Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he doesn’t envision a “grand bargain” with Republican legislative leaders after they won a lawsuit striking down his administration’s extended COVID-19 stay-at-home order.
Evers talked with Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald the day after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the extended order, and he said he plans another discussion with them this week.
“I know there’s this feeling that there’s going to be this grand bargain found, but I don’t see that happening,” Evers said in an interview aired Sunday on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.
“Maybe we can come up with some things that could be helpful, but they said no restrictions. So for example, if we decided we don’t want 50 people in a small office, that’s probably a bad idea, but that is off-limits. And they control this process,” Evers said.
He said he hoped they could find some agreement on what could be accomplished in the event of another surge in COVID-19.
Evers said it’s now up to people to take their own precautions against novel coronavirus.
“The Supreme Court set the stage and our state is now open, and hopefully the good will of the people of the people of the state will prevail. We are hoping that people still, when they are not out and about, that they stay home as much as possible. That has saved lives and we think that’s still a bona fide thing to do,” Evers said.
Evers also addressed the status of DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm. Three Republican state senators have called for her to be fired.
“She’s done a great job. She’s a consummate professional,” Evers said.
“UpFront” host Adrienne Pedersen asked Evers what would happen if the Senate fired Palm.
“It would be idiotic, it would be chaotic,” Evers said.
Evers also said he is concerned COVID-19 cases will increase now that the statewide order is over.
To see people in bars on the night the Supreme Court rejected his order, he said, is a “guarantee that we’re going to have more cases. That’s the way the virus works.”
Evers also expressed optimism about the state’s economic recovery after the shutdown.
“We’ll rebound from this. We’re actually beginning to rebound. I’ve seen some data recently that show things are headed in the right direction,” Evers said. “We have a long way to go.”
See more from the program:
http://www.wisn.com/upfront
