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Work-Share takes off with federal COVID-19 changes
A state program that allows Wisconsin employers to keep more people working during business downturns, with the help of the unemployment compensation system, has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the Work-Share program, employers who might otherwise lay off workers to cut expenses during a slowdown can keep some staffers working on part-time schedules. Employees […]
Worker safety takes center stage in pandemic
COVID-19 infections continue to dog workplaces, challenging local and state health officials while sickening employees. In Kenosha, an unconfirmed number of infections among workers at Amazon’s two facilities located northwest of the city’s downtown have vexed the county health agency. And on Thursday, a coalition of advocacy groups urged Wisconsin lawmakers to adopt a series […]
State announces $100M in aid for nursing homes, other health services
Nursing homes, home health and community health services and emergency medical services will share in $100 million in federal aid tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday. The funds are the latest announced from Wisconsin’s allotment under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The money is intended to […]
CARES funding announcements show governor is moving on
Putting aside a legislative impasse over reconfiguring the state’s defunct Safer at Home order, Gov. Tony Evers this week has been rolling out a series of initiatives to aid sectors of the state economy damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday afternoon, the governor’s office announced $50 million in direct payments to Wisconsin farmers and […]
Strapped renters get state help from COVID-19 funds
In the latest distribution of Wisconsin’s share of federal COVID-19 relief aid, low-income Wisconsin renters who have lost income because of the pandemic will get financial help to pay back rent, security deposits, and related assistance. Gov. Tony Evers announced the $25 million Wisconsin Rental Assistance Program, funded from the state’s allotment under the Coronavirus […]
Evers announces $1B COVID-19 response; OCI tells insurers tests are free
Wisconsin is putting more than $1 billion in federal funds into testing for COVID-19 infections, contact tracing to track the spread of the disease, and other measures to respond to the pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday. The $1.17 billion investment comes from Wisconsin’s share of the funds spent by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, […]
State unveils grants for small businesses affected by COVID-19
After 19 years of growth, including an expansion that grew their workforce to about 50 people, LuLu Café & Bar in Milwaukee hit a wall when COVID-19 came to Wisconsin. “We were open seven days a week for lunch and dinner,” says Cameryne Roberts, who co-owns the establishment with Sarah Jonas. “Since the whole shutdown, […]
Baldwin continues focus on meat industry
In the latest of several actions by Sen. Tammy Baldwin to pressure the federal government for closer regulation of the meatpacking industry, the Wisconsin Democrat signed on Friday to a letter calling on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to address worker safety. The letter, authored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and signed by 29 Senate Democrats, […]
Spring Green’s American Players Theatre cancels its Summer 2020 season
American Players Theatre is canceling its Summer 2020 season of plays because of continuing concern over the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Friday. “Right now we’d like nothing more than to be together and gather and take care of each other, but the only thing we can really do is stay apart to keep each […]
Evers: Stay the course, but voluntarily
The legal authority to enforce Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order was ripped away by Wednesday’s 4-3 state Supreme Court ruling. On Thursday, the Department of Health Services (DHS) and Gov. Tony Evers vowed to press ahead with a voluntary approach to reopening the state’s economy while seeking to curb the virus responsible for COVID-19. “We […]
Wisconsin joins brief to support Affordable Care Act before Supreme Court
Wisconsin once helped lead a lawsuit to throw out the Affordable Care Act, but on Thursday the state Department of Justice announced it was joining a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to keep the law intact. “This effort to take down the Affordable Care Act threatens to cause severe damage to public health and […]
Wisconsinites respond to Supreme Court tossing out Safer at Home
Late Wednesday afternoon, at the request of Republicans in the Legislature, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home plan, which was ordered by Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm. Responses came flooding in from local government, elected officials, businesses and groups responding to the chaos created by the late-in-the-day […]