Gov. Evers Issues a New State of Emergency

You may be aware that yesterday the Assembly was on the floor to take up Senate Joint Resolution 3 (SJR 3), which nullified the governor’s emergency order in our state. This vote was not an easy vote for me.

The joint resolution was correct – Governor Evers overstepped his authority by not seeking legislative approval to extend his emergency orders. The governor passed up on many opportunities to follow the law and to work with the legislature.

While the joint resolution intends to “terminate any and all” of the governor’s COVID-related orders, it would not prevent Governor Evers from issuing a new order; instead, it nullifies an order already deemed by the joint resolution to be “void from the date of its issuance.”

If fact, an hour after the Assembly voted on SJR 3, the Governor issued a new state of emergency (EO #105) and a new face coverings requirement (EMO #1). It has been my belief that only the courts can make a definitive ruling on whether the governor has the statutory authority to issue multiple and successive states of emergency without legislative approval. There is a case (Fabick v. Evers) in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court right now by private citizens that is challenging Governor Evers’ order and could be decided at any time. 

Wisconsin continues to struggle with its vaccine rollout. With the failure of the Evers administration to distribute the vaccine efficiently, we can’t leave the more vulnerable members of our community at risk. Having personally spoken to constituents who are concerned about the slow vaccine rollout, my concern is that the timing of this joint resolution could have sent mixed messages to the public concerning our priorities.

For these reasons, I voted against SJR 3 yesterday. My priorities continue to be keeping Wisconsin businesses open and getting all of our children back to in-person schooling as quickly and safely as possible, while doing what we can to support vulnerable members of our community.