CAPiTOL EYE

Vaccine incentives

Evers hints at new COVID-19 incentives to get people vaccinated in year-end interview

Gov. Tony Evers told WisPolitics.com he would

consider off ering new incentives to get Wisconsinites vaccinated against COVID-19.

But he said ultimately it will be more eff ective to appeal to Wisconsinites’ desire to help their neighbors as the state pushes to get more residents vaccinated.

Evers likened it to what he saw with neighbors helping each other this fall after a tornado ripped through Boscobel and an SUV plowed through the Waukesha Christmas parade, killing six and injuring dozens of others.

“Th is is the same thing,” Evers said in a year-end interview. “We have people dying because they’re not getting a shot. Whatever we can do to call upon that same goodwill that we see when we have signifi cantly diffi cult situations here in the state of Wisconsin, we’re going to call on their good nature.”

Like many places in the country, Wisconsin has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases since the summer. As of Th ursday, the seven-day average for new cases was 3,527, down slightly from the peak of 3,848 in early December.

Meanwhile, 58 percent of Wisconsin residents — almost 3.4 million people — had completed the COVID-19 vaccine series as of Friday, according to the Department of Health Services. Th at trails the 61.7 percent of the U.S. population that had been vaccinated, according to the latest numbers from the CDC.

Evers said the $100 incentive his administration off ered to those who got the vaccine earlier this year produced “OK” results. DHS said 142,000 Wisconsinites received their fi rst dose between Aug. 20 and Sept. 19, the window in which the incentive was available.

“We can’t give up. We can’t just say the virus has beat us because that’s just not accurate,” Evers said.

Evers

Foxconn to receive $28.8 million in state tax credits

Foxconn will receive $28.8 million in state tax credits for 2020, just shy of the maximum award the Taiwanese manufacturer could receive under the revised deal Gov. Tony Evers signed this spring.

WEDC CEO Missy Hughes said Wednesday the state certifi ed 579 jobs the company had created at its Racine County facility, which was within the target range. But it fell short of the target capital investment of $268.6 million by nearly $2.5 million.

Had the company hit that target, it would’ve qualifi ed for $29.1 million in credits.

Th is is the fi rst time the company has qualifi ed for state tax credits since signing the original incentive agreement with former Gov. Scott Walker in 2017 after it consistently fell short of job hiring targets.

Assembly Dems choose Neubauer, Hayward to lead caucus

Incoming Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, told WisPolitics.com the Dem caucus has some healing to do after Rep. Jimmy Anderson charged that some of his colleagues questioned his ability to be in leadership due to his disability.

Anderson, D-Fitchburg, was one of fi ve members who originally planned to run for assistant minority leader in yesterday’s elections. But he withdrew from the race after an emotional speech in which he said several colleagues told him they were worried about how the position would impact his health. Anderson, who is paralyzed and confi ned to a wheelchair, said the comments broke his heart and those with disabilities know such questions are code for someone doubting they have the ability to do the job.

Rep. Kalan Haywood, D-Milwaukee, won the assistant minority leader’s post.

“We need to take his comments to heart, and we need to work to be better as a caucus,” Neubauer said in an interview after Assembly Dems met.

Bernier: Many GOP legislators want to end election probe

A Republican state senator says former Justice Michael Gableman’s investigation into the 2020 election should end and declares many Republicans agree with her.

“I’ve got numerous communications from my Republican colleagues both in the Assembly and the Senate, thanking me for my bravery and stepping up to say, you know, we need to draw this to a close, we need to focus on important legislation that we want to move forward, we need to focus on the 2022 election,” state Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, said in an interview aired Sunday on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics. com.

“I haven’t angered all Republicans. Th ere’s many Republicans that agree we need to move on,” the former clerk said.

Bernier said her offi ce received more than 700 calls in a single day after she decided to speak out. She described many of the messages as “vitriol.”

She also said she had talked to Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman for the investigation, and said Vos “indicated a little displeasure.” But she declined to elaborate.

Retiring health offi cer details COVID threats

A county public health offi cer who is retiring after 40 years of service said she and her staff received threats over their work in trying to control the pandemic.

Gail Scott, who is retiring as Jeff erson County’s public health director/offi cer, told WISN-TV’s “UpFront” program that she was surprised by the “demoralizing and threatening reactions” from the public. Th e program is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.

“I was threatened with getting fi red, I was threatened with gun violence, and we’ve been threatened that we were going to be taken to court for crimes against humanity,” she said.

“We really truly wanted to help the public, and we really truly wanted to stop this virus,” Scott said. “And I was kind of surprised at some of the demoralizing and threatening reactions that we got.

“What really hurt is when people said we were lying. Because we were not lying. We were not trying to control anybody. Public health has no desire to do that. We were just trying to do our jobs,” Scott said.

Scott said she and her staff did see some positive public reaction, such as when they held a mass vaccination clinic and 500 volunteers came to help. She also said other people thanked them and showed appreciation for their work on the pandemic.

Scott said she is retiring because she is turning 65, and she always planned to retire at that age. She said that although the pandemic was “the hardest I have ever worked in my life” she is leaving “with a smile on my face.”

Also on the program, Wisconsin Revenue Secretary Peter Barca said a UW-Madison economist’s plan to eliminate the personal income tax and raise the state sales tax to off set lost revenue could result in a dramatically higher sales tax that would make Wisconsin’s sales tax the highest in the country.

Committee denies Milwaukee County DA pay raise

A legislative committee voted unanimously to deny the Milwaukee County DA a future raise over how John Chisholm’s offi ce handled the case of a man who was released on $1,000 bail and later arrested after his SUV plowed through the Waukesha Christmas parade.

Joint Committee on Employment Relations Co-chair Chris Kapenga, R-Delafi eld, said he couldn’t support a raise for Chisholm over his offi ce’s handling of Darrell Brooks’ case.

“We do not feel that someone who is failing at his job and has made decisions that have led to the death of more than a handful of people in my district, there’s no way we’re going to approve something like that,” Kapenga said.

Brooks was released 11 days before six people were killed and dozens more injured in the parade. Chisholm has acknowledged the $1,000 bail for charges that included domestic violence and disorderly conduct should’ve been substantially more but has defended his offi ce’s actions and rebuff ed calls for him to step down.

Th e committee’s action yesterday comes as Republican lawmakers have called on Gov. Tony Evers to remove Chisholm from his post.