威斯康辛州麦迪逊市——共和党参议院领袖周五称，威斯康辛州的共和党参议员“随时准备”取消民主党州长托尼·埃维斯周四宣布的全州范围的面具授权。
共和党参议院多数党领袖斯科特·菲茨杰拉德没有承诺参议院将投票否决该命令，该命令定于周六生效。8月11日将面临共和党初选的国会候选人菲茨杰拉德也没有指出参议院何时召开会议。
菲茨杰拉德在一份声明中说:“州参议院的共和党人随时准备召集这个机构来结束州长的命令。”“州长在这个问题上屈服于自由派团体的压力。我们怎么能相信他不会在今年秋天再次屈服并停止选择面对面教学的学校呢?这里有更大的问题，我的核心小组成员随时准备反击。”
州法律授权立法机关撤销州长的紧急命令。但是由共和党人控制的议会也必须投票否决该命令。议会议长罗宾·沃斯周四指出，他预计该命令将面临法律挑战，但没有提到立法机构采取行动的可能性。周五，他没有立即回复置评请求。
共和党控制的立法机构自4月中旬以来就没有开过会，尽管埃弗斯和民主党呼吁召开会议讨论与共和党有关的问题冠状病毒大流行，包括确保威斯康星国民警卫队能够继续在全州范围内协助检测COVID-19。
菲茨杰拉德的办公室留下了进一步评论的信息，但没有立即回复。Evers的女发言人Britt cud aster提到了他在周四发表的评论，称立法机关撤销一项有广泛公众支持的面具授权是“冒险的事情”。
埃弗斯宣布公开健康紧急状态，并发布了一个单独的命令，要求除了一些例外，所有5岁以上的人在室内或封闭的地方都要戴口罩。该命令不适用于私人住宅中的人。该计划将持续到9月28日，违反者将面临200美元的罚款。
截至上周五，威斯康辛州的十几名郡治安官表示，他们不会强制执行该命令，许多人指出，他们没有资源处理该命令，或者该命令是公开的健康而不是执法问题。
超过30个州，包括共和党和民主党的州长，都有有效的掩盖授权。世界各地的公共卫生官员都强调，戴口罩是减缓这种高传染性病毒传播的最佳方式之一。
自大流行开始以来，威斯康辛州已有近53，000例COVID-19确诊病例和934例死亡病例。这一死亡人数在全国排名第28位，人均排名第35位，每10万人中有近16人死亡。在过去两周内，每天新增病例的滚动平均数增加了70例，增幅接近9%。
Wisconsin Republicans 'stand ready' to kill mask requirement
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin Senate Republicans “stand ready” to strike down the statewide mask mandate that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced on Thursday, the GOP Senate leader said Friday.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald stopped short of promising that the Senate would vote to kill the order, which is slated to take effect on Saturday. Fitzgerald, a candidate for Congress who faces a GOP primary on Aug. 11, also did not indicate when the Senate might convene.
“Republicans in the state Senate stand ready to convene the body to end the governor’s order,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “The governor has caved to the pressure of liberal groups on this. How can we trust that the he won’t cave again and stop schools that choose in-person instruction this fall? There are bigger issues at play here, and my caucus members stand ready to fight back.”
State law gives the Legislature authority to revoke a governor's emergency order. But the Assembly, controlled by Republicans, would also have to vote to strike down the order. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Thursday noted that he expects the order to face a legal challenge, but didn't raise the possibility of the Legislature taking action. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has not met since mid-April, despite calls from Evers and Democrats to convene to take up issues related to thecoronaviruspandemic, including ensuring that the Wisconsin National Guard can continue its work across the state assisting in testing for COVID-19.
A message left with Fitzgerald's office for further comment was not immediately returned. Evers' spokeswoman Britt Cudaback referred to comments he made on Thursday calling it “risky business” for the Legislature to revoke a mask mandate that polls show has broad public support.
Evers declared a publichealthemergency on Thursday and issued a separate order requiring masks to be worn, with some exceptions, by everyone age 5 and up while inside or in enclosed places. The order does not apply to people in their private homes. It was slated to run until Sept. 28, with violators facing a $200 fine.
As of Friday, more than a dozen county sheriffs across Wisconsin said they would not enforce the order, with many noting they didn't have the resources to deal with it or that it was a publichealthissue instead of a law enforcement matter.
More than 30 states, with both Republican and Democratic governors, have mask mandates in effect. Public health officials around the world have emphasized that wearing a mask is one of the best ways to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus.
Wisconsin has had nearly 53,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 934 deaths from the disease since the pandemic started. That death count is the 28th-highest in the country and the 35th highest per capita, at nearly 16 deaths per 100,000 people. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has gone up by 70, an increase of nearly 9%.
