We need more tools for this fight

How much power does a governor have? That depends on who you ask. But the answer that matters will come from the courts. The Wisconsin Supreme Court began hearing arguments yesterday in a case seeking to clarify the powers of Governor Tony Evers. The high court is being asked to determine whether Evers had the authority to issue executive orders like mandatory masks and a stay at home order. The legal argument seems silly. Those bringing the suits argue that Evers doesn’t have the authority to issue more than one executive order to deal with the same pandemic. Think of the logic here. That is like saying that if a flood warning is issued, it can’t be extended even though the river is rising, because it is the same flood. That we can’t have different colored threat levels for possible terrorist attacks. That the DOT can’t put out orange barrels and reduce speed limits in one section of the interstate if they have already done so miles down the road. That once crime scene tape is put up it can’t be extended further because it involves the same crime. It makes no sense. This pandemic has become an emergency, and requires a response. We have to give those charged with keeping us safe in an emergency the authority to do so, rather than trying to find some technicality that hamstrings those efforts.