Author

Erik Gunn

Erik Gunn

Deputy Editor Erik Gunn reports and writes on work and the economy, health policy and related subjects, for the Wisconsin Examiner. He spent 24 years as a freelance writer for Milwaukee Magazine, Isthmus, The Progressive, BNA Inc., and other publications, winning awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, beat coverage, business writing, and commentary.

Joe Biden and the Affordable Care Act

Advocates mark Affordable Care Act anniversary with success stories, warnings

By: - March 24, 2023

With the Affordable Care Act another year older, patients who have benefited from expanded health care coverage along with boosters in Washington and Wisconsin used the 13th anniversary of the federal health care law Thursday to highlight its success and warn of renewed threats to its future. “The ACA transformed our country, ensuring millions of […]

Poor People's Campaign rally in state Capitol

Poor People’s Campaign takes Medicaid expansion advocacy to the halls of the Capitol

By: - March 23, 2023

As both chambers of the state Legislature held floor sessions Wednesday, scores of Wisconsin Poor People’s Campaign activists rallied on the first floor of the state Capitol rotunda to draw attention to one of their top priorities in the state budget: expanding Medicaid, known as BadgerCare in Wisconsin. Poor People’s Campaign activists say Medicaid expansion […]

GOP calls for secretary of state special election, but state law doesn’t require it

By: - March 22, 2023

Pushing back on Gov. Tony Evers’ appointment of former State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski to fill the Wisconsin Secretary of State’s office for the next four years, the state Senate’s GOP leaders will hold a vote Wednesday on a resolution calling on Evers to hold a special election instead. The resolution, coauthored by the two top […]

Salvation Army Press Conference

Madison homeless shelter and housing project gets federal support

By: - March 20, 2023

A $50 million Dane County Salvation Army project to build a new homeless shelter and affordable housing apartment complex is getting $4 million in support from Washington in the 2023 federal budget. “This investment will expand access to affordable housing, safe shelter and critical support services for women and children experiencing homelessness in Dane County, […]

Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette | Official Photo

La Follette steps down as secretary of state, replaced by former treasurer Godlewski

By: - March 17, 2023

In a surprise move Friday, Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette abruptly retired less than five months after narrowly winning reelection in November to a new four-year term. Gov. Tony Evers immediately appointed former State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski to fill the remainder of La Follette’s term, which runs through 2026. In his resignation letter, […]

Voting carrels

Bill removes ineligible voters from state database; clerks say it makes election security harder

By: - March 17, 2023

State lawmakers want the Wisconsin Elections Commission to delete ineligible voters from the commission’s statewide master database and put them in a separate list that WEC would maintain as well. A bill to make the change got its first hearing Thursday before a Senate committee, where the chief advocates were the legislation’s authors, who said […]

Legislation seeks attorneys’ fees for going after government agencies that block records requests

By: - March 17, 2023

A new bill in the state Legislature would raise the stakes for government agencies that stall requests made under Wisconsin’s open records law. The legislation, the subject of a Senate hearing Thursday, would roll back a 2022 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling relating to attorneys’ fees when someone making a records request is denied, or simply […]

child care center kids

Company tests a $5k subsidy to help employees pay for child care

By: - March 16, 2023

When the COVID-19 pandemic made filling job openings even tougher than it had been for years, Tina Kowalczyk decided to see what Schreiber Foods could do to help employees with child care. Kowalczyk leads the benefits team at Schreiber, a Green Bay producer and distributor of branded foods, including cheeses, dairy beverages and yogurt, with […]

Mobile billboard criticizing Congressman Scott Fitzgerald

Advocates take aim at Congress members who say they’ll fight FTC ban on noncompete clauses

By: - March 15, 2023

Just after New Year’s Day the Federal Trade Commission said it was moving to block employers from restricting where ex-employees can go to work. Noncompete clauses — contract provisions that forbid a worker who leaves a job from working for a competing employer or starting a competing business, usually in a specific geographic area — […]

WisCovered Web Page

With Medicaid renewal about to start, state urges patients to update contact info

By: - March 10, 2023

Wisconsin Medicaid and BadgerCare participants will start hearing this month from the state health department about when they will need to renew their enrollment in the health insurance program. Wisconsinites covered by Medicaid are being urged to make sure the state Department of Health Services (DHS) has their up-to-date contact information. “The first, most important […]

Mural depicting workers

Jobs return to pre-pandemic numbers, but the workforce is shrinking

By: - March 10, 2023

Wisconsin now has almost as many jobs as it did before the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, according to the latest numbers from the state labor department, but fewer people are working or available to work than even one year ago. The state unemployment rate inched down slightly in January to 2.9%, closing in on […]

Pocan condemns GOP bill to bar trans girls, women from student athletics

By: - March 8, 2023

As Republicans in Congress advanced a bill in committee Wednesday that would block transgender student athletes from participating in girls’ or women’s sports, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) held a press conference to condemn the legislation. Pocan, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, called the proposed measure “part of a larger, coordinated attack against transgender […]