By State Rep. Kevin Petersen

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin State Assembly convened for an extraordinary session on April 14, 2020. Altogether, 52 different initiatives were passed to assist the state in addressing various aspects in the fight against COVID-19.

This past summer, the federal government allotted $2.2 billion to Wisconsin under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act.  Specifically, the act granted Governor Evers nearly sole discretion in rationing the money to support the healthcare industry and workers, nursing homes, and other front line industries. Now, as those dollars near depletion, Wisconsin will need to go into the next comprehensive phase.

To continue addressing the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Assembly Republicans have announced the following initiatives. Not only will these legislative proposals give the state additional tools to combat the spread, but they offer help to Wisconsin families and business’ struggling. This package of proposals builds off some of Governor Evers’ most recent proposals, while providing additional resources for the state.

Some of Governor Evers’ measures were incorporated in the bill including:

• Prescription drug order extensions
• Coverage limits on certain prescriptions
• Liability insurance for physicians and nurse anesthetists
• Out of network costs related to health coverage 
• Coverage of COVID-19 tests without cost sharing 
• Workshare programs 
• Re-hiring WRS annuities for critical workers 
• Grants to small businesses 
• Ability to extend property tax deadline

Additional provisions include by Assembly Republicans:

• Create a $100 million fund to respond to the public health emergency
• Double the number of local public health staff working on the COVID-19 response
• Offer weekly rapid antigen tests for home use
• Continue the prohibition of co-payments for any COVID-19 tests
• Establish legislative oversight of vaccine distribution plan
• Provide guidelines for state employees to return to work
• Reauthorize state employee transfers
• Establish limited liability for schools, businesses and local governments
• Allow for an essential family member/caregiver to visit a loved one in nursing homes in specific circumstances
• Re-establish personal electronic computing device grants for schools ($9 million)
• Require teacher instruction from school buildings by end of January, providing exceptions
• Require school board approval of virtual instruction by two-thirds vote of the board
• Provide payments to parents of $371 for students who have had at least 50% virtual instruction since September
• Allow health service providers from other states to practice in Wisconsin
• Require UW System to provide credit to students who assist in the COVID-19 response
• Create business grants for the hospitality industry
• Require the Department of Workforce Development to eliminate the backlog of unemployment insurance claims

While this legislation sets aside state dollars for the administration to request from the Joint Committee on Finance, the preferred method is to have federal funding to pay for these initiatives. I look forward to working with our legislative colleagues and the Governor on bipartisan solutions for families and businesses throughout the state.