Author
Advocates mark Affordable Care Act anniversary with success stories, warnings
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 takes Medicaid expansion advocacy to the halls of the Capitol
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
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 […]
Madison homeless shelter and housing project gets federal support
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, […]
La Follette steps down as secretary of state, replaced by former treasurer Godlewski
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, […]
Bill removes ineligible voters from state database; clerks say it makes election security harder
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
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 […]
Company tests a $5k subsidy to help employees pay for child care
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 […]
Advocates take aim at Congress members who say they’ll fight FTC ban on noncompete clauses
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 — […]
With Medicaid renewal about to start, state urges patients to update contact info
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 […]
Jobs return to pre-pandemic numbers, but the workforce is shrinking
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
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 […]