Thank you for reading this edition of my e-update. I am sending it to you a little earlier in the week as I wanted to share some of the most up to date information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic including Governor Evers "Safe at Home Order. I hope that you and your family are staying safe and healthy during this difficult time. I encourage you to continue to stay at home as much as possible and to follow the guidelines from the CDC.
As you can imagine with this unprecedented situation, my office has seen a significant increase in the number of constituent contacts and my staff and I are doing our very best to assist constituents of the 87th Assembly District as quickly as we can.
During this time my physical office in Madison will be closed, but our team at the Legislative Technology Services Bureau has done a great job providing my staff the ability to work from home. We are still able to receive phone calls and retrieve voicemails and emails, however, our response times may be a bit longer than normal.
Safer at Home Order
As you are likely aware, Governor Evers announced earlier this week that his administration would be issuing a "Safer at Home" order which took effect at 8:00 AM today, Wednesday, March 25th and will be in effect until 8:00 AM on Friday, April 24th unless a new order altering this end time is issued. This order requires all individuals present in the State of Wisconsin to stay at their home or place of residence unless they are performing essential activities as defined in the order. Examples of essential activities include but are not limited to, getting necessary supplies such as medicine and groceries, working at an essential business, going to the doctor, or engaging in outdoor activity including visiting public parks. Also, you are not required to carry papers when you are out engaging in essential activities.
This new order also requires businesses that are considered non-essential by the state to close. There are a number of exceptions, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals laundromats, banks and credit unions and more. In addition, this order also allows restaurants and bars to continue with carry-out and delivery. For a full list of what is considered essential activities and businesses, I encourage you to read the full order from DHS here. Also, if a business is unsure if they fall under one of the exemptions listed in the order they are being asked to refer to information from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation that can be found at the following website: https://wedc.org/essentialbusiness/
More New Information on COVID-19
Here are some additional updates surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic,
The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved the state's request to allow small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to access low-interest disaster loans from the Federal Government. Visit www.sba.gov/disaster for information on how to apply.
The Federal Government announced that the federal tax filing deadline has been pushed back until July 15th. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) has followed suit and pushed the state tax filing deadline to July 15th as well. Click here for more information from DOR.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation announced a grant program to help some small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Click here for more information.
Continue to Support Local Businesses
A big thank you to everyone who has done what they can to support small businesses around the 87th District over the last few weeks. My office continues to work on putting together a list of local establishments that are continuing to offer take-out or delivery meals. If you know of a dining establishment in the 87th District that is offering delivery or take-out, please contact my office atRep.Edming@legis.wi.gov. Please include the name of the establishment, phone number, address, and whether they are doing take-out, delivery, or both. Once my office has compiled this list, we will be posting it on my website,repedming.com and sharing it on my Facebook page.
As I mentioned last week, the Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce already has a great list of businesses in that area of the district that are still serving customers. You can view their list by clickinghere.
One of the best ways to stay up to date with what is going on in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking service. This service allows you to follow legislative activity in Madison. Once you create a free account, you can sign up to receive notifications about specific bills or committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject area (i.e. agriculture, veterans). You can sign up for this service at notify.legis.wisconsin.gov.
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If you have any thoughts regarding the subject of this E-Update, please feel free to contact me.
State Capitol Room 109 West - PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708 Toll-Free (888) 534-0087 or (608) 266-7506 Email: Rep.Edming@legis.wisconsin.gov
