State Senator Rob Cowles (R-Allouez)
ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ) — Two Republican State Senators voted with Democrats Tuesday against a measure to overturn the state’s mask mandate put into force by Governor Tony Evers, which has been in place since July. One of them was 2nd District State Senator Rob Cowles of Allouez.
He says his reasoning was simple.
“I believe in the health care protocols,” Cowles told WTAQ. “I believe that this can have an effect on suppressing the pandemic and getting us back to normalcy.”
Cowles says that the argument made by his Republican colleagues that Governor Tony Evers overstepped his authority by constantly extending the mandate isn’t a convincing one, pointing to a lawsuit in the Supreme Court over Evers’ emergency orders as evidence.
“There was a lawsuit against this. It’s been sitting there now for two months undecided,” Cowles argued.”So for those that say that the statutes are clear, no, they’re not clear, or there would have been a decision by now.”
Cowles says mask mandates are “part of the overall effort” in fighting COVID-19, and says that they’re a good idea even if the Governor did overstep his power.
“Even if the Supreme Court came out and said ‘Governor, you can’t do this’, we should do it!” Cowles exclaimed. “We should follow the CDC guidance on this thing. This is been vetted every which way.”
The state assembly is set to vote on repealing the mandate on Thursday. If they do, it will be immediately repealed without needing a signature from the governor.
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