The state Senate signed off today on two bills that would stiffen the penalties for drunk driving, including one that would set a minimum mandatory sentence of five years for those convicted of an OWI homicide. The bill includes an exception to the five-year minimum if a court finds a

With Tony Evers watching from the wings, the state Senate today voted along party lines Tuesday to reject the nomination of Brad Pfaff as DATCP secretary. It is the first time in at least three decades that the chamber has shot down a guv’s pick to serve in his cabinet,

Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said today the Senate will move ahead with a planned vote on the nomination of Brad Pfaff to serve as DATCP secretary. The guv’s administration, ag groups and others made a furious push to at least delay a vote on the nomination after Fitzgerald’s office

The Assembly today passed by voice vote a measure that would allow minors to operate temporary stands without a permit or license.  The measure, which cleared the Senate on Tuesday, now heads to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk. Other bills the Assembly signed off on that now head to Evers desk

The Assembly today backed a resolution expressing support for basing F-35 fighter jets at the Air National Guard Base in Madison. This comes after some residents near Truax Field have raised concerns over noise from the new planes. The base is now home to F-16s and the debate over the

Rep. Jimmy Anderson joined his fellow Assembly Dems in voting against accommodations allowing him to call into committee meetings even after GOP leaders pulled from the package a contentious measure allowing unlimited veto override attempts. Before the proposals were split into two packages, Dems denounced them as a power grab

The Assembly today unanimously approved a bill that would designate a section of state highway 28 in Dodge and Washington counties as the “Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial Highway.”  The section of highway runs through the Village of Kewaskum and by a 9/11 memorial being built there.  After the bill cleared the

The Assembly today voted to approve a measure that would make it a felony to trespass or damage oil or gas pipelines.  AB 426 would expand existing state law that made it a felony to trespass on the property of an energy provider or cause damage with the intent to

The Senate approved via voice vote a resolution expressing support for basing F-35 fighter jets at the Air National Guard Base in Madison after some residents near the airport have raised concerns over noise from the new planes. Truax Field is now home to F-16s and the debate over the

The Senate unanimously signed off on creating a statutory procedure for handling, processing and storing rape test kits. It also unanimously backed a new process to notify victims how their kits are being handled. The bills come on the heels of a backlog of untested kits becoming an issue in

The Senate voted today to make it a felony to have sexual contact with an animal, allow minors to operate food stands without a license and match the state’s hemp program to federal law. Under current Wisconsin law, it’s a class A misdemeanor to commit an act of sexual gratification

The Senate unanimously backed five of Tony Evers’ picks to serve in his cabinet, the first confirmation votes since the guv’s agency heads all began their jobs nine months ago. Without debate, the Senate voted 33-0 to confirm: Peter Barca at Revenue, Joel Brennan at Administration, Kathy Blumenfeld at Financial

The state Senate signed off on four transportation bills, including three that cleared the Assembly last week. The package is part of a promise Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, made as the Joint Finance Committee worked on the budget to approve additional reforms

The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously signed off on a plan to use additional revenue from online sales to reduce income taxes by $136.1 million in tax year 2020, clearing the way for the proposal to go to the guv. The plan would work in concert with a separate income

The state’s troubled youth prisons would close six months later than originally planned, while counties would get additional time to apply for grants to fund the regional facilities slated to help reshape the juvenile justice system in Wisconsin, under legislation the Senate approved today. The bill, which next goes to

The Assembly today also approved a measure that would use additional sales tax revenue collected from online retailers to lower income tax rates. The bill would target the reductions in the bottom two brackets while also capturing more online transactions to increase the amount of sales tax the state would

The Assembly today approved four measures from the so-called Road to Sustainability package authored by Rep. Joe Sanfelippo: *AB 273 would offer ways for the DOT to source materials at lower cost. *AB 275 would require the DOT to up the number of design-build projects in its pipeline to ensure

The Assembly signed off on a bill modifying a law passed last session that restructured the state’s juvenile justice program. The bill, which received a joint public hearing last week, would push back the closure of the state’s troubled youth prisons and give counties more time to apply for grants

The Assembly today passed a pair of bills that stiffen penalties for drunken 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 OWI homicide, respectively. Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon,