http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/schools-reopening-2020-cnn-s5.jpgPracticing De Pere physician tells State Republicans to support real public health solutions over playing politics.

Black Wisconsinites dying from COVID-19 at seven times the rate as white neighbors while Latin community makes up 32 percent of the positive cases in Milwaukee County.

WISCONSIN - Congresswoman Gwen Moore, State Senator LaTonya Johnson and Common Council President Cavalier Johnson held a video press call where they called out the ways in which President Trump’s failed coronavirus response has exacerbated the stark inequalities that have existed in the United States for centuries. Trump has done little to address the crisis, resulting in Black Wisconsinites dying from COVID-19 at seven times the rate as White Wisconsinites while the Latinx community makes up 32 percent of the positive COVID-19 cases in Milwaukee County. Vice President Joe Biden has released a plan to advance racial equity as part of our coronavirus recovery.

Watch the full event here or read excerpts of what the speakers said below.

Congresswoman Gwen Moore: “When you think about living in the nation that spends twice as much money on health care as other wealthy countries. When you think about the treasure that we spend and we have the sickest people on Earth and to have this be the global epicenter of COVID-19 is disgraceful, tragic, and unnecessary. Joe Biden warned us in January that COVID-19 was coming this way. In the meantime we had President Trump denying it… and we squandered February, March, April, June, July… We will never be able to flatten the curve unless we have leadership at the top…In Congress now, we are having my republican colleagues not want to renew the $600 a week unemployment insurance for fear that there is some moral hazard in people not wanting to go back to work, in an effort to force people to open the economy again. Instead, Republicans have spent the last 75 days on their package dithering… I just want to say that we just can’t wait to elect Joe Biden on November 3rd.”

State Senator LaTonya Johnson: “Our world has changed a lot over the past few months, but the one thing that has remained the same is that Black and brown people in Wisconsin are needlessly dying because of the disparities that are growing even worse because of Trump’s gross mismanagement of the Coronavirus pandemic. Our health care system’s glaring inequities impact families across the state of Wisconsin. Our Black infant mortality rate is the worst in the nation and Black mothers are five times as likely to die in childbirth as white mothers. These are not just statistics, these are lived experiences that families are facing everyday in their health care system, and they’ve faced these disparities for decades… So when I see Trump claiming that this is all going to go away, that this is all going to disappear, one thing is for sure...everybody knows someone who has been impacted by the coronavirus, and some of those individuals know individuals who have died; some of them are family members. We know all too well that this is not a virus that is just simply going to go away, and that the deaths that have occurred in this city have an impact. Those people matter, their lives matter, and their families matter… This is why we need Joe Biden. We need a comprehensive plan to help us deal with the coronavirus, but all of the other issues that our state is facing…This is why I am so very excited to put my support behind Joe Biden and his leadership, so we can finally get the leadership that this country needs.”

Common Council President Cavalier Johnson: “The bottom line is that the city of Milwaukee needs help and we need help from the White House. It is very difficult to do the things that we need to do when we have a President in the White House that seems to be more interested in stoking racial grievances and pretending that the virus doesn't even exist…I represent service workers and health care workers…people who are on the frontline of this pandemic... The inequities in our communities that we face, from economic to health var to environmental, have only gotten worse under this President. Because of the structural racism that exists in our country, and the president at the top who is an advocate for it, it’s incredibly difficult for Black people and brown people to get ahead. The only way to get out of this crisis is to make Donald Trump a one term president…We need somebody like Joe Biden in the White House who is going to fight for us every single day that he walks into that oval office, and I’m convinced of that and am looking forward to doing all that I can to make sure that Joe Biden is the next President of the United States.”

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http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/unemployment-great-depression-jobs-s5.jpg30 million Americans have filed jobless claims since the pandemic began, and the U.S. gross domestic product contracted by a 32.9 percent in the 2nd quarter.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/coronavirus-mask3-jennifer-aniston-skynews-s5.jpgOrder puts public health first. Effective Saturday, August 1, persons ages five and older are required to wear a face covering when they are indoors or in an enclosed space outside their household.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/schools-reopening-2020-cnn2-s5.jpgWith the COVID-19 pandemic spreading, school districts are wrestling with questions to safely bring students back this fall. Schools need answers fast for educating students, supporting teachers and helping parents stay employed.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/unemployment-virus-outbreak-dp-s5.jpgNew Report shows loss of $600-per-week benefit will lead to over 65,000 additional jobs lost. Every metropolitan area to see substantial job loss as families lose funds.

Survey shows 23.7 million Americans had little or no confidence in their ability to pay the coming month’s rent.

WASHINGTON, DC - The federal moratorium on evictions signed into law in March as part of the CARES Act is set to expire Friday night at midnight, setting up the potential for a wave of evictions in the middle of a pandemic that President Trump acknowledged this week will get worse before it gets better.

It’s possible that the moratorium will be extended as part of a new relief bill, but Congress is mired in negotiations and is not expected to finalize legislation until early August.

Read the full story here

State honors a recently identified Korean War Soldier whose remains have been returned to Wisconsin.

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers announced today that the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin will be flown at half-staff on July 25, 2020, in honor a recently identified Korean War Soldier whose remains have been returned to Wisconsin for burial.

Army Cpl. Francis J. Rochon of Superior will be buried with full military honors on Saturday, July 25, in Foxboro, Wisconsin, after the Department of Defense positively identified his remains 70 years after his death.

“This is a great yet somber day,” said Gov. Evers.  “We humbly remember Cpl. Rochon’s brave sacrifice to our nation and offer our condolences to his family as they now find closure after so many years and lay Cpl. Rochon to rest eternally in his home state and community.”

Rochon was a member of the 2^nd Infantry Division.  He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1, 1950, after fierce fighting near Changnyeong, South Korea. The Army officially declared Rochon deceased on Dec. 31, 1953, and declared his remains non-recoverable Jan. 16, 1956.

Rochon’s unidentified remains were buried at a cemetery in South Korea in January 1951 and reinterred in 1956 to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.  He was disinterred in 2018 for possible identification by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

To identify Rochon’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Rochon will be buried at Summit Cemetery in Foxboro.  His military awards include the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.

Executive Order #81 is available here.

Video press call highlights how Trump’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic cuts short funding for parents to get the child care they need for their kids.

WISCONSIN -- Representative Robyn Vining and WOW County mothers Mary Lockwood and Sarah Knowles held a video press call highlighting how Trump’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including his failure to provide adequate funding for parents to get the child care they need for their kids.

Rep. Vining highlighted her work as a member of the Committee on Children and Families, as well as touted Vice President Biden’s newly released plan to build a 21st century caregiving and education workforce.

Due to unaffordable childcare costs, Ms. Lockwood explained that she has all but left her job as an essential worker at an organization that works with people experiencing homelessness so that she can take care of her children and educate them at home. In addition, Ms. Knowles' noted her son has health issues that puts him at far greater risk of COVID-19 as Wisconsin faces a growing rate of infections. Should the pandemic persist but Trump forces school re-openings, she will be forced to keep her son at home.

Watch the full event here or read excerpts of what the speakers said below.

Rep. Robyn Vining: “There are so many families I represent -- mothers and fathers who are always trying to do what’s best for their children, but who are struggling more than ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This virus has hurt everyone in my community, and a big struggle that I hear about from my constituents and as a member of the Committee on Children and Families is the outrageous cost of child care. We have parents who have had to choose between keeping their essential job and staying at home with their children because child care is just too expensive. What makes all of this worse is that it didn’t have to be this way -- my constituents didn’t have to be suffering this way. Trump’s refusal to take this pandemic seriously has put us in greater jeopardy, and it has put Wisconsin families at greater risk with both their health and financial stability… Joe Biden has released a plan that I believe will help address this crisis. This includes a tax credit for low-income and middle-class families for child care expenditures, investing in universal pre-kindergarten, and investing in quality standards as well as better compensation for child care workers… There is a real opportunity here to right the ship after Donald Trump has left office.”

Mary Lockwood: “In normal circumstances, I work in homeless services, specifically… connecting individuals experiencing housing insecurity to housing opportunities, and under the current administration the clients that I work with are struggling hugely anyway, and much more so in the pandemic… When my husband and I did the cost benefit analysis of who should stay home with the kids, it was clearly me; I make far less even though my job is more essential than ever… We need changes so that mom’s like me can stay in their essential jobs, because my work is essential and I don’t want it to be the logical conclusion that the mom stays home because she makes less money… I know that Joe Biden has a plan, not only for housing which is so important to me, but to support essential workers and it is absolutely necessary now.”

Sarah Knowles: “I have a 20 year old son, Matthew, who will graduate next year from the special education program at Fairview South… Matthew has cerebral palsy, he uses a wheelchair, he’s nonverbal, and he needs one-on-one care for all of his daily living skills, so in addition to being Matthew’s 24/7 caregiver… overnight I had to become a therapist and a teacher… It’s been a big failure from Trump to let it get this bad, there has been zero leadership from the very start, and it’s made it very difficult for vulnerable populations… The wellbeing of our family has been affected by the administration, and I really hope we can elect Joe Biden as the next president, and reelect Robyn, because we need people who are thinking of everyone, including the most vulnerable.”

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/wiscovered-s5.pngNew website can help you get a new health insurance plan or enroll in the state’s BadgerCare Plus program.