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The idea of a so-called vaccine passport to attend professional basketballgames orbook a cruise vacation is being embraced in some areas of the country and abroad.(Photo: Getty)

MADISON Two Republican lawmakers want to bar private businesses and the Evers administration from requiring Wisconsinites to show they are vaccinated against COVID-19 as the state searches for a post-pandemic life.

The idea of a so-called vaccine passport to attend professional basketballgames orbook a cruise vacation without fear of creating a COVID-19 outbreakis being embraced in some areas of the country and abroad.

Rep. Gae Magnafici of Dresser and Sen. Rob Stafsholt of New Richmond are proposing legislationthat aims to prevent such a program to be implemented in Wisconsin by barring government officials and business owners from discriminating based on whether they havereceived a vaccine against COVID-19, or areable to show proof of being vaccinated.

"This legislation is not about whether people should get the vaccine. Anyone that wants to get vaccinatedshould get vaccinated," Stafsholt wrote in a memo to colleagues on Thursday seeking support for the legislation. "This legislation is about preventing government overreach."

"When the panic over COVID-19 fades away, people are going to begin to return to normal life. As a way to make their patrons feel 'safe,'some businesses will begin to discriminate against those who have not or cannot be vaccinated by requiring proof of vaccination," Magnafici said in a separate memo.

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Gae Magnafici (R - Dresser)(Photo: Wisconsineye Live Stream)

New Yorkers began using a first-in-the-nation taxpayer-fundedapp this week called the Excelsior Pass that will be accepted at large-scale venues like Madison Square Garden and other entertainment venues.The app is free to businesses and anyone with vaccination records or test results in New York.

Wisconsin-based Epic Systems, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft and other private and public organizations created a coalition called the Vaccine Credential Initiative, which would help create a digital record of vaccination status and produce a set of guidelines that a company or nonprofit could use to create a digital vaccine passport.

"Individuals can then use those verifiable credentials for medical purposes and to demonstrate their health status to safely return to work, school, travel and life," the coalition said on its website.

State Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, is shown during the state Senate session Tuesday, March 16, 2021, at the Capitol in Madison, Wis.(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Aides to Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who control which legislation moves forward, did not immediately say whether they supported the ideas. A spokeswoman for Evers also did not immediately say whether Evers would sign the bills if they made it to his desk.

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, said a debate over vaccine passports is premature because Israel is the only country seriously looking at a widespread program.

Sheehy said the idea raises many questions that deal with privacy, medical records and efficacy.

"The current (paper) cards have only a signature but nothing else to verify. So I dont think a 'vaccine passport'is on the front burner for businesses and their employees or customers," Sheehy said.

Amy Fairchild, a historian and ethicist at Ohio State University, said the biggest challenges with the idea of a digital vaccine passport will be cultural, not technological.

She said just as many Americans have resisted wearing masks during the pandemic, some will reject the idea of showing proof of vaccinationsto get into a ballgame orsee a concert.

Wisconsin lawmakers have been divided along party lines for a year over whether health officials and business owners should require face masks to limit the spread of COVID-19, previewing what kind of fight could emerge if the same kind of requirements appeared forvaccinations.

Karen Weintraub and Elizabeth Weise ofUSA TODAY contributed to this report.

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

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

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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Could we need a 'vaccine passport' to attend a ball game or concert? Wisconsin GOP lawmakers want to make sure that doesn't happen - Milwaukee Journal...

Republicansare launching a full-court press against the congressional Democrats wide rangingelectionand campaign finance reform bill.

"Its political corruption," the announcer charges in a new commercial that is part ofa major ad blitzby the National Republican Senatorial Committee starting Monday. "Stop the grab. Stop the fraud."

SCHUMER, MCCONNELL, SPAR OVER DEMOCRATS ELECTION BILL DURING RARE COMMITTEE SHOWDOWN

The Senate GOP reelection arm is spending seven figures to run the spots in Arizona, Georgia, Nevadaand New Hampshire, four states they hope to flip from blue to red in the 2022 midterms, when Republicans will aim to win back the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In a memo and video released on Monday, NRSC chair Sen. Rick Scott spotlighted a new poll commissioned by the committee to target the measure.

"The bills disguised as election reform, but its really just a dishonest Democrat power grab. You also have to know if you oppose the Democrat power grab, Democrats will call you a racist. The good news is this, the American people dont buy that and theyre on our side," Scott argued.

The bill formally known as the "For the People Act," or as H.R.1 in the House and S.1 in the Senate passed the Democratic-controlled House earlier this month along party lines.

While it now faces an uncertain future in the equally divided Senate, where Democrats in the chamber say it will be a top priority when the Senate session resumes in early April,it is unifying Republicans in opposition.

Longtime Republican operative and strategist Colin Reed said ofthe measure: "To me, feels like a messaging bill that the Democrats are putting forward that doesnt really have a chance at becoming law. But it gives Republicans something to rally around and unite and move the conversation forward into the future."

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Congressional Republicans have been railing against the legislation for weeks. And GOP leaders outside of Washington are also taking aim. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa warned that "state election law would be wiped away" if the Democrats bill becomes law. And Mike Pompeo, secretary of state during the Trump administration and a potential 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, charged in Iowa on Friday that the measure is a "raw power grab."

Voters deliver their ballot to a polling station, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The NRSC isnt alone in spending big bucks to target the bill.

Heritage Action for America, the nonprofit advocacy wing of the influential conservative think tank, recently launched a $10 million push that includes messaging to block what it calls "federal overreach" in the legislation.

Conservative groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List, the American Principles Project, the Tea Party Patriots, as well as Republican Attorney Generals Association, have also ignited efforts to take aim at the bill.

Reed, a Republican presidential and Senate campaign veteran, said the Democrats bill gives Republicans "a chance to find some targets that are juicy to the base and will allow them to be on offense as opposed to reacting to news of the day. They can lay the blame for all the atrocious things in H.R.1 atBiden, Pelosi, andSchumers feet and try to make next year a referendum on them as opposed to having to project a vision of their own."

Democrats highlight that their bill would "improve access to the ballot box" by creating automatic voter registration across the countryand by ensuring that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full voting rights restored. The bill wouldalso expand early voting and enhance absentee voting by simplifying voting by mail. There was a surge in absentee voting during last years primaries and general election due to health concerns of in-person voting at polling stations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

20 STATE AGS DENOUNCE DEMOCRATS HR1 AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The measure also commits Congress to deliver "full congressional voting rights and self-government for the residents of the District of Columbia, which only statehood can provide," prohibits voter roll purges and aims to end "partisan gerrymandering" of congressional districts.

If passed into law, the bill would also enhance federal support for voting system security, increase oversight of election system vendors, upgrade online political ad disclosure and require all organizations involved in political activity to disclose their large donors, create a multiple matching system for small-dollar donations, which would be paid for by a new surcharge on "corporate law breakers and wealthy tax cheats," tighten rules on super PACs, and beef up the enforcement powers of the Federal Election Commission.

Republicans slam the measuresaying it would lead to a federal government takeover of elections andaccuse Democrats of trying to change election rules to benefit themselves. But Democrats say the measure is needed to combat the push by GOP lawmakers in some states where Republicans control the governors office and the legislature to pass bills that would tighten voting laws, which Democrats characterize as voter suppression.

A controversial bill that tightens voting access rules was signed into law on Thursday by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia.

Earlier this month in Iowa, Reynolds signed into law a bill that shortens the early voting period from 29 to 20 days and requires that most absentee ballots be received, rather than just postmarked, by Election Day.

The current push by Republicans state lawmakers to beef up what they call election integrity was ignited by then-President Trumps repeated claims ahead of last Novembers election that the loosening of restrictions on voting by mail would lead to "massive voter fraud" and "rigged" elections.

After his defeat to President Biden, Trump falsely said that the election was "stolen" as he unsuccessfully tried to upend Bidens victory. Recent polling indicates that election integrity remains a major concern for Republican voters.

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Reed, the GOP strategist, notedthat the issues of election integrity and voter suppression excite both sides.

"Its a juicy thing to both bases. Democrats will argue that Republicans are disenfranchising voters and Republicans will argue that Democrats are putting in place polices that will make it impossible for them to ever win an election again," Reed said. "Base messaging is motivated by fear and both of those have a way of spinning up the supporters in each camp into action and unification."

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S1 slammed as 'political corruption' as Republicans go all-in on attacking Dems' election reform bill - Fox News

1. Republican Wave of Voting Restrictions Swells  The Pew Charitable Trusts
2. Georgia Governor Signs Republican-backed Election Bill Amid Outcry  Voice of America
3. Georgia General Assembly Approves Sweeping, Republican-Led Voting Bill | 90.1 FM WABE  WABE 90.1 FM
4. Georgia G.O.P. Passes Major Law to Limit Voting  The New York Times
5. Georgia Republicans speed sweeping elections bill restricting voting access into law  CNN
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Republican Wave of Voting Restrictions Swells - The Pew Charitable Trusts

Led by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a group of Republican senators will be in McAllen Friday on the border.

They'll take a first-hand look at the backlog at the border, and the scramble to find space for all migrants stopped trying to get into Texas.

Until we get this current crisis under control I dont see an avenue for doing other immigration reform. I have said previously that I would like to provide a permanent legal solution for DACA recipients. I think they have been used as a political football for too long, said Senator John Cornyn.

The latest news from around North Texas.

A group of Democratic congressmen and women, led by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), will travel to Carrizo Springs to tour the facility holding more than 700 teenage boys.

The trips are happening as pressure increases on the Biden administration to take action.

Vice President Harris will be the point person on the border.Former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, who has been active in border issues, calls this a great move.

With Vice President Harris you have somebody who is very familiar with this issue, from the time that she was attorney general of California back in 2014 when we saw a wave of unaccompanied minors, she actually led the effort in California to respond to unaccompanied minors, said Secretary Castro.

It is a big project with more than 11,000 now in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services custody.

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Texas-Led Republican and Democratic Delegations Head to Border Friday - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

President Joe Biden scoffed when asked during a press conference on Thursday whether he expects to run for reelection against former President Donald Trump in 2024. He suggested the GOP might not even exist in three years.

"Oh, come on. I don't even think about I have no idea," Biden said when asked whether he'll be facing off against Trump. "I have no idea if there will be a Republican Party. Do you?"

Biden wouldn't promise that he'll run for reelection in 2024, but said it's his "expectation" that he will do so and that Vice President Kamala Harris will be on his ticket, calling Harris "a great partner."

"I've become a great respecter of fate in my life," he said during the first formal press conference of his presidency. "I've never been able to plan ... three and a half years ahead, for certain."

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Biden says he has 'no idea if there will be a Republican Party' in 2024 - Business Insider