by Chris Kulow | Sep 22, 2020 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue
From the Governor’s office: “Gov. Tony Evers today declared a new public health emergency in Wisconsin due to recent surge in cases among young people and issued a new face coverings order effective immediately. Executive Order #90 is available here. Emergency Order #1 is available here. Both orders are effective immediately and will expire after sixty days or with a subsequent superseding order. The governor previously declared a public health emergency under Executive Order #82, which remains in effect.” The previous emergency order and mask mandate were set to expire Monday, this extension would end on November 21.
The previous mandate was being challenged in court. It is not clear if the state legislature will meet to overturn the latest order.
by Dan Rossmiller | Sep 21, 2020 | Federal Issue, Legislative Update Blog, State Issue, Uncategorized
As we reported in an earlier blog post, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced in late August that it would be making up to 125 million cloth face masks available to states for distribution to schools. Wisconsin’s share of this distribution is to be 1.6 million masks.
At the time of our earlier blog post, it was unknown when the masks would arrive. We now have an update to report.
According to sources in touch with staff of the state Department of Health Services (DHS) and Wisconsin Emergency Management that are working on this project, the state received a shipment of cloth face masks from DHHS last week. However, the amount the state received is half of what it had been expecting and the masks that were received are sized for middle and high school students. The other half of the shipment is expected to arrive in late September to early October.
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by Dan Rossmiller | Sep 21, 2020 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue
On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, the Joint Legislative Council will host an online discussion on the experiences of individuals and families navigating pathways to diagnosis, treatment, and support of autism as told by an occupational therapist with specialized training in working with children with autism, navigators who work in various parts of the state, and the co-director of a clinic providing innovative approaches to autism services in Milwaukee.
This session will begin at 2:00 p.m. and is the third of four sessions on the topic of autism. It will be covered live on WisconsinEye. (more…)
by Dan Rossmiller | Sep 18, 2020 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue
School districts having difficulty coping with the unexpected costs associated with COVID-19 may find unexpected help from their underlying municipalities.
That’s because municipalities that do not plan to fully utilize their allotment from the Routes to Recovery program, funded through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, may be able to partner with school districts. The municipality can, or example, purchase laptops or tablets, etc., for distance learning and teleworking for their schools and donate them to the district.
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by Dan Rossmiller | Sep 18, 2020 | Legislative Update Blog, State Issue
Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission On Rural Prosperity
The Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission On Rural Prosperity is scheduled to meet virtually this morning (Friday, September 18) at 10:00 a.m. This will be the last of three scheduled public listening sessions the commission will hold.
In addition to the listening sessions, rural residents may join the discussion by submitting written comments by Sept. 30 using a form on the Office of Rural Prosperity website. Rural stakeholder groups may also arrange meetings with commission members through WEDC. (The Office of Rural Prosperity has been set up at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.) (more…)
