January 29, 2021
Wisconsin political news for clients and colleagues.
|
|
A lot has happened since the last edition of Hamilton Political Tidbits, with the Legislature jockeying over a COVID-19 response bill and debating whether to terminate Governor Evers' latest public health emergency. Meanwhile, the state continues its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and solicits bids from law firms to prosecute PFAS dischargers. Read on to learn about the most important political news stories happening in Wisconsin.
In this edition of Hamilton Political Tidbits:
|
|
Assembly Adds Contested Provisions Back to AB 1; Senate Makes a Minor Addition and Passes the Assembly’s Updated Version
|
Earlier this week, the Assembly and Senate again considered Assembly Bill 1 (AB 1), a comprehensive COVID-19 response package that was introduced at the start of the session by Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and quickly passed by the Assembly along partisan lines. AB 1 was then amended by the Senate via Senate Substitute Amendment 1 (SSA 1), which passed the Senate 29-2.
|
|
Senate Votes to Terminate Governor Evers’ Latest Public Health Emergency and Related Mask Mandate; Assembly Defers for Now
|
On Tuesday, January 19, Gov. Evers issued Executive Order #104, declaring a new statewide public health emergency related to COVID-19. Pursuant to this order, the governor also issued Emergency Order #1, requiring individuals to wear face coverings while indoors or in an enclosed space (other than a private residence), if other individuals not from the same household are present.
|
|
DHS Announces Next Priority Groups for COVID-19 Vaccination
|
On Tuesday, January 26, the Department of Health Services (DHS) announced which groups of Wisconsinites will be eligible for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations. As we reported a few weeks ago, the vaccine subcommittee of the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC) was soliciting public comments and formulating recommendations to the administration on who should be included in the second phase, Phase 1B.
|
|
PFAS Update: State Seeks Outside Lawyers to Litigate Against PFAS Dischargers
|
On Friday, January 22, Governor Tony Evers announced that his administration is soliciting bids from law firms to find a legal team to litigate against companies responsible for discharging PFAS compounds in Wisconsin. This is one of many recommendations from the state’s PFAS Action Plan, published late last year by the governor’s PFAS Action Council. Among other things, the report recommended that the state “take appropriate legal actions against companies responsible for PFAS discharges.”
|
|
State Projected to End the Fiscal Year with $630 Million More Than Previously Expected
|
On Tuesday, January 26, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) sent a memo to the Joint Committee on Finance regarding the state’s fiscal condition. LFB expects that the state will finish the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, with a net balance of almost $1.77 billion. This projected balance is $629.5 million greater than the net balance of what was estimated by the Departments of Administration and Revenue (DOA and DOR) in a report published last November.
|
|
Senators Release “Public Safety PACT” Bills on Law Enforcement, Use of Force
|
On Wednesday, January 20, Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) released draft versions of a package of bills, collectively called the “Public Safety PACT,” regulating law enforcement and use of force incidents in Wisconsin. The bills were circulated for co-sponsorship with a February 5 deadline.
|
|
Associated Press, January 29, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 28, 2021
TMJ 4, January 28, 2021
Racine Journal Times, January 28, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 26, 2021
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 25, 2021
CBS, January 21, 2021
Channel 3000, January 19, 2021
WAOW, January 19, 2021
WBAY, January 19, 2021
|
|
Fox 11, January 27, 2021
Racine Journal Times, January 27, 2021
Marshfield News-Herald, January 28, 2021
Urban Milwaukee, January 26, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 27, 2021
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 22, 2021
Wisconsin State Journal, January 21, 2021
Wisconsin State Journal, January 21, 2021
The Capital Times, January 19, 2021
Wisconsin State Journal, January 19, 2021
WBAY, January 15, 2021
|
|
Leader-Telegram, January 22, 2021
News 8000, January 18, 2021
HNG News, January 18, 2021
Bloomberg, January 18, 2021
|
|
Fox Business, January 28, 2021
BBC News, January 28, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 27, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 25, 2021
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 22, 2021
WXPR, January 22, 2021
Delaware Business Times, January 22, 2021
|
|
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 25, 2021
Press Times, January 22, 2021
Wisconsin State Journal, January 21, 2021
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 14, 2021
|
|
Reuters, January 27, 2021
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 27, 2021
WisBusiness, January 25, 2021
WEAU, January 26, 2021
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 22, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 18, 2021
|
|
Osceola Sun, January 27, 2021
WEAU, January 24, 2021
|
|
WAOW, January 27, 2021
Federal Times, January 23, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 20, 2021
Wisconsin Public Radio, January 15, 2021
WBUR News, January 7, 2021
|
|
The Hamilton Consulting Group Political Tidbits is a free newsletter on Wisconsin political and policy developments. Please forward it to others who may wish to receive this service.
If you require additional information about a topic addressed in Tidbits for your organization's board meeting or trade publication, please do not hesitate to contact a Hamilton Consulting Group lobbyist.
To ensure that Political Tidbits never gets caught in your spam filter, please add publications@hamilton-consulting.com to your address book/contacts list. If you are receiving these emails via a workplace email account, please advise your IT service desk to do this for you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|