WED AM News: RNC organizers preparing for wide range of security threats; Supreme Court decision could have ‘gig economy’ implications

March 27, 2024

— Organizers for this year’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee are preparing for a wide range of possible security threats, ranging from relatively minor disruptions to attacks on critical infrastructure and communications.

Andy Bochman, senior grid strategist for Idaho National Laboratory’s National and Homeland Security directorate, discussed security measures for the 2024 RNC during yesterday’s meeting of the Milwaukee Rotary Club. He’s involved with the planning group focused on electricity and other infrastructure, which has been gauging the readiness of utilities in the area ahead of the event in July.

“There’s going to be a lot of scrutiny paid to this town, and paid to your equipment and your services in the coming months,” he said, referencing conversations with local utility leaders. “Do you feel like you’re ready? Everybody that is in the room from the government is standing by ready to help you.”

Similar to presidential inaugurations and State of the Union addresses, the GOP convention is designated by the federal government as a National Special Security Event, Bochman explained.

NSSE security measures include police dogs for detecting bombs, heavy police and often National Guard presence, sharpshooters and “other tactical capabilities,” flight restrictions in the area and even efforts to detect possible weapons of mass destruction, according to his presentation.

Bochman noted high-profile gatherings like the RNC attract an array of “adversarial interest” that he and others on the preparedness team need to preempt.

“All the way from somebody from certain walks of society that wants to see if they can make a splash and cause a disruption, kind of for the fun of it … all the way to, what we’re really geared up for is nation-state level of activity,” he said. “And these would be folks that would be targeting critical infrastructure.”

He pointed to electricity and natural gas, communications networks and water treatment as potential targets. The owners and operators of these assets already have significant cybersecurity programs, but all “have problems, because there is no such thing” as a perfectly secure organization, he said.

“We are geared up for, and sometimes do see those highest level, tier one level threats and are mobilized to defend against them,” he told Rotary members.

Related efforts involve the U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy, FBI and other federal entities. John Bush, an expert with the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, yesterday said the Secret Service will create a multi-agency coordination center in Milwaukee to centralize efforts across these and other organizations.

“Our hope is that we work really hard in the 18 months leading up to July, so that we have a very boring week on our emergency preparedness public safety mission,” he said.

During the second week of April, other specialists from the Idaho National Laboratory will be visiting the American Family Insurance headquarters in Madison for a cybersecurity training event. Bochman said around 100 people across participating agencies will receive training in preparation for the convention.

Watch a video of the Rotary Club meeting.

— The state Supreme Court has left in place an appeals court ruling that found Amazon Logistics Flex delivery drivers are employees, not independent contractors, and the company must pay unemployment taxes on them.

The ruling could have implications for the “gig economy” and if similar employers must pay unemployment taxes. Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale hailed yesterday’s ruling.

“Far too often, especially in the emerging gig economy, big and powerful companies like Amazon use the misclassification of employees as independent contractors to deny working people essential workplace rights like minimum wages, overtime pay, and unemployment insurance,” she said. “Today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling is a win for working people and marks an important victory in the fight to combat worker misclassification in Wisconsin and the United States.”

But Scott Manley with Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, which filed a brief in the case, argued the Supreme Court passed up an opportunity to provide clarity on the standard in state law.

Wisconsin has nine factors it uses to determine if workers are employee vs. contractors. The Department of Workforce Development, the Labor and Industry Review Commission, a Waukesha County judge and the 4th District Court of Appeals all reached different conclusions on how many Amazon Logistics met.

“If the agency itself and the courts can’t even agree on what the law says, how are employers supposed to know if they’re following the law and applying it correctly?” said Manley, the group’s chief lobbyist.

Manley said the group hopes the Legislature will address the issue.

The court yesterday found it improperly granted review of the appeals court decision and allowed the prior ruling to stand. Though the court often doesn’t explain orders finding review was improperly granted, liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote a concurring opinion that “the issues for which we took this fact-dependent case will not lead to any further development of the law.”

The case stems from an audit the Department of Workforce Development did of more than 1,000 Amazon Logistics delivery partners during portions of 2016-2018, finding nearly all of them qualified as employees. The agency assessed Amazon Logistics more than $200,000 in delinquent unemployment insurance taxes, along with penalties and interest. The company contracts with entities to deliver packages, including UPS, the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx.

According to court records, Amazon Logistics used a smartphone app that allowed drivers to view available delivery blocks — usually two to four hours — to deliver a collection of packages. The delivery partners were paid a service fee for completing a delivery block, and those who signed up were required to agree to the “Amazon Flex Independent Contractors Terms of Service.”

The Labor and Industry Review Commission affirmed the DWD determination the workers qualified as employees, but a Waukesha County Circuit Court reversed that ruling. The Madison-based 4th District Court of Appeals, though, agreed a year ago that the drivers qualify as employees for unemployment tax purposes.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in December.

Fellow liberals Rebecca Dallet and Janet Protasiewicz joined Bradley’s concurring opinion that argued the court’s “inconsistent practice” of explaining the rationale behind decisions results in a “lack of guidance for potential litigants and the public, as well as an effective negation of the numerous hours of work and sums of money spent seeking a decision on the merits.”

But conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote a separate concurring opinion that the court customarily doesn’t provide explanations of such decisions and providing “unnecessary explanations” could “mislead litigants” by not providing a full explanation of the issues that were before the court.

“A shallow explanation of the court’s reason for dismissing a case as improvidently granted amounts to nothing more than a hollow victory for one party and provides nothing for future litigants,” Rebecca Bradley wrote.

Conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler joined Bradley’s concurring opinion.

Conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn didn’t participate in the case.

DWD said it can’t discuss specific unemployment insurance matters, while the attorney for Amazon Logistics didn’t immediately respond to a message from WisPolitics.

Read the decision.

— UW-Madison is getting $56 million for research initiatives from two federal funding packages, the university announced.

Federal appropriations bills signed by President Biden this month that fund the government through the end of September also include funding for at least 10 UW-Madison initiatives, according to the university’s release yesterday.

The largest of these awards at $28.75 million is going to the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, which is focused on sustainable biofuels and other products.

Another $10 million is going to the PANTHER program, a research effort aimed at addressing traumatic brain injuries, while $5 million is going to the Center for Unmanned Aircraft System Propulsion. Other awards range from $3 million down to around $400,000.

See the full list of funded projects in the release.

— Leaders of the state’s biohealth tech hub effort say they expect to hear back from federal officials about funding decisions in mid-2024 after submitting their latest application in February.

Meanwhile, participating organizations plan to host a virtual site visit with the U.S. Economic Development Administration in April.

In a recent email update from the biohealth tech hub coalition, leaders said this “presents a valuable opportunity to showcase our tech hub and projects directly to the decision-makers.” They include: Lisa Johnson, CEO of coalition leader BioForward; Aaron Olver, managing director of University Research Park; and Wendy Harris, regional innovation officer for the effort.

After being designated last year as an official tech hub, the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub is seeking $75 million in federal funding for six initiatives related to cancer screening, workforce development, health data and more.

“It’s important to note that despite awaiting official EDA funding, we are already a recognized tech hub,” the tech hub leaders wrote. “Our designation serves as a testament to our biohealth industry, and we are committed to building upon this foundation to drive even greater success in the future.”

The group will also be presenting details on the six proposed projects at BioForward’s upcoming annual meeting in May, with more information coming during the 2024 WI Biohealth Summit in October.

See more on the tech hub effort here.

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