Resolution Overturning Mask Mandate Clears Senate; Assembly Next
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 27, 2021
From WisPolitics.com . . .
The Assembly tomorrow is set to take up a resolution that would overturn the guv’s mask mandate after it cleared the Senate 18-13.
GOP Sens. Rob Cowles, of Green Bay, and Dale Kooyenga, of Brookfield, joined Dems in opposing the resolution.
Kooyenga said on the floor he didn’t disagree with a single word in the resolution. At the same time, he feared people would use the passage of the resolution to justify keeping schools closed to in-person instruction. He said students are suffering from virtual learning and the driving issue for him in the coming months is to get them back in the classroom, saying a generation of kids could be lost.
“I stand with opening our schools, and I stand with the health care providers in my district,” said Kooyenga, the only Republican member of the Senate whose seat was won by Joe Biden in November.
Cowles, meanwhile, said he believed the resolution sent the wrong message and would result in fewer people wearing masks. He said he was standing by the side of science that has shown masks are an useful tool in limiting the spread of COVID-19 and with health care workers.
“The health care community has suffered through this entire ordeal, and I wasn’t about to make it worse,” he said.
See more on the Senate debate here.
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LeMahieu: Evers May Veto Assembly COVID Relief Bill
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 27, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, says several provisions the GOP Assembly added back to the COVID-19 bill are likely a “red flag” for Gov. Tony Evers that diminish its prospects of becoming law.
The Assembly amended the bill yesterday to add back some provisions that the Senate took out as part of a deal LeMahieu reached with Evers. That includes putting back provisions that would ban allowing an employer to require a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment and one that would strip state and local officials of their powers to limit gatherings at houses of worship to combat the pandemic.
“We are concerned that the changes that the Assembly made will cause the governor to veto the bill, and all along we wanted to make sure that we produced a bill that the governor could sign and would address the needs of Wisconsin,” LeMahieu told WisPolitics.com after the Assembly’s action.
LeMahieu said the Senate GOP caucus will continue meeting to discuss its next steps with the bill before taking it up tomorrow.
Assembly Republicans added two amendments to the bill. One includes more than a dozen provisions, including those banning mandatory vaccines. LeMahieu said some of the other changes might not prompt an Evers veto. The second amendment included a provision that would give the Legislature oversight of federal COVID-19 funds. LeMahieu doubted Evers would agree to that provision.
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LFB Expects Higher Available Revenues for 2021-23 Budget Period
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 26, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
State tax collections through mid-2023 will be nearly $1.2 billion higher than what Gov. Tony Evers’ administration had expected just two months ago, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
LFB Director Bob Lang wrote in a memo to the Joint Finance co-chairs late this afternoon that the state is now expected to finish the current fiscal year June 30 with a gross balance of nearly $1.9 billion, compared to more than $1.2 billion that the Evers administration had expected.
Lang wrote revenue collections in this fiscal year are now expected to be $437.4 million more than what the Department of Administration had projected in November. What’s more, the state is expected to spend about $190.7 million less than previously expected.
DOA’s November report found even with the expected ending balance at the time and the revenue growth the administration expected for 2021-23, agency spending requests outstripped what the state was expected to have on hand by about $1.2 billion. The brighter fiscal picture LFB detailed today essentially wipes that out.
JFC Co-chairs Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, still urged restraint.
“While this is good news, Republicans in the Legislature are well aware that our friends and neighbors across the state are struggling,” they said. “Businesses have closed, jobs have been lost, and Wisconsin families have been through tough times over the last year. That is why it is imperative that the next state budget ensures we spend within our means while also funding our priorities, something Wisconsin businesses and families have to do every single day.”
When tax revenues come in above expectations, half is designated for the state’s rainy day fund. In November, DOA had projected the state would transfer $13.1 million to the fund. Now, LFB projects it will be $231.8 million.
That will push the fund’s balance to about $1 billion.
See the LFB memo here.
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DPI Submits Plan to JFC for ESSER II Funds Distribution
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 26, 2021
The DPI has submitted a plan for the distribution of federal funds allocated to Wisconsin under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 enacted on December 27, 2020. See links below to the submitted plan documents and cover letter to the Joint Finance Committee Co-Chairs.
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Medical Society Opposes Measure to Overturn Mask Mandate
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | January 26, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
The Wisconsin Medical Society is expressing strong support for continuing Evers’ mask mandate on the eve of a possible state Senate vote to overturn it.
Society CEO Bud Chumbley said other than vaccines, mask-wearing is “one of the few tools we have in our arsenal to help prevent spreading COVID-19 even further than it already has.” He urged government leaders “to support physicians and other front-line health care workers by promoting mask-wearing as an effective tool against COVID-19.”
Evers’ latest order extends the mask mandate through March after initially putting one in place in July. Enforcement of the order has been uneven across the state, and some local jurisdictions have their own mandates in place. The state Senate’s calendar for tomorrow includes a joint resolution that would overturn the public health emergency. It would have to clear both houses to nix the declaration, which would also end the latest mask mandate.
The society’s Board of Directors met virtually on Saturday and voted to support Evers’ latest emergency order.
“Studies show that wearing masks helps slow the spread of viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and that government requirements to wear masks correlates to reduced COVID-19 spread than in locations without such orders,” Chumbley said. “We need to do all we can to prevent more deaths and help our economy return to normal.”
Four other groups have registered their opposition to the resolution: the Medical College of Wisconsin; the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards; the Wisconsin Council of Churches; and the Wisconsin Public Health Association. No group has registered in favor of the resolution.
See the release here.
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