Hamilton Political Tidbits – February 12, 2021

Governor Tony Evers will unveil his proposed 2021-23 state budget following his budget address on Tuesday, February 16. In various statements and press releases since the beginning of the year, the governor has previewed some of the policies and funding priorities that he will propose.

After a contentious first month of the new legislative session, Governor Tony Evers vetoed Assembly Bill 1 (AB 1), the first bill to reach his desk this year. AB 1, a comprehensive proposal to address COVID-19 in Wisconsin, included broad protections from COVID-19 liability claims for businesses, non-profits, and other entities, Unemployment Insurance reforms sought by the governor, as well as provisions to help health care systems respond to the pandemic. The Senate approved the bill on Friday, February 5 after the Assembly amended and approved it a day earlier. The bill was quickly presented to the governor, who immediately vetoed it.

As of Tuesday, February 9, Wisconsin had been allocated about 1,150,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from the federal government. Vaccinating providers in the state had ordered about 900,000 doses, while the remaining doses were set aside specifically for the residents and staff of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Nearly 800,000 vaccine doses have been administered, while about 175,000 Wisconsin residents had completed the two-dose series. About one-third of Wisconsinites age 65 and older have been vaccinated.

Last month, we discussed a few aspects of the $900 billion COVID-19 response legislation passed by Congress in December of last year. The economic stimulus and COVID relief package, called the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA), was passed along with the 2021 federal budget to form a 5,600-page spending bill totaling roughly $2.3 trillion. The CRRSA provided a new round of $600 direct payments to most adults and extended a variety of financial support programs from the first federal package (CARES Act) passed in March 2020.

On Thursday, February 11, the Senate and Assembly health committees passed AB 7/SB 3, companion versions of a bill authorizing the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) to license and regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The Assembly committee passed the bill unanimously, while Senator Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) was the only one to vote no on the Senate side.