Jan. 5, 2020 | MacIver News Service
The Wisconsin State Assembly is holding hearings today on a Republican written COVID-19 relief bill.
Most of Gov. Evers’ proposals made it into the Republican Bill. These include: government loans for municipal utilities, liability protection for healthcare workers, allowing pharmacy students to administer vaccines, instructions for medical examiners on issuing cremation permits, requiring DWD to develop a backlog improvement plan, and extending call center hours to 12 hours a day/7 days a week.
The Republican bill did not include Evers’ proposals to allow UW Students to get course credit for volunteering and allowing utilities to lease out infrastructure to broadband companies. Democrats seem more upset about what Republicans put into the package rather than what they left out.
Items specific to the Republican plan include: no mandatory vaccinations, reopen the Capitol building, local health officials can’t restrict businesses for more than 14 days without local government approval, schools can’t offer virtual education without 2/3’s school board approval, requiring nursing homes to allow “essential visitors”, and legislative oversight of federal COVID relief funds.
The public hearing began at 11 am. The executive hearing is scheduled for 3:30 today.
Watch it on Wisconsin Eye here: https://wiseye.org/2021/01/05/assembly-committee-on-health-38/