Friday, February 26, 2021
Badger State residents gathered for a virtual roundtable to share their stories of struggle as Congress considers COVID relief legislation
LA CROSSE, Wis.— As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on the American Rescue Plan later today, last night Opportunity Wisconsin convened residents from across the state on Facebook LIVE to discuss their struggles during the pandemic and the provisions in the COVID relief legislation that would help them most. The conversation came as Opportunity Wisconsin runs a $1 million statewide TV ad campaign featuring Wisconsin residents calling on Senator Ron Johnson to support COVID relief checks.
When asked how a COVID relief check would help him, Eau Claire bar manager Andrew Gehrke responded, “It would allow me to pay for things that I’ve had to put on credit, little things like gas and groceries that add up. We’re talking about a few thousand dollars that can make a huge difference in people’s lives, and people like Ron Johnson are denying it. I don’t think we can do enough in this situation. We’re not going to look back and say ‘oh, we did too much.’” [WATCH]
A provision in the American Rescue Plan to send $1,400 checks to American families who need it most would give $7.8 billion to Wisconsin families, helping 4 million adults and 1.5 million children in the state. In 2017, Senator Johnson eagerly supported a $1.9 trillion tax giveaway to America’s billionaires. Yet in December, he led the charge to stop a bipartisan effort to provide similar relief checks to Wisconsinites, with Politico writing that Johnson was “the guy who twice shut down...stimulus checks that would have gone to hundreds of thousands of his constituents.”
“Listening to your constituents, I think is huge, and actually hearing from all different sectors of the state to understand, because obviously the sector he’s listening to isn’t the right one,” said Tricia Peterson, a Juneau daycare center owner who is featured in one of Opportunity Wisconsin’s ads urging Senator Johnson to stop blocking COVID relief. [WATCH]
Just earlier this month, Senator Johnson argued against additional COVID relief, claiming Wisconsinites have “excess savings.” Last night’s roundtable participants strongly disagreed.
“To Ron Johnson, I would say, stop thinking about your income, stop thinking about your savings account, and start thinking about what other people are going through. Listen to us, hear our stories, and understand that we are not trying to game any system - right now there is no system to game,” said Amy Midle, a Madison DJ, in response to Senator Johnson’s comments. “We just want to be able to live and not stress out and not need to worry about where our next month of rent or our next heat payment is coming from. That’s all. It’s not that hard to give the constituents what they actually need.” [WATCH]
Nearly 18 percent of Wisconsinites have reported that eviction or foreclosure were likely in the next two months and close to 1 in 3 residents have expressed difficulty in covering usual household expenses.
“If they are working 3 jobs to pay their bills and they don’t have health care, how are they going to save?” asked Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, UW-Eau Claire professor and Opportunity Wisconsin steering committee member. “Even beyond this bill, this country can’t do this anymore. Our people have been pushed to the limit and COVID exposed the faultlines, and we have to have a change and we have to take care of our citizens.” [WATCH]
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