2020: Delivering Results for Wisconsin
In 2020, Senator Baldwin continued her work across party lines to get things done for Wisconsinites.
- Successfully worked to make PPP loans forgivable: The first draft of the Paycheck Protection Program to come out of the Small Business Committee did not make PPP loans forgivable. Non-forgivable loans would have been significantly less useful for businesses shuttered by coronavirus. Senator Baldwin introduced legislation on March 20 to provide small businesses up to $10 million in forgivable loans in exchange for businesses keeping their full staff on payroll. The bill was endorsed by the New York Times editorial board. After staff advocacy to Chairman Rubio and Ranking Member Cardin, the Small Business Committee amended the PPP to make the loans forgivable.
- Ensured eligible individuals received the stimulus payments they were due: In April, Senator Baldwin wrote to Treasury after hearing from constituents who learned that their stimulus payments from the CARES Act had been wrongfully intercepted to collect past-due child support owed by their spouse. By IRS’ own admission, the stimulus payments had been improperly withheld from these individuals and their families. IRS finally corrected their error in August and began to send out the previously withheld payments.Senator Baldwin also joined her colleagues in ensuring that all individuals eligible for stimulus payments, including those receiving Social Security and Veterans benefits, received the full amount they were due without delay.
- Made PPP loans easier for small and struggling farmers to access: Senator Baldwin and Senator Thune introduced legislation that was included in the coronabus legislation to make PPP loans available to farmers who did not have payroll in 2019 because they were sole proprietors and they did not have positive income because of the agricultural struggles in 2019. The legislation allows these farmers to use a different calculation (Schedule F) on which to base their PPP loan.
- Granted a permanent tax break for brewers: Senator Baldwin has long supported a permanent lower excise tax rate for brewers and distillers and is a cosponsor of the bipartisan Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. The 2020 end-of-year COVID relief package included the permanent tax break, granting Wisconsin’s craft brewers and distillers the long-term certainty they need in a time of significant economic distress.
- Supported Community Development Block Grants (CDBG): Senator Baldwin led a bipartisan effort calling on Congress to reject President Trump’s proposed elimination of the Community Development Block Grant Program. Funding for CDBG was increased to $3.475 billion this year to be used by state and local governments to foster job development and provide assistance to neighborhood-based organizations, including community development corporations, in support of economic development, housing assistance, or neighborhood revitalization activities. Senator Baldwin also led a bipartisan letter to ensure that the additional CDBG funding in the CARES Act was distributed quickly and that guidance was made available to state and local governments that used the funds to meet new challenges during the pandemic.
- Created and saved shipbuilding jobs in Wisconsin: After years of Senator Baldwin making the case for the Made in Wisconsin industry and workers, in May 2020 the Navy awarded the contract for its future frigate class of ships to Fincantieri Marinette Marine. These ships will be built in Marinette and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The award is for up to 10 ships for a total of $5.5 billion in possible contract awards, securing 10+ years of work including 1,000 jobs in Marinette, maintaining middle class jobs in Sturgeon Bay and Door County, 5,000+ other direct and indirect jobs. Additionally, with Senator Baldwin’s support the initial ship will be one the most modern Buy America friendly ship programs. The FY20 Appropriations bill also included a requirement that certain critical components for the Frigate be sourced in America, including pumps, propulsion equipment, cranes and spreaders for cranes. Although the bill allowed for engines and reduction gears to be domestically sourced not until the 11th ship, Senator Baldwin worked with Fincantieri and the Navy to certify that they will incorporate all requirements by the second ship. This will ensure free and fair competition for U.S. shipbuilding suppliers for the entirety of the ship program. The contract shows the first Fincantieri-made Frigate delivering in 2026.
- Made health care coverage more affordable and protected patients: Senator Baldwin has worked to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions and ensure that all Americans have access to the resources they need to obtain comprehensive, affordable health coverage. As more Americans became uninsured due to job losses than ever before in our nation’s history, Baldwin introduced the COVid Enrollment Response (COVER) Act to invest in outreach and enrollment assistance to help more Americans find quality, affordable health insurance. The Senator’s Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act, which has 53 bipartisan cosponsors, would close a coverage gap to ensure that health plans cover medically necessary services related to a patient’s anomaly or birth defect, including any serious dental and oral-related procedures that are necessary to maintaining health and overall function.
- Filled gaps for medical supplies and PPE: Senator Baldwin led the effort to fill the gap in medical supplies and PPE we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. She introduced legislation, the Medical Supplies Delivery and Transparency Act, and held the Trump Administration accountable for its failure to fully use the authority under the Defense Production Act to fill supply gaps.
- Created a three-digit hotline for suicide prevention: The President signed Senator Baldwin’s bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Designation Act into law, which designates a three-digit code – 988 – to make accessing the current, ten-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Veterans Crisis Line quicker and easier for individuals in crisis. The law also directs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which operates the Lifeline, to develop a strategy to better serve populations at greater risk for suicide, including LGBTQ youth. This new code should be operational by July 2022.
- Combatted hunger and food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Senator Baldwin led an effort joined by Representatives Kind, Moore, and Pocan to address significant nutrition needs in Wisconsin that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. In particular, they called for increased funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more money for food banks and senior nutrition programs, and flexibility to ensure that college students could still access food benefits during the pandemic. All of these important priorities were included in the COVID-19 relief package signed into law in December 2020.
- Supported COVID-19 testing and contact tracing in Wisconsin: Senator Baldwin repeatedly called for increased funding and supplies for Wisconsin’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including for testing and contact tracing. At the end of 2020, Congress passed a bill that invests $22.4 billion in testing, contact tracing, surveillance, containment and mitigation, with a targeted investment of no less than $2.5 billion for expanding access to testing and contact tracing in high-risk and underserved populations, including for communities of color and rural areas, and $790 million for the Indian Health Service to support Tribes. Wisconsin is expected to receive approximately $395,692,267 for testing, contact tracing and COVID mitigation funding.
- Protected public health and prioritized science: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Baldwin raised concerns about President Trump’s efforts to undermine science and public health, including his promotion of unproven treatments for COVID-19. As a result of her oversight efforts and the advocacy of medical experts, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew its Emergency Use Authorization for hydroxychloroquine. Evidence suggests this drug, which was promoted by President Trump, may cause serious side effects in patients with COVID-19, and in some cases increase their risk of death.
- Extension of federal cost share for National Guard COVID-19 response: Senator Baldwin led numerous delegation letters calling for an extension of 502(f)(2)(A) of Title 32, U.S. Code, funding for the Wisconsin National Guard in support of the fight against COVID-19. An extension of this funding is critical to ensuring the safety and health of our citizens, as well as advancing efforts to reopen our state.
- Named Columbia Class Submarine “USS Wisconsin”: Earlier in 2020, the Navy officially that a Columbia Class Submarine will be named the USS Wisconsin. Senator Baldwin led the Wisconsin delegation’s efforts to urge the Navy to name one of the next Virginia Class submarines to be named after Wisconsin before the program phases out without naming a Wisconsin boat. The Columbia Class is the future submarine program that will replace the current Ohio Class Submarine program. This program, along with the Virginia class program is support by the work of 40 suppliers across Wisconsin and honors the long history of Wisconsin shipbuilding.
- Stabilized the food supply chain for consumers, farmers, and food businesses: When COVID-19 disruptions led to retail food shortages, manufacturing oversupplies, and wasted food, Senator Baldwin gathered a bipartisan group of Senators and Congress members to press for tools that could help the farmers, food processors, grocery stores, and food distribution centers to get food to those in need and reduce waste. Congress passed assistance to make sure people had access to food if they were in need, and then passed aid to farmers and food businesses to help them weather the challenges brought by the pandemic. In December, Congress passed additional provisions that Senator Baldwin called for, providing expanded aid to a wider range of farmers, including specialized producers and small-scale produce farmers. The provisions also included assistance to small and medium-sized meat processors, to reduce the fragility of the meat processing system and to give farmers more options when selling their animals.
- Secured an end Canada’s unfair dairy trade barriers – Back in 2017, Senator Baldwin raised the alarm when Canada imposed a trade barrier using their Class 7 pricing system, which resulted in millions of dollars in lost markets for Wisconsin dairy farmers and processors. She met with U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and with Secretary of Agriculture Perdue and pressed them to secure a solution. After more than a year of negotiations, the final USMCA deal resulted in an end to Class 7 and substantial new dairy access into Canada. Following finalization of the trade deal, Senator Baldwin led a bipartisan group of colleagues to call on the Trump Administration and Secretary of Agriculture Perdue to hold Canada accountable for its commitments and to ensure the details of the trade agreement were followed properly.
- Funded the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Senator Baldwin secured $330 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for Fiscal Year 2021, an increase of $10 million over last year that will allow more work to get done and keep steady investments going and supporting local jobs in a challenging time. Since its inception, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has tripled the successful cleanup and delisting of Areas of Concern, reduced phosphorus runoff and the threat of harmful algal blooms, controlled and stopped the advancement of invasive species, and restored wildlife habitat over thousands of miles of rivers and waterways. Senator Baldwin and her Great Lakes colleagues also reauthorized this program, recognizing the importance it plays in building a brighter future in the Great Lakes region. Now there is a stable future for the program, including Congressional approval of $375 million in funding next year.
- Introduced Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act: Recognizing the significant economic impact that heavy ice seasons can have on the Great Lakes region, Senator Baldwin introduced the bipartisan Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act which would update the outdated Coast Guard’s Great Lakes icebreaking mission and increase the icebreaking capacity of the Great Lakes fleet. Icebreaking is critical for commerce in the Great Lakes and increasing icebreaking capacity to meet the actual need will help the many businesses and workers that rely on the maritime industry to ship their goods.
- Funded U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking in the Great Lakes: As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Baldwin secured an additional $4 million to fund the construction of an additional Great Lakes Icebreaker. She also included language calling on the Coast Guard to accelerate the acquisition timeline for GLIB and to seek legislative remedies if necessary.
- Protected land and natural resources for future generations: Senator Baldwin worked with her colleagues to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, a bipartisan effort to ensure that public lands are preserved and protected for future generations. These protections provide an opportunity for the public to get outdoors, maintain habitat for wildlife, and create new green spaces in urban and suburban communities. This bill took the key step of ensuring that funds set aside for public lands can only be used for them—providing steady, reliable funding into the future. Congress also provided $1.9 billion for maintenance and infrastructure on public lands, to build trails, ensure public facilities are in working order, and make sure our parks can be enjoyed by people of all ranges of ability and outdoor expertise.
- Protected borrowers from student debt relief scams: The President signed Senator Baldwin’s bipartisan Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act into law, giving the Departments of Education and Justice more tools to identify and shut down scammers who defraud borrowers with false promises of help repaying their loans.
VIDEO: WAOW: Senator Baldwin Working to Stop Student Debt Relief Scams from Harming Hardworking Americans VIDEO: WFRV: Senate Unanimously Passes Baldwin’s Bipartisan Legislation to Stop Student Debt Relief Scams VIDEO: WXOW: Congress Passes Senator Baldwin’s Bipartisan Legislation to Stop Student Debt Relief Scams
- Made it simpler to access federal broadband grants and loans: As part of the year-end, bipartisan government funding legislation, two bills that Senator Baldwin helped to lead and will simplify and coordinate access to federal broadband programs became law. The ACCESS BROADBAND Act and the Broadband Interagency Coordination Act require better coordination of broadband programs at the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Agriculture and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, including simplified applications.
