Covid Chronicles. Chapter 84: Wisconsin State Legislature on Hiatus

Read chapter 83 here

Monday, November 13, 2020     

Here’s a most illustrative example of GOP hypocrisy. 

For months, ever since the start of the pandemic, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has downplayed the virus and, in cahoots with State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, refuses to take up any legislation to address the mounting public health and economic fallout. As a result, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported last month that Wisconsin has the least active full-time legislature. Our State Senate and Assembly has each met just once since the start of the pandemic – one meeting in 8 months. Our tax dollars repeatedly hitting the snooze alarm. 

Not that Vos and Fitz (not their official photos) have been doing nothing. The two of them have spent most of their time since the spring challenging any Covid-related measures ordered by Governor Tony Evers. Mask mandates, capacity limits, you name it. Rather than working for legislative solutions, they have teamed up with the 4 conservative members lapdogs of the state Supreme Court to block Evers at every turn. In May, this yipping foursome overturned Evers’ safer-at home order, ruling that he had overstepped his authority. Good li’l doggies. Earlier this month, they overruled Evers’ executive order limiting capacity in bars, restaurants, and other public places, which had caused the Tavern League, a powerful force in Wisconsin politics, to throw a hissy fit. They demanded, in essence, that their members have an unalienable right to spread the virus. 

In an area of the U.S. where….. 

Apparently, it’s OK for GOP legislative leaders to fiddle while Wisconsin gets scorched by the virus. In a state where all 72 counties are hot spots. It’s insane! 

Today Wisconsin set a record – for the 6th time in the past 10 days – for new Covid cases: 7,777. Unlucky sevens! In addition to Wisconsin’s bar culture, what’s driving the numbers here, as most everywhere else in the U.S., is small household gatherings. Like the ones in which Margaret’s daughter Anna and her in-laws participated, which serve to spread the virus throughout the entire family. (We haven’t heard about the results of baby Clare’s Covid test. Hopefully, it was negative.) What concerns us in this household is the likelihood that too many families, even during this unprecedented spike, are going to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas like it’s 2019.

Not us.