Veto Override Attempt

Earlier this week, the Wisconsin State Assembly unsuccessfully attempted to override Gov. Evers' veto of legislation that would have ended the state's participation in the federal $300 weekly unemployment supplemental payment.

The measure passed by a vote of 59-37, but we were unable to nullify the veto because we needed a two-thirds majority.

 The Assembly was looking to overturn the veto to help address the critical labor shortage our state is facing right now. As a reminder, the purpose of the unemployment program is to provide a temporary safety net for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. It is not to supplement a person's income.

Just before the pandemic hit our state, nearly 40,000 residents were on unemployment. Today, we are at more than 90,000. During that same time period, the number of available jobs in Wisconsin has jumped from 86,487 to 110,446. Simply put, if you cannot find a job, you are not looking for one. Furthermore, most employers are paying much more than minimum wage right now due to the demand for workers.

Although many factors are playing a role in Wisconsin's labor shortage, states that have discontinued the federal payments are seeing positive results. I included that information in a letter I recently sent to the governor asking him to work with us on resolving the issue.

In order to truly and completely recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to have a strong economy. That can only happen if we bolster our workforce and get our businesses the help they so desperately need.

COVID-19 Update

As you undoubtedly know, the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus has caused an increase in cases in our state and across the country. A month ago, we thought that the pandemic was over, but cases in Wisconsin have gone up seven-fold since that time and have doubled in the past week.

The current wave is occurring almost entirely among those who have not been vaccinated. About half of Wisconsinites have been fully vaccinated, which is the 17th lowest rate in the nation.

The Delta strain is more contagious and the effects tend to be more severe than what we had previously seen. We have had numerous hospitalizations locally and it is impossible to predict who will become seriously ill.

As a veterinarian, I have administered many thousands of vaccine doses, so I am intimately familiar with how beneficial they can be. As a member of the board of directors at the Door County Medical Center, I am also in close contact with our local medical providers on a regular basis.

I will never support mandatory vaccinations or shutting down our economy again. But, if you haven’t been vaccinated, I urge you to reconsider. Every vaccine has a very small risk associated with it, but the benefits of vaccination far outweigh those risks for most people.

There is a common misperception that the COVID vaccines are experimental. The United States has the most rigorous approval process in the world. While the emergency use approval for the vaccines was done in record time, the testing requirements were the same as for any other vaccine. More than 50,000 doses were administered at each step of the process.

The only thing remaining for these vaccines to achieve full approval is a review of the data from the manufacturing facilities to assure that each dose is identical.

Whether you choose to be vaccinated or not is entirely your personal decision. The physicians at Door County Medical Center have told me, however, that every single one of their recent COVID patients said to them that they wished they had chosen to be vaccinated.

Education Spending

The state budget that was written by the Legislature and recently signed into law increases K-12 spending by $128 million over the next biennium. The Legislature decided on that amount because of the $2.3 billion influx of federal COVID-19 relief funding that is going to our schools.

Because the federal dollars are only one-time funds, some are worried that this could eventually result in a fiscal cliff, which is when the gap between revenue and expenditures is widened over time. I believe those concerns are legitimate and it is an issue the Legislature actually tried to address.

To ensure we are able to respond quickly to a fiscal cliff, the Legislature's budget moved $550 million to the state's rainy day fund for that purpose. However, the governor vetoed that portion of the budget.  

Because of the governor's move, the Legislature is planning to use some of any potential surplus to increase the revenue limit in the next biennial budget. I do not think it would be fair to our school districts and students if we decided not to step in and help when the time comes.

Because of that, we will probably see a more generous increase in state aid in the upcoming biennium. At that point in time, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to depend on the same amount of funding from the federal government.

Federal COVID-19 relief funds are being distributed primarily based on the level of poverty in the individual school districts. To see a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report detailing how much each local district will be getting in federal funding, please click here.