Wisconsin’s ban on conversion therapy will remain on hold for the next few years at least.
The Wisconsin Senate on Wednesday moved the legislation that would end the ban, SB 4, back to a statehouse committee.
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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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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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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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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 are losing one of their longtime leaders in the state Senate.
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, is retiring. Darling has been in the Senate in Madison since 1992. She made her announcement on Wednesday.
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Wisconsin’s U.S. Congressional Republicans reacted consistently to the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s home.
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson was the first to weigh-in on the late Monday night search at Trump’s home in Florida.
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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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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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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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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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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’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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