This week legislative leaders met with Governor Evers about the state response to the coronavirus pandemic. I thought it was a good initial discussion. We talked about issues important to our constituents and brought up the possibility of a regional approach to safely reopening the state. There are states such as Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Pennsylvania and most recently Illinois that have regional plans to reopen. It’s a safe and reasonable approach that I hope we can begin developing.
On Thursday morning's 620 WTMJ's Steve Scaffidi Show, Governor Evers said he's open to a regional approach, which was good to hear.
What’s needed for Wisconsin right now is a bipartisan reopening strategy that is safe, gradual and regional. We shouldn’t have a Republican plan or a governor’s plan, we need a Wisconsin plan that the entire state can get behind.
We’re thankful Governor Evers said he’s willing to have a discussion about further opening retail businesses. I look forward to meeting with the governor again soon to continue the dialogue on safely reopening the state.
State Revenues Down
The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) released new revenue numbers and not surprisingly they don't look good. According to a report on general fund tax collections, Wisconsin took in more than $1.1 billion in tax collections last month, roughly $870 million less than it had collected in April 2019. For the first ten months of the fiscal year, the LFB estimates tax collections are $313 million less than the same period for 2018-19. The report states, "The reduction in April 2020, collections reflects two things. First, the coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted the state's economy and tax collections. Second, the extension of income and franchise tax filing deadlines from April to July 15 in 2020 has affected collections."
These revenue figures are a small illustration of the dire situation that the state will face economically in the near future. Of course, this is another reason why we should start a gradual reopening of the economy in areas where it is safe to do so.
UI Trust Fund in Trouble
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development says the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund is in trouble. The agency released three estimates of when the fund will run out based on certain assumptions, the worst case being the fund would be exhausted in October. As the agency points out in its news release, "the main driver of when or if Wisconsin will exhaust the UI Trust Fund depends upon the level of weekly claims UI receives going forward." DWD is currently seeing more than 300,000 weekly claims each week.
Since March 12th, there have been more than 533,000 initial UI claims. However, the weekly total of initial claims continues to decline since its high of more than 115,000 during the week of March 22.
Wisconsin Health News Webinar
This week I participated in awebinar with the Wisconsin Health News, which Wisconsin made available to the public. Thanks to Tim Stumm, the editor of Wisconsin Health News, for having me on the program.
COVID-19 Testing Next Week
The Racine County Executive's Office announced a five-day testing site will be open from Monday, May 11 through Friday, May 15 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The Central Racine County Health Department and Racine County Emergency Operations Center is partnering with the Wisconsin National Guard to put on the free drive-thru testing clinic, which will be held at Burlington High School.
The 
