Politics & Government
U.S. Senate Republicans again block debate on voting rights legislation
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans blocked the advance of voting rights legislation Wednesday, the second time this year—thwarting again Democrats’ attempts to pass federal protections for voters amid a slew of new state elections laws. “When we are faced with a coordinated effort across our country to limit the freedom to vote, we must stand […]
Senate votes to extend work hours for some teens under 16
Certain small employers could schedule younger teens to work later hours under legislation that passed a divided state Senate on a voice vote Wednesday. The legislation would only apply to workers who are not covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) — including those with annual revenues of less than $500,000 and those […]
Making Wisconsin ‘Texas of the North’ on abortion
Wednesday, after the state Senate passed several bills to make it more difficult to get an abortion in Wisconsin, Sen. Kelda Roys put out a release titled: “GOP Pushes for Wisconsin to become the Texas of the North.” During the session, the following bills passed along partisan lines, despite versions of these bills having been […]
State’s meat processors will vie for grants to grow, modernize
A new state grant program will spend up to $200,000 a year to help meat processors, their capacity severely strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, expand and modernize their facilities. On Tuesday, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee took the formal step of authorizing the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to spend the […]
Reverberations of Handmaid’s Tale in the Assembly health committee
The national clash over the right to have an abortion is largely focused on the U.S. Supreme Court and what would happen if Roe v. Wade was overturned. Meanwhile Republicans in Wisconsin have made abortion a focus of the fall session, even though Gov. Tony Evers will never allow their anti-abortion bills to become law. […]
Environmentalists, unions promote federal infrastructure bills to fix water problems
Environmental advocates and union representatives teamed up Tuesday to urge passage of both parts of the Biden administration’s infrastructure initiative in order to address a wide range of water quality problems in the state. “Too many Wisconsin families cannot rely on access to clean drinking water,” said Richard Diaz, an organizer for the Blue-Green Alliance, […]
Housing bills advance with mixed support in committee vote
Eight bills offered to deal with shortages of affordable housing in Wisconsin advanced from an Assembly committee Tuesday on votes that mostly split along party lines. Two of the measures, however, received unanimous support in the 10-member Assembly Housing and Real Estate Committee: AB-607, creating a new housing rehabilitation loan program in the Wisconsin Housing […]
Vos wants to keep records of partisan election review away from the public
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos wants to keep records of the partisan review into the 2020 presidential election hidden from the public until after the review is completed — telling multiple news outlets Tuesday that releasing the records would be like a district attorney turning over files during a murder investigation. The review is being conducted, […]
Environmental group sues DNR Board Chair Prehn over release of texts
An environmental group filed a legal action in Dane County Circuit Court on Tuesday seeking to force the embattled chair of the Natural Resources Board (NRB) to release text messages about his tenure in the position. The chair, Wausau dentist Frederick Prehn, has refused to vacate his seat even though his term expired May 1. […]
‘Conservation as a hunting culture’
Over the past year, one of Wisconsin’s most heated political fights has been over the direction of the state’s conservation policies and the rules that guide hunting in the state. Lawsuits have been filed and insults have been traded. A Republican appointee to a state board has dug his heels in and refused to leave […]
We are losing the values good journalism taught
Everyone should be a journalist. The problem is, few people understand what journalism really is, yet everyone with a social media account is a self-styled journalist these days. Hence the rampant embrace of myriad crackpot beliefs. We are all familiar with these fact-free notions that have stained our collective consciousness like red wine on white […]
Trump ignores Kleefisch, calls on Duffy to run for Wisconsin governor
It seems Rebecca Kleefisch cannot get a break with her fellow Republicans. First the former lieutenant governor was dissed by stalwarts in her own party who didn’t really want her as former Gov. Scott Walker’s running mate (including Walker and his team). Then, when lobbyist and former Gov. Tommy Thompson staffer Bill McCoshen decided not […]