Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Abortion Bill as 2024 Election Draws Near

Robin Vos

Wisconsin Republicans introduced a bill Friday that would ban abortion at 14 weeks, just months ahead of the 2024 presidential primary.

The bill would limit abortions in the state by an additional six weeks since Wisconsin already has a 20-week ban on the books, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In addition to passing the legislature and getting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ signature, the bill would also have to appear on the ballot for voters during the state’s primary election in April, which is just months before the presidential election in November.

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Wisconsin Republicans OK Election Amendments

Wisconsin voters will get two questions about election integrity next fall.

The State Senate approved proposed constitutional amendments that would clarify that only U.S. citizens 18 years old and older can vote in the state, and would ban the use of so-called outside private money in Wisconsin elections.

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Republican Lawmakers Pitch Constitutional Amendment to Keep Wisconsin Churches Open

Wisconsin Republicans want to make sure churches in the state are kept open during the next emergency.

State Sen Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, along with Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Hilbert, and Rep. Karen Hurd, R-Fall Creek, took a proposed constitutional amendment to a Senate committee on Tuesday. If the amendment becomes law, it would stop public health managers from closing churches.

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Wisconsin Republicans Want Answers About State Broadband Spending

There continue to be questions about more than $100 million in coronavirus stimulus money that Wisconsin spent on broadband internet expansion.

Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, on Wednesday questioned the state’s Public Service Commission about last September’s audit that stated there was almost no tracking of what was spent, what work was done, or if the new internet access even worked.

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Wisconsin Republicans Pitch Abortion Exemptions, Democrats Call Them Disingenuous

Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are offering a plan that would allow for some abortions, but the state’s Democratic governor is already saying “No.”

A group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation that would create exemptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest, which they assert would better define Wisconsin’s only exemption for the health of the mother.

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Wisconsin Republicans to Vote on Bail Reform Amendment Next Week

Republicans in Madison are moving quickly to change how bail works in Wisconsin.

A pair of lawmakers want to take the first vote next week on a Constitutional amendment that would give judges more latitude in deciding when to keep someone in jail and when to release them.

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Wisconsin State Sen. Kapenga: No Consensus Among Republicans on Tax Plan Yet

Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol aren’t yet on the same page about tax reform in the new year, but they are in almost total agreement on new state spending.

Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, told Matt Kittle on News Talk 1130 WISN on Tuesday that the Republicans who control the state legislature are still talking about what to do with Wisconsin’s record $6.6 billion surplus, and calls for tax reform.

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Wisconsin Republicans Refuse to Endorse a Candidate for Governor During Convention Amid Growing Criticism of GOP Establishment

During their annual convention on Saturday, Wisconsin Republicans for the first time rejected a long-standing tradition to endorse a candidate in the primary race for governor. A candidate in Wisconsin needs 60 percent of the vote to win the party’s endorsement. The exercise is meant to signal to voters which candidates are most competitive, and determine which candidate will receive party funds for the rest of the primary and general election.

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Wisconsin Republicans Question Governor’s Plan to Remove National Guard from Veterans Home

There’s finger pointing and some unanswered questions about why Wisconsin’s National Guard troops are leaving the Veterans Home at Union Grove.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, sent Gov. Tony Evers a letter Tuesday asking why the governor is sending the troops home when there continues to be a critical need for frontline workers at the facility.

“Despite the looming withdrawal of the [troops], we have seen no plan put in place to deal with the gap in critical services their departure will create,” Vos and Wanggaard wrote. “The National Guard has been providing necessary assistance to our veterans and the staff at the Veterans Home at Union Grove during this time of need.”

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Wisconsin Republicans Look at Constitutional Ban on Zuckerbucks

The latest attempt to close one of the loopholes from the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin would use the state’s constitution.

Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, is proposing a constitutional amendment that would ban private donations for election operations in the state.

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Frustrations Continue to Grow with Wisconsin Elections Commission

The relationship between Wisconsin’s Elections Commission, state lawmakers, and voters is not improving.

Members of the legislature’s rulemaking body on Tuesday criticized the commission for once again failing to vote on rules for ballot drop boxes in the state.

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Wisconsin Republicans Call for Resignations, Firings at Wisconsin Elections Commission

Robin Vos of Wisconsin

There’s no shortage of Republicans who say the head of Wisconsin’s Elections Commission must resign.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos led the chorus of Republicans who said WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe must resign following claims from the Racine County sheriff that the commission broke state law last year.

“People’s trust in Wisconsin’s elections has been tested. Many Wisconsinites feel elections are not safe and secure, and now the Racine County Sheriff’s investigation found clear violations and law-breaking within the Wisconsin Elections Commission,” Vos said. “Clearly there is a severe mismanagement of WEC, and a new administrator is needed. I am calling for the resignation of Meagan Wolfe as Elections Commission Administrator.”

Vos said there are a series of “red flags” that cannot be ignored.

Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said Thursday that the WEC broke four state laws, first by suspending what are called special voting deputies for nursing homes across the state, then by advising workers in those same nursing homes to assist voters by filling out ballots for people who cannot vote themselves.

Schmalling says one woman, referred to in the investigation as Judy, complained that staffers at the Ridgewood Care Center in Racine took advantage of her elderly mother by filling out an absentee ballot in her mom’s name. Judy says her mother had diminished mental capacity and could not have communicated anything about voting to anyone.

State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, said not only does Wolfe need to go, but any and all staffers involved in the Racine case need to be fired as well.

“I am calling for the immediate dismissal of Meagan Wolfe as the Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator as well as the WEC staff who gave advice to break the law and members of the Elections Commission who voted to break the law. Those actions are the very definition of malfeasance in office,” Sanfelippo said. “And if the Wisconsin Attorney General continues to refuse to uphold the law then he should resign, too.”

Wolfe has not responded to the calls, or to the claims from Racine County’s sheriff.

The chairwoman of the WEC, Ann Jacobs, did respond on Thursday.

“To put it simply, we did not break the law,” said Commission Chair Ann Jacobs, an attorney from Milwaukee. “In fact, without action from the Commission, many residents in Wisconsin care facilities could have and would have been disenfranchised and not able to vote in the 2020 elections.”

Gov. Tony Evers rebuked Vos and the Republicans over their criticism of Wolfe.

“Elected officials can – and often do – disagree on plenty. But what is beneath the offices we hold and the responsibility entrusted to us is using our platforms to publicly and baselessly disparage and singularly belittle public servants,” the governor said. “Speaker Vos’ comments are unbecoming of his office and the people we serve. It’s my expectation – and one Wisconsinites share – that elected officials in this state treat others with civility and respect. The speaker’s behavior today fell woefully short of those expectations.”

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Wisconsin Republicans Release New Political Map, Look to Retain Majorities

Wisconsin’s new political map doesn’t look much different from the current map.

Republicans released their iteration of the Wisconsin districting map Wednesday. The new map maintains Republican majorities in both the State Assembly and the State Senate. It would also give Republicans an advantage in most of the state’s congressional districts.

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