SB 869

This bill directs the Department of Revenue to develop and implement a plan

to collect an amount from the Chinese government due to the economic, health, and

other damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to distribute the amount to

Wisconsin residents. DOR must submit the plan to the Joint Committee on Finance

for passive review.

The bill requires that DOR seek to collect an amount equal to the total damages

caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the United States multiplied by the ratio of

Wisconsin's gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2021 to U.S. gross

domestic product during that same quarter. In determining the amount of total

damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, DOR is directed to utilize methods and

considerations similar to those utilized to estimate the economic costs of the

COVID-19 pandemic in a 2020 Viewpoint article posted on the Internet site of

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. The bill specifies that

DOR may only seek to collect the amount from the Chinese government and may not

take, or attempt to take, collection activity against any individual Chinese citizen or

national.

The bill also requires that DOR annually distribute, on a pro rata basis, the

amount collected in the prior year to individuals who, during the entire year, were

Wisconsin residents and U.S. citizens and who were required to file, and did file, a

state income tax return for that year, to their spouses if filing a joint return, and to

their dependents.