Work & the Economy
Rural policymakers, leaders look for long term answers for economic growth
Leaders and officials in Wisconsin’s rural communities must be creative and work together to turn around decades of decline and build sustainable local economies, experts said at a WisPolitics event held in La Crosse on Tuesday. The results of Wisconsin’s 2020 census show declining populations in many rural areas and a 4% decrease in the […]
Coalition proposes alternative plan for Milwaukee freeway project
With more bicycles, more buses and less highway pavement, environmental and transit advocates proposed an alternative Tuesday to a controversial state plan to widen part of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee. The pitch is the latest step in efforts by critics to push back against the state’s $1.1 billion plan for Milwaukee’s I-94 East-West corridor following […]
Billions of dollars in federal rental aid remains stalled in slow-moving states, localities
WASHINGTON — Make it simpler to apply for rental assistance money. Allow landlords to apply on behalf of unresponsive tenants. And consolidate two overlapping federal programs aimed at getting financial help to struggling renters. Those were among the proposals that U.S. House members weighed during a hearing Friday on how to better help states and localities […]
A fresh face for the Wisconsin Farmers Union
Eyes sparkling over a face mask decorated with little black-and-white cows, Vivienne Kerley-de la Cruz, the energetic new policy coordinator for the Wisconsin Farmers Union, slipped into a booth at Ancora coffee shop near the Capitol. Brand new in her job, which she started in June, Kerley-de la Cruz has a background in rural organizing […]
Uber, DoorDash want lawmakers to guarantee their drivers aren’t employees
Drivers for ride-share businesses such as Uber and app-based delivery services such as DoorDash would be blocked from collecting workers’ compensation or unemployment benefits in Wisconsin under legislation that would define them as independent contractors rather than employees. The proposed measures — Assembly Bill 487 and Senate Bill 485 — would also allow those sorts […]
Federal lawsuit seeks to overturn state ban on jobless pay for disability recipients
Eight Wisconsin residents who receive Social Security disability payments and who have also held part-time jobs sued Wisconsin in federal court Tuesday, charging that a state law that disqualified them from collecting unemployment insurance when they lost their jobs violates federal laws that protect people with disabilities. “Workers who received Social Security Disability Insurance benefits […]
With backing from Madison alders, UW Health union drive kicks into higher gear
On Thursday, dozens of brightly colored garments were hung out in the morning sunshine in front of Madison’s City County Building. Floating in the warm September breeze, they were the tops of scrub suits, the kind worn by nurses and other medical personnel. They hung from cables strung above and behind a podium. There, members […]
Report: For working Wisconsin, ‘new normal’ must mean big changes
More jobs, but not a full recovery. Better wages, but fewer unions — and, as a consequence, weaker protections for workers. And gaping inequalities by race and ethnicity. That’s the picture painted in the 2021 edition of the State of Working Wisconsin, an annual assessment that COWS, a University of Wisconsin research and policy center, […]
EXCLUSIVE: Analysis suggests UW Health not barred from collective bargaining
Madison city officials are rallying behind UW Health nurses who are seeking union representation. As they do so, a new legal analysis for the union argues that — contrary to past assumptions about Act 10, Wisconsin’s 2011 collective bargaining law — nothing in either that law or other state laws would bar the health care […]
Pandemic’s return adds new pressure on child care, working families
As COVID-19 infections in Wisconsin have once again been rising dramatically, the resurgent pandemic has put new pressure on child care providers and the parents who are counting on them. Across the state, providers strapped for staff have had to cut back on how many children they can take. Some report that their current strain […]
Evers taps COVID relief funds to offset state budget’s transit cuts to Madison, Milwaukee
To partially offset millions of dollars cut from his proposed budget for transit funding for Madison and Milwaukee, Gov. Tony Evers is dividing $25 million from the state’s pandemic relief fund between bus systems serving the two cities. Evers announced the bus system financial boost Monday, holding press conferences in each city. The funds come […]
State billionaires’ wealth skyrocketed during the pandemic
Wisconsin’s eight richest residents have seen their wealth grow by 50% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new advocacy group analysis reports. Their good fortune makes a strong case for provisions in the federal budget reconciliation bill that would boost taxes on individuals with annual incomes of more than $400,000, says Citizen Action […]