Sturgeon season in Wisconsin will continue. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it will not add the lake sturgeon to the endangered species list. “After conducting a thorough species status assessment using the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined lake sturgeon do not require listing under the Endangered Species Act,” Fish and Wildlife said in a statement on Monday. A federal judge in Illinois ordered Fish and Wildlife to consider the lake sturgeon as a way t...
Apr 25, 2024•9 min•Ep. 221
One of the biggest critics of Wisconsin’s election administrator says no one should be threatening her and says threats don’t help fix election integrity issues. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, on Tuesday offered her thoughts after the Wisconsin Elections Commission confirmed elections administrator Meagan Wolfe is receiving extra security protection. "Threatening Administrator Meagan Wolfe, or any election official, is unacceptable and counterproductive. Venting frustrations on i...
Apr 20, 2024•9 min•Ep. 220
A new report says Wisconsin is in its best fiscal position in decades. The Wisconsin Policy Forum released its latest report this week. It looks at the state’s debt, budget health, general fund reserves and what the future may hold for the state. “Overall, the state’s finances ended 2023 in outstanding fashion. Wisconsin has improved its fiscal condition substantially since the Great Recession years, a period marked by severe budget challenges in which the state raised taxes, cut aid to schools ...
Apr 19, 2024•10 min•Ep. 219
There is now a legal challenge to Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto. The WMC Litigation Center on Monday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up their challenge to the governor’s summer veto that increased per-pupil funding for the next four centuries. The WMC Litigation Center is an affiliate of Wisconsin Manufactures & Commerce (WMC), the combined state chamber and manufacturers’ association. Litigation Center Executive Director Scott Rosenow said while Wisconsin’s governo...
Apr 18, 2024•8 min•Ep. 218
Wisconsin Republicans filed an election complaint about the balance of poll workers in Madison and Milwaukee. The RNC, along with the Dane County and Milwaukee County Republican Parties, filed two complaints with the Wisconsin Elections Commission that allege election managers in Madison and Milwaukee didn’t hire enough Republican poll workers. State law requires election managers to work off a list of approved poll workers, but the Republican complaint accuses Madison and Milwaukee of ignoring ...
Apr 13, 2024•8 min•Ep. 217
There is pushback to the University of Wisconsin’s decision to make the SAT and ACT optional for students for the next few years. State Sen. Duey Striebel, R-Cedarburg, on Tuesday said the plan to accept students’ high school grades only is short-sighted and politically motivated. UW regents approved an extension of the test-option policy. The university will not require the SAT or the ACT until at least the fall of 2027. Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_435ce892-f69...
Apr 12, 2024•9 min•Ep. 216
Most voters in Wisconsin support their local schools’ requests for more tax money. A new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum says a little more than 60% of the local school referendum questions that were on the ballot so far this year have passed. But the Policy Forum says that number is low. “Voters across Wisconsin approved 62 of the 103 school district referenda placed on primary and general election ballots this spring. The 60.2% approval rate was the lowest in a midterm or presidential e...
Apr 11, 2024•10 min•Ep. 215
Wisconsin Republicans are up in arms about Gov. Tony Evers latest wave of vetoes. The governor scuttled 40 Republican proposals. The list includes vetoes of a tax cut for retirees in the state, a plan to set a wolf hunt number and vetoes of a child care tax credit and a proposal to keep road salt out of the state’s drinking water, both of which Evers has said were his biggest priorities. Republican lawmakers said the governor is simply playing politics. Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.co...
Apr 06, 2024•8 min•Ep. 214
Voters across Wisconsin said yes to a lot of things on their ballots Tuesday. Both of the state’s proposed constitutional amendments to keep outside money and poll workers out of election operations passed, and a quarter-billion-dollar tax increase for Milwaukee Public Schools also likely gained approval. The first amendment, which bans so-called “Zuckerbucks,” passed with about 54% of the vote. The second question, which bans outside election workers from working in Wisconsin, passed with about...
Apr 05, 2024•11 min•Ep. 213
Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday vetoed the Republican-backed legislation that would have banned trans athletes from girls sports in the state. “I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids, and I will continue to keep my promise of using every power available to me to defend them, protect their rights, and keep them safe,” Evers said in a statement. The legislation would have kept anyone born a male out of girls sports in mid...
Apr 04, 2024•9 min•Ep. 212
The price tag for the University of Wisconsin is set to go up next year. UWE President Jay Rothman on Thursday said regents will vote next week on a plan to raise tuition for Wisconsin students by 3.75%. The proposed tuition increase means in-state students in Wisconsin will pay $11,604 at UW-Madison, $10,398 at UW-Milwaukee and between $8,200 and $9,800 for the state’s other, smaller campuses. The proposed tuition increase also comes after a 5% tuition increase at the beginning of the current s...
Mar 30, 2024•7 min•Ep. 211
Gov. Tony Evers signed more than two dozen new laws, including bans on child sex dolls and child porn created by artificial intelligence. One of the new laws creates the new crime of possession of virtual child pornography. Prosecutors say the law is needed because even AI generated images feed into child pornography and often the pictures or videos are created based on real images. Another new law bans the sale, possession, manufacture or advertisement of child sex dolls. Support this podcast: ...
Mar 29, 2024•7 min•Ep. 210
Republicans’ advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives will be only 217-213 after April 19, following Friday’s decision by U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher to resign. The resignation means no more than one Republican can cross the aisle on party-line votes. Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District representative, just 31 when he first won his seat in November 2016, had already said he would not seek a fifth term this election cycle. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wiscon...
Mar 28, 2024•4 min•Ep. 209
The former Milwaukee election manager who sent three fake military ballots to a state lawmaker back in 2022 is claiming to be a whistleblower, but the lawmaker who got those ballots isn’t sure. Kimberly Zapata’s trial began this week. She’s the former Milwaukee Election Commission supervisor charged with official misconduct after she mailed three military ballots to state Rep. Janel Brandtjen ahead of the 2022 election. Zapata’s lawyers said she is “political whistleblower” who simply wanted to ...
Mar 23, 2024•9 min•Ep. 208
The latest opposition to Milwaukee Public Schools’ proposed quarter-billion-dollar tax hike is a calculator. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Tuesday launched its property tax calculator to let people in Milwaukee know just how much more they will pay if the $252 million tax increase passes in April. MPS says it needs the money to avoid deep cuts to school programs. But WILL's Kyle Koenen said Milwaukee Public Schools have seen record amounts of money, mostly from the federal gover...
Mar 22, 2024•10 min•Ep. 207
The Green Party’s Jill Stein says she’s not going to be a spoiler in November. Stein, who has not yet been formally nominated by the Green Party, was a guest on UpFront on Milwaukee television over the weekend. She said Democrats have abandoned their voters, and those voters are looking for somewhere else to go. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualified purchases) Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Mar 21, 2024•9 min•Ep. 206
The effort to unseat Wisconsin’s assembly speaker is now in the hands of the state’s Elections Commission. The group that is looking to recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Monday submitted 10,700 signatures. Wisconsin law requires it has at least 6,850 valid signatures to move ahead. Those trying to oust Wisconsin’s assembly speaker say they are on board with an investigation into possible fraud in their recall effort. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfoc...
Mar 16, 2024•8 min•Ep. 205
Wisconsin’s governor is promising to veto a proposal that would keep girls sports in Wisconsin for biological girls only. The Wisconsin Senate approved the plan Tuesday. The legislation would ban anyone born a male from competing in girls sports in middle school, high school or college in Wisconsin. Join Skillshare: skillshare.eqcm.net/ATN Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Mar 15, 2024•9 min•Ep. 204
Wisconsin’s push to help children in the state’s schools read better took its next step forward Monday. The budget-writing Joint Finance Committee approved four new reading programs for the state’s public schools. JFC co-chairman Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said more than 60% of Wisconsin fourth-graders currently cannot read or write at grade level. Born said changing the way Wisconsin teachers teach reading is the obvious first step. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we e...
Mar 14, 2024•9 min•Ep. 203
The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly says he’s not afraid of this fall’s election. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber he’s actually looking forward to running under the new legislative maps the Gov. Tony Evers drew. Evers’s maps pit dozens of incumbent Republican lawmakers against each other, many in new districts. Join Skillshare: skillshare.eqcm.net/ATN Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Mar 09, 2024•9 min•Ep. 202
New legislation at the Wisconsin Capitol would put local communities in charge of local wind and solar projects. State Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Stockbridge, has introduced a plan that would require local leaders to sign off on wind and solar farms before regulators at Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission could move forward. Currently, the PSC makes the decisions about wind and solar farms in Wisconsin. But that has, at times, put state regulators in charge of projects that don’t have unanimous local s...
Mar 08, 2024•9 min•Ep. 201
Just days after scuttling Republican-written tax cuts for families and retirees in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers signed a tax credit that will send more money to parents. Evers on Monday signed the child and dependent care tax credit. The plan doubles Wisconsin child care tax credit, from 50% of the federal level to 100%. The governor’s signature means families can claim up to $10,000 for one child, and up to $20,000 for a second child. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we...
Mar 07, 2024•7 min•Ep. 200
Wisconsin’s governor is offering a compromise on PFAS pollution that would give him $125 million and allow him to ignore the plan Republican lawmakers say would protect landowners across the state from fines, fees and lawsuits. Gov. Tony Evers promised to veto the latest plan to deal with PFAS chemicals, while also demanding that Republicans release the $125 million included in the doomed legislation. The Republican-controlled legislature last week approved a plan, Senate Bill 312, which would u...
Mar 02, 2024•9 min•Ep. 199
There are new claims the University of Wisconsin has not stopped using race to make decisions on its campuses. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Wednesday sent a letter to the university, asking the school to stop prioritizing one race over the other. WILL’s letter said the UW’s latest offenses came with the awarding of several awards and fellowships. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Mar 01, 2024•8 min•Ep. 198
Expansion in the way Wisconsin prepares new teachers has passed the state Assembly and awaits a decision from second-term Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. His decision has yet to be signaled. Only nine technical colleges and one university offer apprenticeship programs. It's small and Assembly Bill 1005 adds to it. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualified purchases) Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Feb 29, 2024•8 min•Ep. 197
Some of the first questions about Wisconsin’s race for U.S. Senate are about California. Democrats hammered businessman Eric Hovde about his banks and home in California. Democrats also accuse Hovde of living in California, and only returning to Wisconsin to run for office. Hovde, who announced he is running for the U.S. Senate, on Wednesday told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber that’s ridiculous. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Feb 24, 2024•10 min•Ep. 196
Wisconsin is considering a massive shift in how public and choice schools get their money. The Wisconsin Assembly approved the plan to decouple the Racine and statewide school voucher programs, replacing the local property tax money that currently pays for those programs with state dollars. That would shift millions of dollars for choice schools in Wisconsin from local school districts to the state. It would also mean a steadier and more reliable stream of dollars for choice schools. Support thi...
Feb 23, 2024•8 min•Ep. 195
The court fight over Wisconsin’s new political maps is likely over. Second-term Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Monday morning signed into law new legislative maps he drew that take away the need for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to draw new boundaries for state Assembly and state Senate districts. Evers insists he didn't sign because he drew the maps or because they favor Democrats. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualified purchases) Support this podcast: h...
Feb 22, 2024•8 min•Ep. 194
The latest discussion about political maps in Wisconsin saw state senators from both parties crying foul about hypocrisy and partisan politics. The Wisconsin Senate passed Gov. Tony Evers’ political maps Tuesday to head off potentially worse maps from the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Democrats, as expected, objected to the maps drawn by the Democratic governor. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wisconsininfocus/support...
Feb 17, 2024•10 min•Ep. 193
The latest attempt to codify who makes the decisions for children in Wisconsin is headed for an almost certain veto after the Wisconsin Senate approved AB 510, also known as the Parental Bill of Rights. The proposal spells out 16 specific rights reserved for parents, including the right to make medical decisions and the right to decide what name their child uses in school. The legislation also gives parents the right to see what their children are taught in school and the right to opt out of any...
Feb 16, 2024•9 min•Ep. 192
