U.S. Supreme Court
How Texas’ near-ban on abortions could impact Wisconsin
A law that bans nearly all abortions in the state of Texas was allowed to take effect Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court, causing an immediate impact on women’s health care in that state by forcing clinics to turn away women seeking an abortion. “We woke up today to a new reality in America – […]
Supreme Court rejection of eviction ban increases pressure to dole out rental aid money
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to extend a federal ban on evictions has put hundreds of thousands of American renters at risk of losing their housing — and is increasing pressure on states and localities to get rental assistance dollars distributed faster. In an eight-page majority opinion […]
A backwards step on the rent moratorium
(Español abajo) The Supreme Court’s decision to end the rent moratorium is a potential death sentence for many Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in issuing the moratorium, had warned that forcing people “to move, often into close quarters in new shared housing settings with friends or family, or congregate settings such as […]
Our 4th of July crisis
Americans have two new things to celebrate on the 4th of July this year — pandemic restrictions have lifted, and Donald Trump is no longer president of the United States. To underscore both of these happy facts, the Democratic National Committee hired a plane to fly over Lake Michigan on Friday afternoon, visible to Milwaukeans […]
The Affordable Care Act is safe — what’s next?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay. Over the last ten years, President Barack Obama’s landmark health care reform legislation has survived more than 70 repeal votes in Congress and three efforts to invalidate the law via the courts. The latest challenge to the ACA before the United States Supreme Court, Texas v. […]
College athletes score a big win in the U.S. Supreme Court in NCAA dispute
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that the National Collegiate Athletics Association cannot limit educational compensation to student athletes due to their amateur status. The 9-0 decision in NCAA v. Alston was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who said the college athletics body is not exempt from antitrust law. “Put simply, this […]
Relief, applause greets Supreme Court ruling that leaves ACA intact
Wisconsin officials and health care activists welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday that upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA), keeping in place the 11-year-old law that has expanded access to health insurance. The court ruled 7-2 that the plaintiffs had no right to bring the case. But Atty. Gen. Josh Kaul suggested that the […]
Baldwin fights to protect abortion rights
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is again pushing federal legislation that would guarantee equal access to abortion services throughout the United States. This renewed effort comes in the wake of the Trump-altered U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to take up Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban — a case that presents a direct challenge to legal abortions that are […]
Making abortion a felony in Wisconsin
The conservative majority dominating the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up a Mississippi abortion case and the move has sparked fears among women’s health advocates that this decision signals the beginning of the end of legal abortions. If the court overturns Roe v. Wade, abortion will become a felony in Wisconsin. In 1849, […]
Bill protects coverage for prior health conditions, but critics say it falls short
In the shadow of a court case that threatens the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are promoting legislation to cover one of the federal health law’s centerpiece protections: that people buying health insurance can’t be denied or charged more because of a pre-existing health condition. But health care advocates contend that, if 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 […]
Expanding BadgerCare in Wisconsin could become an even sweeter deal
U.S. House Democrats are trying again to entice holdout states, including Wisconsin, to expand Medicaid coverage with the prospect of billions of dollars in federal cash. This money would be on top of the already large net benefits the state would realize under existing law through expansion. Wisconsin is one of just a dozen states […]