Lawmakers may be ready to try to overturn mask mandate

It appears the Wisconsin Legislature may finally be ready to take action to deal with the ongoing pandemic. Since the outbreak began, our legislators in Madison have met just once to deal with the fallout, basically approving spending federal money allocated to the state to respond to the virus. In the more than 100 days since, our legislature, full-time in name only, has not met to help small businesses ravaged by the economic fallout, or to help those struggling to pay their mortgage or their rent. So what has lawmakers ready to return to Madison? Not the deaths, or the loss of jobs. No, its the Governor’s order that people wear masks in public buildings. A growing number of Republican lawmakers are signaling that they may call a special session of the Legislature to try to overturn Governor Evers’ mask mandate. They say it should be a personal decision, but are ignoring this is a pandemic and we need to take every precaution to keep people safe, and businesses solvent. And it seems the business community largely backs the Governor’s order. CEO’s of Kwik Trip, Johnson Controls, Kohler and other large employers are in support of the mask requirement. Meanwhile, the virus shows no sign of slowing down, with another new record high number of cases reported in the state on Saturday. Under the Governor’s order, people don’t have to wear masks. They could choose to stay home. This should be an order we all can live with.