Can Wisconsin Residents Cross State Lines For Work During COVID-19 Pandemic?

Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order limits which businesses are allowed to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic — which means many Wisconsin workers are either working from home or out of a job, for now.

But some Wisconsin residents reached out to WPR’s WHYsconsin project confused about whether or not the order allows them to go to work in other states.

If you live in Wisconsin but cross over to Illinois, Iowa, Michigan or Minnesota for work, the answer is yes, you can still go, according to a FAQ sheet from Evers’ office.

“Individuals who work outside of Wisconsin are allowed to commute to other states for work purposes, as long as they comply with this order and orders from other states,” the FAQ states.

So check out other states’ stay-at-home orders. Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota all allow traveling for work, depending on the work restrictions in each order.

Iowa is the only Wisconsin border state that has not implemented a stay-at-home order.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said at a press conference Wednesday the measures the state has already taken — such as school and business closures, and encouraging working from home and other forms of social distancing — are equivalent to a formal stay-at-home order.

“If we all do that, then we will get through this, we’ll bend the curve, we won’t overwhelm our health care system, and we’ll get things back to normal sooner rather than later,” Reynolds said.

But that’s not enough for Aaron Bouzek, a welder who lives in Prairie du Chien and works in an Iowa factory.

“Being that Wisconsin has taken precautions to prevent the spread, I was gonna do the shelter-in-place and not leave, unless I was gonna go to the grocery store, or to seek medical attention, things like that,” he said.

Bouzek said Iowa needs to strengthen its restrictions and criticized Reynolds’ proposal to turn schools and churches into pop-up day care centers.

“That defeats the whole purpose of closing schools down, don’t you think?” he said.

Reynolds announced Thursday an expansion of business closures and the cancelation of elective surgeries and dental procedures.

Bouzek is now on leave from work. He said maintaining the recommended distance between himself and others would be impossible at his job, where he works in close quarters building road-paving equipment. Plus, one of his children, who has autism and epilepsy, needed consistent care after therapy sessions were canceled, like so many other programs and appointments.

He’s not crossing the border for work for now, but Bouzek wondered why states are allowing interstate travel at all. He said states should have a consistent plan to stem the spread of the virus.

“I think if all the states did work together, and had the same plan together, the duration of this would be a lot shorter,” he said.

Two people in Iowa died of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the state’s death total to three, according to a press release from Reynolds’ office.