Brian Dake

Yesterday, Governor Tony Evers announced that restaurants and other targeted small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will receive $45 million in assistance. The program, We’re All In For Restaurants, is aimed at businesses throughout Wisconsin that, as gathering places, have been challenged from the beginning of the pandemic, and are incredibly important employers and community members.

“Restaurants and other venues have been among the businesses hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gov. Evers said. “They’ve made the tough decisions to keep employees and customers safe by restricting indoor seating, offering delivery and curbside pick-up, and providing outdoor tables. We greatly appreciate the changes they’ve made to prioritize the health and safety of our communities, but now with winter coming, we are glad to provide this support at a critical time.”

The program will be administered by the Department of Revenue (DOR) in collaboration with WEDC. Unlike previous We’re All In grants, businesses will not have to apply for the grants, but will be identified and contacted directly by the DOR based on the businesses’ state tax records.

According to preliminary DOR estimates, restaurants will account for roughly 95 percent of the approximately 2,000 businesses to receive the funds. The program will target businesses with annual revenues of more than $1 million and less than $7 million. Previous state grant programs have focused on businesses with annual revenues of less than $1 million.

This is the third phase of the We’re All In grant program from WEDC aimed at helping businesses weather the economic storm created by the pandemic. The first phase provided more than $65 million in grants to more than 26,000 businesses statewide, while the second phase is currently disbursing more than $120 million to more than 24,000 small businesses statewide.

Funding for We’re All In programs comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Senate won’t take up any COVID-19 relief measures before January, the incoming majority leader said Wednesday, even though Assembly Republicans have said they’re open to coming in this month and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has urged swift action before federal money runs out.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will shorten its recommended quarantine period for people exposed to the coronavirus to as little as seven days, CNN reported.

Under the new guidelines, quarantines can end after seven days for people who test negative and 10 days for those who do not get tests instead of the current 14-day period for both groups.

CDC Director Robert Redfield announced the update Tuesday in a meeting of the White House coronavirus task force, according to CNN, which cited two senior administration officials. Vice President Pence, the head of the task force, has reportedly been pushing the CDC for a review of the recommendations for several months, and the topic has long been under discussion.

The CDC previously defined a close contact as involving continuous exposure to a person with the virus for 15 minutes. It currently defines it as 15 minutes in total within six feet of an infected person. In July, the agency altered its recommendations for how long a person should isolate after first experiencing symptoms, shortening the period from 14 days to 10 if the person is not symptomatic by the end of that period.

A lawsuit over whether the state can release data on businesses in Wisconsin tied to COVID-19 outbreaks will proceed after a judge on Monday denied motions from the state and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to dismiss the case.

The state’s largest business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, sued to stop the release of the data in October , arguing that businesses could suffer “irreparable harm.”

In a hearing that lasted three hours Monday, WMC attorney Ryan Walsh argued that the data is private medical information and that the state has to prove the records cannot be used to identify individuals who had COVID-19. “They claim they have been attentive to that, but ‘trust us’ is not good enough here,” Walsh said.

The records in question contain data on roughly a thousand Wisconsin businesses with 25 or more employees that have had at least two employees test positive or identify as close contacts.

The Journal Sentinel requested the records in June after workers at food processing plants and residents at nursing homes told the newspaper they were left in the dark about outbreaks at their facilities and had to learn about cases through word of mouth.

In her motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Assistant Attorney General Anne Bensky, representing the state, argued that the WMC had no standing to sue.

But Judge Lloyd Carter of the Waukesha County Circuit Court sided with the business lobby and said he was concerned that releasing the data could plaster businesses with a “scarlet letter.”

“We’re talking about businesses who are teetering on the brink of failure,” Carter said. “We’re talking about release of data with potential for irreparable harm to those businesses.”

Wisconsin’s tourism secretary is planning to resign. Gov. Tony Evers’ office announced Wednesday that Sara Meaney will leave her position next month to take a job outside of state government.

Department of Tourism Deputy Secretary Anne Sayers will serve as interim department secretary following Meaney’s departure.

Evers appointed Meaney in December 2018, weeks after he won election. But the state Senate never confirmed her.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed the lawsuit on behalf of Dane County residents who say the order will harm their families, negatively affect their mental health and hurt some businesses’ bottom lines.

The order being challenged is the most aggressive issued yet by Janel Heinrich, the health officer for Public Health Madison and Dane County. It comes as the county and the state are struggling with a COVID-19 surge that has severely strained hospitals, some of which are running out of beds and staff.

But WILL argues Henrich’s order is too broad to be issued without a vote by elected members of the Madison Common Council or the Dane County Board, and too intrusive to be allowed by the Wisconsin Constitution.

“Under Dane County’s order, people can gather with their coworkers at work, but cannot visit their close relatives in their private homes,” reads WILL’s legal brief. “Such an order is patently unreasonable and unlawful.”

While it’s unclear how quickly the court might respond to the petition, WILL’s brief asks for an immediate ruling to block the order, partly because it will prevent people from legally observing Thanksgiving with family members who don’t live in their homes.

That ban, WILL argues, unfairly punishes some people and some businesses while not affecting others.

“The Dane County Health Department cannot reasonably allow people to shop on Black Friday, while prohibiting them from seeing their loved ones, in their own homes, on Thursday,” reads the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the case include Jeffrey Becker, a Verona resident and father of four kids who said the order will lead to feelings of isolation in his children and harm their mental health. They also include Andrea Klein of Stoughton who said she had planned to host a small Thanksgiving with her parents, uncle and brother, all of whom live near her in Dane County.

The other plaintiff is Jason Orkowski, who owns a Fitchburg gymnastics center called Gymfinity. Orkowski said Dane County’s order will cost his business $40,000.

Fueled by record-low mortgage rates, Wisconsin’s existing home market saw another sharp increase in sales and prices in October, according to the most recent monthly analysis conducted by the Wisconsin REALTORS^® Association (WRA).

For the seventh straight month, mortgage rates fell into record-low territory, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropping to 2.83% in October. As a result, existing home sales increased 24.9% in October 2020 compared to October 2019, and the median price increased 16.3% to $227,324 over that same 12-month period.

On a year-to-date basis, home sales are up 4.5% relative to the sales in the first 10 months of 2019, and the median price rose to $220,000, which is an increase of 11.1% compared to the January-through-October period of 2019.

Home sales increased by double-digit margins in all regions, with closed sales up between 13.6% and 17.3% in the Central, Northeast and West regions. More robust sales growth was seen in the Southeast region, up 25.2%; the South Central region, up 35.2%; and the North, up 42.1%.

Gov. Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency Friday and extended the mask mandate in Wisconsin for an additional two months.

Gov. Evers issued Executive Order #95 and extended Emergency Order #1, both effective immediately. The orders will expire after 60 days unless there is a subsequent order to extend them.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in October from 5.4% in September as the coronavirus continues to rage across the state, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday.

The state rate is below the national unemployment rate for October of 6.9%.

Wisconsin lost 2,700 private-sector jobs in October and is down 176,900 for the year. The October job losses were largely driven by decreases in the leisure and hospitality industry and government sector, the state reported.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) launches eMV Fleet Registration System. The new program features an online renewal for businesses renewing their registration for each vehicle in their fleet.

Businesses and organizations with multiple vehicle types, including fleet cars, heavy trucks, trailers and vehicles registered at 54,000 lbs and under, can use DMV’s new online renewal program to manage their fleet’s license plates. They can view their entire fleet on a customizable dashboard, select vehicles scheduled for renewal, renew and pay online.

“Our new eMV Fleet Registration System is the newest service developed to partner with businesses and enhance operations. What normally could take hours of company staff time can be done in minutes. The new system streamlines the process for managing all the tasks related to renewing company license plates,” DMV Administrator Kristina Boardman said. “This online renewal option is ideal for businesses with multiple vehicles.”

DMV’s eMV Fleet Registration System (wisconsindmv.gov/e-MVFleet) is a free program that lets companies easily manage these tasks:

• Process registration renewals
• Order replacement plates when renewing a vehicle
• Receive renewal notification by email
• Receive and print the vehicle’s Certificate of Registration instantly via a PDF
• Maintain their own stock of stickers
• Update their vehicle kept in information
• Renew a vehicle for multiple quarters or months

The only fees collected as part of the eMV Fleet Registration System are the registration (and/or replacement plate) fees associated with the renewal of license plates. Payments are made online. The online ACH (Automated Clearing House) account withdraws required fees when authorized at the end of the business day with no additional service fee. Renewing through other methods, such as individually online or by mail, remain an option.