Federal Judge Extends Absentee Ballot Deadlines

Federal Judge Rules on Wisconsin Election Lawsuits; Extends Absentee Ballot Deadlines

A federal judge issued a ruling Thursday on several lawsuits related to Wisconsin’s April 7 Election.
The judge said he could not postpone the election but issued the following orders.
As a result of his decision to extend the absentee voting deadline, he clarified on Friday that election
results cannot be released until April 13.

• Extended the deadline that absentee ballots must be received to 4 p.m. on April 13. 
• Extended the deadline for voters to request an absentee ballot to April 3.

PLEASE NOTE: this rule is being appealed.

$2 Trillion Stimulus Bill Includes Investments in K-12 Education

President Trump signed the $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package into law on Friday, March 27. We are still analyzing the 880-page bill but have compiled some highlights that may be of interest to you. 

In addition to providing targeted funding to businesses and governmental programs, the package provides direct funding to States and some local governments. 

According to analysis done by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Wisconsin will receive approximately $2.2 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund created by the Act. About $1.8 billion would go to the state government while the remaining funds would go to the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County and Dane County. 

Broadband and Distance Learning

Rural Utilities Service--Distance Learning, Telemedicine and Broadband Program: Provides $25 million for telemedicine and distance learning services in rural areas. 

Reconnect Pilot: Provides $100 million for grants for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas.

Public Broadcasting: Provides $75 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities to maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations. 

Institute for Museum and Library Services: Provides $50 million to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for grants to States, territories and tribes to expand digital network access, purchase internet accessible devices, and provide technical support services.

Federal Communications Commission Telehealth: Provides $200 million to the FCC to respond to COVID-19. This includes supporting health care providers by providing telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth services. 

General Education 

Education Stabilization Fund: Provides $30.7 billion to the Education Stabilization Fund. This includes:

•  Elementary and Secondary Education: $13.5 billion in formula funding directly to states, to help schools respond to coronavirus and related school closures, meet the immediate needs of students and teachers, improve the use of education technology, purchase educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity), support distance education,and make up for lost learning time. It is estimated that Wisconsin will receive about $174 million from this funding source.

• State Flexibility Funding: $3 billion in flexible formula funding to be allocated by states based on the needs of their elementary and secondary schools and their institutions of higher education. It is estimated that Wisconsin will receive about $46 million ffrom this funding source.

National Emergency Educational Waivers. Provide the Secretary of Education with waiver authority to provide waivers (upon the request of a State educational agency or Indian tribe) from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, except civil rights laws, that are necessary and appropriate due to the COVID-19 declaration of disaster. Requires the Secretary to create  an expedited application process to request a waiver. Waivers will only be valid during the 2019-20 school year. 

Report on IDEA Waivers: Within 30 days of the Act being signed into law, the Secretary of Education is required to the relevant Congressional committees with recommendations on any additional waivers under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 3 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) the Secretary believes are necessary to be enacted into law to provide limited flexibility to States and local educational agencies to meet the needs of students during the COVID-19 emergency. 

Service Obligation to Teachers. For teachers who could not finish their year of teaching service as a result of COVID-19, their partial year of service shall be counted as a full year of service toward TEACH grant obligations or Teacher Loan Forgiveness. Waives a requirement that teachers must serve consecutive years of teaching service for Teacher Loan Forgiveness eligibility, if a teacher’s service is not consecutive as a result of COVID-19.

Higher Education and Student Loans 

Temporary Relief for Federal Student Loan Borrowers: Requires the Secretary to defer student loan payments, principal, and interest for 6 months, through September 30, 2020, without penalty to the borrower for all federally owned loans.

Use of Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants for Emergency Aid. Allows higher education institutions to award additional SEOG funds to assist undergraduate or graduate students with unexpected expenses and unmet financial need as the result of COVID-19. 

Federal work-study payments. Allows higher education institutions to issue work-study payments to students who are unable to work due to work-place closures as a lump sum or in payments similar to paychecks.

Adjustments of Subsidized Loan Limits. For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID -19 excludes the term from counting toward lifetime subsidized loan eligibility. 

Exclusion from Federal Pell Grant Duration Limit. For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID -19 excludes the term from counting toward lifetime Pell eligibility.

Institutional Refund and Federal Student Loan Flexibility. For students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID -19, the student is not required to return Pell grants or federal student loans to the Secretary. Waives the requirement that institutions calculate the amount of grant or loan assistance that the institution must return to the Secretary in the case of students who dropped out of school as a result of COVID-19

Exclusion for certain employer payments of student loans: Allows employers to provide a student loan repayment benefit to employees on a tax-free basis. Under the provision, an employer may contribute up to $5,250 annually toward an employee’s student loans, and such payment would be excluded from the employee’s income. The $5,250 cap applies to both the new student loan repayment benefit as well as other educational assistance (e.g., tuition, fees, books) provided by the employer under current law. The provision applies to any student loan payments made by an employer on behalf of an employee after date of enactment and before January 1, 2021.

Economic Relief 

Recovery Rebates for Americans: Provides a one-time payment of $1,200 to individuals with incomes below $75,000 or a one-time payment of  $2,400 for joint filers with incomes below $150,000. Payments are increased by $500 per child. The bill requires the one-time payments to be made as soon as possible. 

Treasury Loans to Businesses, States and Local Government: Provides $500 billion to the Treasury Secretary for loans, loan guarantees, direct lending or investments in airlines, businesses and nonprofits with between 500 and 10,000 employees, states and municipalities who have incurred losses due to COVID-19. Businesses and non-profits would need to use the funds to maintain 90% of their employees at full compensation and benefits through September 30, 2020. The Secretary’s ability to make loans under this program ends on December 31, 2020. The Secretary is required to publish guidance within 10 days of enactment (April 6). The funding pool breaks down as follows:

• $454 billion for loans and investments in businesses, states and municipalities 
• $25 billion for airlines
• $4 billion for air cargo carriers
• $17 billion for businesses critical to maintaining national security 

Relief Payments to States, Tribal Governments and Local Units of Government: Provides $150 billion in direct payments to states, tribal governments and local units of government with. To qualify, local governments must have populations of more than 500,000 people. Payments are required to be used to cover expenditures related to COVID-19 that occur between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020. Expenditures must not have been accounted for in the state or local government’s most recent budget. The bill requires the Treasury Secretary  to make these payments within 30 days of enactment. 

Loans for Small Businesses, Non-profits, Contractors and Self-Employed Individuals. Allows nonprofits and other businesses with less than 500 employees to get loans from the Small Business Administration if they were adversely impacted by COVID-19. Loans can be used to cover payroll costs, health care benefits, mortgage or rent payments, utilities or interest on debt. Borrowers will be eligible for loan forgiveness if they maintain employees and their salaries. The eligibility period runs from February 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020. Maximum loan amounts will be determined using the organization's average monthly payroll amounts over a one year period. The bill appropriates $349 billion for this loan program. 

Employee retention credit for employers subject to closure due to COVID-19. Provides a refundable payroll tax credit for 50% of wages paid by employers to employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The credit is available to employers whose (1) operations were fully or partially suspended, due to a COVID-19-related shutdown order, or (2) gross receipts declined by more than 50 percent when compared to the same quarter in the prior year.

Small Business Administration Disaster Loans: Provides $562 million to the Disaster Loan Program. 

Unemployment Insurance 

Unemployment Benefits for Individuals Typically Not Covered: Extends eligibility for unemployment benefits to individuals who are typically not covered, including those who are self-employed, or who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment if they are directly impacted by COVID-19. Individuals in this category would be eligible for benefits from January 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The unemployment amount will be based on the compensation amount for the state the individual was employed as well as the Federal Pandemic Compensation amount of $600. 

Increased Unemployment Compensation and Benefits: Requires States to provide their regular weekly unemployment amount plus a payment of  $600 per week. The enhanced funding would end on July 31, 2020. The enhanced compensation will not impact an individual’s ability to apply for Medicaid.  The bill also provides an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through December 31, 2020. 

Voting 

Election Security Grants: Provides an additional  $400 million to the Election Security Grant program for the 2020 federal election cycle. The bill requires the Election Assistance Commission to make payments to states within 30 days after enactment, which is approximately April 26. 

Governor Evers Releases State COVID-19 Bill

Governor Evers released a 65-page draft piece of legislation and a draft joint resolution on Saturday night aimed at addressing COVID-19. The Governor also released a chart outlining the proposal.  

In a memo to legislative leaders the Legislative Fiscal Bureau provides a Summary of provisions of Governor Evers’ proposed legislation and Joint Resolution indefinitely extending public health emergency

In a letter to Governor Evers last night, Republican legislative leaders have said they will not move forward on this bill and are working on their own proposal. 

Highlights of Governor Evers’ proposed legislation:

Education 

The bill includes many provisions related to education. Specifically, it:

• Requires all schools (public, charter and school choice schools) to continue paying employees at their regular rate when schools are closed for a public health emergency, regardless of whether the current employee is required to report to work while schools are closed.
• Prohibits all schools from laying off staff when schools are closed for a public health emergency. 
• Waives the requirement that DPI publish school report cards (accountability reports) for the 2019-20 school year.
• Gives DPI the authority to waive any state education statute or rule that places requirements on school districts or private schools when schools are closed during a public health emergency. 

WRS Retirees Returning to Work During the Public Health Emergency

• Allows Wisconsin Retirement System retirees to return to work without losing their retirement payment if they are returning to a “critical position” as determined by the Department of Health Services during the public health emergency.

Emergency Preparedness 

• Provides $300 million to the Department of Military Affairs to respond to the public health emergency. 
• Provides $200 million to the Department of Administration to respond to the public health emergency. 

Voting

The bill contains several provisions related to voting during public health emergencies. Specifically, for elections held during a declared public health emergency, it would: 

• Require elections held during public health emergencies to be held by mail. 
• Waive the state’s Photo ID requirement.
• Waive the requirement that mail-in absentee ballots need a witness signature.
• Allow mail-in ballots to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
• Allow voters to register electronically until 5 days before the election.

Housing

• Prohibits a landlord from serving an eviction notice to a tenant for failure to pay rent during a public health emergency and for 45 days after the public health emergency.

Employment 

• Suspends the requirement that an employer provide an employee with their personnel record within 7 working days of the request during a public health emergency. 

Unemployment Insurance

• Eliminates the one-week waiting period for Unemployment Insurance.

Schools, Public Libraries Closed by Safer at Home Order

Governor Evers has officially issued his Safer at Home order. As the order is 16 pages long and contains many exemptions, please read it in full if you have questions. It will go into effect at 8 a.m. on March 25 and end at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 24. 

Wisconsinites are ordered to stay at home during this time except for certain activities, which are outlined at the bottom of this post. According to the Governor, individuals will not need special permission to leave their homes.   

Schools remain closed under the order except for facilitating virtual or distance learning or food distribution. Public libraries will also be closed but they can continue to provide on-line programming. 

All public and private gatherings of any number of people are prohibited (exceptions are provided for funerals, weddings and religious facilities with less than 10 people in a room). 

The order closes all for-profit and non-profit businesses except those listed as essential by the order. Essential businesses must continue to follow social distancing recommendations and use technology to minimize in-person meetings. 

Essential businesses and functions include (but are not limited to):

• All health care and in-home care providers
• Pharmacies 
• Long-term care and assisted living facilities
• Businesses and religious or secular nonprofit organizations that provide charitable and social services. 
• Weddings, funerals and religious entities with less than 10 people in a room 
• Child care settings limited to 10 staff and 50 children. They must prioritize providing care to children of health care workers or employees of other vital areas
• Adult day care and adult day services
• Businesses that provide food, shelter, social services, or other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged individuals, individuals with physical, intellectual or developmental disabilities, or otherwise needy individuals
• Essential government functions like law enforcement, firefighters and EMS
• Adoption agencies 
• Public transportation, taxis, Uber/Lyft, paratransit
• Grocery stores, food banks, restaurants and bars offering delivery or take out
• Airlines 
• Gas stations
• Banks and credit unions 
• Hotels and motels 
• Critical trades like plumbers and electricians 
• Post offices and delivery services 
• Media 
• Hardware and supply stores 
• Laundromats and dry cleaners 
• Professional services like legal, accounting and real estate 
• And many more specific jobs (please read the full order for a comprehensive list) 

Wisconsin residents will be able to: 

• Perform tasks essential to maintain health and safety, such as obtaining medicine or seeing a doctor;
• Get necessary services or supplies for themselves or their family or household members, such as getting food and supplies, pet food and supplies necessary for staying at home;
• Care for a family member in another household; 
• Go to work at an essential business; 
• Engage in outdoor activities like walking, running, biking and hiking as long as they follow social distancing guidelines; and
• Care for older adults, minors, dependents, people with disabilities or other vulnerable persons.

Please Consider Voting Absentee for the Spring Election

As of this writing, Wisconsin's Spring Election on April 7 is scheduled to proceed as planned. In an effort to respond to public health guidance related to the Coronavirus outbreak, election officials are encouraging Wisconsinites to vote absentee. 

There are many important races on your ballot, including the Wisconsin Supreme Court and a proposed constitutional amendment related to crime victim rights called Marcy's Law. In addition, there are local races for school board and county executives taking place across Wisconsin. 

How to Request an Absentee Ballot 

1. Voters who are already registered can request an absentee ballot be sent to them until April 2. Due to the high demand for absentee ballots, election officials recommend submitting your request as soon as possible. 

2. Visit https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/RequestAnAbsenteeBallot and fill out the request form. You will need to upload a picture of your photo ID if this is your first time requesting an absentee ballot. 

3. Once you receive your ballot, fill it out using the instruction form that comes with the ballot. Both you and a witness will need to sign the certificate envelope.  The witness will also need to write their address. The City of Madison has made this helpful video explaining the absentee voting process: https://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/elections-voting/voting/vote-absentee 

4. Your completed ballot must be returned to the Clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Election Day. 

In-person Absentee Voting 

You can also vote in-person at your local clerk's office. Please contact your clerk's office to ask about their in-person early voting hours as they vary by municipality. Find your clerk: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-US/MyMunicipalClerk 

Don't Forget to Vote Tuesday, February 18!

Wisconsin's Spring Primary is quickly approaching and will take place on Tuesday, February 18, 2020. 

The State Supreme Court race is the only statewide race on the ballot. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election.  There are also many local races as well as a Republican primary between State Senator Tom Tiffany and veteran Jason Church  for the special election being held in the 7^th Congressional District. 

To see what races will be on your ballot and for all of the other information you need to vote, please visit: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-US/PreviewMyBallot 

State Supreme Court Race Preview

Incumbent Daniel Kelly is facing two challengers, Jill Karofsky and Edward Fallone. The two candidates who get the most votes on February 18 will advance to the general election on April 7. 

Daniel Kelly (Incumbent):  Justice Kelly was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by Governor Walker in 2016 after Justice David Prosser retired before the end of his term. Before being appointed to the Supreme Court, he spent 20 years in private practice and also worked as a special prosecutor for the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office. You can view his campaign website here: https://www.justicedanielkelly.com/

Jill Karofsky:  Karofsky is a trial court judge. She was previously the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Office of Crime Victim Services and an Assistant Attorney General.                You can view her campaign website here: https://www.jillforjustice.com/

Edward Fallone:  Fallone spent 25 years teaching at the Marquette University School of Law. He also helped found a patient advocacy group called Stem Cell Now.                       You can view his campaign website here:https://www.falloneforjustice.com/

Public Hearing Scheduled on Dyslexia Training Requirement

The package of dyslexia bills that WEMTA has been monitoring has been scheduled for a public hearing on Thursday, February 6 at 9 a.m. before the Assembly Committee on Education.  

This includes Assembly Bill 601, which requires all school district staff to take an online dyslexia awareness training starting in the 2020-2021 school year. The training would be developed by the Department of Public Instruction and the International Dyslexia Association–Wisconsin Branch, Inc.

If you have concerns about this proposal, you can contact your state representative and state senator.