Republicans Plan to Undermine Health and Safety Measures on UW Campuses

On Thursday, Senator Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), chair of the Joint Committee on Review of Administration Rules (JCRAR), announced a proposal to require that health and safety measures implemented by the UW System be subject to review and approval by the committee he chairs through the rule making process. My fellow committee members and I received notice that Senator Nass’s proposal would be considered by paper ballot on Tuesday of next week, with no public hearing or discussion. Because this proposal would be a rule change, rather than a bill sent through the full legislature, it could not be vetoed by the Governor.

The UW System has a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for its students and staff. This proposal would take that power away from UW System leaders, thus blocking the System and its campuses from enforcing health and safety measures on students and visitors. This proposal to micromanage these measures put in place by UW System and Campus leaders endangers public health on campus, and may even jeopardize the ability to return to in-person classes this fall.

My Democratic colleagues on the committee and I are pushing for a public hearing on the proposal to engage with health experts, university leaders, and the students and staff who will be impacted by this proposal.

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Session Update: Republicans Fail to Override Veto and Ignore Governor’s Call for Special Session on School Funding

The Assembly met on Tuesday for a Republican attempt to override Governor Evers’s veto of Assembly Bill 336, which would have brought an early end to supplemental unemployment benefits provided by the federal government to those who lost jobs during the pandemic. The override attempt failed, meaning that Wisconsinites who lost their jobs to no fault of their own during the pandemic and have not yet been able to return to work will continue to receive this extra assistance for a short time longer. The federal supplement is scheduled to end in September.

Gov. Evers also called the legislature into a Tuesday special session to restore cuts to education funding by investing an additional $550 million of available funds into our public schools. Also included in the special session call was additional funding for the UW System and our technical colleges. However, Republicans in both chambers quickly gaveled in and gaveled out the special session without taking action on the Governor’s proposals.

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Health Committee Hearing Held

On Thursday, the Assembly Committee on Health held a public hearing on eleven bills. These bills included:

Assembly Bill 86: providing complementary and alternative healthcare practitioners with exemptions from practice protection laws, requirements and prohibitions for individuals who provide complementary and alternative health care services, and providing a penalty.

Assembly Bill 128: requiring informed consent before performing a pelvic exam on a patient who is under general anesthesia or unconscious.

Assembly Bill 181: newborn screening for Krabbe disease and requiring evaluation of additional lysosomal storage disorders for mandatory screening.

Assembly Bill 281: registration of pharmacy technicians, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and granting rule-making authority.

Assembly Bill 290: reimbursement of pharmacist services under the Medical Assistance program.

Assembly Bill 292: composition of local boards of health.

Assembly Bill 295: licensing and regulation of pharmacies and remote dispensing sites under the pharmacy practice law, the practice of pharmacy, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from rule-making procedures, and granting rule-making authority.

Assembly Bill 296: funding for free and charitable clinics and defining telehealth.

Assembly Bill 337: use of epinephrine prefilled syringes and standing orders for epinephrine.

Assembly Bill 358: regulating the sale of items that are qualified medical expenses below cost.

Assembly Bill 396: advanced practice registered nurses, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and granting rule-making authority.

Click the links to the bills to learn more.

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Wisconsin May Receive $400 Million from National Opioid Settlement

Following years of legal battles, a multi-jurisdictional lawsuit filed by local governments and states around the country may be close to reaching a settlement agreement worth up to $26 billion.

If Wisconsin decides to join the settlement agreement, following a review of the details by the Department of Justice, our state could receive up to $400 million for the damaging roll that opioid manufacturers have played in our state. This would potentially be in addition to another $65 million from a separate multi-state settlement.

Governments that would receive settlement funds have so far agreed to spend that money on addressing the opioid epidemic in their jurisdictions.

If Wisconsin does receive part of the settlements, that funding would be split between the state and counties for use within their respective areas.

To learn more, click here.

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COVID-19 Update from Public Health Madison and Dane County

Due to the prevalence of the Delta variant, which is now the dominant strain of the virus in Dane County, Public Health Madison & Dane County is strongly advising that everyone ages 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask in indoor public spaces and at indoor private gatherings. This is in accordance with recent recommendations from the CDC.

While Dane County is experiencing an upward trend when it comes to cases, we are currently considered at ‘moderate’ community transmission level and are not currently in the mask recommendation threshold set by the CDC, which is includes ‘substantial’ and ‘high’ transmission levels.

Public Health has also released guidance for K-12 schools for fall, which includes promoting vaccination for eligible students, teachers, and staff, and consistent and correct mask use for all teachers, staff, and students in schools, regardless of vaccination status.

Click here to learn more from Public Health about these new recommendations.

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Pandemic Resources

+ The Biden Administration continues to enact an all-of-government effort to ensure renters and landlords are able to take advantage of the relief available to them. As part of that effort, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has debuted a new tool that allows renters and landlords to find rental assistance programs in their area. You can view the tool here.

+ Also, the federal eviction moratorium ends July 31. Here in Wisconsin, the Evers administration is working closely with community partners across the state to make sure Wisconsinites know that help is available to them.

The Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance Program (WERA) uses federal funding to provide eligible households up to 15 months of assistance with existing or overdue rent and utility bills. Over 12,000 eligible households have already received assistance this year. The Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) is partnering with members of the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association, as well as Energy Services, Inc., to get $280 million in available funding out the door to qualifying households. To lean more, click here and here.

+ Relief funds are also available to older foster youth. To support older foster youth who have aged out of care, the federal government passed the Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act in December 2020. Under this act, foster youth who live in Wisconsin and who have aged out of care can access pandemic relief funds to get financial support with rent, utility bills, transportation, groceries, and other basic needs.

To be categorically eligible for direct financial assistance, young adults must:

• Age out of care (a group home, foster home, treatment foster home, residential care center, or court-ordered kinship care) between January 27, 2020, and September 30, 2021; and,
• Be a Wisconsin resident.

Other assistance may be available for eligible Independent Living youth up to age 23. 

Current and former foster youth are encouraged to contact their local Transition Resource Agency or fill out a form on DCF’s website to determine their eligibility and receive more information.

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Wisconsin Fun Fact 

Perrot State Park, located in Trempealeau County, is home to 1,270 acres of campsites, biking, hiking, and canoe trails, and spectacular views of the Mississippi and Trempealeau Rivers.

Established in 1918, Perrot State Park is named for Nicolas Perrot, a French explorer who was the first Europeans to write about the area. Perrot State Park protects one of the earliest encampments by European explorers in the upper Mississippi, as well as two State Natural Areas: Brady's Bluff Prairie and Trempealeau Mountain. The Native Americans of the area traditionally considered Trempealeau Mountain sacred, and used it as a landmark for meetings. Some earthwork mounds made by ancient Native American cultures are also located in the park.

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