Republican Litigation Further Slows Pandemic Response

Republican legislative leaders have asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to limit Governor Evers' ability to adopt protections to fight the pandemic, a move that may slow the state's response to COVID-19.

The court case comes on the heels of news that Wisconsin missed out on $25 million in federal funding for unemployment benefits because legislative leaders took too long to make a change requested a month earlier by Governor Evers. And Wisconsin was 49th out of 50 states to get federal approval for adjustments in Medicaid that strengthen the program's role in combating the pandemic, also due to legislative foot-dragging.

Obstructionism can't be the strategy for fighting this pandemic.

Yet even while states across the country are grappling with unprecedented health care crises, the Trump administration is still asking the US Supreme Court to rule against the Affordable Care Act. Eliminating the ACA now would be catastrophic, and would destabilize our already-strained patchwork health care system.

Other new pandemic resources for Wisconsin include:

• The well-being and basic needs of frontline immigrant workers during the pandemic have been at best overlooked, at worse actively sabotaged.
• A system in which health insurance is typically tied to employment perpetuates deep inequities in who has access to health insurance and affordable health care.
• Congress should pass additional legislation to combat the serious economic hardship due to the pandemic, and provide additional fiscal relief that is urgently needed to help address the budget crises emerging in state and local governments.

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