Evers to purchase ventilators and masks after clash with lawmakers over whether he needed legislative approval

MADISON — Tony Evers' administration is buying 10,000 ventilators and 1 million protective masks after clashing with Republican lawmakers over whether the governor had the power to make the purchases.

The dispute comes as the Democratic governor has been waiting for more than a week to hear from Republican legislative leaders about whether they will take up a sweeping bill he gave them on March 21 that called for spending more than $700 million to help care for thousands of sick and jobless people in Wisconsin as coronavirus spreads here.

The Evers administration on Friday warned top Republicans that delaying the legislation further could have "catastrophic consequences" for Wisconsin as coronavirus spreads — including not having enough money to pay for the life-saving machines and gear.

Live Updates: The latest on coronavirus in Wisconsin

Daily Digest: What you need to know about coronavirus in Wisconsin

But the GOP lawmakers on Saturday said they wouldn't take up the bill, which also would impose measures Republicans oppose like suspending the photo ID requirement for voters.

And the lawmakers and the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau said the administration could make the big purchase on its own under federal legislation approved Friday that will funnel more than $2 billion to Wisconsin.

On Saturday, a top aide to Evers said the governor would do that. But less than 24 hours earlier, the Evers administration insisted the Legislature needed to act quickly.

"We cannot possibly overstate the severity of this situation, the importance of flexibility to respond appropriately and expeditiously to COVID-19, and that any delay in action due to an inability to be nimble could have catastrophic consequences for the people of our state," Deputy Department of Administration Secretary Chris Patton wrote in an email to lawmakers late Friday.

Lawmakers said Evers could make the purchases on his own and sent him a letter Saturday urging him to do that.

"Again, we implore you. Please do not wait any longer to buy ventilators and masks. Do it now," Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester wrote. 

During a week of behind-the-scenes talks, it was uncertain what the federal legislation to help states fight coronavirus would include. Soon after it was signed Friday, nonpartisan researchers in Wisconsin determined Evers could act on his own to buy equipment.

Vos said in an interview he wouldn't be pushing the governor to make big spending decisions without lawmakers' input if it wasn't legal.

"Here’s what’s really ironic — I believe that every dollar that's spent should have legislative oversight … no one branch should unilaterally be able to spend the money," Vos said. "If I didn’t think that was the law (to make the purchases without legislative approval), I certainly would not be saying (Evers) has the ability to spend it."

Maggie Gau, Evers' chief of staff, responded Saturday evening saying the administration has been making some smaller purchases and would ultimately move forward with the large procurement of ventilators and masks.

Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said the administration had determined legislative approval would be needed because of the size of the purchase, and had been hoping to get some response — or alternate proposals — from the GOP.

But ultimately, the administration decided to act on its own after the fiscal bureau reached a different conclusion.

“If they’re not going to do it, we’re not going to not get these things,” Baldauff said of Republicans declining to take up the legislation. “We’re not going to have our hospitals not have what they need to respond.”

Evers also is asking lawmakers to pass a resolution to indefinitely extend the public health emergency he declared on March 12. Under the law, the emergency cannot last more than 60 days without approval by lawmakers. Fitzgerald said lawmakers would consider the matter closer to the time it is to expire.

The governor's legislation, and communication between the Evers administration and Republican leaders, were released to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel under the state's public records law on Saturday morning.

Within hours, both sides began blaming each other for how the state was handling its response to the coronavirus crisis. 

The dispute comes at a time when the number of people in Wisconsin contracting the virus that can cause serious respiratory illness has topped 1,000 and caused 18 to die as of Sunday morning.

Health care workers say they don't have enough equipment to stay healthy and to care for the expected surge of patients needing life-saving machines.

Scores of policy changes

Under the $2 trillion plan signed by Trump, Wisconsin is getting more than $2 billion from the federal government it can use to fight the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 25,000 and sickened at least 575,000 worldwide. 

It could take up to 30 days to receive the $2.3 billion in funding for Wisconsin, Baldauff said. About $1.9 billion of that will go to the state, with the rest going to its largest jurisdictions — Milwaukee, Milwaukee County and Dane County.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has determined the state can buy equipment now and doesn't need to wait for the federal cash to show up in its coffers. It can use federal money it already has for its routine operations and pay back those accounts when the new money arrives, according to the fiscal bureau. 

Legislative approval is not needed because a long-standing statute gives governors wide latitude on how to spend federal money, according to the fiscal bureau.

The massive piece of state legislation that Evers wants would provide $500 million to state agencies to buy ventilators, masks and other equipment, and to hire more staff to process an unprecedented number of unemployment claims and trace the contacts made by infected patients, the administration said.

Evers' plan would provide additional cash for people who lose their jobs, raise pay for workers at child care centers, and suspend the state's system to rate schools amid mass closures, among other measures. 

"We do not have the luxury of weeks or months to respond to this crisis," Patton told lawmakers. "We must learn from other states and countries and work to prepare as quickly as we can to address this in Wisconsin, and we have days to do it."

He gave it to lawmakers on March 21 and a week later they said they would not go for it because of numerous provisions in the broad measure. Evers' bill would bar insurers from canceling the policies of people who don't pay their premiums and suspending the photo ID requirement for voting. 

Evers' proposal would spend at least $700 million using state and federal dollars, but many measures have an unknown price tag, the administration said. 

"We don't know how many people are going to get sick. We don't know how many hospitals we're going to need," Baldauff said. "We know we’re asking for broad authority, but that is because there's no possible way to know every single thing that we are going to need."

Evers' plan includes broadening a number of public benefits programs using $100 million in federal aid and $25 million in state funds. Like other ideas of his, those will be sidelined without support from lawmakers.

While Republicans and Democrats sparred Saturday over Evers' ability to buy equipment, GOP lawmakers haven't discussed with Evers ways to revise the bill or whether they support any of its measures, according to Baldauff. 

Evers wants to expand Wisconsin Shares, a program that pays for child care costs. Additional help is needed to provide child care for health care workers and first responders, especially now that schools have been closed, the administration argues.

In addition, Evers wants to provide hazard pay to child care providers that stay open during the health emergency to ensure care centers don't lose workers. 

“If we need to incentivize that pay we will because we can't have a situation where our nurses and paramedics don’t have a place to send their kids," Baldauff said. 

In a related move, Evers wants to help pay for the child care costs for health care workers and others whose services are considered essential during the emergency.

Evers also wants to enhance a lending program for those seeking work. Under it, individuals could get loans of up to $1,600 each if they were facing a financial crisis related to the pandemic.

Evers is seeking to expand the welfare-to-work program known as Wisconsin Works or W-2 because many people won’t be working because the pandemic has shuttered businesses. It would provide $653 to individuals who are facing immediate financial crises.

The state would provide up to $1,200 for anyone who loses work because of the outbreak by broadening an existing program that helps those facing homelessness.

Evers’ administration said temporarily eliminating the voter ID law was important because people may have difficulty renewing their driver’s licenses or acquiring other identity records during the emergency.

Evers also wants to give people more time to use online voter registration to limit the number of people registering at the polls or at clerks’ offices, where they could be exposed to people with coronavirus. And he has proposed suspending the requirement that witnesses sign a certificate for those who vote absentee.

The changes are necessary to ease voting when many will have a difficult time getting out of their homes, according to the administration.

'I hope they are up to it'

Fitzgerald said Saturday in an interview the GOP lawmakers were working on their own "roadmap" and would negotiate with Evers and lawmakers on its measures.

"I think they are doing the best they can, but no one has convinced me that everything has been addressed at this point. I hope they are up to it," Fitzgerald said. 

“There is a failure going on behind the scenes here and there’s political cover being developed so they are not exposed that there’s a failure to procure the equipment,” he said.

Fitzgerald and Vos have repeatedly clashed with Evers but days ago offered a much more deferential tone because of the health crisis. But Fitzgerald's comments Saturday showed the two remain at odds as much as ever.

But Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, a Democrat from Oshkosh, said officials need to set partisanship aside and show they are "capable of governing." He said the Legislature should act with urgency and shouldn't try to micromanage the administration.

"No one has any interest or appetite for politics in this atmosphere and they shouldn’t — and we should all recognize that," Hintz said.

You can find out who your legislators are and how to contact them here.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.