Pass a Meaningful, Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief Bill
After weeks of Republicans refusing to meet, Wisconsin legislators are finally meeting Tuesday, April 14, to debate and pass a comprehensive coronavirus response bill. The federal government is providing financial assistance to states to deal with the impact of the coronavirus. However, Governor Evers must sign a bill by Friday, April 17, in order to take full advantage of the federal funds.
Wisconsin is one of only a few states who have yet to pass any COVID-19 related legislation.
It’s past time for our legislature to act. Instead of coming together to fully fund and address the needs of the people of Wisconsin during this unprecedented time, Republicans are using the pandemic crisis bill to get items they wanted but were unable to secure during the normal democratic process, including:
- Cutting the training hours of Certified Nursing Assistants by nearly half – even though Gov. Evers’ vetoed a similar bill last fall;
- Allowing the Joint Finance Committee to unilaterally lower aid for schools and cut state spending in any area, department, or service, including reversing agreed-upon wage increases for state employees.
Tell Wisconsin Republicans to stop playing politics with our Wisconsin coronavirus relief package.
Wisconsin legislators must come together to ensure additional support for unemployed workers—including the repeal of the one-week waiting period to collect unemployment insurance; adequate funding for health care facilities; expansion of health insurance programs for working families; and increased support for our local communities fighting COVID-19.
The people of Wisconsin elected Governor Tony Evers. He is leading during the COVID-19 crisis by taking swift and bold action to keep the people of Wisconsin healthy and safe and support our unemployed workers. Yet, GOP lawmakers continue to use every opportunity, including the COVID-19 pandemic, to play politics and attempt to limit our Governor’s authority to do the job voters elected him to do.
Tuesday’s legislative session is a step in the right direction, but the people of Wisconsin cannot continue to wait for the legislature to act. We need a meaningful response to COVID-19 that fully supports workers.
The health and safety of Wisconsin working families must by the top priority of our legislative leaders, not scoring partisan political points.