American Rescue Plan
USDA gives $2 million to improve two rural Wisconsin clinics
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Tuesday that two rural Wisconsin health care centers will be receiving $1 million grants to fund renovations and equipment upgrades to provide better access to care for thousands of Wisconsinites. The Emergency Rural Health Care Grants, part of the American Rescue Plan Act, will be awarded to Upland […]
U.S. mayors at the White House hear praise from Biden on rebuilding post-pandemic
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden hosted more than 200 of the nation’s mayors at the White House on Friday afternoon, highlighting economic growth and the effectiveness of their bipartisan leadership as the country moves on from the COVID-19 pandemic. “I want to thank the mayors across the country for doing everything they can do to […]
Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same.
Voters in Colorado approved a statewide affordable housing initiative in November; while voters in nine cities across the country OK’d measures to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties and support renters. But as housing costs soar, analysts and advocates say more needs to be done and argue that federal action is […]
Unless Congress acts, this will be the last Tax Day parents benefit from expanded Child Tax Credit
Most parents filing taxes this year are benefitting from improvements to the Child Tax Credit that help make it easier to make ends meet. These improvements lifted millions of children out of hardship and slashed poverty rates — but the failure of Congress to take action to continue the expanded credit places families at risk […]
$200 million in ARPA money sent to local governments across Wisconsin
Local governments big and small across Wisconsin received a total of $200 million through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) this week. The program is meant to help local governments recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and was disbursed by the Wisconsin Department of Administration. The amount each municipality received was determined through a formula based […]
The Affordable Care Act is safe — what’s next?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay. Over the last ten years, President Barack Obama’s landmark health care reform legislation has survived more than 70 repeal votes in Congress and three efforts to invalidate the law via the courts. The latest challenge to the ACA before the United States Supreme Court, Texas v. […]
U.S. makes it easier to enroll in expanded child tax credit; advocates call for permanent increase
A new federal web page will make it possible for more people to sign up for a federal child tax credit that will pay families who qualify up to $300 a month per child starting in July. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) temporarily increased the amount of the tax credit for 2021, to $3,600 […]
WILL lawyer, Wisconsin farmer appear on Tucker Carlson Show to allege racism against white farmers
The president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), along with a Calumet County dairy farmer, appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show on Wednesday to discuss their lawsuit alleging a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) aimed at helping Black farmers is discrimination. Carlson, who has spread racist conspiracy theories on […]
Warnock works to remedy decades of USDA discrimination against Black farmers
WASHINGTON—The arrival of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in Congress earlier this year coincided with an overdue recognition of the historic discrimination inflicted on Black farmers by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The farmers’ plight has emerged as a major priority for Warnock, a Georgia Democrat whose victory in a January special election runoff handed his […]
Inflation boogeyman scares only the extremely wealthy
The inflation fear-mongers are at it again. In a futile attempt to discredit President Joe Biden’s extraordinarily popular American Rescue Plan (economic recovery) and American Jobs Act (infrastructure) the usual Republican and neo-liberal suspects are once again raising the boogeyman of inflation. Responding to Biden’s proposals, Republican Sens. Ron Johnson, Charles Grassley and John Thune […]
New federally funded COVID-19 testing program planned for schools
With continued concern about COVID-19 variant strains to which younger people are more susceptible than previous versions of the novel coronavirus, Wisconsin’s health and education agencies will set up a COVID-19 testing program in schools. The Department of Health Services (DHS) and Gov. Tony Evers announced plans Tuesday to offer the testing program for teachers, […]
GOP bills seeking control of federal COVID relief funds to take center stage
Tuesday’s Assembly floor session will focus largely on a package of bills that would take control of federal COVID-19 relief spending from Gov. Tony Evers — and will almost certainly face an Evers veto. The Assembly Rules Committee has put 11 bills on Tuesday’s agenda that direct spending from Wisconsin’s $3.2 billion share of money […]