
Richard Kyte: The responsibilities of citizenship are not optional
An unexamined problem bedeviling the United States today is that we have no shared understanding of citizenship.
Visit WisPolitics-State Affairs for premium content,
keyword notifications, bill tracking and more
Submit columns for consideration to wisopinion@wispolitics.com

An unexamined problem bedeviling the United States today is that we have no shared understanding of citizenship.

It’s time for farmers to “raise less corn and more hell.” They and their neighbors in rural areas are getting shafted: loss of health care coverage, rural hospitals at risk of closure and lack of economic opportunities. Do Republicans even care?

FoodShare is more than a nutrition program. It is a covenant between a community and its people, affirming that no one should go hungry in a state blessed with so much. Before policy proposals move forward, we urge lawmakers to consider the human stories that will unfold at the checkout counter, at the kitchen table, and in the quiet moments when families must decide which essentials they can live without.

DPI has a transparency problem that is quickly becoming a legal one. After a year of stonewalling our investigation into what we discovered was a taxpayer-funded Waterpark Workshop, the department has yet to release the vendor contract. Conveniently for them, it is the very document they claim restricts their ability to provide more details about their secret process to change the state’s Forward exam.

Lure of federal money leads Wisconsin to embrace bloat, with little prospect for accountability

Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head.

Tech companies have hidden their identity and environmental impacts with anonymous LLCs, non-disclosure agreements and claims of trade secrecy. This secrecy has eroded public trust and undermined democratic decision-making.

What happens next will be determined less by national rhetoric and more by decisions made at the Public Service Commission, in county zoning hearings and in legislative debates at the Capitol. The federal rollback raises real risks, but it also clarifies where leadership is needed most: here at home.

New polling shows Wisconsinites are skeptical of the Legislature’s current plan, and for good reason.

Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to pay wages based on an individual’s productivity when a disability significantly limits the ability to perform job tasks at a typical pace. The point of 14(c) isn’t the wage — it’s the opportunity. It opens the door to work for people who would otherwise be shut out entirely.

The suffering of women and girls, from across the globe, can never be dismissed as a mere “distraction.”

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” But the Republican from Oshkosh shows few signs that he takes seriously what is supposed to be a solemn commitment.

Gov. Tony Evers and our state legislators should not be afraid of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism. It’s high time that our state joins most other states in adopting it.

Before you can do anything, help anyone, you have to, you know, actually win elections. Sounding more like Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff might help.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, discuss how the 2026 legislative elections will shape plans to spend Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion budget surplus. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Bills being proposed in the Wisconsin State Legislature would have far-reaching impact on the right to free speech.

In Wisconsin, we took power out of the hands of big government special interests and returned it to the hardworking taxpayers and the people they elected to run their schools and local governments.

The latest version of the Legislature’s PFAS legislation exempts certain local governmental entities while leaving manufacturers and other private businesses fully subject to strict liability, raising serious equal protection concerns.

Bill that impacts FoodShare raises concerns about food access and may even expand growing food deserts in our area.

The longer we pretend this city is a progressive haven, the more people will be harmed.

An unexamined problem bedeviling the United States today is that we have no shared understanding of citizenship.

It’s time for farmers to “raise less corn and more hell.” They and their neighbors in rural areas are getting shafted: loss of health care coverage, rural hospitals at risk of closure and lack of economic opportunities. Do Republicans even care?

FoodShare is more than a nutrition program. It is a covenant between a community and its people, affirming that no one should go hungry in a state blessed with so much. Before policy proposals move forward, we urge lawmakers to consider the human stories that will unfold at the checkout counter, at the kitchen table, and in the quiet moments when families must decide which essentials they can live without.

DPI has a transparency problem that is quickly becoming a legal one. After a year of stonewalling our investigation into what we discovered was a taxpayer-funded Waterpark Workshop, the department has yet to release the vendor contract. Conveniently for them, it is the very document they claim restricts their ability to provide more details about their secret process to change the state’s Forward exam.

Lure of federal money leads Wisconsin to embrace bloat, with little prospect for accountability

Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head.

Tech companies have hidden their identity and environmental impacts with anonymous LLCs, non-disclosure agreements and claims of trade secrecy. This secrecy has eroded public trust and undermined democratic decision-making.

What happens next will be determined less by national rhetoric and more by decisions made at the Public Service Commission, in county zoning hearings and in legislative debates at the Capitol. The federal rollback raises real risks, but it also clarifies where leadership is needed most: here at home.

New polling shows Wisconsinites are skeptical of the Legislature’s current plan, and for good reason.

Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to pay wages based on an individual’s productivity when a disability significantly limits the ability to perform job tasks at a typical pace. The point of 14(c) isn’t the wage — it’s the opportunity. It opens the door to work for people who would otherwise be shut out entirely.

The suffering of women and girls, from across the globe, can never be dismissed as a mere “distraction.”

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” But the Republican from Oshkosh shows few signs that he takes seriously what is supposed to be a solemn commitment.

Gov. Tony Evers and our state legislators should not be afraid of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism. It’s high time that our state joins most other states in adopting it.

Before you can do anything, help anyone, you have to, you know, actually win elections. Sounding more like Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff might help.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, discuss how the 2026 legislative elections will shape plans to spend Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion budget surplus. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Bills being proposed in the Wisconsin State Legislature would have far-reaching impact on the right to free speech.

In Wisconsin, we took power out of the hands of big government special interests and returned it to the hardworking taxpayers and the people they elected to run their schools and local governments.

The latest version of the Legislature’s PFAS legislation exempts certain local governmental entities while leaving manufacturers and other private businesses fully subject to strict liability, raising serious equal protection concerns.

Bill that impacts FoodShare raises concerns about food access and may even expand growing food deserts in our area.

The longer we pretend this city is a progressive haven, the more people will be harmed.