Here & Now

COVID-19 Relief Legislation Explained

Man:

The clerk will open and call the roll.

Clerk:

Allen?

Scott Allen:

Aye.

Zac Schultz:

The Legislature’s passage of the COVID-19 Pandemic Response Bill was historic in many ways. First, the Assembly and Senate met virtually for the first time in state history. In the Assembly, 57 of 99 members appeared via Skype, most from their homes.

David Bowen:

No.

Zac Schultz:

The remaining members were spaced out 6 feet apart in the Chamber.

Clerk:

Senator Bernier?

Zac Schultz:

The Senate didn’t even meet in the Senate Chamber, opting to put two members in a hearing room and the rest in their homes or Capitol offices.

Scott Fitzgerald:

These are extraordinary times and these decisions are gut wrenching as we move through them.

Gordon Hintz:

The sooner we can manage the health crisis, the sooner we can address the economic crisis.

Zac Schultz:

Assembly Bill 1038 passed 97-2, with two Democrats from Milwaukee opposed. The Senate concurred 32-0, and Governor Evers signed the bill into law just a few hours later. It deals with items ranging from education waivers to cremation policies, all related to COVID-19. The two biggest elements of the bill allow Wisconsin to capture more federal dollars. First, the state will receive additional federal Medicaid reimbursement dollars. Second, laid off workers won’t have to wait a week to claim unemployment benefits, with the federal government picking up the cost. Wisconsin is already expecting to receive around $2.3 billion from the federal CARES Act, most of which Governor Evers will be able to spend at his discretion. This bill allows the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee to transfer an additional $75 million between state agencies. It provides some immunity from civil liability for health care workers treating patients with COVID-19, an important element when doctors may soon have to start choosing which patients get a ventilator. The bill also includes a provision that reduces the hours of training needed for nurses aides, a provision Governor Evers vetoed out of the state budget. The governor was not able to use his line-item veto powers on this bill, and the response from the Democrats and Republicans was the other historic part of the passage of this bill.

Gordon Hintz:

Outside, in fact, of the CNA Bill and probably some of the bad changes you guys just made, the worst parts of the package are things that are not included.

Robin Vos:

We wanted to freeze spending in the second year of our two-year budget so we would have the ability to assess, how are the revenues coming in, are people still able to pay their income and sales taxes?

Zac Schultz:

This bill was negotiated in a bipartisan fashion between leaders in both the Assembly and Senate.

Scott Fitzgerald:

This bill isn’t perfect, and it might be the first bill of a number we are going to have to pass in the Legislature.

Zac Schultz:

And both sides felt there were important things left out.

La Tonya Johnson:

This legislation is a first start and I’m going to be forced to vote for it and it’s going to pass, but there is far more, far more that needs to be done.

Zac Schultz:

Democrats wanted to include $4 million to implement a vote-by-mail system for the November election.

Gordon Hintz:

Or maybe you guys aren’t ready to do that, and we look at other ways to ensure we better get ballots out there, but we have time to act, and just saying what happened last Tuesday is acceptable is not acceptable. We can’t do that again.

Zac Schultz:

Republicans did not address the spring election, but Speaker Vos said Democrats made a mistake in not agreeing to a spending freeze.

Robin Vos:

There is no doubt in my mind, that we are going to have to come back at some point and deal with the economic carnage that is caused by our decision to not freeze spending and instead increase spending in the short term, knowing that we are going to have to come back and cut it later because we refused to make the hard decision today.

Woman:

Here.

Zac Schultz:

The legislature is adjourned until next January, but Senate President Roger Roth ended the session by ordering the room should not be touched with the infrastructure kept in place in case the Senate has to come back in virtual session again. Reporting from Madison, I’m Zac Schultz, for “Here & Now.”