Scott Walker
Rebecca Kleefisch is now all in for the 2022 race for governor
It was a very badly kept secret that former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch planned to run against Gov. Tony Evers in the 2022 election. She had been running a nonprofit organization she named the 1848 Project as a shadow campaign for months as she traveled the state campaigning. And after using the nonprofit to release […]
Conservative think tank connected to former Gov. Walker calls to end Wisconsin Elections Commission
A conservative think tank — run by a former staffer for then-Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and connected to former Gov. Scott Walker — has called for abolishing the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) and moving the administration of state elections to the elected secretary of state. The think tank, the Institute for Reforming Government, called […]
Walker appointee chairs heated meeting hiking quota for fall wolf hunt
Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) went to the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board meeting in Milwaukee on Wednesday, where he approached the board chair, Frederick Prehn, who has refused to step down even though his term expired on May 1 and the governor has replaced him with a new member, who Prehn refuses to allow to be […]
Ex-govs collaborate on a COVID-19 shot publicity booster
They never ran head-to-head, but Jim Doyle and Scott Walker see eye-to-eye on one subject. The two former governors — Democrat Doyle and Republican Walker — have teamed up for a UW Health public service announcement promoting the COVID-19 vaccine. The 30-second spot depicts a Zoom call between the two in which they share their […]
Wisconsin Republicans using a ‘back door’ to extend the Scott Walker era
Wisconsin Republicans are using quirks in state law to retain power over the administrative levers of government — extending the control gained during Scott Walker’s governorship deep into Gov. Tony Evers’ term. In the first months of 2021, Evers was finally set to gain control of many of Wisconsin’s most powerful boards and commissions as […]
Ron Johnson challenger wrote the book on how union workers saved a Wisconsin paper plant
Four years ago Outagamie County Executive Thomas Nelson teamed up with union leaders and management to help wrest a paper mill threatened with closure from the scrap heap. They won, and the former Appleton Coated plant in Combined Locks continues to operate under new ownership. It’s a story that shows “sometimes the little guy, sometimes […]
Evers appoints three to UW Board of Regents, reshaping higher education in his vision
Gov. Tony Evers announced three appointments to the UW System Board of Regents Friday, solidifying a majority of his appointees on the important body as it elects a new board president next month and looks toward a second attempt at finding a new president to lead Wisconsin’s public universities. These appointments by Evers move control […]
With ‘Amtrak Joe’ in the White House, states hope for a passenger rail renaissance
Stu Nicholson has been trying for decades without success to get Amtrak—or any other passenger rail service—to come to Columbus, Ohio. As director of All Aboard Ohio, a passenger rail advocacy group, Nicholson helped explore possibilities, like creating a new route from Chicago to Pittsburgh, with Columbus in the middle. But for now, Columbus, a […]
Biden administration confirms plan to end Wisconsin Medicaid work requirement
A work requirement for some BadgerCare recipients — which was already on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic — has been eliminated, the federal government has confirmed. The work requirement was part of a Medicaid waiver for which the administration of former Gov. Scott Walker received approval in 2018. It had not been implemented before the […]
Trump serves up cold leftovers at CPAC
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday, Donald Trump served up cold leftovers that have gone rancid. It was mostly a rerun of his old campaign speech (filled with his bragging until, yep, he said it again, “the China virus” hit) and his post-election rants about how he was “cheated” out of the […]
Walker administration’s BadgerCare work mandates blocked by Biden
A work requirement for some Wisconsin Medicaid recipients has been put on hold and will likely be scrapped following action by the Biden administration. The decision was welcomed Monday by health care advocates, who said that the requirement violated the underlying objectives of the federal Medicaid program, which in Wisconsin is called BadgerCare. “The purpose […]
D.C. mob riot versus Act 10 and Black Lives Matter protests
When a violent mob stormed the DC Capitol, breaking through police lines and crashing barriers, encouraged by President Donald Trump, to stop Congress from ratifying the election results, the minds of some Wisconsin Republicans immediately turned to the sustained but peaceful Act 10 protests at the Wisconsin Capitol in 2011. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke […]