It’s Called a “Workplace Safety” Grievance, But What is This Really About?
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 20, 2020
From the Legal Side…
In its most recent Legal Update, the von Briesen & Roper Law Firm focuses on the recent rash of workplace safety grievances filed by district employees or union leadership in many Wisconsin school districts.
The SAA regularly receives these legal updates and we believe this is valuable information for SAA members. We are distributing this update to SAA members with the permission of the von Briesen & Roper Law Firm. The information in this update is no substitute for consulting with your district legal counsel, and we encourage you to do so.
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Evers to Extend Mask Mandate Into Mid-January
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 18, 2020
From WisPolitics.com …
Gov. Tony Evers announced today he will issue a new public health declaration and extend his mask mandate into mid-January.
The current order and requirement for face coverings are being challenged by a Waukesha businessman, and the state Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Monday.
Those orders expire Saturday.
“It’s clear based on where we’re headed, we can’t afford to stop or have a gap in some of the only mitigation efforts we have in place,” Evers said on a conference call today.
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Guv’s Office, Speaker Spar Over Plan for COVID-19 Legislation
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 17, 2020
From WisPolitics.com …
Less than a day after Gov. Tony Evers’ staff asked GOP legislative leaders for their input on a COVID-19 bill, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos instead laid out a list of priorities to reporters first.
The priorities include better contact tracing and providing liability protections for businesses and others.
Vos told reporters his caucus doesn’t have legislation drafted, but hoped to sit down with the guv to talk about ideas for a compromise package. He said many of the ideas the Evers administration included in its bill draft were a “rehash” of what the Legislature did in the spring and said Assembly Republicans wanted to bring new ideas to the table.
Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback, meanwhile, slammed Republicans for going to the media with their ideas rather than accepting the administration’s offer to negotiate a package.
“It’s shameful that Republicans are watching our state face an unprecedented crisis and would rather continue playing politics than work with the governor to do what’s best for the people of our state,” Cudaback tweeted.
Shortly before noon today, Vos’ office announced a news conference “about new legislative initiatives to help slow the spread of COVID-19.”
The guv’s office then released a draft of the bill it sent to Vos, incoming Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and their top aides late yesterday. Among other things the bill calls for a moratorium on evictions and continuing the suspension of a one-week waiting period before the jobless can begin collecting unemployment.
Along with the draft, Evers’ office released a copy of an email from Legislative Affairs Director Zach Madden late yesterday to Vos, R-Rochester, LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and their top aides offering to walk legislative staff through the bill and answer questions tomorrow. He also asked the leaders and their aides to meet with their caucuses and finalize the bill with the guv on Friday.
Vos said he had hoped to have something negotiated by Thanksgiving, but “We’ll have to see if that’s possible based on the actions that” Evers’ office took today. His hope was to be able to pass something in December.
He was also dismissive of a question whether the guv’s office and legislative leaders would be able to work out a deal considering both suggested today the other side had already undercut those efforts.
“For people who read WisPolitics and people who are kind of political insiders, that’s an interesting question,” Vos said. “For the rest of the state, they want to say ‘Don’t focus on who’s fighting with who, don’t focus on who’s going to meet what time, when, where.’ Nobody cares. What they want is they want us to find answers where we can actually move the ball forward and help those dealing with the coronavirus.”
Vos, who insisted he wouldn’t negotiate details of the COVID-19 bill through the media, laid out a string of Assembly GOP priorities.
The speaker, who owns rental properties, said he didn’t support the guv’s call to end evictions and questioned if the suspension of a one-week waiting period before those who lose their jobs can collect unemployment was still needed.
The Assembly GOP priorities include:
- doubling the number of contact tracers;
- improving access to rapid testing;
- extending the National Guard deployment to help with testing;
- and implementing a new program like a pilot in Minnesota that allows people to take tests at home.
Vos also said he was disappointed Evers’ bill didn’t address the state’s troubled unemployment insurance system. The Department of Workforce Development announced today the backlog of weekly claims was down to 6.7 percent, compared to 16 percent in late May. The backlog impacts 72,160 unique claimants with 121,639 issues requiring adjudication. Meanwhile, there continue to be a series of stories in the media about those who filed claims this spring and are still awaiting payment.
Vos suggested those who are unemployed and can’t go back to their previous jobs be offered positions as contact tracers in addition to their unemployment payments. He also suggested allowing med school students to do the same for a semester.
He didn’t provide specifics on the liability protections other than they would protect school districts, local governments and small businesses from potential lawsuits when trying to the best of their ability to implement safeguards against the spread of COVID-19.
Vos said he was “trying to put politics in the past,” though he twice bemoaned what he said were Dem efforts during the campaign to “lie” about GOP efforts to address COVID-19.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, knocked Republicans for “a total lack of leadership,” noting the Legislature hasn’t met since mid-April and “Robin Vos hasn’t brought a thing to the table since.”
“Ninety-two people have died since yesterday and Speaker Vos is still trying to blame Governor Evers,” Erpenbach said. “As the Governor has been saying over and over again, his door has been open, it’s the majority Republicans who continue to say no.”
Watch Vos’ news conference here.
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Evers Releases Proposed COVID-19 Legislation
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 17, 2020
From WisPolitics.com …
Gov. Tony Evers is proposing legislation that would allow the Department of Health Services to prohibit evictions and foreclosures through 2021 and continue the suspension of a one-week waiting period before those out of work can begin collecting unemployment.
The proposals are among 19 provisions that Evers’ administration included in a bill draft shared with GOP legislative leaders last night.
Others include allowing workers, including those in the healthcare industry, to claim worker’s compensation benefits if they contracted the illness from their occupation.
The guv’s office also prepared an overview of $466 million in spending the administration says would be needed to continue current pandemic response efforts in Wisconsin through April 1 without additional action from the federal government.
The guv’s office released a copy of the bill, a summary and an overview of the spending after Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announced Assembly Republicans will have an afternoon news conference to announce new COVID-19 initiatives.
The guv’s office also released a copy of an email from Legislative Affairs Director Zach Madden late yesterday to Vos and incoming Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahiue and their top aides providing copies of all three documents.
In the email, Madden offered to have the guv’s staff walk through the bills and answer questions tomorrow. He also asked the leaders and their aides to meet with their caucuses and finalize the bill with the guv on Friday.
See the bill here.
See the summary here.
See an overview of the spending here.
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$3 Million in Grants Available for Schools and Libraries
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | November 17, 2020
From The Wheeler Report . . .
The Department of Administration announced $3.0 million is available to eligible school districts and libraries through Technology for Educational Achievement (TEACH) Grants. TEACH Grants may be used for infrastructure like access points, maintenance of internal connections, cabling, hotspots, LAN controllers, routers, switches, UPS/battery backup and wireless controllers. Additionally, the grants may be used for services like cyber security, network, and data assessments. Eligible school districts may receive grants between $30,000 and $60,000, and eligible libraries may receive grants between $5,000 and $10,000. A list of eligible school districts and libraries is available. Applications may be completed by going to teach.wi.gov and are due by 11:59 pm on December 18, 2020.
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