MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Another special session, another quick gavel in and out.
According to Scott Bauer of the Associated Press on Twitter, Republican lawmakers in Madison took about 40 seconds to gavel in and out of a special session called by Governor Evers last week. The special session was called to expand Medicaid with $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds.
RELATED: Evers Announces BadgerCare Expansion, Economic Development Plans in Wausau
Shortly after the session was gaveled out by Republican lawmakers in a mostly empty chamber, Governor Evers issued a response. In the response, he says, “It’s breathtaking that after a year of working to prevent us from responding to COVID-19, Republicans would rather keep playing politics with our economic recovery than invest $1 billion into our state’s economy and support communities in their own districts.
“I think we should be doing everything we can to make sure our economy bounces back from this pandemic, and this special session was about finding common ground and getting bipartisan support for our efforts. Clearly, it’s disappointing Republicans don’t seem to take that responsibility seriously, and they’ll have to explain to Wisconsinites why they made the decision they did today,”.
Along with additional funding for BadgerCare, the special session items included federal relief money for several economic developments, healthcare, and infrastructure investments. Some of the local investments included in that package were money to help buy the Verso Paper Mill in Wisconsin Rapids, and add additional mental health beds to North Central Health Care in Wausau.
