Republican Sen. Stroebel: Paying internet bills is ‘cash in search of a need’
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers are simply questioning why Gov. Tony Evers is using coronavirus stimulus money to pay people’s past-due internet bills.
The governor on Wednesday announced an expansion of the state’s Rental Assistance Program will now cover internet costs.
“The past year and a half has underscored the fact that access to affordable high-speed internet is a necessity to how we live, learn, and work,” Evers said in a statement explaining the expansion.
People who went on unemployment, lost hours at work, experienced housing instability, and meet the under $58,000 a-year for a family of four income guidelines can get money for their internet bill.
Se. Duery Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, said the idea of the coronavirus stimulus payments were to help the state recover from the outbreak, not to help people stay connected to Netflix.
“Gov. Evers has no idea what to do with the windfall of cash he received from the federal government. This program to pay for individual consumers’ internet costs looks like cash in search of a need,” Stroebel told The Center Square. “Not taxpayer money carefully matched to a necessary state expenditure.”
Wisconsin has received $322 million in rental assistance money so far. Gov. Evers says the state has spent $38 million of that sum on 11,000 households.
The governor has total control over how the rental assistance money, as well as Wisconsin’s other $2.4 billion in stimulus cash, is spent.
Stroebel said Republican lawmakers tried to enforce some oversight into how the governor spends that money.
“Republicans believe this money should be spent on projects that will have a long-term impact that benefits all of Wisconsin. Right now, these federal dollars are just a slush fund for a Democratic governor preparing for his re-election campaign next year,” Stroebel said.
The state is working with Wisconsin Community Action agencies and Energy Services, Inc. to accept applications to distribute the rental, internet and utility money. People who live in Brown, Dane, Milwaukee, and Waukesha counties as well as the cities of Madison and Milwaukee can apply directly to their local government’s rental assistance provider.
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