April 7th Election
Gaby and I took advantage of Milwaukee's safe and easy drive-up voting this week, but you can also request an absentee ballot online until 5:00 PM on April 2nd.
COVID-19 Legislative Update
Now that the Federal Government has acted, the State Legislature needs to take action as well. Today, Legislative Democrats, with my input and support, sent Republican leaders a letter outlining priorities, ideas, and proposals aimed at addressing challenges that should have broad, bipartisan support. We are taking the initiative to begin the legislative effort to support our families and businesses in districts across Wisconsin. The Legislature should be called into session as soon as possible to move legislation forward and aid in the health and well-being of our State.
To keep you fully informed, a copy of the letter may be found HERE and a brief summary is below.
Public Health & Health Care
Increased funding and staffing for DHS and local public health departments
- DHS and Wisconsin Healthcare facilities need more funding to accommodate increased staffing and additional resources to respond to the COVID-19 emergency.
Ensure that everyone has access to quality health care
- We need to remove barriers to services and resources for all Wisconsinites and mandate coverage for testing, diagnosis, treatment, and medications/vaccines in relation to COVID-19.
Save state taxpayer dollars by maximizing federal resources
- Legislators must make changes to state law so that Wisconsin may receive a federal match for state Medicaid programs in order to save taxpayer dollars.
Unemployment Insurance
Suspend the one-week waiting period for Unemployment Insurance (UI)
- This waiting period should be suspended to bring immediate relief to our neighbors impacted by unexpected job losses.
Expand UI to cover workers without access to paid leave
- The legislature must ensure that workers who do not have access to paid sick leave and are told to isolate or quarantine due to COVID-19, even if not diagnosed, are considered unemployed and are able to access UI.
Expand Wisconsin Work-Share statute
- Wisconsin should provide employers with the flexibility to reduce hours to allow for more workers to stay employed while allowing employees to use UI to make up for a portion of lost hours.
Housing
Protect business and single-family renters from eviction
- It is vital that businesses and individuals who are not able to generate income during this crisis are not evicted or have their rental history negatively impacted.
K12 Education
Grant additional waiver authority for DPI
- DPI should be allowed to waive requirements in statutes or administrative rules to allow for flexibility on things such as mandated testing.
Ensuring teacher and school employee pay
- Teachers and employees should continue to receive compensation at their regular rates and hours.
Supporting Small Businesses
Expand access to low-interest, long-term loans and grants for small businesses
- Small businesses should be provided state grants and low-interest, long-term loans to retain workers, maintain inventory, and pay bills if they have been impacted by COVID-19.
Defer sales tax payments for small businesses
- Small businesses should be able to defer sales taxes without interest or penalty in order to generate more cash flow.
Give local government and small businesses flexibility in meeting state deadlines
- We need to allow for increased flexibility to people, businesses, and local governments to meet tax deadlines.
Elections
Allow absentee ballots postmarked by the day of the election to be counted
- Ballots that were mailed out on time must be counted even if they arrive late due to slowed postal service that is a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Waive the witness signature requirement during the public health emergency
- Wisconsin must eliminate the requirement to have a witness sign another person’s absentee ballot to increase access to voting for individuals who live alone and/or are practicing social distancing.
Prepare to vote-by-mail in 2020
- We should put a policy in place to eliminate the need for any in-person voting for future elections by mailing every registered voter an absentee ballot.
Modify voter registration deadlines
- Individuals should be allowed to register online up to five days before the election date to reduce the number of in-person registration.
Modify nomination paper requirements for candidates
- Implement safer processes for collecting nomination signatures that adhere to public health guidelines.
Legislature
Allow legislators to communicate with constituents during a public health emergency
- It is crucial that legislators continue to keep their constituents informed during this time and the state needs to rescind rules restricting mass communication with constituents.
|