
Senate Republicans will need Dem help to pass $1.8B surplus package
Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, criticized the deal right away, and Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, expressed his opposition in a post on X late yesterday.
Visit WisPolitics-State Affairs for premium content,
keyword notifications, bill tracking and more

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, criticized the deal right away, and Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, expressed his opposition in a post on X late yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein dismissed a $1.8 billion surplus spending deal from GOP leaders and Gov. Tony Evers as coming from “three men who will not be in elected office next year.” Evers, meanwhile, said during a stop in Barneveld that he believed voting against the tax cut deal would be a “hard position” for Democrats to take in an election year.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Dem candidate for governor, says the county could face a $1 million deficit because of the rising fuel prices, blaming President Donald Trump and the Iran war.

Don Millis, who was elected without opposition, previously led the commission after beating fellow GOP appointee Bob Spindell for the post in 2022.

The state GOP has canceled a meeting of its executive committee that had been called to discuss personnel matters amid criticism of state Chair Brian Schimming, according to two sources.

Documents obtained by WisPolitics show those pushing the effort are seeking a May 12 meeting, noting the executive committee has authority over matters related to employment, compensation, performance and organizational structure.

Former GOP Gov. Scott Walker says young independent voters are the “wild card” this November and could swing toward candidates like Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist from Madison who received the most support in the most recent Marquette Law School poll.

Former UW President Jay Rothman accused Regents President Amy Bogost of misleading a state Senate committee when she said a 2% tuition increase for the 2026-27 school year wasn’t “written in stone,” according to an email obtained by WisPolitics.

Jacque is the sixth Republican in the 18-member Senate GOP caucus to retire.

The suit the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court on behalf of the Virginia-based PAC Americans for Citizen Voting argues the law “unlawfully restrict(s) core political speech and association rights.”

The Evers administration is asking lawmakers to sign off on spending $10.4 million to finish reimbursing states that provided law enforcement to assist in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention nearly two years ago.

The business leaders who challenged Wisconsin’s congressional map as an “anti-competitive gerrymander” filed a notice of appeal with the state Supreme Court after a three-judge panel on Tuesday dismissed the suit.

“The first congressional district, frankly on paper, is more flippable than the third district,” Peter Burgelis, a Democratic alderman in Milwaukee, said while announcing his candidacy on WISN-TV’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics-State Affairs.

State utility regulators rejected a proposal that would have required ratepayers to share the cost of new power plants built for data centers. Data centers in We Energies’ coverage area will instead be expected to pay the whole cost of new “bespoke” power generation built to serve the energy-guzzling facilities, the Public Service Commission decided Friday.

The trio of lawsuits filed yesterday in Dane County court against Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket, Crypto.com and their affiliates seeks to stop their use of “event contracts” allowing Wisconsin users to bet on the outcome of sporting events.

Nearly half of the state’s early literacy council resigned while the body was reviewing early literacy instructional materials, leading to a “months-long” delay in finalizing the recommendations, according to DPI.

Two committee members cited the agreements Monday in declining to discuss with WisPolitics this weekend’s meeting, which followed calls for state party Chair Brian Schimming’s removal as chair after conservative Maria Lazar lost the state Supreme Court race earlier this month by 20 points.

MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius says “it would be wonderful” if Wisconsin teachers could again collectively bargain and Act 10 was reversed despite a feud with the teachers union over the district’s projected $46 million deficit. “I’ve always been a supporter

The Assembly and Senate left open a special session Dem Gov. Tony Evers called to ban partisan gerrymandering, saying they wanted to continue talks and gather public input.

Gov. Tony Evers expressed confidence that a deal could be struck with GOP lawmakers to use at least some of the state’s projected $2.5 billion surplus, saying they were down to “basic things” to hash out.

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, criticized the deal right away, and Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, expressed his opposition in a post on X late yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein dismissed a $1.8 billion surplus spending deal from GOP leaders and Gov. Tony Evers as coming from “three men who will not be in elected office next year.” Evers, meanwhile, said during a stop in Barneveld that he believed voting against the tax cut deal would be a “hard position” for Democrats to take in an election year.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Dem candidate for governor, says the county could face a $1 million deficit because of the rising fuel prices, blaming President Donald Trump and the Iran war.

Don Millis, who was elected without opposition, previously led the commission after beating fellow GOP appointee Bob Spindell for the post in 2022.

The state GOP has canceled a meeting of its executive committee that had been called to discuss personnel matters amid criticism of state Chair Brian Schimming, according to two sources.

Documents obtained by WisPolitics show those pushing the effort are seeking a May 12 meeting, noting the executive committee has authority over matters related to employment, compensation, performance and organizational structure.

Former GOP Gov. Scott Walker says young independent voters are the “wild card” this November and could swing toward candidates like Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist from Madison who received the most support in the most recent Marquette Law School poll.

Former UW President Jay Rothman accused Regents President Amy Bogost of misleading a state Senate committee when she said a 2% tuition increase for the 2026-27 school year wasn’t “written in stone,” according to an email obtained by WisPolitics.

Jacque is the sixth Republican in the 18-member Senate GOP caucus to retire.

The suit the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court on behalf of the Virginia-based PAC Americans for Citizen Voting argues the law “unlawfully restrict(s) core political speech and association rights.”

The Evers administration is asking lawmakers to sign off on spending $10.4 million to finish reimbursing states that provided law enforcement to assist in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention nearly two years ago.

The business leaders who challenged Wisconsin’s congressional map as an “anti-competitive gerrymander” filed a notice of appeal with the state Supreme Court after a three-judge panel on Tuesday dismissed the suit.

“The first congressional district, frankly on paper, is more flippable than the third district,” Peter Burgelis, a Democratic alderman in Milwaukee, said while announcing his candidacy on WISN-TV’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics-State Affairs.

State utility regulators rejected a proposal that would have required ratepayers to share the cost of new power plants built for data centers. Data centers in We Energies’ coverage area will instead be expected to pay the whole cost of new “bespoke” power generation built to serve the energy-guzzling facilities, the Public Service Commission decided Friday.

The trio of lawsuits filed yesterday in Dane County court against Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket, Crypto.com and their affiliates seeks to stop their use of “event contracts” allowing Wisconsin users to bet on the outcome of sporting events.

Nearly half of the state’s early literacy council resigned while the body was reviewing early literacy instructional materials, leading to a “months-long” delay in finalizing the recommendations, according to DPI.

Two committee members cited the agreements Monday in declining to discuss with WisPolitics this weekend’s meeting, which followed calls for state party Chair Brian Schimming’s removal as chair after conservative Maria Lazar lost the state Supreme Court race earlier this month by 20 points.

MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius says “it would be wonderful” if Wisconsin teachers could again collectively bargain and Act 10 was reversed despite a feud with the teachers union over the district’s projected $46 million deficit. “I’ve always been a supporter of unions and labor,” Cassellius said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,”

The Assembly and Senate left open a special session Dem Gov. Tony Evers called to ban partisan gerrymandering, saying they wanted to continue talks and gather public input.

Gov. Tony Evers expressed confidence that a deal could be struck with GOP lawmakers to use at least some of the state’s projected $2.5 billion surplus, saying they were down to “basic things” to hash out.