Brian Dake

The Wisconsin Supreme Court Friday acted Friday to rein in Gov. Tony Evers’ expansive veto authority by overturning three budget vetoes the Democrat issued in his first two-year spending plan as governor.

Of the four vetoes targeted in the lawsuit, the single one upheld increased vehicle fees for owners of heavier trucks over those with lighter ones.

Meanwhile, justices determined a veto that broadened what was proposed as a $3 million grant program to replace school buses with energy-efficient models was unconstitutional (5-2 decision). Evers removed the condition that the funding be used only for buses and instructed the Department of Administration to allocate up to $10 million for electric vehicle charging stations.

The other partial vetoes that were overturned altered the definition of “vapor product,” thus creating new taxes and regulations on them (4-3 decision); and lifted restrictions on how $75 million in transportation funding could be spent (5-2 decision).

Previous governors have used their veto authority in a manner similar to Evers.

Wisconsin governors hold the country’s most powerful partial veto authority on spending measures, but aren’t able to use the veto pen to create new words by striking out individual letters, and they can’t craft new sentences by combining parts of two or more lines in legislation. Both limitations were imposed after voters approved previous constitutional amendments to limit governors’ authority in that arena.

Wisconsin Assembly Republicans proposed a new state loan program on Wednesday to support some of the roughly 140,000 people in the state waiting to receive delayed unemployment checks.

Under the GOP plan, the Evers administration would use $40 million in funding from the federal COVID-19 relief package passed in March, of which the state has about $280 million remaining, to offer zero-interest bridge loans to people awaiting benefit checks. The program could be administered by the state Department of Revenue, Republicans said.

According to a memo from the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office, $40 million could provide about 31,000 people a $1,308 loan, which equals four weeks of the average state unemployment benefit. The average weekly benefit was $327 in March 2020, the memo said.

The Republicans called on the governor’s administration to roll out the program immediately, saying legislation is not required to establish it.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday assailed plans by some local districts to offer in-person instruction only a few days a week and said schools must be “fully operational” even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Anything less, she says, would fail students and taxpayers.

DeVos made the comments during a call with governors as the Trump administration launched an all-out effort to get schools and colleges to reopen. Audio of the call was obtained by The Associated Press.

“Ultimately, it’s not a matter of if schools need to open, it’s a matter of how. School must reopen, they must be fully operational. And how that happens is best left to education and community leaders,” DeVos told governors.

Effective July 3, 2020, Governor Tony Evers approved ending the declared period of abnormal economic disruption, allowing sellers to resume sale of consumer goods and services without the restrictions outlined in Wisconsin’s price gouging statutes.

In March, Governor Evers issued Executive Order #72. This order announced a public health emergency due to COVID-19 and declared a period of abnormal economic disruption, directing the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to enforce prohibitions against price gouging for consumer goods and services.

The end of the abnormal economic disruption declaration means that future price changes will not be subject to price increase prohibitions described in state law. Complaints about prices that existed before the end of the emergency declaration will continue to be investigated, even if those complaints are filed after the declaration has ended.

Nonfarm payrolls jumped by 4.8 million in June and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1% as the U.S. continued its reopening from the coronavirus pandemic, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a 2.9 million increase and a jobless rate of 12.4%. The report was released a day earlier than usual due to the July Fourth U.S. holiday.

The jobs growth marked a big leap from the 2.7 million in May, which was revised up by 190,000. The June total is easily the largest single-month gain in U.S. history.

The numbers capture the move by all 50 states to get activity moving again after the virus seized up much of the U.S., particularly service-related industries.

Wall Street reacted positively to the report, with futures indicating a more than 400-point gain at the open.

A report from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) assesses the complex ongoing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wisconsin and identifies priorities for the state’s recovery efforts.

The 150-page report, “Wisconsin Tomorrow – An Economy for All,” was submitted to lawmakers and Governor Tony Evers on Tuesday. The state’s COVID-19 relief legislation, 2019 Act 185, directed WEDC to submit a plan by June 30 “for providing support to the major industries in this state that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency, including tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, forest products, construction, retail and services.”

In light of the evolving nature of the pandemic and its still-unfolding impact on the state’s economy, the report calls for the state to focus on three priorities:

• Get Everyone Back to Work: The report notes that COVID-19 has transformed Wisconsin’s workforce. Many service-sector jobs, particularly in retail and restaurants, have been eliminated and are not likely to return. It will be crucial to reskill and train people who lost their jobs. The pandemic has reinforced access to high-quality childcare, early childhood education and health care as essential to the economy.

• Fix Broadband: The pandemic has highlighted the digital divide in our state. Education, e-commerce, remote working and even contact with government depend on access to computers and high-speed internet.

• Support Innovation: Innovation fuels job growth, as well as flexibility and resiliency in our businesses. In a time of constrained resources and risk aversion, Wisconsin has the chance to use its innovative, entrepreneurial spirit to launch its recovery.

The report can be found online at: wedc.org/wisconsin-tomorrow.

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, one of the Republicans behind the Safer at Home lawsuit, said in a statement he does not support shutting down businesses again or mandating mask wearing as has been done in other states.

“It’s clear from the actions of Milwaukee and Madison that the responses will be regional,” Fitzgerald said. “Bars and restaurants should follow the safe practices put forward by the WEDC to ensure that they can maintain proper social distancing.”

The Speaker of the Assembly also indicated he was not interested in another statewide order.

“People should continue to follow the CDC guidelines and to take prudent precautions,” Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement to News 3 Now. “We continue monitor regional hospitalization rates which indicate hospital resources are in good shape to handle cases of the virus.”

With hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin citizens out of work due to the COVID-19 crisis, the state’s fund for jobless benefits has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in a matter of months to cover historic unemployment claims. Nevertheless, the combination of higher fund reserves at the start of the pandemic and state action in response to it should push any broad payroll tax increases for employers into early 2022 – a benefit for both struggling businesses and workers.

After adding to its unemployment fund substantially in recent years, the state is once again seeing those critical reserves decline at an unprecedented pace. State and federal figures show the balance in the state unemployment fund has fallen from nearly $2 billion at the close of 2019 to $1.66 billion as of June 8, a drop of more than $300 million that occurred almost entirely since the beginning of May.

So far, public attention has justly focused more on the plight of unemployed workers. Yet it’s also worth considering the impact of falling unemployment fund balances, since those can lead to tax increases on employers during an already brutal downturn. Fortunately, in part due to recent state actions, it appears taxes on businesses will not rise widely until the first quarter of 2022.