The Sconi

Gov. Tony Evers issued a new statewide mask mandate on Thursday after the state's legislature voted to repeal his previous mandate.

The repeal and the new mandate happened within an hour of each other, the Epoch Times reported.

“If the Legislature keeps playing politics and we don’t keep wearing masks, we’re going to see more preventable deaths, and it’s going to take even longer to get our state and our economy back on track,” Evers said, the Epoch Times reported.

Republican Majority Leader Jim Steineke said the issue was the rule of law -- not masks.

Republican state Sen. Steve Nass, the architect behind the repeal order, accused Evers of being a “lawless governor.” The issue could end up going back and forth as Nass said he was drafting another resolution to repeal the latest one. There are two possible outcomes from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, either Evers must secure legislators’ approval every 60 days or, if the court rules he does not need the lawmakers’ approval then they will continue to repeal every order.

There was a 52-42 vote to repeal the mandate, seven Republicans joining all Democrats. The Republicans, who have control over both the House and Senate argue that Evers is abusing his authority. In a letter addressed to Evers, they stated they would accept a more flexible mask mandate that allows them to wear masks in places “susceptible to transmission of the virus.” like hospitals, public schools, and prisons, the Epoch Times reports.

Health experts have however warned of great danger with the arrival of the more deadly, more contagious variant of the coronavirus.  According to the National Academy for State Health Policy, all of Wisconsin’s neighboring states have some form of mask mandate