The COVID-19 pandemic put a slight dent in efforts to lobby the state Capitol during the first half of the year. It’s also the first time in the past decade that the amount spent during the first half of the year declined compared to the same period in previous sessions.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, said the Dems’ plan for a new COVID-19 relief package contains a “grotesque level of spending.” In an interview aired Sunday on “UpFront,” Johnson said at least $1 trillion is still unspent from a previous COVID relief bill, and Congress should target that first. “UpFront”

The tab for private attorneys hired by GOP lawmakers has now hit nearly $4.8 million this session, fueled recently by fights over Gov. Tony Evers’ orders during the COVID-19 pandemic and a string of election lawsuits. The tab jumps to $5.5 million when legal bills from the Wisconsin Elections Commission

Gov. Tony Evers has pledged his administration “will not touch” state funds allocated to the Unemployment Insurance program after he called for $250 million in budget cuts to deal with the COVID-19 revenue crunch. Still, quizzed Thursday by reporters on whether the cuts would affect the departments of Workforce Development

UW System President Tommy Thompson and a coalition of shared governance groups are seeking to limit cuts to the state’s university system following Gov. Tony Evers’ call for $250 million in state agency budget cuts for the current fiscal year. Thompson said additional cuts in state spending for the UW

State Sen. Tim Carpenter has apologized to Senate candidate Nada Elmikashfi for a Twitter exchange over the weekend that the chamber’s top Dem and the state party say devolved into online bullying. The Milwaukee Dem’s Twitter account was temporarily suspended over the weekend after he repeatedly sent a message to

Wisconsin is now seeing “generalized community spread” of COVID-19 with local hot spots developing, said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer and state epidemiologist for communicable diseases in the Department of Health Services. “There’s a slow burn that’s heating up in many areas of the state,” Westergaard told “UpFront,” produced

Dem lawmakers unveiled legislation aimed at overhauling the state’s overwhelmed unemployment program by removing obstacles in the application process and broadening access. Meanwhile, Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan announced that 100 state employees are being temporarily reassigned to help the Department of Workforce Development with unemployment insurance processing. That

Dem AG Josh Kaul has joined a multi-state lawsuit seeking to block a new Trump administration rule that would prevent international students from studying in the U.S. this fall if their classes are totally online. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week amended its rules so that nonimmigrant F-1 students

The state Supreme Court today ruled three of Gov. Tony Evers’ partial vetoes in the 2019-21 budget were unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the court upheld one of Evers’ partial vetoes. But in a twist, the court couldn’t agree on a rationale for why the three partial vetoes violated the Wisconsin Constitution. In

DOT Secretary Craig Thompson said it will likely be a year to 18 months before the state could get federal approval to put the long-delayed I-94 East-West expansion back in the pipeline. That would then mean putting the project in the 2023-25 budget. Gov. Tony Evers and Thompson announced yesterday

Gov. Tony Evers urged the public to embrace wearing masks as the Madison and Dane County health department announced one will be required when people are around others in any enclosed building other than their own homes. The order — the first one in the state — from Public Health