CAPiTOL EYE

Absentee statewide

The presidential election could look like no other Wisconsin has held following a surprise Wisconsin Election Commission vote

The Elections Commission is cued up to send some 2.7 million registered voters an application to receive an absentee ballot, assuming the commissioners can work out the language of the mailer. If the effort is successful, the possible flood of absentee ballots will contribute to a presidential election unlike any other Wisconsin operatives can recall.

Wisconsin has already seen a dramatic uptick in the use of mail-in absentee ballots in the statewide April election and the May 7 special for the 7th CD due to concerns over COVID-19 and congregating at the polls. With that as a backdrop, the commission had earlier indicated support for the concept of mailing absentee ballot requests to voters.

The unanimous vote surprises many given President Trump’s knocks against absentee ballots and the frequent 3-3 deadlocks from the commissioners. The motion the commission approves will send the applications to all registered voters in the state except for those who have already requested one and those who may have moved and not confirmed their address.

The mailing is set to go out Sept. 1 at a cost of roughly $2.3 million. Campaign operatives are used to seeing third parties send absentee ballot applications to voters, often with mistakes that make headlines for things like directing voters to the wrong local clerk.

Still, those mailings haven’t persuaded voters en masse to change their typical habits of casting ballots at the polls. COVID-19, however, could push them in that direction. In materials prepared ahead of the vote, commission staff notes it expects only about 1% of the nearly 2.7 million who receive the applications to mail them back.

Tribal casinos slowly start to reopen Despite the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading through the state, tribal nations are starting to reopen casinos that provide millions of dollars to the state budget.

Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order closed casino floors for safety purposes, and many still haven’t reopened even after the state Supreme Court lifted the ban earlier this month. But media and other reports indicate at least six of the state’s 26 casinos have reopened after being closed since March 16 and losing out on gambling revenue.

Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison began a phased opening on May 27, only permitting rewards card-carrying Wisconsin residents who wear facemasks and receive temperature checks at the entrance.

All five other Ho-Chunk casinos –Wittenberg, Tomah, Nekoosa, Black River Falls and Wisconsin Dells – remain closed as of May 29.

▲ Natural resources board leaves elk tags the same as last year A split Natural Resources Board has voted to keep this year’s number of elk season tags the same as last year, against elk advisory committee recommendations.

The board reviewed a plan that would’ve reduced the number of 2020 elk tags from 10 bulls to six. But a 5-2 vote elected to keep tag limits as-is.

Gov. Tony Evers appointees Bill Smith and Marcy West both voted against the move, while all former GOP Gov. Scott Walker appointees voted in favor.

This year marks the third-ever elk hunting season for the state since herds were reintroduced in 1995.

State Fair canceled For the first time in 75 years, this annual celebration of Wisconsin farms, food and culture in West Allis has been canceled, marking the latest large event in the state to be derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the sixth time it’s been canceled in 169 years, and just the second time for reasons other than a war. It was previously called off three times during the Civil War, once in 1945 during World War II and in 1893 due to the Columbian Exposition, the first world’s fair held in Chicago.

The 11-day gathering, which was planned for mid-August, is the state’s largest event and typically brings in more than 1 million visitors from around Wisconsin and across the country. Event organizers say postponing until later in the year wasn’t a viable option, due to scheduling considerations for the hundreds of small businesses and other vendors involved, as well as the thousands of workers required to put on the fair.

Evers administrations announces $70 million saved State agencies plan to save millions by lapsing money that otherwise would’ve gone to cover the costs of student assessments and services for drunken drivers, among other things, according to a DOA summary.

DOA on May 27 released an overview of the nearly $70 million state agencies will be required to lapse to the general fund to help boost the state’s bottom line amid falling revenues. But that summary didn’t include details of where agencies cut the money.

A summary the agency released to WisPolitics.com on May 28 added more details on the cuts. For many agencies, the reductions were simply listed as a cut to general program operations.

▲ Cross’ UW plan runs into criticism Some members of the UW System’s shared governance communities throughout the state expressed concern over President Ray Cross’ blueprint to specialize campuses and consolidate certain administrative functions.

In a series of virtual campus listening sessions in late May, Cross and regents met with student, faculty and staff representatives for all four-year campuses to answer questions on the post-COVID-19 proposal.

One section of the blueprint suggests the UW System now needs to transition from a “convener/collaborator/coordinator” with campuses to a “director and manager” in order to make the necessary financial changes in time.

“In effect, this listening session has the purpose of receiving shared governance feedback on the proposal to ignore shared governance feedback,” said Eric Sandgren, associate professor of experimental pathology at UW-Madison. “It’s obvious the real agenda is to bypass shared governance.”

Cross responded by saying his plan was only a concept and would “obviously need to be fleshed out” with help from system participants all across the state.

Local government aid must be for covid expenses Gov. Tony Evers says local governments will have to use $200 million in federal grants on incurred expenses as it relates to COVID-19.

Under the plan announced in late May, Wisconsin’s tribal nations will receive $10 million, while every Wisconsin county, city, village and town will split the remaining $190 million. It’s part of Evers’ plans for use of $1.9 billion in federal CARES money.

He used elections as an example — “putting in plastic pieces and making sure the elections are safe.”

Other unbudgeted expenditures may also include PPE purchases, isolation facilities, testing and contact tracing or sick leave for public health employees.

Protections for renters expired this week With the state unemployment rate above 14% and an emergency order banning foreclosures and evictions recently expired, renters in Wisconsin are looking increasingly vulnerable. The order from Gov. Tony Evers and Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm was issued March 27 and expired earlier this week, but some landlords were quick to take action even before the ban was lifted.

Media reports indicate dozens of eviction notices were filed in state courts Tuesday before the moratorium officially ended, though it’s unclear if these filings will be accepted. But there’s nothing stopping landlords from evicting tenants going forward, and many out-of-work Wisconsinites could be in a difficult position.

Chris Mokler, director of legislative affairs for the Wisconsin Apartment Association, is quoted in a release saying landlords are getting around 90 percent of their rents paid, which is lower than average. The state has rolled out a $25 million rental assistance program for those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19, which relies on federal relief funding. But the national nonprofit Legal Services Corporation is highlighting a “sharp increase” in eviction filings this week in Wisconsin. A release from the group shows 105 evictions were filed statewide on May 27 alone, meaning the state could be on track to see more than 3,100 evictions in June.