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The Senate voted 18-15 along party lines to approve 82 of Gov. Scott Walker’s appointments, including DOA Secretary Ellen Nowak returning to the Public Service Commission as chair. The other appointments included attorney Scott Beightol to the UW Board of
The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 along party lines early Tuesday to approve three GOP-authored extraordinary session bills after making several tweaks to the legislation. The bills, which the Legislature plans to take to the floor today after they were
Governor-elect Tony Evers is calling on the members of the the Joint Committee on Finance to oppose any extraordinary session legislation, saying the bills represent “unfettered attempts to override and ignore” what voters decided in the midterm election. In written
JFC Co-chair John Nygren argued during today’s public hearing some of the changes included in the bills are things GOP lawmakers have tried before only to have Gov. Scott Walker veto them. That includes, for example, a provision that would
Dem Sen. Jon Erpenbach today slamming Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, for authoring the bills, but not having the “guts” to testify on them before the Joint Finance Committee. “If you don’t have enough guts to show up and testify
Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced Tuesday morning the Legislature will call an extraordinary session Nov. 12 for a public hearing in the Senate on an incentive package for Kimberly-Clark with plans for a floor vote later next month. The package,
GOP Rep. Rob Brooks told WisPolitics.com this afternoon he is resigning as assistant majority leader, but won’t step down from his southeastern Wisconsin Assembly seat, rebuffing a call from Gov. Scott Walker. “I’m going to step down from leadership to
State Sen. Lena Taylor was ordered to undergo training after it was found she bullied an employee who filed a complaint against her as well as other staffers, according to newly released documents. Along with giving Taylor three months to
The Department of Justice says it isn’t going to request a delay for the guv to call special elections in the 1st SD and 42nd AD. The DOJ earlier today indicated it was looking at filing a direct appeal to
An appellate court today refused to delay the deadline to call special elections in two legislative seats as GOP lawmakers continued to forge ahead on legislation that would undercut an order to fill the vacancies. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice
A Dane County judge who denied a motion to delay the timeline for the guv to call two special elections ripped the state DOJ’s arguments as “speculative” and suggested Republicans are trying to deny representation to voters in the 1st
The state DOJ late Monday asked a Dane County judge to push back the deadline for Gov. Scott Walker to call special elections in two legislative seats. That would allow time for the Legislature to meet in extraordinary session next
Guvs would no longer have to call special elections “as promptly as possible” to fill legislative vacancies under a plan GOP leaders introduced Monday to undercut a Dane County judge’s order. The bill, which would apply to the open 1st
The Assembly today signed off on a bill that would let school boards share camera footage with police. But the legislation faces an uncertain future as it first needs Senate approval before heading to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk. The bill,
A $100 million school safety proposal is heading to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk after the Assembly signed off on the plan 78-8. Representatives passed the Senate’s version of the plan, which the chamber had approved Tuesday and is attached to
A bill with a provision to expand state-level background checks to rifles and shotguns cleared the Assembly on a voice vote, heading to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future. The background check language, attached as a substitute amendment
The Assembly today signed off on the Senate’s version of a series of bills to prohibit local governments from enacting their own laws related to employment, implement a $100-per-child rebate and overhaul court procedures. The bills previously cleared the Assembly
A tweaked plan to overhaul the state’s juvenile corrections system is now on its way to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk after passing the Assembly 90-0. The bill would close the Lincoln Hills youth prison by Jan. 1, 2021, and require
The Senate Tuesday night signed off on its version of a plan aimed at increasing school safety on a 28-4 vote. The proposal, adopted as an amendment to AB 843, differs from the six special session bills Assembly Republicans had
The Senate today voted 18-14 to pass the so-called tort reform bill with key changes that got enough GOP lawmakers on board to pass it. The bill, which would change standards on legal processes and discovery over provisions regarding the
The Senate voted 18-15 along party lines to approve 82 of Gov. Scott Walker’s appointments, including DOA Secretary Ellen Nowak returning to the Public Service Commission as chair. The other appointments included attorney Scott Beightol to the UW Board of Regents. He replaces Republican Bryan Steil, who won a seat
The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 along party lines early Tuesday to approve three GOP-authored extraordinary session bills after making several tweaks to the legislation. The bills, which the Legislature plans to take to the floor today after they were introduced Friday, would make a series of changes to state
Governor-elect Tony Evers is calling on the members of the the Joint Committee on Finance to oppose any extraordinary session legislation, saying the bills represent “unfettered attempts to override and ignore” what voters decided in the midterm election. In written testimony sent to the state’s powerful budget committee, Evers hit
JFC Co-chair John Nygren argued during today’s public hearing some of the changes included in the bills are things GOP lawmakers have tried before only to have Gov. Scott Walker veto them. That includes, for example, a provision that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs notifying the JFC when
Dem Sen. Jon Erpenbach today slamming Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, for authoring the bills, but not having the “guts” to testify on them before the Joint Finance Committee. “If you don’t have enough guts to show up and testify and defend this stuff, it shouldn’t be introduced in the
Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced Tuesday morning the Legislature will call an extraordinary session Nov. 12 for a public hearing in the Senate on an incentive package for Kimberly-Clark with plans for a floor vote later next month. The package, which includes Foxconn-like incentives that would help keep open a
GOP Rep. Rob Brooks told WisPolitics.com this afternoon he is resigning as assistant majority leader, but won’t step down from his southeastern Wisconsin Assembly seat, rebuffing a call from Gov. Scott Walker. “I’m going to step down from leadership to focus on my district,” Brooks, R-Saukville, said in a phone
State Sen. Lena Taylor was ordered to undergo training after it was found she bullied an employee who filed a complaint against her as well as other staffers, according to newly released documents. Along with giving Taylor three months to complete training on anti-harassment, anti-retaliation and anti-bullying provisions, the Milwaukee
The Department of Justice says it isn’t going to request a delay for the guv to call special elections in the 1st SD and 42nd AD. The DOJ earlier today indicated it was looking at filing a direct appeal to the Supreme Court to postpone calling the elections. But a letter
An appellate court today refused to delay the deadline to call special elections in two legislative seats as GOP lawmakers continued to forge ahead on legislation that would undercut an order to fill the vacancies. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is gearing up to take the issue to the state
A Dane County judge who denied a motion to delay the timeline for the guv to call two special elections ripped the state DOJ’s arguments as “speculative” and suggested Republicans are trying to deny representation to voters in the 1st SD and 42nd AD. Judge Richard Niess Tuesday argued the
The state DOJ late Monday asked a Dane County judge to push back the deadline for Gov. Scott Walker to call special elections in two legislative seats. That would allow time for the Legislature to meet in extraordinary session next week to pass a bill that would render moot the
Guvs would no longer have to call special elections “as promptly as possible” to fill legislative vacancies under a plan GOP leaders introduced Monday to undercut a Dane County judge’s order. The bill, which would apply to the open 1st SD and 42nd AD, also would create a new requirement
The Assembly today signed off on a bill that would let school boards share camera footage with police. But the legislation faces an uncertain future as it first needs Senate approval before heading to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk. The bill, which passed on a voice vote, would create an exception
A $100 million school safety proposal is heading to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk after the Assembly signed off on the plan 78-8. Representatives passed the Senate’s version of the plan, which the chamber had approved Tuesday and is attached to AB 843, on open enrollment, as an amendment. Eight Dems voted
A bill with a provision to expand state-level background checks to rifles and shotguns cleared the Assembly on a voice vote, heading to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future. The background check language, attached as a substitute amendment to AB 1031 on school bullying, would bolster the state’s
The Assembly today signed off on the Senate’s version of a series of bills to prohibit local governments from enacting their own laws related to employment, implement a $100-per-child rebate and overhaul court procedures. The bills previously cleared the Assembly when the chamber was on the floor last month, although
A tweaked plan to overhaul the state’s juvenile corrections system is now on its way to Gov. Scott Walker’s desk after passing the Assembly 90-0. The bill would close the Lincoln Hills youth prison by Jan. 1, 2021, and require in its place new DOC type 1 facilities for the
The Senate Tuesday night signed off on its version of a plan aimed at increasing school safety on a 28-4 vote. The proposal, adopted as an amendment to AB 843, differs from the six special session bills Assembly Republicans had been considering in a public hearing earlier today. Still, it
The Senate today voted 18-14 to pass the so-called tort reform bill with key changes that got enough GOP lawmakers on board to pass it. The bill, which would change standards on legal processes and discovery over provisions regarding the retention of records, had received pushback from Sen. Van Wanggaard,