Hamilton Political Tidbits – April 23, 2021

On March 11, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, the third federal bill to include substantial grants, aids, direct payments, and other relief measures related to COVID-19. Under the ARPA, Wisconsin was allocated about $3.2 billion for the state’s government, $2.5 billion for local units of government, $1.5 billion for public K-12 schools, $565 million for colleges and universities, and $189 million for infrastructure projects.

On April 19, Governor Tony Evers announced that the state of Wisconsin had negotiated a new economic development contract with Taiwanese technology manufacturer Foxconn, which is currently building a large facility in Racine County. The following day, Gov. Evers announced that the board of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation voted unanimously to approve the contract.

As of April 21, Wisconsin had administered nearly 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with more than 1.6 million Wisconsin residents or 28.8 percent of the state’s population fully vaccinated. Almost 80 percent of Wisconsinites aged 65 and older have received at least one dose.

On April 14, a majority of the seven members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to select Justice Annette Ziegler as the state’s next chief justice. She will assume the office on May 1. Justice Ziegler was first elected to the court in 2007 and ran unopposed in 2017. She is the court’s third longest-serving member. A press release from the court announcing the results of the vote did not indicate how each justice voted.

The Department of Workforce Development has announced additional funding for another round of worker training grants under the Wisconsin Fast Forward program. The grants are intended to fund training programs that will allow workers to obtain full-time or higher-level employment, increased wages, and/or industry recognized credentials.