Sen. Nass vows to press legal action over UW coronavirus policies

(The Center Square) – Republican leaders in Madison now have to decide what to do about the University of Wisconsin’s coronavirus policies.

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, on Thursday said he is pushing ahead with his plan to take the UW System to court in order to force the university to get legislative permission via the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules to require masks on campuses across the state.

“I will be submitting a request to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu seeking legal action on behalf of JCRAR and the Legislature to force the UW System to comply with state law,” Nass said Thursday.

He said the UW System has ignored the new state rule that requires the university to run all coronavirus restrictions past the legislature before putting them into place.

The state’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules voted last month to limit what the UW System can do about the virus.

But it could be an uphill battle for Nass. A number of top Republicans have said they don’t want to sue the University of Wisconsin.

“I recognize that a few legislative Republicans have already gone soft over fighting the UW System’s potentially unlawful Covid-19 mandates,” Nass said. “I will continue to oppose and fight unlawful Covid-19 mandates issued by any state agency regardless of being led by a Democrat appointee or a former Republican governor.”

Former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson is the UW System’s president. Thompson has said he too doesn’t want to get into a court battle. But Thompson has said he believes the school has a good case if it does go to court.

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