The retention policy requirement in a Republican-backed education proposal is a "non-starter" and opposed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The literacy bill, Right to Read, would provide $50 million to train Wisconsin teachers on new methods of reading. Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, said the focus would be on phonics and the science of reading. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Jun 09, 2023•6 min•Ep. 101
The Institute for Reforming Government says its analysis of IRS data shows most of the people who left Wisconsin went to states with either flat, or no income taxes at all. “We found that 92,000 people, in the latest numbers from back in 2021, left the state,” IRG Vice President Chris Reeder told The Center Square. “When you look at where they left, they went largely to states that had a better tax climate.” Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Jun 08, 2023•6 min•Ep. 100
Wisconsin’s members of Congress are pretty much exactly where you’d expect them to be on the debt ceiling proposal on Capitol Hill. Republicans support the agreement, while Democrats have concerns. Western Wisconsin Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden said on Twitter that the deal handles the nation’s debt without risking default or draconian cuts. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Jun 02, 2023•9 min•Ep. 99
The state of Wisconsin could soon be expected to return as much as $447 million in federal funds to the government as part of the debt ceiling agreement brokered by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Gov. Tony Evers told reporters his administration is now planning for the possibility of returning the untapped funds, which were originally part of the windfall the state received from the federal pandemic funds that were issued to states that helped them recover from the impact ...
Jun 01, 2023•7 min•Ep. 98
Two of Green Bay’s state lawmakers are asking for millions of dollars to welcome the NFL Draft to town. The NFL on Monday announced that Green Bay will host the 2025 Draft. On Tuesday, state Rep. David Steffen, R-Green Bay, and state Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, submitted a formal request for $2 million to help “offset” the costs. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
May 26, 2023•9 min•Ep. 97
Milwaukee’s mayor is predicting bankruptcy within two years, as well as possibly hundreds of layoffs for police officers and firefighters if Wisconsin lawmakers can’t come to terms on a shared revenue deal. Mayor Cavalier Johnson was one of several people to speak at the Senate’s first hearing on the plan to send as much as $500 million to local governments across the state, “Without question, my city’s budgetary situation is dire,” Johnson told senators. “My city is on a path to catastrophic bu...
May 25, 2023•8 min•Ep. 96
There are complaints, and at least one possible lawsuit brewing about Milwaukee’s new proposed food truck rules. Two aldermen, Jocasta Zamarripa and Johnathon Brostoff, last week proposed a new two-zone approach for food trucks in the city. “This heavy regulation seems to be picking winners and losers. And is set-up in a way that only the connected are able to get it,” Chris Reader, executive vice president with the Institute for Reforming Government, told The Center Square Tuesday. “It literall...
May 20, 2023•5 min•Ep. 95
Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly used a routine resolution to honor fallen police officers to try and make a point about gun control. Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, spoke during the usually perfunctory debate time for the resolution recognizing May 2023 as Law Enforcement Appreciation Month in Wisconsin. “Acts of appreciation, like this joint resolution, are important. But actions speak louder than words,” Andraca said Wednesday. “How can this legislature express appreciation for the men ...
May 19, 2023•7 min•Ep. 94
The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly says six months of negotiations over the plan to send more money to local governments is enough. Speaker Robin Vos on Wednesday said the latest version of their shared revenue proposal is pretty much a take-it-or-leave it proposal. “We are done negotiating,” Vos told reporters Wednesday. “We are not going to make changes. We are not going to change the bill substantially. What we have before us is the deal that we are going to send to our colleagues i...
May 18, 2023•8 min•Ep. 93
There is zero early support on the Milwaukee County Board to spend taxpayer funds on the hundreds of millions of dollars of improvements at the Brewers’ ballpark. The county’s Committee on Intergovernmental Relations on Monday unanimously voted for a resolution opposing the use of any local tax dollars to pay for upgrades at American Family Field. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
May 13, 2023•9 min•Ep. 92
Last weekend’s murder of a St. Croix County deputy has made 2023 the deadliest year for law enforcement in Wisconsin in the past 20 years. Deputy Kaite Leising died during a drunk driving stop Saturday night. Investigators with the Wisconsin Department of Justice say a convicted rapist and registered sex offender pulled a gun and shot her. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
May 12, 2023•6 min•Ep. 91
Wisconsin’s weekend TV shows provided a stark difference between Republicans and Democrats at the State Capitol on the new shared revenue proposal. State Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-R-Wonewoc, was on both UPFRONT in Milwaukee and Capital City Sunday in Madison. He said on both shows that Republicans are willing to work with local leaders and Gov. Tony Evers on a final version of the plan to share more money with local governments. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininf...
May 11, 2023•6 min•Ep. 90
Shared revenue restrictions on Wisconsin local governments are drawing rebukes in financially troubled Milwaukee. Republicans on Tuesday released the details of their plan to send more money to local governments. State Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, said the state-imposed restrictions are too much. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support
May 06, 2023•6 min•Ep. 89
Attorney General Josh Kaul argued against a motion to dismiss his challenge to the state’s century-old abortion law on Thursday. Kaul is suing the district attorneys in Sheboygan, Dane and Milwaukee counties – the only places where abortions in the state used to be performed – to block the enforcement of Wisconsin’s 1849 law that bans abortions in every case except to save a mother’s life. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
May 05, 2023•6 min•Ep. 88
Top Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol say they are working on a plan to send more state money to local governments across the state, but the city of Milwaukee this week added a bit of urgency to that work. On Monday, Milwaukee’s Steering and Rules Committee proposed cutting the city’s entire sixth police district to find the money to pay Milwaukee’s skyrocketing pension payment. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Apr 28, 2023•10 min•Ep. 87
Supporters of a flat tax in Wisconsin know it won’t happen this year, but that’s not stopping them. Dozens of Republican lawmakers, advocates, and business owners from across the state crowded a Senate hearing Tuesday to talk about the plan that would move Wisconsin from its current progressive income tax to a flat 3.25% income tax in three years. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Apr 27, 2023•9 min•Ep. 86
Another flat tax plan is all but dead at the Wisconsin Capitol. State Reps. John Macco, R-Ledgeview, and Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, this week introduced legislation that would lower Wisconsin’s top three tax brackets to 4.5%, and make sure people in the state’s lowest tax bracket wouldn’t pay any income tax at all. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Apr 22, 2023•7 min•Ep. 85
For the second year in a row, the Wisconsin Capitol became fixated on marijuana on the 20th of April. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard took two very different approaches to pot on Thursday. Vos told the Associated Press that there’s no support for a fully legal, recreational marijuana law in the state legislature. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Apr 21, 2023•5 min•Ep. 84
There is a plan at the Wisconsin Capitol that would allow teachers and school workers to carry a gun inside a school. State Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, is circulating the legislation for co-sponsors this week. Allen said the idea is to allow local school boards to set their own rules about guns in school. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support
Apr 15, 2023•7 min•Ep. 83
The push for a universal free school lunch program in Wisconsin is running into opposition at the State Capitol. Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction on Monday shared the testimony it plans to deliver to the legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee about its Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids initiative. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support
Apr 14, 2023•8 min•Ep. 82
There’s clearly a theme at Wisconsin’s traveling budget hearings: People want more money. The legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee held its third public budget hearing on Wednesday in the Wisconsin Dells, and once again people lined up for hours to ask lawmakers for more for their communities. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support
Apr 13, 2023•6 min•Ep. 81
Liberals have won another landslide statewide election in Wisconsin, pushing judge Janet Protasiewicz on to the state Supreme Court. Protasiewicz won the closely watched and massively expensive race for Supreme Court by nearly 11 points Tuesday. She got 55% of the vote, compared to conservative former Justice Dan Kelly’s 44%. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Apr 08, 2023•6 min•Ep. 80
The president at the University of Wisconsin is defending the school’s recent 5% tuition hike as necessary to win the “war for talent.” President Jay Rothman told a crowd at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee’s meeting on Tuesday that raising tuition will help get students the tools they need for new careers. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support
Apr 07, 2023•9 min•Ep. 79
Most of Gov. Tony Evers’ building plan is earmarked for the University of Wisconsin System, but a new report says there are also millions of dollars dedicated to non-state agency “pork-barrel” projects. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support
Apr 06, 2023•9 min•Ep. 78
Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly are showing just how tough they want to get on crime. Lawmakers on Wednesday took up a laundry list of proposals that include guaranteed prison time for convicted felons caught with guns, make it tougher for prosecutors to drop certain felony charges, define the difference between a riot and a protest, and get tougher on reckless drivers in Wisconsin. Only the reckless driving proposals have a chance of actually becoming law. Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield i...
Mar 24, 2023•10 min•Ep. 77
Wisconsin’s only debate for state Supreme Court was quick, rough-and-tumble, and didn’t really cover anything new. Liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz and conservative former Justice Dan Kelly met Tuesday afternoon in Madison for the only debate in the race. The debate was sponsored by The State Bar of Wisconsin and a Madison TV station. As expected, Protasiewicz talked about her “values,” and Kelly hammered at her being overtly political with those values. “I have been clear that any decision that...
Mar 23, 2023•10 min•Ep. 76
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. “One of the things that is kind of hidden throughout this, is an ongoing theme that we’re seeing with federa...
Mar 18, 2023•10 min•Ep. 75
Jail guards in Wisconsin could soon be able to retire early and receive disability benefits when they do. The Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety on Tuesday heard from local sheriffs about SB 28, which would expand the Wisconsin Retirement System’s definition of protected employee to cover guards in local jails. “The jailer right now is the only link in the entire chain that is not protected,” Columbia County Sheriff Roger Brandner told lawmakers. “Our police officers are, our deputy...
Mar 17, 2023•6 min•Ep. 74
The Republicans who will write Wisconsin’s new state budget say the latest breakdown shows they are right. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Wednesday released a line-by-line breakdown of Gov. Tony Evers’ $104 billion two-year state budget. The LFB analysis doesn’t offer any commentary on the governor’s spending proposal. Instead it simply tracks where the money would go and just how much the governor wants to spend. Joint Finance Committee co-chairmen Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Howard Mar...
Mar 16, 2023•9 min•Ep. 73
Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to block the state’s new meningitis and chickenpox vaccine rules. The legislature’s rules committee, the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules, on Tuesday took the first step toward overturning the new rules, established earlier this year by the state’s Department of Health Services. DHS wants to add a meningitis vaccine requirement for 7th graders, and change the rules for chickenpox shots. Heather Allen with the group Wisconsin United for Freedom is...
Mar 10, 2023•8 min•Ep. 72
