Wisconsin Senate postpones session due to coronavirus

MADISON — The Wisconsin Senate will not convene for its final regular session day of the year as originally planned next week due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Tuesday that the Senate will meet sometime later in the spring, but did not set a date. He said the delay was done “out of an abundance of caution for Senators, their family members, and staff members who may be vulnerable to coronavirus.”

The Senate planned to convene on March 24 for its last session day of the year. There are numerous bills in flux awaiting Senate action that will be further delayed now.

Those include seven bills designed to combat homelessness in the state; 13 bills to improve water quality; tax cuts and other measures to help farmers; and delaying the bar closing time during the Democratic National Convention to 4 a.m.

Gov. Tony Evers on Monday suggested the Legislature may need to meet to take action in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak that has resulted in mass closures across the state affecting schools, bars, restaurants, theaters and hundreds of other businesses.