Wisconsin is finally getting its CARES money, and let's see where it goes

Now that the CARES Act and other stimulus measures from Congress is having some of its money flow out of DC, the question becomes, "What is this money going toward?" Today, State Sen Rob Cowles and US Rep. Mike Gallagher both called on Governor Evers to send CARES money to the Titletown region to help the county that has the highest rate of COVID-19 infections in the state.

Under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Wisconsin received approximately $2.258 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to assist state and local governments in their response and recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The anticipated distribution of funds took place in late in April, with the State receiving approximately $1.998 billion, and the remaining approximately $260 million distributed between three local governments, including Dane and Milwaukee Counties and the City of Milwaukee. Brown County received no direct aid from the Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Senator Cowles has been in frequent contact with Brown County officials to determine how the state can bolster their efforts in response to COVID-19. After sending an initial letter on April 24th to the Governor requesting aid (view the first letter), Senator Cowles spoke with Chief of Staff Maggie Gau within days. At their request, he sent a follow-up letter (view the second letter) Friday, May 8th, with a more detailed request primarily focusing around the state filling the 25% local match requirements for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance. Over the weekend, Governor Evers responded to this letter, but failed to commit monetary assistance to Brown County with funding provided through the CARES Act.

On March 27th , the CARES Act passed the House with Congressman Gallagher’s support. This critical legislation included funding for state and local Coronavirus response efforts. Congressman Gallagher has participated in a number of teletown halls with local health and business leaders, including WI DHS Secretary and Deputy Secretary, and engages daily with local officials and industry leaders impacted by the pandemic. He also is hosting a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) donation drive with Brown County Public Health.

It’s funny to see Gallagher promote his vote for the CARES Act, because in the 1st coronavirus assistance bill, which came before CARES, he voted against it, like every other WisGOP in Congress. But we’ll ignore that for now, and note that these individuals are asking the Evers Administration to have some kind of state earmark to Brown County similar to the direct aid that was set aside for Dane and Milwaukee counties, who have larger metros.

Does GB get treated with CARES?

That in itself isn’t a big deal, as these types of aids are often done as some kind of formula based on population, incomes and other demographics. But it is odd to see Republicans asking for the state to cover the extra expenses required to deal with the COVID pandemic, instead of passing it off to the local governments like WisGOP is doing with in carrying out Safer at Home restrictions, (with no funding to deal with the inevitable increase in cases that’ll follow). I get why they're trying that two-step, though. They’re trying to get those dollars into their districts, especially when the Green Bay area has been hit so hard.

Along these lines, we are now starting to see other CARES funding for the state being sent out, including a program intended to bolster child care providers.

The state Department of Children and Families on Monday announced the roll out of a federally funded program to provide some $51 million in assistance to a child care industry deemed essential during the coronavirus pandemic but struggling with additional costs, low pay for front-line workers and declining enrollment.

The program comes nearly two months after the first statewide "safer at home" order went into effect and five days after it was repealed by the conservative-leaning state Supreme Court. It will provide funding to pay for care for the children of essential workers, incentive pay for early-education teachers and money to help child care programs that were forced to close because of the pandemic.

Until the spending was OK'd Friday by the Legislature's Republican-controlled budget committee, Wisconsin had been among only a handful of states to fail to provide financial assistance to the industry, according to a listing of state actions kept by The Hunt Institute, a think tank affiliated with Duke University.

And the $51 million is still less than half of the $125 million Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration proposed spending at the end of March to support the industry. That measure, part of a $700 million coronavirus relief package never taken up by the Republican-controlled legislature, would have provided substantially the same kinds of benefits as in the package approved Friday, according to DCF spokesman Tom McCarthy.

Actually, the Joint Finance Committee hadn’t “OK’d” the funding – they just refused to block it under the passive review process. Which means that we waited an extra 2 ½ weeks for WisGOP to give the go-ahead on starting this program, on top of the month of inaction that happened after WisGOP turned down Evers’ original $125 million plan.

As for what the DCF plan under CARES does, it’s supposed to stabilize child care centers and help get them higher reimbursement amounts so they have a better chance of staying open.

1. Create a grant program for child care providers serving essential worker families.

Under this program, “essential workforce” means employees, contractors and other staff working in vital areas including health care; child welfare; long-term care; residential care; pharmacies; child care; governmental operations; critical infrastructure, such as sanitation, transportation, utilities, telecommunications, grocery, and food services; supply chain operations and other sectors as determined by DCF…..

2. Create a grant program to provide hazard pay to child care employees.

This program would assist providers by providing monthly grants to certified child care providers, licensed child care centers, and child care providers contracted by or established by a school board in order to provide hazard pay to employees related to the health emergency. All providers would be eligible regardless of whether they are providing care to families eligible for Wisconsin Shares…

3. Create a grant program to support child care providers that have closed due to COVID-19.

DCF would provide grants to certified child care providers, licensed child care providers, and child care providers contracted by or established by a school board that ceased operating because of the pandemic during the public health emergency. These grants would only cover lost revenue for services that would have been provided to families not eligible for Wisconsin Shares, and only if these families were not charged during the public health emergency. Providers that serve a mix of private pay and Wisconsin Shares children would be eligible for the closed provider grants, with the grant amount determined based on a proportion private pay enrollment.

Eligible applicants include licensed or certified child care providers who are/were temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keep an eye on these COVID aids, to see if they get held up, and to see just what we're doing. The national media won't look much into how this works out, or if these aids are being sabotaged by gerrymandered Legislatures. But the state level is where we will find out a lot about whether the CARES Act gets people stabilized, and is (or is not) effective.