The Assembly was expected to vote to throw out the requirement Thursday.
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Laurel White / Wisconsin Public Radio | 3:03 pm, Jan. 28, 2021 ×
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A move that would override Gov. Tony Evers and throw out Wisconsin’s statewide mask mandate has stalled in the state Legislature.
After months of legal battles and political disagreements, the mask mandate is the final statewide measure aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.
The state Assembly was expected to vote Thursday, Jan. 28, to end the mandate by nullifying the governor’s latest emergency declaration. The mask mandate order was made possible by the emergency declaration. The state Senate voted 18-13 in favor of ending the emergency declaration Tuesday, with Senate Republicans arguing Evers has overstepped his executive powers by issuing repeated public health emergencies related to the pandemic.
MITCHELL SCHMIDT
Assembly Republicans paused efforts to eliminate Gov. Tony Eversâ statewide mask mandate after reports surfaced that doing so could cut the state off from more than $49 million in federal food assistance for low-income families this month.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the chamber postponed a vote originally scheduled for Thursday on a Senate-approved joint resolution that would effectively eliminate Eversâ emergency order and accompanying mask mandate. Vos said he still plans to pass the measure, which could reach a vote next week, but first wants to get a clear picture on any financial impact it may have on the state.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin described the sedition caucus as including “those who signed the brief supporting the lawsuit that would disenfranchise millions of Americans; who raised baseless objections to Arizona or Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes; or who objected to impeaching President Trump.”
“The Sedition Caucus behaved in utterly irresponsible ways inconsistent with their oaths,” Rubin wrote.
But the sedition caucus - which includes Wisconsin’s U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and U.S. Reps. Scott Fitzgerald and Tom Tiffany - is not just a congressional phenomenon.
The Wisconsin Legislature has a sedition caucus. Fifteen Wisconsin legislators signed a Jan. 5 letter calling on Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the 2020 presidential election results. The letter amplified the lies and conspiracy theories that were advanced by Trump and the rioters he incited as they sought to block the certification of Electoral College votes from states such as
Bill showed Senate Republicans too willing to cave into the governor, Vos charges. //end headline wrapper ?>Robin Vos and Devin LeMahieu
The Wisconsin state Assembly approved more changes to a COVID-19 response bill on Tuesday, the latest move in a months-long debate over how state government should respond to the pandemic. The future of the bill and, thereby, the Wisconsin state government response to continued public health and economic effects of the virus remains uncertain.
The latest changes, which passed the Assembly on a party-line vote of 58-34 with Republicans voting in favor, add Assembly-backed proposals back into a bill that was approved by the state Senate two weeks ago. The Assembly first passed its COVID-19 response plan early this month. The Senate approved a pared-down version of that Assembly plan after talks with Gov.