Dems, GOP out with COVID response plans

Posted at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2020

The Brillion News

MADISON - Both the administration of Governor Tony Evers and Republicans in the state legislature are out with litanies of proposals for dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Both released their ideas on Tuesday, November 17.

The GOP package includes a more robust testing system, doubling the number of contact tracers, assisting the healthcare industry, ensuring an efficient distribution of a COVID vaccine, requiring Unemployment Insurance reform and helping small businesses.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the Republican goal is to find a consensus so the legislature can act on a bipartisan package in order to better utilize the CARES Act funding that runs out at the end of the year.

The governor issued a call for several initiatives, including

• Banning residential evictions and foreclosures through the end of 2021;

• Allowing essential workers to claim workers comp. if infected at work;

• Extending suspensions of work search requirement and one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits; and

• Providing tele-health parity to expand access to medical care.

Legislators at the GOP press briefing echoed the call from health officials that citizens need to follow CDC guidelines: wear a mask, socially distance, wash hands and stay home, away from social gatherings.

These initiatives would be part of the second Coronavirus Relief Bill in Wisconsin. The first comprehensive package received near unanimous approval within the first month of the pandemic. The governor immediately signed that legislation into law in April.