Budget news? Rumblings from the Capitol suggest that we may be getting closer to the release of updated estimates regarding the state’s fiscal condition. Indeed, some Capitol observers have speculated we may have some news as soon as early next week, noting that one of the co-chairs of the state’s budget writing Joint Committee on Finance is scheduled to speak publicly on Tuesday about the condition of the state budget. Whether this is an indication that an official LFB memo may on its way or simply reflects the co-chair’s personal opinions remains to be seen.
Memos from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) released earlier this summer have detailed the decline in state tax revenues, but have also noted difficulties in making year-over-year comparisons because tax collection numbers were affected by the extension of income and franchise tax filing deadlines from April to July 15 in 2020. As those tax returns are now in, it will be easier to produce numbers on the extent of the decline.
It will be interesting to see how the news, whatever it may be and whenever it may come, will be received in the Capitol. Already, one prominent lawmaker has suggested that schools that reopen in hybrid or virtual mode will have lower costs than schools that reopen for in-person instruction and should see their state aid reduced to reflect this perception. This could signal that schools could be in for a contentious debate.
Ensuring adequate PPE supplies? With the state still apparently holding $243 million in federal CARES Act funds, we have been asked it any of that money might be used to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for schools. The answer is we don’t know.
Although no funds were allocated for PPE from the DPI’s 10% set-aside (roughly $16 million) of CARES Act ESSER, districts may use their share of the ESSER fund for purchasing PPE. Having funds available for PPE, however, does not ensure that individual school districts can obtain PPE at the best price.
One of the problems for school administrators and business managers is that is is difficult to identify how much PPE will be needed by a district until the school board has approved a reopening plan. Because many of these decisions have come about only recently, schools may have to contact multiple suppliers to get the PPE they need. And because the COVID-19 virus has been flaring in may states and communities, demand for PPE has been increasing along with the price.
Given that the typical Wisconsin school district has an enrollment of about 950 students–hardly enough to command the marketplace–the WASB has been asking for several months if there anything the state can do to encourage or facilitate bulk or group purchasing or volume-buying discounts. More recently, the WASB has been urging the state to engage in bulk purchasing of supplies such as PPE in order to ensure that schools have an adequate supply of PPE at an affordable price.
We are told that since May the DPI has been asking the Evers administration about bulk purchasing and how to help school districts obtain PPE supplies because, as you may recall, many schools donated their supplies for use by essential health care workers after schools closed.
For unknown reasons, the DPI has apparently been told that the Department of Administration is not going to assist in this matter. So, school districts are essentially “on their own”–with the exception of state-supplied PPE for school nurses and the 2 million or so cloth face masks that were provided to schools earlier this summer through a joint effort between the DPI and the Department of Emergency Management.
It is our understanding that the DPI has informed school districts to contact their local emergency management centers to get on the list for statewide emergency supplies. However, state supplies will be prioritized, and we currently do not know where school districts will fall on that priority list after the needs of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and emergency responders are addressed.
We are aware that Wisconsin school districts can purchase PPE through CESA Purchasing partners, for example, which does offer schools a discount, and has partnered with vendors that are able to supply CDC- and WHO-approved PPE for Wisconsin schools. But, to our knowledge, that is the extent of coordinated efforts to obtain discounts for schools seeking PPE. We understand some counties may be willing to commit some of their Routes to Recovery money for this purpose, so that may be another avenue for school districts seeking PPE to pursue.
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