The Wisconsin assembly approved a COVID 19 relief bill

The Wisconsin assembly approved a COVID 19 relief bill in the first virtual session on Tuesday. The bill passed 97-2 and the bill is designed to tackle relief across the economy, healthcare, and schools with the provision that would give the joint finance committee broad power to make cuts in spending removed in the final draft. The bill includes eliminating the one week waiting period to apply for unemployment, suspends many requirements for work share programs, removes the requirements of certain time limits and in person meetings for grievance process. For healthcare the bill prohibits a person from being billed higher for out of market COVID related care, expands workers compensation for first responders, allows pharmacists to extend prescriptions by up to 30 days once without contacting the prescriber, coverage of vaccinations under Seniorcare, prohibits coverage discrimination based on COVID 19 diagnosis and the Coverage of testing for COVID 19 without co-payment or coinsurance. In education the bill allows the DPI to waive state education statutes related to the parental choice program, waives requirements for hours of instruction for private schools and extends the open enrollment deadline to May 29. In Agriculture, the bill removes the requirement for agricultural societies to hold a fair in 2020 in order to receive local aid from the department of agriculture and prohibits retailers from accepting certain returns of food products, personal care, cleaning and paper products during the health crisis. The bill also covers campaign finance, corrections, courts, health and human services and housing and in total is 87 pages, the Senate will vote on the bill on Wednesday afternoon.