MILWAUKEE – Today, Milwaukee County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Task Force endorsed a strategic framework to guide its future work to allocate $183.6 million in federal funds, and also endorsed two emergency funding proposals that seek to strengthen the county’s pandemic response and its support for individuals facing homelessness and precarious situations. The group also approved a framework for community outreach and engagement to begin this fall. A strategic framework for Milwaukee County’s ARPA allocations The ARPA Task Force unanimously approved a strategic framework providing guidelines for how to allocate Milwaukee County’s $183.6 million in ARPA funding. The proposal, introduced by Director of

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representatives Cindy Axne (D-IA), Angie Craig (D-MN), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging them to include support for homegrown renewable fuels in the upcoming reconciliation package. “Providing additional market access for higher blends of low carbon fuels in the budget reconciliation process will create jobs in rural communities, lower the price of fuel for consumers at the pump,

Wisconsin Examiner: “Prairie du Chien library has received dozens of donations of LGBTQ-themed books” after report of Derrick Van Orden bullying “went viral” In case you missed it, last week reports of Derrick Van Orden took the internet by storm and went “viral,” after he was “irate” and “threatened” library staff in Wisconsin over an LGBTQ Pride month display at the library. His meltdown prompted one teenager to tell her parents she “didn’t feel safe at work anymore.” Now in response, the community is coming together and the Prairie du Chien library is benefitting from a “flood” of donations of

Wisconsin Association of School Boards Executive Director John Ashley released the following statement: We’ve become increasingly alarmed at the recent reports of personal threats of violence and harassment directed at school board members across the state. Civil disagreement and protest are cornerstones of our democracy but attempts to intimidate school board members and physically disrupt school board proceedings are not acceptable. Being passionate about the well-being of our children is commendable and the public is welcome to voice displeasure or disagreement with their school boards. However, threatening to physically harm school board members or their family members, shouting profanities during

As we head into our second Labor Day of the pandemic, COWS is releasing their annual State of Working Wisconsin report in a four part series this week. Today the focus is on wages: where inequalities persist, and the surprising ways these inequalities have changed over time. Most notably: In Wisconsin, the 2020 median hourly wage was $20.24, a new high for the state. Accounting for inflation, the current wage is $2.76 per hour higher than the median in 1979. A 1979 gender hierarchy in wages has evolved into a 2020 hierarchy more based on race and ethnicity. In 1979,

MADISON – Recently, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), stated that she wants the agency to establish gun violence as an urgent public health crisis. This would be a major step forward for gun safety as the CDC has largely been silent on gun violence research since 1997 due to a lack of Congressional funding. Senator Melissa Agard (D-Madison) released the following statement on this new commitment to address gun violence: “Gun violence is an urgent public health crisis. I am encouraged to see the CDC acknowledging the stark reality of too many lives

Ron Johnson has spent months discouraging Wisconsinites from getting the vaccine while pushing controversial and unproven COVID treatments like ivermectin, a dewormer drug that has hospitalized people across the state and country. See more below:   Wisconsin State Journal: ICYMI: US Sen. Ron Johnson doubles down on controversial early COVID-19 treatments, including ivermectin   U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on Wednesday doubled down on touting early treatments for COVID-19, including the much maligned use of the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin, even after federal health authorities warned against unauthorized use of the drug to treat COVID-19.   […]   Johnson for months has