Day One and What It Could Mean for Wisconsin--Biden Harris Day one..............
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Day One and What It Could Mean for Wisconsin
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UpNorthNews Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 11:41 AM
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Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Photo of the Day – President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill walk out for the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington DC, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
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Letter From the Editor will return tomorrow.
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What the First Actions From President Biden Could Mean for Wisconsin
President Joe Biden has taken office and will begin work to persuade Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion relief package. He also plans to quickly issue numerous executive actions aimed at everything from reversing Trump’s most regressive policies to reforming the criminal justice system.
Wisconsin’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is off to a rocky start. Biden’s relief package proposes spending $20 billion on a national vaccination program. The president has vowed to get 100 million Americans vaccinated within his first 100 days in office.
Biden plans to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord as soon as Wednesday. Trump pulled the US out of the international agreement, which was intended to be a landmark effort to fight global climate change. The trajectory Trump put the country on endangers both Wisconsin’s tourism industry and public health.
Included in Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan is a measure to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, more than twice the current rate of $7.25, which has been in place since 2009. Wisconsin’s minimum wage has not increased beyond the federal rate.
Wisconsin is home to some of the worst racial disparities in the nation, whether it be in incarceration rates, infant mortality rates, or the educational achievement gap. A Saturday memo from Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff, said Biden will “take significant early actions” to fight racial injustices and reform the criminal justice system between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1. The memo did not get into specifics.
—Reported by Jonathon Sadowski
Supply Still Tight, but Seniors 65+ Will Be Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine Next Week
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) announced Tuesday that people 65 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 25, but that doesn’t mean all 700,000 people in that age group should expect to be vaccinated on Jan. 25.
DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk recommended waiting a couple of weeks before trying to get the shots because the state is still only receiving about 70,000 vaccine doses per week from the federal government—two to three times lower than DHS would like it to be.
“I implore people for their patience,” Willems Van Dijk said in a call with reporters.
For those 65 and older who don’t want to wait, they should contact their typical flu shot provider, Willems Van Dijk said. But, she said, due to high demand and low supply, those people should expect a wait.
—Reported by Jonathon Sadowski
Average Number of New Daily Coronavirus Infections Drops to September Levels
The state Department of Health Services (DHS) on Tuesday reported 1,525 new coronavirus infections. The rolling seven-day average of daily new coronavirus cases (1,825) has declined for eight consecutive days and is now below an average of 2,000 new daily cases for the first time in a non-holiday period since Sept. 23.
DHS reported 42 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, raising the state's pandemic death toll to 5,512.
The dashboard maintained by the Wisconsin Hospital Association shows the number of COVID-19 in-patients declined slightly on Tuesday.
Former Capitol Police Chief: DC’s Riot and Madison’s Act 10 Protests Have No Comparison
So far all has been quiet at the Wisconsin State Capitol in the days leading up to the presidential inauguration in Washington, DC, but Dane County officials say they remain “prepared for anything that might occur.”
County Executive Joe Parisi told WKOW-TV's Capital City Sunday that after the insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, law enforcement officials warned of potential future attacks at state capitols across the country. Last week, there was an increased Capitol Police presence at the statehouse and first-level windows were boarded up.
Dane County Emergency Management Director Charlie Tubbs said the Jan. 6 insurgency “took me back to 9/11 when our country was attacked.” Tubbs and Parisi also have firsthand experience with another incident that was compared by many Wisconsin Republicans to the Jan. 6 attack: the protests over Act 10 in 2011.
Parisi was a member of the Assembly at the time and Tubbs was then the chief of Capitol Police. Tubbs said the two events did not compare. “During Act 10 we had citizens come to the Capitol and they were very sensitive to the issue of what was taking place, but they were very cooperative,” Tubbs said. “They worked with our department. I met with them daily. We set out rules of engagement, of what would be allowed and what would not be allowed.”
—Reported by Christina Lieffring
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