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Joint Finance moves some federal education funds to schools that held in person classes

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Republican members of the state’s Joint Finance Committee have reallocated some federal school funding to prioritize school districts who were open for in person classes this year.

Co-Chair Senator Howard Marklein says schools ought to be rewarded for bringing kids back to school buildings. 

“The motion before us today provides an incentive to those districts that have been doing the right thing and by offering in-person instruction. It also provides an incentive for those schools that are not currently open to in-person instruction.”

But Democrat Senator Jon Erpenbach says that Republicans are being punitive for school districts that had to make a tough choice to move to remote learning.

“Teachers adapted quickly. Administrators adapted quickly. Parents adapted quickly, and the kids adapted quickly. They shouldn’t be punished for that. Individual school districts, through their boards, their elected boards, made their own decisions based on what their community as a whole wanted. They shouldn’t be punished for that.”

The move redirects around $66 million dollars in funding from the program. Another 615 million dollars is directly awarded by the federal government and cannot be moved. 

Evers adds funding for early education, long term care to proposed state budget

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Governor Tony Evers is previewing parts of his proposed state budget, including a new series of grants for those who are caring for their children and loved ones during the pandemic.

The programs will offer up 140 million dollars in total for early childhood programs, and 600 million dollars for long term care programs and those who are stay at home caregivers.

Evers says investing in childcare and the elderly is a moral issue, and not just an economic one and that the pandemic has shown just how frayed the social net in Wisconsin is. Evers is set to announce the full budget proposal next week.

Governor Evers calls for fair maps, more broadband funding, and DWD overhaul in State of the State address

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Governor Tony Evers laid out his roadmap for 2021 at Tuesday night’s State of the State Address.

Evers took little time in laying out tall goals for 2021. Evers says he’ll be calling for a special session of the Legislature to overhaul and rebuild the state’s unemployment system.

“We know that replacing the system will take years. That’s why it should have been done sooner. But it’s also why we don’t have another moment to waste.”

Republicans have been decrying the backlog of unemployment claims that were generated by outdated systems and processes at D W D, and Evers wants them to get together and fix the issue.

Evers says that the massive push for increased internet access showed the vast digital divide across parts of Wisconsin, and that he’ll be stepping up the funding for broadband expansion to $200 million in his next budget.

“This pandemic has shown us first-hand that lack of access to high-speed internet continues to be a setback for kids, families, and businesses across our state.”

Governor Evers says that a fair and open redistricting process will be vital to the state in 2021. Evers says that the last time maps were drawn in the state, Republicans did so in secret with the help of attorneys, and that no one got to provide any input. 

“I’m announcing that my biennial budget is going to make sure that the legislature draws our maps in the light of day, in the public eye, and with public input by requiring public meetings for map drawing process.”

Many of the records for those strategy sessions were never released, and Evers says he doesn’t want to see a repeat of that process. “Because the people of our state deserve to know how these maps are drawn and by whom.”

Evers thanked the people of Wisconsin for their strength and perseverance through the pandemic and what was a tough year, and alled for continued unity among the people of the state.

Senator Baldwin pushes for fresh pandemic funding for small businesses

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Senator Tammy Baldwin says she wants to restart small business in Wisconsin with more federal funding to keep them afloat during the pandemic. 

Baldwin says the legislation would step in where the P P P and other pandemic funding has fallen away. “The RESTART Act is bipartisan legislation that answers the calls of the restaurants, gyms, hotels, retailers, concert venues and other businesses impacted by this economic crisis.”

Baldwin says the Trump Administration dropped the ball, and that help needs to come quickly to save small businesses. 

“President Trump let the Paycheck Protection Program expire, leaving many small businesses without a lifeline. We must take action now and provide more resources to the hardest hit small businesses in Wisconsin.”

The bill is currently backed by both Republican and Democrat senators. The Senate is also scheduled to come back into session later this month to consider legislation.

Central Wisconsin Airport gets 16 million dollars to upgrade runways

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Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee is getting 16 million dollars to repair and replace one of its runways.

Airport Director Brian Grefe says there’s no question the runway has reached the end of its life span, as some of the pavement dates back to when the airport opened in 1969.

“Maintenance expenses on this runway have been increasing year-over-year just with that pavement deteriorating and in still needing to meet FAA safety standards.”

Grefe says those improvements will mean long-term stability for the facility.

“Ensure that we maintain a facility that operates 24/7. And that type of reliability of something that airlines really value and look towards.”

CWA services wide sections of central and northern Wisconsin, and is on a priority list of airports that are getting FAA funding.

 

WSAU

Wisconsin starts annual shared revenue payments to local governments

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State officials are distributing their first major payment of the year to local municipalities and school districts.

That’s just under 1 point 4 billion dollars in shared revenue to the community. State Revenue Secretary Peter Barca says these funds help ensure that local property taxes can stay low. 

“The Governor, Governor Evers has really championed the idea of trying to take more off the property tax reliance, knowing that many people just strictly can’t afford it.”

Barca says these funds help offset state and local property taxes, and make up the lion’s share of a lot of state spending. 

“School aids are by far the biggest expenditure of all the local relief. It’s six billion dollars that goes back every year.”

State revenue sharing began in 1911 with the enactment of the state income tax.

AG Kaul sues US education department over PPE funding for low income schools

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Attorney General Josh Kaul is joining 9 other attorneys general in suing the US Department of Education over PPE funding for schools.

That funding was part of the CARES Act, and is meant to go to Title 1 schools, which handle low income students and families. 

“But the way that [Secretary of Education] Besty DeVos has read the rule, a fancy private prep school is just as eligible for funds as schools with large numbers of low income kids.”

Kaul says the targets for that funding are very clear. 

“It specifically targets schools that have large numbers of low income and otherwise disadvantaged students.”)

The Department of Justice say that could mean that 4 million dollars of needed funding could be stripped from needed schools in Wisconsin. 

Citizens Utility Board calling for delay in disconnections

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Wisconsin’s utility watchdog is asking for more time to let people to pay their bills.

The Citizens Utility Board is asking power companies in Wisconsin to put off cutting people off.

Utilities have been banned from disconnecting people’s power because of the coronavirus recession, but that moratorium ends Saturday.

CUB’s Tom Content says the recent uptick in coronavirus numbers shows that this is not the time to cut-off people’s lights and gas. CUB is urging anyone facing a disconnection to apply for state help to pay their bills.

Wausau and visitor’s bureau get into heated discussion over improper room tax collections

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Wausau and other central Wisconsin communities are trying to figure out the future of their room tax funding after the local visitor’s bureau improperly collected that tax.

Wausau mayor Katie Rosenberg says that the Convention and Visitors Bureau took money that was meant for a number of municipalities from the online booking site Expedia. Rosenberg says that’s a breach of contract, and makes it hard to trust the organization. 

“I need to trust the partners that Wausau goes into business with, right? That we trust with our tax dollars. We need to make sure that we have that good relationship there.”

Rosenberg says the C V B has since returned their money, but they still want to look over future contracts with the group. 

“Do we trust that this is remedied or do we not? And you know right now I’m not seeing what I need to see but I need to talk with the policy body too.”

At Thursday night’s meeting of the city Finance Committee, CVB director Dick Barrett explained that he thought he was obligated to handle money under the contract with the city.

“‘They shall work together toward the collection of any delinquent room tax owed to the city, and the parties shall cooperate with the city to assist in the collection of any delinquent or deficient amounts owed by any operator required to collect and remit room tax proceeds under the city room tax ordinance.’ That is what I followed. We are contracted to do it with you, that’s what we’ve done.”

Finance committee chair Lisa Rasmussen says the C V B should not have been the one collecting the funds. 

“There was no call by you to say, “Hey Maryanne, guess what, you might have some room tax coming your way that you’ve not collected.’ There was no such call. There was no collaboration. There was no outreach to the city to say ‘City, heads up, you may have money coming!’ We would have collected it ourselves. Or, there was no outreach to say ‘City, would you like me to do this for you?'”

No action was taken by the committees on the contracts Tuesday evening as Wausau’s Finance Committee adjourned in closed session..

 

 

WSAU

Deadline to file 2019 income taxes is July 15th

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The deadline to file your 2019 taxes is Wednesday the 15th, and the state revenue department is hoping to give people a hand this year.

Secretary of Revenue Peter Barca says that the majority of Wisconsinites will be getting a tax refund this year. “The average refund this year is 730 dollars, so if you have a refund make sure you file before July 15th.”

Barca says that if you owe money to the state, that the Department is very aware of the difficulties facing many Wisconsinites right now, and that they’re very willing to work on payment plans for people that are out of work or on a limited income right now. 

“People should feel very comfortable calling our line, and they’ll have a receptive ear on the other end wanting to work with them.”)

He adds that there’s plenty of assistance available.

“We have a Farm Support Program. We got money out to farmers who were in need. The Department of Administrations has worked hard on rental assistance for people and we worked carefully with the Department of Health for long-term care.”

If you do need to set up a payment plan, call the department’s help line at (608) 266-2772.