Wisconsin Governor Reissues Mask Mandate After GOP Repeal

ACROSS WISCONSIN — Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order No. 105 and Emergency Order No. 1 on Thursday establishing a statewide public health emergency and requiring face coverings in public places to protect the health and safety of Wisconsinites.

The governor's orders come as Republicans in the Legislature voted Thursday to end the governor's previous public health emergency and related order requiring face coverings in public places. The orders are effective immediately.

"Wearing a mask is the most basic thing we can do to keep each other safe," Evers said in a video to constituents following the repeal of his mask mandate. "If the Legislature keeps playing politics and we don’t keep wearing masks, we're going to see more preventable deaths, and it’s going to take even longer to get our state and our economy back on track."

In October, a Marquette University Law School poll found that 72 percent of Wisconsinites agreed that masks should be required in public places, and that support for a mask requirement exceeded 60 percent in all regions of the state at that time.

SEE ALSO:

• Wisconsin GOP Repeals Governor's Statewide Mask Mandate

According to the governor's office, the actions by Republicans in the Legislature are a continuation of Republicans’ efforts to prevent Evers from keeping Wisconsinites healthy and safe.

The governor’s statewide mitigation strategies to contain and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic have been met with repeated lawsuits, political rhetoric and obstruction from Republicans since last April, according to Evers.

Republicans also sued Gov. Evers last spring, which ultimately led to a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to strike down Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order in May, leaving the state without mitigation tools to protect health and safety used by other states.