVID-19 Update - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Dec 9th, 2022
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
More about the Statewide Mask Mandate
- Court Watch: Why Court Voided Evers Emergency Order - Gretchen Schuldt - Apr 5th, 2021
- Statement by Heartland Institute Director Jeré Fabick on WI Supreme Court Victory Against Gov. Tony Evers - Heartland Institute - Mar 31st, 2021
- Senator Agard: Statement on Supreme Court Decision - State Sen. Melissa Agard, Senate Democratic Leader - Mar 31st, 2021
- Wisconsin’s Hyperpartisan Supreme Court is Endangering the Public - Democratic Party of Wisconsin - Mar 31st, 2021
- Wisconsin Supreme Court: Gov. Evers’ Multiple Emergency Declarations Violate Law - Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty - Mar 31st, 2021
- Rep. Hesselbein Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Emergency Orders - Dianne Hesselbein - Mar 31st, 2021
- Statement on Wisconsin Supreme Court Decision - State Sen. Jon Erpenbach - Mar 31st, 2021
- Gov. Evers Releases Statement Regarding Supreme Court Decision - Gov. Tony Evers - Mar 31st, 2021
- Rep. Hintz: Statement on Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling - State Rep. Gordon Hintz - Mar 31st, 2021
- State Supreme Court Overrules Evers’ Emergency Powers - Laurel White - Mar 31st, 2021
Read more about Statewide Mask Mandate here
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by State Sen. Duey Stroebel
Academic Excellence Scholarship Bill Intentionally Rewards Best and Brightest
Aug 31st, 2015 by State Sen. Duey StroebelSenator Stroebel: Our best and brightest are being rewarded elsewhere
When you begin with a statement about what is happen ending right now with Covid 19 as “there is no new emergency” How can you take this guy seriously? He is right, COVID-19 is not “new”. But the uncontrolled rise of the virus, coupled with the desire to open in class schools IS NEW! It would be shockingly refreshing to see anyone with an R in front of their position suggest a plan that addresses safety and the pandemic. Sure, if people as a whole would take personal responsibility, wear masks, social distance, avoid crowded bars, I don’t believe we would have to be talking or legislating about this. But enough people have decided they don’t need to be careful and thoughtful about their behavior. Please stop making it about R’s vs Evers.
What I don’t understand is why republicans are only now waking up to this catastrophe? Close to 1,000 Wisconsinites a day are coming down with covid. We’ve seen nearly 950 who have died. The pandemic has devastated our economy and threatens our right to vote. None of that was important enough to bring the legislature out of hybernation. But a public health mandate based on the best scientific information currently available, that requires immediate action.
In the last 2 years, republicans have demonstrated time and again that they are not interested in good government; government of, by and for the people. No, they are interested in power and they will do whatever it takes to hold on to power; everything except govern.
> If a Governor can declare multiple states of emergency for a single event, that is an astonishing grant of power to one man.
JMcD,
I actually don’t have a huge problem with this. I’m not familiar with the law in Wisconsin, but part of the idea behind emergency declarations is ensuring that the government can act quickly while limiting the power of a single person (the governor). The executive branch is able to act much faster than the legislative branch, but we want new laws and regulations to come from the legislature (in theory anyway) so we grant the executive power to impose laws for a brief time period, just long enough for the legislature to come into session and deal with the situation.
The problem here is that the Republicans right now are spineless, power-hungry a-holes. They have no interest in solving problems, or dealing with the pandemic. There should be a statewide pandemic response, it should include a mask mandate, and it should come from the legislature; but it won’t because the Republicans have no interest in casting a vote on a hard problem. I sympathize with the governor, but I’m not convinced this latest order is (or should be) legal.
Apparently, those, good, smart, hardworking, compassionate, neighborly Wisconsinites aren’t actually full of any common sense, because they’ve repeatedly voted for people like and including Duey here who make them feel good with statements about their own self-worth and toss them $100 bucks back on their taxes instead of actually providing for the health and well-being of all the citizens like they’re supposed to.
Actually Duey, the legislature gave the governor the power to do this a long time ago, but now that the governor isn’t a Republican you don’t like him using that power. Just because the state supreme court can’t read the statute doesn’t mean it was correct in May.
The GOP legislature has done nothing this spring, while still getting paid. No action on COVID, no action on racial equity, no action on the economy, no action on the spring election. Just blaming the governor for doing anything isn’t governing. That’s dereliction of duty. The sad thing is the GOP has gerrymandered the state so badly that these clowns just need to have an R after their names on the ballot and they’ll get reelected.