>> This week, Governor Tony
Evers' administration gave up
the quest for any new statewide
emergency rules to manage
COVID-19 in Wisconsin.
Evers says Republicans
emboldened by a state Supreme
Court decision erasing his stay
at home order would never have
allowed any such restrictions.
I talked with Governor Evers
earlier today, as we head into
this holiday weekend.
And, Governor, thanks very
much for joining us.
>> Thanks, Frederica.
How are you today? Good?
>> I'm very well, and you?
>> It's good, everything's good.
>> Why earlier this week
in really what seemed
like a rather sudden move
did you withdraw your
Coronavirus rule plan?
>> Well, there's only 24 hours
in a day and all of us are
focused on important things like
getting some of this care money
out to farmers
and small business people and
the Republicans made it clear
and it wasn't like a fight.
It was a clear that they didn't
want to do anything that
would restrict, do anything
about restricting anything
and they wanted--
They didn't want
a statewide plan.
They wanted a local plan.
So, instead of fighting upstream
against something that
was just never going to happen,
we're going to be continuing to
focus on the things that
are important like testing
and tracing and getting the
right equipment, getting money
out to farmers, and making sure
that our small businesses
get some get some resources.
That's what we need to focus on.
And so, it just wasn't worth
the time.
>> Was it a marker that partisan
politics have gotten
the better of public health?
>> Well, it got--
It set a marker in saying that
there will be never any
restrictions on what might be
a dangerous situation.
You know, if we if we did
have a second wave or if we did
have a surge, it's likely
at some point time
we're going to have to say,
"Well, you can only have
50 people in this space
rather than 500 people
in this space," but that just
wasn't going to happen.
So, we will do the things
we can do to make sure
that people are safe.
>> Are communications still
happening between you
and the Republican leadership?
>> Sure, we've talked a couple
times this week, and,
you know, talked about things
like how schools can open up
and making sure that you're
talking about the University
of Wisconsin System.
How we can communicate if
there is a surge going forward.
So, No, we are--
It's just the, first of all, the
rule, the idea that there was
gonna be any grand bargain on
this-- and the Supreme Court
kind of set the stage--
just wasn't an accurate one.
>> On Thursday, you allocated
one hundred million dollars
out of the federal Cares Act
money toward helping long-term
care facilities and emergency
medical services, but that came
the same day as our next guest
in this program blasted you
in a letter for what he said
was ignoring nursing homes.
Is that how this interaction
though is going, notwithstanding
to some of the discussions
you say you're having.
>> Well, apparently, what the
discussion we're having with
the leadership didn't make it
down to Representative Steineke.
Clearly, we always had planned
once the care money came in
that we're you know the
long-term care facilities were
the ones that really didn't
get any money or very little
money from the previous federal
allocation so this was going
to happen and I know he made
the claim that we hadn't reached
out to different organizations.
We have constant conversations
with people in those
long-term care facilities.
Heck, we're trying to get in and
make sure every one of those
are tested so, you know,
that communication didn't happen
from his leadership to him
for some reason.
Now, by far, the largest
allocation in my understanding
was a billion dollars that
Wisconsin allocated to testing
and contact tracing.
Describe why those things are
such a major focus?
>> Absolutely, well,
that is how,
if we have a surge and or if
there is a second wave, this is
how we're going to have to
contain this and it always has
been the most important thing.
The more people we test, the
more people we can find out
if they're they are ill
and get them give them isolated
and get the people that
they've contacted isolated.
As we do that across the state,
we start to slowly start to
manage this system so it's
absolutely the most important
thing, in addition to getting
the equipment we need.
And so, we're doing-- well,
I know we hit, I think, 9,000,
almost 10,000 tests just today
and we want to keep that up.
We want to do 85,000 a week
and as we do that, we're able to
you know make it less likely
that any surge will happen.
>> President Trump, as you well
know, gets tested every day
and he talks about that.
Do you, likewise, get tested
or take extra precautions?
>> I take extra precautions
because I'm essentially self-
quarantined at the executive
residence or the Capitol.
There's very few people that
interact with me and the people
that do have very few
interactions either so
there's no one use
wasting a test on me
because we are-- my wife and I
are essentially self-isolating
in our lives right now.
>> Just very briefly,
with only about 30 seconds left.
What do you think about much of
the state being reopened heading
into this holiday weekend?
>> Yeah, well,
I'll make it very clear.
One thing we have to do is spend
time reflecting upon those
people that not only died
in this epidemic, but obviously
to paid the ultimate sacrifice,
in our armed services over time.
That reflection, I think, should
give us an opportunity to think
about staying closer to home.
I think it is going to be
a lot of people coming in from
out of state and we--
I think, you know, social
distancing, doing the things
that we need to do, as far as
making sure that we're doing
the hygiene.
Staying closer to home, I think,
is the best recommendation
I have, but Memorial Day
is about that reflection
and so hopefully people
will be doing that.
>> All right, Governor
Tony Evers, thanks again.
>> Thanks a lot, Frederica.
Take care!