MADISON, WI (Wisconsin Radio Network-WSAU) – Wisconsin’s COVID-19 response is back before the state Supreme Court.
The case was brought by Jer Fabick, president of Caterpillar equipment dealer Fabick Cat, a Republican donor and policy adviser at the conservative Heartland Institute. Fabick’s attorney, Matthew Fernholz, said Monday that Governor Tony Evers’ repeated executive orders are invalid because his emergency powers have expired. “We are not taking issue with the governor’s decision to label COVID a public health emergency under the statute. We agree it meets the definition. The problem for the governor is it met the definition in March, it met it in July and it met it in September. And for him to issue those second and third emergency declarations, he needed approval from the legislature, and he didn’t receive it.”
The lawsuit argues that the Governor cannot issue new emergency orders for the same emergency — COVID-19. “The governor had authority to declare a state of emergency. We do not take issue with the first declaration, it meets the definition. But to keep Wisconsin in a state of emergency from the same underlying conditions, he would need approval from the legislature,” Fernholz said.
The Evers administration says each of its emergency orders deals with different aspects of the COVID emergency.
The court’s liberals noted the legislature has failed to take any action on the pandemic for the past seven months.
The justices heard arguments virtually and are expected to issue a decision soon.
