Senate approves bill to address COVID-19 pandemic

The state Senate — meeting virtually for the first time — today unanimously approved legislation responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the bill to Gov. Tony Evers. The guv is expected to sign the bill quickly. The state faces deadlines

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Fitzgerald postpones Senate’s March 24 floor period

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald today said he is postponing the March 24 floor period “out of an abundance of caution” for senators and their families during the coronavirus pandemic. The Juneau Republican said he and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos,

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Ag bills pass Assembly

The state Assembly signed off on a package of bills designed to help Wisconsin’s farmers through tax breaks and other measures. The effort began in earnest after Gov. Tony Evers called in his State of the State last month for

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Senate approves levy limit bills

The state Senate signed off on an exception to state-imposed levy limits on local governments and another bill that would make it easier for municipalities to seek more property tax revenue through referendums. Currently, some municipalities collect fees from neighboring

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Assembly passes GOP COVID-19 package on party line vote

The state Assembly Thursday voted along party lines to pass a COVID-19 package after the chamber convened nearly two hours later than originally scheduled as Republicans caucused on the bill. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, earlier this week said he had good talks with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg,

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Senate approves bill to address COVID-19 pandemic

The state Senate — meeting virtually for the first time — today unanimously approved legislation responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the bill to Gov. Tony Evers. The guv is expected to sign the bill quickly. The state faces deadlines this month to change eligibility requirements for the Medicaid program

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Slideshow: Senate meets in virtual session on COVID-19 bill

The state Senate met in a virtual session to approve a bill to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill was approved 31-0. See more on the meeting here. See the slideshow for images from the meeting. Screenshots are from WisconsinEye video. Other photos are from Pat Poblete, WisPolitics.com, and Steve

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Assembly passes bill to address impact of COVID-19 pandemic

The state Assembly, often deeply divided on big issues, today overwhelmingly backed legislation to help Wisconsin deal with the impact of COVID-19 as leaders praised the measure as an example of what can be done when lawmakers work together. The legislation, approved 97-2, would give the Joint Finance Committee new

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Slideshow: Assembly meets under social distancing requirements

Assembly lawmakers met in person and via video conference to take up legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Screenshots in the slideshow above are from Wisconsin Eye video. Other photographs are by Rick Wood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Royce Podeszwa of WisPolitics.com…. Please log in to access subscriber

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Fitzgerald postpones Senate’s March 24 floor period

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald today said he is postponing the March 24 floor period “out of an abundance of caution” for senators and their families during the coronavirus pandemic. The Juneau Republican said he and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, plan to call an extraordinary session of the Legislature

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Ag bills pass Assembly

The state Assembly signed off on a package of bills designed to help Wisconsin’s farmers through tax breaks and other measures. The effort began in earnest after Gov. Tony Evers called in his State of the State last month for a series of measures to help the ag industry and

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Assembly unanimously passes series of food product labeling bills

The Assembly passed a series of bills that would restrict labeling on meat and dairy products. The bills, AB 515, 516 and 518, would ban producers of plant-based and lab-grown food products from using terminology in their marketing that alludes to actual meat or dairy products like “cheese” or “bacon.”

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Budget veto override attempt fails in the Assembly along party lines

An override attempt of one of Gov. Tony Evers’ budget vetoes today failed in the Assembly along party lines with members of both parties accusing the other side of playing politics with students’ education. The provision within the budget Evers vetoed would’ve required the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to put

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Assembly sends GOP tax, debt package to Evers’ desk

The state Assembly signed off on a $392.4 million package on Thursday that would cut income taxes, expand a property tax break for businesses and reduce state debt. In doing so, Republicans challenged Gov. Tony Evers to sign the package after he pledged during the 2018 campaign to reduce taxes

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Senate approves levy limit bills

The state Senate signed off on an exception to state-imposed levy limits on local governments and another bill that would make it easier for municipalities to seek more property tax revenue through referendums. Currently, some municipalities collect fees from neighboring communities to provide ambulance services. Those fees now count toward

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Republicans reject Dem effort to extend bar hours during DNC

Dems sought unsuccessfully today to get the Senate to sign off on extending bar hours to 4 a.m. during the party’s national convention in Milwaukee this summer. An Assembly committee signed off on the proposal last week. But Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, indicated earlier today that momentum for

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