Assembly to Take Up COVID Relief, Mask Resolution Today
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 4, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
The state Assembly is set to be back on the floor this morning to vote on another change to a COVID-19 bill and on its own resolution to overturn Gov. Tony Evers’ public health declaration and mask mandate.
It’s the latest twist in Republicans’ effort to overturn the public health declaration after news the original approach by the state Senate would jeopardize millions in enhanced federal aid for those on food stamps.
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JFC Co-Chairs Lay Down Budget Markers in Letter to Evers
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 3, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
The GOP co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee today warned Gov. Tony Evers against introducing another budget like his first one that was “full of tax increases, excessive spending and divisive non-fiscal policy.”
The letter comes two weeks ahead of Evers introducing his budget Feb. 16 and fresh off the Legislative Fiscal Bureau releasing new projections showing the state is now expected to take in $1.2 billion more in revenue than what the guv’s administration had expected just two months ago.
Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, gave Republicans credit for the state’s solid financial footing. They also knocked Evers’ first budget for including “many divisive, non-fiscal policy items that should be discussed through the normal legislative process such as eliminating drug testing for welfare recipients, in-state tuition for illegal aliens and gutting common-sense, pro-growth reforms like right to work and the repeal of the prevailing wage laws.”
The letter otherwise didn’t include any specifics of items the two lawmakers wouldn’t accept if they were included in Evers’ budget. Two years ago, Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee stripped out a string of policy proposals and a provision to accept federal money to expand Medicaid as one of their first actions on the budget. Evers told WisPolitics.com in a late December interview that he planned to introduce Medicaid expansion again; Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in a WisPolitics.com event last week again rejected Medicaid expansion.
An Evers spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
The letter included several references to focusing on the details in putting together the next budget.
Dem Sen. Jon Erpenbach, a JFC member, tweeted, “The party who almost cost the state $49 million per month in food benefits funding should not be lecturing others on paying attention to the ‘details of life’…”
Read the letter here.
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WEAC Endorses Underly
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 1, 2021
From WisPolitics.com . . .
WEAC, the state’s largest teacher’s union, is backing Pecatonica Superintendent Jill Underly for state schools superintendent with a seven-person primary fast approaching.
Though not nearly as powerful as it once was, the union’s backing has been key in past DPI races.
The primary is Feb. 16 with the top two candidates advancing to the April 6 general election.
See the release here.
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Assembly Puts Off Vote to Overturn Public Health Emergency
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 28, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the Assembly will put off voting to overturn Gov. Tony Evers’ public health declaration to give lawmakers additional time to understand the fiscal impact of the move.
The Assembly had been scheduled to vote this morning on the resolution, which cleared the Senate on Tuesday. But since then, GOP lawmakers have realized overturning it would jeopardize enhanced federal funds for food stamps.
Vos told reporters he believes an amendment the Senate added to the COVID-19 bill would address the issue, but “I don’t know that for sure.” Vos said his Senate colleagues “didn’t necessarily do the same due diligence.”
“We do not want to repeat that mistake, which is why we are not going to be taking up SJR3 today,” Vos said.
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SAA Opposes Senate Joint Resolution 3
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 28, 2021
The SAA has registered its opposition to Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 3, which would overturn Governor Evers’ mask order. As you know, SJR-3 passed the Senate on Tuesday and is expected to pass the Assembly this morning. The Governor does not have veto authority over this type of resolution.
In registering its opposition to SJR-3, the SAA indicated the following:
“Overturning the mask order will slow down the cause of getting all Wisconsin school children back in school for in-person instruction. In its most recent report, the CDC recommended that in-person learning is possible during the pandemic. However, that recommendation is predicated upon schools employing proper precautions, first and foremost of which is masking.”
Stay tuned, friends. We will keep the membership apprised of any developments on this issue.
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