Wisconsin Legislature Takes Action over Governor’s Extended Stay-At-Home Order

The GOP-led Wisconsin legislature is taking legal action over Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) extended stay-at-home order, which he recently extended through the end of May.

The legislature is calling on the state’s Supreme Court to block the order, which state GOP leaders say leaves residents with “no voice.”

“The public outcry over the Safer at Home order continues to increase as positive COVID cases decrease or remain flat,” Speaker Robin Vos (R) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) said in a statement, stressing the “immense frustration regarding the extension, as it goes beyond the executive branch’s statutory powers.”

“Wisconsinites are forced to sit by with no voice in the process. Other Midwestern states with more confirmed cases, like Ohio, have set firm dates to begin a phased reopening far earlier than the Evers administration,” they continued.

Evers’ “unprecedented administrative overreach,” they said, has left the legislature with “no choice but to ask the Supreme Court to rein in this obvious abuse of power,” prompting the emergency petition.

“Wisconsinites deserve certainty, transparency, and a plan to end the constant stream of executive orders that are eroding both the economy and their liberty even as the state is clearly seeing a decline in COVID infections,” they added.

Wisconsin’s original stay-at-home order was slated to expire April 24, but Evers recently extended it through May 26.

“As I’ve said all along, we are going to rely on the science and public health experts to guide us through this challenge,” Evers said at the time.

“So, as we extend Safer at Home, I need all of you to continue doing the good work you’ve been doing so we can keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and get through this storm together,” he added.

The new order has a few minor modifications, allowing non-essential businesses to conduct deliveries and curbside pickup and mandating retailers to limit the number of people inside of the facilities.

Wisconsin’s Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling made headlines last week after penning a letter to residents, indicating that he will not enforce the state’s stay-at-home order.

“I took an oath to uphold the constitutional rights of our citizens and I can not in good faith participate in the destruction of Racine County businesses or interfere in the freedoms granted to all of us by our Constitution,” he wrote.