State Senate Votes to Terminate Mask Mandate; State Assembly Amends COVID-19 Bill

Both the State Assembly and State senate were in session on Tuesday. Here is a breakdown of the action. 

State Senate Votes in Favor of Ending COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Mask Mandate 

The State Senate voted 18-13 to pass Senate Joint Resolution 3, which terminates Governor Evers' latest order declaring a public health emergency in Wisconsin related to COVID-19. Ending the health emergency has the effect of ending the statewide face mask requirement. 

The State Assembly plans to vote on SJR 3 on Thursday, January 28.  Since this is a joint resolution, it does not need to be signed by the Governor. 

State Assembly Tweaks COVID-19 Bill, Sending it Back to the Senate 

The State Assembly adopted several amendments to the COVID-19 proposal that was passed by the state Senate on January 12 and supported by Governor Evers. The State Senate must now vote on the amended version of the bill passed by the Assembly before it can make it to Governor Evers' desk. 

The State Assembly voted 58-34 to pass the bill with the following additions:

• requires the Governor to submit any plans for the use of federal COVID-19 relief funds to the Joint Finance Committee  

• bans employers from requiring their employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccination 

• bans the state and local health departments from requiring residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccination 

• allows virtual charter school students to play sports for their resident school district  

• allows individuals to serve as short-term substitutes without a license or permit so long as they pass a background check and submit an application to DPI

• Prohibits a student's resident school district from blocking their open enrollment application if they are using the alternative application process during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years

• Allows a student to apply to an unlimited number of nonresident school districts under the open enrollment program in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years

Items of interest in the bill that were unchanged by the Assembly include:

General COVID-19 Response

Coverage of COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination without Cost-Sharing: Requires health plans to cover COVID-19 testing and vaccinations without cost-sharing until June 30, 2021. 

State Funding:  Authorizes the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to transfer up to $100 million between state appropriation accounts. 

Prescription Extension: Allows a pharmacist to refill a prescription for a 30-day supply without contacting the prescribing physician through June 30, 2021. 

Other Prescription Drug Protections: Prohibits insurers through June 30, 2021 from requiring prior authorization for early refills or placing other restrictions on refills, such as limiting refill supplies to less than 90-days. 

Nursing Home and Assisted Living Visitors: Allows a nursing home or assisted living resident, their guardian or health care agent to designate an essential visitor to visit and provide support to the resident in compassionate care situations. The resident's guardian or health care agent under a power of attorney is also considered an essential visitor.  A nursing home or assisted living facility may refuse to allow access for visitation to any essential visitor who refuses to comply with public health policies of the nursing home or assisted living facility

Employers

Civil Liability: Creates a civil liability exemption for entities such as businesses, nonprofits, associations, schools, tribes, governmental entities and others related to COVID-19 exposure, death or damages. The exemption also covers employees, independent contractors or volunteers of an entity. The Senate ultimately removed language that would have allowed businesses to be exempt even if they ignored government guidance related to closures or capacity limits. 

Education 

College Credit for Helping with COVID-19 Response: Requires the UW System and technical colleges to offer students an opportunity to satisfy course requirements using time spent volunteering or working to assist Wisconsin in responding to COVID-19. 

Reports on Virtual Instruction: Requires school boards to submit reports on virtual learning to the Department of Public Instruction following each semester in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. One of the required elements of the report is a description of any challenges or barriers the school board faced related to implementing virtual instruction. DPI must then compile this information into a report for the Legislature. 

BCPL Loans: Allows the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands to loan money to cities, villages, and towns to ensure that a municipal utility under the control of the city, village, or town is able to maintain liquidity. This authorization would end on April 15, 2021. 

Rehiring WRS Retirees: Allows a Wisconsin Retirement System Retiree to return to work without suspending their annuity if they return to work in a critical position during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retirees must wait at least 15 days after leaving their job before they return to work at a WRS-covered position. 

Waiver of Rules for the School Choice Program: Extends DPI’s authority to waive certain rules related to the school choice or special needs scholarship programs through October 31, 2021. DPI's waiver authority does not apply to requirements to administer pupil assessments.

Unemployment Insurance

UI Backlog: Requires the Department of Workforce Development to publish a plan on addressing the unemployment insurance claims backlog within 30 days of the bill becoming law. 

UI Call Centers: Requires the Department of Workforce Development to extend unemployment insurance call center hours to 12 hours per day, 7 days per week. 

UI Waiting Period: Extends the waiver of the state’s one week waiting period for unemployment insurance to March 14, 2021. 

Extended Benefit Periods: Allows the Secretary of the Department of Workforce Development to waive certain current law restrictions related to extended unemployment benefit timeframes.