Wisconsin’s first Coronavirus Relief Bill had opened up $75 million the governor could spend to address effects of the pandemic. But it was never spent.
Vos
In a Facebook post last month, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, wrote: “In April the state legislature passed our COVID19 relief bill, which I authored, that gave a great deal of authority to the Governor to fight the virus. We allocated $75M dollars for him to utilize in addition to the billions of dollars of federal funds Wisconsin received. As of today, he has spent $0. Let me repeat, $0 of the funds allocated by the Wisconsin State Legislature.”
However, Gov. Tony Evers is no longer able to spend that money from the Legislature.
The $75 million the Legislature approved was tied to the governor’s original public health emergency that the Legislature allowed to expire in May. That money was accessible for 90 days after the expiration of the order, and thus has not been accessible since the beginning of August.
During a briefing with reporters on Friday, Evers, a Democrat, gave two reasons why he never spent the money to relieve the effects of the pandemic.
The first, he said, was the Republican-led Legislature did not make sure the money would still be available when elected officials let the governor’s emergency order expire.
Evers
The second was “the dire state of our state budget,” Evers said. Due to the massive economic hit associated with the pandemic, the governor called on state agencies to find $300 million more in cost savings. That need for savings could be made even larger had the $75 million been spent.
“The Coronavirus Response Bill, which the Legislature approved within the first month of the pandemic (on April 16), provided the administration with flexibilities to fight the virus. I would like to revisit what reauthorizations would be necessary and review the state expenditures from the CARES Act funding. If Congress fails to provide additional state assistance, I would be open to a second relief bill, which could include providing the $75 million that the Evers administration chose not to utilize from the first bill,” Vos said in a statement last week, marking the first time Vos has indicated the Legislature may be willing to act since April.
Of the approximately $2 billion in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds provided to Wisconsin earlier this year, nearly $1.88 billion had been spent or allocated, according to an update provided by the governor’s office earlier this month. Roughly $120 million remains, which the state could use for emerging needs. CARES Act funds must be spent by the end of the year.
“We’re going to need money after the first of the year,” Evers said Friday. “Whatever money we had received from the CARES Act will be gone at that time, and we will have moral obligations around making sure that we have the equipment and the testing in place so that we can continue this fight against the virus.”
There is no guarantee more federal aid is coming, and it’s unlikely to be here soon. Discussions between Republicans and Democrats in Washington fell apart last month and have been put on pause until after the election — Republican leaders are seeking about $500 billion in a new relief bill, one-fourth of the $2.2 trillion Democrats leaders want to provide.
On top of that, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said a new federal bill likely won’t be taken up until the beginning of 2021.
A major indicator of what could be approved lies with voters, since the Senate could end up controlled by Democrats after Tuesday’s election and Democrats are expected to keep their majority in the House. There is also the issue of who would be presented with such a bill in January: incumbent President Donald Trump or his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.
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