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Wisconsin educators & child care workers will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday

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Wisconsin’s educators and child care workers will begin to get COVID-19 vaccines beginning on Monday, March 1, as part of Phase 1B of the state’s vaccination effort.

Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk is asking for their patience.

“We cannot get every one of you a vaccine on March 1st. But you are all going to get a vaccine in the next 4-to-6 weeks, and we want to protect you,” Willems Van Dijk said Thursday.

“This is all going to happen within the next four to six weeks. It’s a relatively short period of time in the whole history of COVID. Every teacher is going to get vaccinated, and so we’ll get to all of them very quickly.”

As of Thursday, 48 percent of all residents 65 and older have received a first vaccine dose, and Willems Van Dijk says those older residents will continue to be prioritized for vaccinations.

Willems Van Dijk said Wisconsin school districts will be ranked 1-through-425, as DHS allocates COVID-19 vaccines to give to K-12 educators.

“We’re going to use the percentage of students in free and reduced hot lunch, and the percentage of students who are students of color as criteria for that,” she explained, adding that does not mean urban districts are being prioritized.

“Many of the school districts in our rural areas have very high rates of children on free and reduced lunch, Many of the rural parts of our state experience poverty at disproportionate levels as well.”

People in congregate settings – including prisoners – are also in Phase 1B, but will be prioritized behind educators and frontline workers in transit and food service.

Evers signs bill allowing DWD UI computer upgrade to proceed

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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has signed a bill, to start an overhaul of the state’s aging unemployment system computers.

Evers released a video statement as he signed the bill, which passed both chambers of the legislature with broad bipartisan support.

“At the end of the day, this problem could have been addressed by previous administrations, and more than a decade worth of state legislators who knew this system was outdated, and couldn’t handle an economic crisis like the one this pandemic created.”

While Republican legislative leaders have said Evers already had authority to proceed with the project without legislative action, the bill signing gives the Department of Workforce Development authority to look for firms to do the work.

DWD will also need to request that the legislature’s budget committee approve the funding, which is expected to be at least $80 million.

Republican lawmakers propose National Anthem requirement for Wisconsin venues that have received tax money

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Republican lawmakers want to require playing the National Anthem at sports venues in Wisconsin.

In a statement released Thursday, state Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) said “the practice of playing the anthem at sporting events has come under fire from a small, but vocal group of activists.”

“Hearing the Star Spangled Banner at a sporting event reminds us that despite our differences, we have something in common – we are Americans,” he said.

Testin is proposing the Star Spangled Banner Act, co-authored by Representatives Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) and Scott Krug (R-Town of Rome).

It would require playing of the anthem prior to sporting events held in venues that have received taxpayer funding, including Lambeau Field, American Family Field, and Fiserv Forum, but doesn’t include any penalties if they don’t.

Testin’s statement made no mention of any specific efforts to halt the playing of the national anthem at any venues located in Wisconsin.

Evers announces rental & utilities assistance for residents who’ve lost income during pandemic

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Wisconsinites who have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible for assistance.

Governor Tony Evers says more $322 million in funding will be available, to help with rent, utilities and other services. Qualified applicants may receive up to 12 months of assistance, with rent and utility payments made directly to the landlord or provider. It’s funded through a federal program.

Eligible applicants include state residents who demonstrate a risk of experiencing housing instability, have seen their income reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and/or earn a household income at or below 80 percent of the county median income.

The state Department Of Administration will partner with community agencies to accept applications and distribute assistance.

Residents of Brown, Dane, Milwaukee, and Waukesha Counties and the cities of Madison and Milwaukee can apply directly to their local government’s rental assistance provider.
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State Senate Republicans propose bills focused on Wisconsin elections

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State Senate Republicans have introduced more than a dozen bills relating to how Wisconsin conducts elections.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said  he wasn’t consulted, but that he sees the need. “The idea that we want to go look and say ‘how do we make sure that every possible person who wants to vote in this state does it lawfully’ should be something that has broad, bipartisan unanimous support,” Vos said on Tuesday. “But that’s the challenge that we have, that some people people seem to think that their side benefits from fraudulent and unlawful voting.”

Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said the ten measures she introduced Wednesday with Senator Duey Stroebel (R- Saukville) “will restore trust and make sure our elections are handled fairly for everyone.”

Strobel, who introduced another six bills on Tuesday, said the measures “will restore trust and make sure our elections are handled fairly for everyone.”

One bill would limit ballot drop boxes to election clerk offices. Another would prohibit local election officials from completing missing information on certification envelopes returned by voters that contain absentee ballots, while yet another would prohibit those absentee ballot certification envelopes to be counted as a written request for a ballot.

All of the measures are a response to President Donald Trump’s loss in Wisconsin in the 2020 election.

Jay Heck, Executive Director with Common Cause in Wisconsin, said the legislation is premised on the lie that the 2020 presidential election was somehow stolen.

“They’re not based on any evidence that there was any problem, or certainly any malfeasance or fraud,” Heck said. He added that it would be better if Republican lawmakers “just leveled with voters and told them the truth, rather than trying to make it more difficult for more Wisconsinites to be able to vote.”

Vos noted that in addition to the legislation, the Legislative Audit Bureau is conducting an audit of the state’s election practices. “We know that there were unlawfully cast ballots in the last election cycle.” he said. “That is an absolute positive fact.”

Teachers to begin getting vaccinated March 1 in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin’s next wave of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, known as Phase 1B, begins on March 1st.

“As noted when we announced this group back in January, the top of the priority of the additional eligible groups are our educators and child care providers,” Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said Tuesday.

The state is on pace for its target of getting 50 percent of those 65 and older vaccinated with a first dose, in order to begin Phase 1b, according to Willems Van Dijk.

“We want our kids in school, we know a number of school districts have been in person since early in the year, and we know a number of additional school districts are moving in that direction,” she said. “And we know teachers work every day with a population that is not able to be vaccinated because of their age.”

Willems Van Dijke assured those 65 and older who have yet to receive a first dose that they will. Wisconsin is getting a larger allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. “This week we will have 115,000 first doses to distribute to vaccinators, which is a 64 percent increase from mid-January,” Willems Van Dijk said. “We also know that that we’ll have that same amount . . . for at least the next two weeks.”

Nearly half of people age 65 and over have been vaccinated, and the state plans to open 4 more community clinics over next 2 months

Assembly approves bill to allow DWD to update computers

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The Wisconsin Assembly voted unanimously on Tuesday, for legislation starting the task of updating the state’s unemployment insurance system. The Senate passed the bill, which was amended to include liability protections for businesses, last week.

Democratic Governor Tony Evers has said he will sign the bill. Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said the governor bears responsibility for thousands of people who waited months for benefits. “To literally have people where less than one percent of the calls were answered. And that took months to solve,” Vos said.

Evers had called a special session to deal with the Department of Workforce Development’s aging computers. Vos said that wasn’t necessary. “We know, he has the ability under current law,” he said. “The Fiscal Bureau has the memo. It was very clear, he could have done this weeks ago.”

The bill allows DWD to put out bids for the project, expected to cost at least $80 million dollars. But the agency will need permission from the legislature’s budget committee to proceed.

Second straight day of no COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin

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For a second straight day, there were no deaths due to COVID-19 reported in Wisconsin.

On Monday, the U.S. as a whole surpassed 500,000 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, about 19 percent of the global total, although the U.S. accounts for just 4 percent of the world’s population.

In Wisconsin though, the state Department of Health Services reported no deaths for a second day on Monday. DHS reported 423 new cases, and as of Monday afternoon the seven-day average percent positive by test was 2.6%, the lowest in nearly a year.

Evers capital budget proposes nearly $2.4 billion for building projects

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Governor Tony Evers’ proposed capital budget targets nearly $2.4 billion towards building projects around Wisconsin.

The Democratic governor wants to borrow about $2 billion for 2021-2023 projects, and spend more a billion dollars for projects on UW System campuses.

Evers also proposes funding a new state office building in Milwaukee, and planning for a new office building in downtown Madison.

There’s also money for new facilities to treat juvenile offenders, to replace the Lincoln Hills-Cooper Lake juvenile prison. The Republican controlled legislature will have final say on the projects.

Evers defends proposed budget as Republicans voice disapproval on his spending targets

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Governor Tony Evers

Governor Tony Evers defends his proposed $91 billion state budget. On WKOW‘s “Capitol City Sunday,” Evers characterized his two year spending plan as a responsible reasonable response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I understand the numbers might be jarring, but the fact of the matter is we have an obligation as a state to really help our economy move forward and especially small businesses,” the governor said.

Also on “Capitol City Sunday,” Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said Republicans won’t spend anywhere near what Evers wants.

Senator Devin LeMahieu

“Eight billion dollars in spending increases – that’s just unacceptable in the environment we’re in,” LeMahieu said. “We’ll make sure we make investments in core priorities just as medical care and infrastructure.”

Republicans also quickly rejected policy changes Evers put in the budget, including language to legalize marijuana.