Overdue Compromise on COVID Legislation Runs into Assembly Roadblock

The last time the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic was more than nine months ago. In fact, since the pandemic began, Wisconsin has had the least active full-time legislature in the country.

Since that last COVID-19 bill was enacted, the number of COVID deaths in our state has increased 30-fold, to more than 5,500, and the Governor has repeatedly asked the Legislature to adopt additional measures to slow the spread of the virus. Yet not only have legislative leaders failed to take affirmative action, they have sued to block Governor Evers from implementing public health measures aimed at fighting COVID-19.

Finally, on January 12 it looked like the long legislative impasse had ended. On that date the state Senate voted 29 to 2 to approve a compromise bill negotiated by Governor Evers and the new Senate Majority Leader, Devin LeMahieu. However, as a new Kids Forward blog post explains, the Assembly Speaker is refusing to bring that compromise to the Assembly floor, despite the nearly unanimous support for the bill in the Senate.

The costs of an ongoing standoff are very high. Wisconsin’s COVID-19 death toll climbed by more than 300 in the past week, and a more contagious version of the virus could become widespread by March – long before a majority of state residents are vaccinated.

Read more in our new blog post about the content of the Senate compromise and the controversial provisions the Assembly is insisting upon. It explains how those provisions would significantly expand a grant of civil immunity for businesses and other entities, would restrict the power of the Governor, and would tie the hands of local governments as they try to slow the rapid growth in the death toll.