Wisconsin legislature files legal action against 'Safer at Home' order

Wisconsin's Republican-controlled legislature is officially filing legal action in the state Supreme Court challenging Gov. Evers'

Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said last week that the legislature was considering legal action, and in a statement on Tuesday made the move official.

“The governor has denied the people a voice through this unprecedented administrative overreach. Unfortunately, that leaves the legislature no choice but to ask the Supreme Court to rein in this obvious abuse of power," the Republican leaders said in the statement.

"Wisconsinites deserve certainty, transparency, and a plan to end the constant stream of executive orders that are eroding both the economy and their liberty even as the state is clearly seeing a decline in COVID infections," according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin DHS argue that the extension will help ensure Wisconsin reduces the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state. They argue that if they did not extend the stay-at-home order, Wisconsin would lose much of the progress made since the order was issued last March.

In a

several hours after the suit was filed, Gov. Evers called Republican lawmakers' attempt to sue him over the stay-at-home extension "a shameful response" that would "have us jump through hoop after hoop and ask for their permission to save lives. Folks, we don’t have time. COVID-19 will not wait."

"Republicans are exploiting a global pandemic to further their attempts to undermine the will of the people. But what’s at stake goes far beyond political power--lives are on the line," according to the governor.

Evers extended the 'Safer at Home' order to May 26, which closes all non-essential businesses and cancels schools for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.

The lawsuit came as

in Madison that is manufacturing ventilators.