The Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a pair of bills Thursday that stiffen penalties for impaired drivers. AB 15 and 17 would require those charged with first-offense OWI to appear in court and would implement a
Efforts by the state crime lab to trim a backlog of untested sexual assault kits led to delays in testing DNA in nearly 350 active cases, a new Department of Justice report says. The state began to clear that backlog
The state Senate still plans to move forward with a bill that would ban abortions on the basis of race, sex or disability despite the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday declining to review a federal appeals court decision striking down a
UW System President Ray Cross, who sought 3 percent raises for faculty, said “we’ll do the best we can” with expected 2 percent pay hikes, but the university is behind some peer institutions when it comes to compensation. Cross appeared
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said he thinks there is a small chance Tony Evers could sign the GOP’s so-called “born alive” abortion bill – a bill the Dem governor has said he will veto. “I know it’s a
Flanked by lawmakers, law enforcement officials and advocates, AG Josh Kaul and Gov. Tony Evers announced the state has filed a lawsuit alleging subsidiaries of Purdue Pharma fueled the opioid epidemic by employing “deceptive” marketing and sales techniques. Wisconsin is
Welcome to our weekly DC Wrap, where we write about Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. Sign up here to receive the newsletter directly. NOTE: DC Wrap will not be sent out over the next two weeks. It will return the first week
On one day in February, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes drove to Kenosha, attended a Black History Month event at a school and had lunch in Racine before heading back to Milwaukee, where he started the day. There, he had a
Fiserv Forum, the new home of the Milwaukee Bucks, will return a tremendous amount of money to state taxpayers who helped fund it, said Scott Neitzel, the former administration secretary for Republican Gov. Scott Walker who helped craft the arena
The Assembly is planning to take up three abortion-related bills when it convenes next week, according to a proposed calendar from Majority Leader Jim Steineke. Members are also scheduled to vote on two crime-related bills as well as Marsy’s Law,
During a fractious meeting that spanned the better part of three-and-a-half hours, several counties that had previously submitted proposals to operate youth lockups expressed concerns about the viability of the projects to the Department of Correction’s Juvenile Grant Committee.
Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said his bill to repeal the personal conviction waiver on vaccines is about public health and safety. But state Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, said parental rights need to be protected. The two
Gov. Tony Evers says he’s not giving up on his proposal to expand Medicaid despite JFC Republicans’ plan to pull it from the budget, but he stopped short of saying he would veto a budget that didn’t include it. Meanwhile,
A split state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the immediate restoration of 82 appointments that Gov. Tony Evers sought to rescind after a Dane County judge overturned their confirmations from the December lame-duck session. The court ruled 4-3 the Dane
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos added two new staffers last month, filling the last of the 14 positions he put under his authority for the session. The additions of Julie Lund and Ashley Luke have pushed Vos’ payroll to more than
Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm says she is “more optimistic” Wisconsin will end up taking federal dollars to expand health care coverage to low-income residents. The Evers administration says the governor’s plan to take federal money available through
GREEN BAY — Donald Trump delivered a free-wheeling riff to backers here Saturday night, laying out how they were being ripped off by other countries on trade and military spending, but finally had a president who was loyal to them,
GOP legislative leaders have approved hiring private attorneys to represent them with Dem Josh Kaul in the AG’s office — this time in two environmental suits that are now before the state Supreme Court. In one, the state Supreme Court
The feds are planning to conduct a review of the Wisconsin National Guard’s sexual misconduct procedures, Gov. Tony Evers announced today. Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, last month called for an examination of the Wisconsin Guard’s policies to
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos are denying a Foxconn exec indicated in a meeting last month that the Taiwanese manufacturer wanted to renegotiate terms of the up-to-$3 billion state incentive package. Gov. Tony Evers released
The Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a pair of bills Thursday that stiffen penalties for impaired drivers. AB 15 and 17 would require those charged with first-offense OWI to appear in court and would implement a presumptive mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for
Efforts by the state crime lab to trim a backlog of untested sexual assault kits led to delays in testing DNA in nearly 350 active cases, a new Department of Justice report says. The state began to clear that backlog — which peaked at over 6,800 untested kits, some of
The state Senate still plans to move forward with a bill that would ban abortions on the basis of race, sex or disability despite the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday declining to review a federal appeals court decision striking down a similar law in Indiana. The Indiana law would prohibit doctors
UW System President Ray Cross, who sought 3 percent raises for faculty, said “we’ll do the best we can” with expected 2 percent pay hikes, but the university is behind some peer institutions when it comes to compensation. Cross appeared in an interview aired Sunday on “UpFront,” produced in partnership
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said he thinks there is a small chance Tony Evers could sign the GOP’s so-called “born alive” abortion bill – a bill the Dem governor has said he will veto. “I know it’s a long shot. I’m not naïve,” Fitzgerald said Sunday on “UpFront,”
Flanked by lawmakers, law enforcement officials and advocates, AG Josh Kaul and Gov. Tony Evers announced the state has filed a lawsuit alleging subsidiaries of Purdue Pharma fueled the opioid epidemic by employing “deceptive” marketing and sales techniques. Wisconsin is one of five states — along with Iowa, Kansas, Maryland
Welcome to our weekly DC Wrap, where we write about Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. Sign up here to receive the newsletter directly. NOTE: DC Wrap will not be sent out over the next two weeks. It will return the first week in June, following the Memorial Day recess. Thanks for reading!
On one day in February, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes drove to Kenosha, attended a Black History Month event at a school and had lunch in Racine before heading back to Milwaukee, where he started the day. There, he had a call with the president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council
Fiserv Forum, the new home of the Milwaukee Bucks, will return a tremendous amount of money to state taxpayers who helped fund it, said Scott Neitzel, the former administration secretary for Republican Gov. Scott Walker who helped craft the arena deal. Neitzel, who as former chairman of the Wisconsin Center
The Assembly is planning to take up three abortion-related bills when it convenes next week, according to a proposed calendar from Majority Leader Jim Steineke. Members are also scheduled to vote on two crime-related bills as well as Marsy’s Law, a proposed constitutional amendment aiming to bolster crime victims’ rights.
During a fractious meeting that spanned the better part of three-and-a-half hours, several counties that had previously submitted proposals to operate youth lockups expressed concerns about the viability of the projects to the Department of Correction’s Juvenile Grant Committee.
Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said his bill to repeal the personal conviction waiver on vaccines is about public health and safety. But state Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, said parental rights need to be protected. The two appeared jointly Sunday on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com.
Gov. Tony Evers says he’s not giving up on his proposal to expand Medicaid despite JFC Republicans’ plan to pull it from the budget, but he stopped short of saying he would veto a budget that didn’t include it. Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, dug in over his opposition
A split state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the immediate restoration of 82 appointments that Gov. Tony Evers sought to rescind after a Dane County judge overturned their confirmations from the December lame-duck session. The court ruled 4-3 the Dane County judge had improperly failed to stay his decision after
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos added two new staffers last month, filling the last of the 14 positions he put under his authority for the session. The additions of Julie Lund and Ashley Luke have pushed Vos’ payroll to more than $975,000 for staffers either working directly for him in the
Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm says she is “more optimistic” Wisconsin will end up taking federal dollars to expand health care coverage to low-income residents. The Evers administration says the governor’s plan to take federal money available through the Affordable Care Act would provide coverage to an additional
GREEN BAY — Donald Trump delivered a free-wheeling riff to backers here Saturday night, laying out how they were being ripped off by other countries on trade and military spending, but finally had a president who was loyal to them, not a corrupt system. Trump’s nearly 90-minute speech at the
GOP legislative leaders have approved hiring private attorneys to represent them with Dem Josh Kaul in the AG’s office — this time in two environmental suits that are now before the state Supreme Court. In one, the state Supreme Court agreed to take up a years-long battle over the DNR’s
The feds are planning to conduct a review of the Wisconsin National Guard’s sexual misconduct procedures, Gov. Tony Evers announced today. Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, last month called for an examination of the Wisconsin Guard’s policies to be conducted by the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos are denying a Foxconn exec indicated in a meeting last month that the Taiwanese manufacturer wanted to renegotiate terms of the up-to-$3 billion state incentive package. Gov. Tony Evers released a letter yesterday to Louis Woo indicating it was the