Another political battle between the Wisconsin Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers is brewing in the badger state after Evers’s Department of Health Services Secretary-Designee Andrea Palm issued a new shutdown order limiting public gatherings to a maximum of 10 individuals and reducing the capacity of businesses to 25%.
This order came as a shock to many because it contradicts a state Supreme Court decision from May and is a reversal from just last week when Evers stated he does not have the legal authority to reduce business occupancy. This latest order is part of a disturbing trend of governors and their appointees in the administrative state flouting the rule of law and the input of coequal branches of government. This trend has only gotten worse during the pandemic. Fortunately, the Wisconsin Legislature has pushed back against this latest act of executive overreach. Other state legislatures should follow Wisconsin’s lead and give themselves the tools necessary to effectively oversee their administrative states.
