Following Gov. Tony Evers’ decision to extend the state’s safer-at-home order, the president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce has renewed his call for Evers to work with the business commnunity on a plan to reopen the state of Wisconsin.
Kurt Bauer released the following statement after Gov. Evers and Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm announced the extension of the state’s safer-at-home order to May 26:
“The health and safety of Wisconsinites is of paramount concern to all of us. WMC understood that Gov. Evers and his administration had to take action last month to protect lives, but the time has come to also protect livelihoods.
“We have asked numerous times to have an open discussion about how government and the business community can work together to strategically and safely restart the economy. Unfortunately, the governor chose to ignore thousands of businesses, workers and their families who were looking for even the slightest glimmer of hope that the economy could reopen.
“WMC believes protecting Wisconsinites’ health and restarting our economy are not mutually exclusive. A well-thought-out plan could have slowly phased in certain geographic areas of the state and worked with specific industries to ensure they could properly protect their employees. This could have put us back on gradual path toward economic normalcy while still taking critical steps to safeguard people’s health.”
Bauer went on to say that not only are there legal questions about the administration’s authority to extend the safer-at-home order to May 26, there are fundamental questions about why this decision was made. “WMC is disappointed with this order that will inevitably lead to more business shutdowns and Wisconsinites losing their jobs,” he states.
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