CAPiTOL EYE Mayor Rosenberg sworn in, new council president chosen
Wausau officially has a new mayor; and a new council president. Newly elected Mayor Katie Rosenberg was sworn in Tuesday morning outside City Hall, with press and limited friends and family present. Though this ceremony would normally take place with council members being sworn in during the city’s organizational meeting, it was held earlier out of concerns for the coronavirus pandemic. The city council Tuesday elected Becky McElhaney as the new council president, replacing Lisa Rasmussen in the role. McElhaney in her acceptance speech said that no matter the backgrounds of the various council members, she urged everyone to work together for the betterment of the city. There have been concerns about Rosenberg’s father interfering in the city council. City Pages obtained an email that Jim Rosenberg, former Wausau city council member and past president, had sent to four new members urging them to vote for McElhaney instead of re-electing Lisa Rasmussen as council president. Rasmussen was not nominated for that role on Tuesday. Jim Rosenberg also supplied the email to City Pages, upon learning about the newspaper’s inquiry. Katie Rosenberg told City Pages on Monday that she had no knowledge of the email, that she looked forward to working with whoever was elected Tuesday, and that she had no intention of meddling in the council president election. At least two of the council members emailed told City Pages erg is sworn in ▲ Katie Rosenb that Mr. Rosenberg’s email had e City Hall, in id Tuesday outs ner. no impact on their decision. l distancing man socia
GOOD WEEK:
Stevens Point Mayor announces small business grant program
The city of Stevens Point could offer grants to its small businesses, the city’s mayor announced. The grants, approved by the city council Monday, will go to small locally owned, nonfranchise businesses in the city’s downtown districts. The grants would be up to $2,000 to help pay mortgage, utility or rent, Wiza says. The process will start this week. “These are the small businesses we need to support,” Wiza said in his Mayor’s Minute video. “In good times, these are the people that support your kids little league team or volleyball team or whatever fundraiser you happened to be doing. It’s really important that we help them now, when we can.” Mosinee already approved $25,000 in grant money to go to local small businesses, in grants of up to $1,500. Jacobson in a press release says 17 grants have been issued, and four more on under review.
BAD WEEK: State unemployment offices overwhelmed
Haven’t received your unemployment check yet? Join the crowd. State employment offices have been overwhelmed with record levels of unemployment claims, eclipsing peaks in the Great Recession. The nation has had back to back weeks of 6 million unemployment claims, and state offices hit records of 116,000 claims within one week, Wisconsin Secretary Caleb Frostman says. The highest total in one day hit 25,000 claims, Frostman said in a webinar conference hosted by the state’s chamber, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. Frostman says the state Department of Workforce Development (which runs unemployment division) has pulled roughly 35 state employees to help take calls at the unemployment office and another 45 are being trained for part time assistance, including with paperwork and taking calls. The call volume at the state office has been unprecedented. The week of March 29, Frostman says, the DWD received 2.8 million phone calls, nearly double its previous peak. The overload has led to servers crash as at times as many as 100,000 calls per hour come in to DWD offices. The timelines for claims is hard to say with certainty, says Employment and Training Counselor and Interim District 6 Director Tyler Drake. Determinations can be made within a couple of days, but any number of things might delay that response, especially if follow up is needed with that party. Now 90-some workers are being pulled in from other agencies to help process claims, Drake says. Claims are processed as they come in; there is no prioritization between partial and full unemployment claims.
by WisPolitics.com staff
College cuts
UW System to trim costs with admin furloughs The UW System will furlough some 588 administrative employees to partially cover unprecedented financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. In an email to UW System Administration, UW President Ray Cross called the mounting costs and revenue losses for the system “almost hard to believe,” and that neither he nor anybody else knows when a turnaround is coming. He said the system is “doing all we can to preserve our future as a university. “This is a painful but necessary reality. And it is difficult news to share,” the email read. “I am so proud of your dedication to our mission in the face of unprecedented challenges. It is my top priority to protect you, your job, and your benefits as best we can.” Beginning in May, Cross announced a one-day furlough per month for all UW System administration employees, including UW-Shared Services and UW Extended Campus, through June 2021. UW-Shared Services is an efficiency program meant to save costs and consolidate administration whenever possible. And UW Extended Campus is an online education branch of the UW System partnering with all campuses. Additionally, Cross said campus chancellors have authority to make their own furlough decisions with staff and faculty on how best to reduce costs.
Why no howls about the May 12 special election?
Beloit casino decision now rests with Evers
Facing a torrent of criticism about moving ahead with a statewide election amid a national health emergency, Gov. Tony Evers made a last-minute bid to push the spring contests back to June only to be overturned by the state Supreme Court. Critics chirp that his administration doesn’t seem to be as concerned about the special election for the heavily GOP 7th CD on May 12. That date comes smack dab in the middle of his administration’s stay-at-home order, which has been extended to May 26. But now that the April election is out of the way, his chief legal counsel suggests the May 12 contest may go ahead as planned. Ryan Nilsestuen said the May 12 election is much different from the April 7 statewide spring election, because the area is more rural, meaning there won’t be similar issues with large groups of people congregating in one area. A much lower turnout is also expected as GOP state Sen. Tom Tiffany faces Dem Tricia Zunker. And there are also fewer COVID-19 cases in the district compared to urban areas. Republicans again see politics at play, saying if Evers had truly been that concerned about voters with his efforts to move the April 7 election, he’d be taking similar steps in the 7th.
Wisconsin now has a second chance at a new casino, with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs approving a Ho-Chunk Nation Beloit plan and sending it to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk. The move comes after former Gov. Scott Walker in 2015 shot down a plan by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to build and manage a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Kenosha County. Walker at the time cited “more than 100 million reasons” why he rejected the $800 million plan after nearly two years of negotiations, including a compact with the Forest County Potawatomi that the state would reimburse Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Hotel & Casino for any lost revenue. The current plan has circulated in the BIA since late 2018, and Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Aimee Thurner said the organization is “thrilled” with the economic prospects of a new casino and urged the guv to sign off on the plans soon.
Tavern League asks for soft reopening The Wisconsin Tavern League president is calling on Gov. Tony Evers to allow a “soft reopening” of the state’s bars and restaurants May 1 with safety precautions such as requiring staff to wear masks and gloves and practicing social distancing. President Chris Marsicano argued that without a vaccine — which could be over a year away — the same challenges facing Wisconsinites from COVID-19 will exist after Evers’ new stay-at-home order ends May 26. Marsicano argued bars and restaurants can take similar steps to protect customers and employees modeled after what businesses now operating are doing.
Baldwin fundraising at solid clip U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin continues to be a more active fundraiser than her GOP colleague Ron Johnson, who hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll seek reelection in 2022. Baldwin, D-Madison, raised $618,411 during the first three months of the year, according to her latest report. She also spent $390,983 and had $694,110 in the bank. Johnson, R-Oshkosh, reported $53,539 in receipts, $26,370 in spending and $358,221 cash on hand to end March. Baldwin’s fundraising during the period, which included the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, ticked up compared to the final quarter, when she raised $474,076. Johnson, meanwhile, saw a drop in his fundraising after pulling in $154,037 during the final three months of last year. April 23–30, 2020
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