TOP STORIES Madison school policy cited in Trump order banning teaching CRT, gender identity… declares federal money cannot be used on the “indoctrination” of children, including “radical gender ideology and critical race theory” [an “inherently racist policy”] … says civil
TOP STORIES Evers urges Trump to reconsider pause of federal grants and loansUS Judge AliKhan temporarily halted the order Tuesday [but expires Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.] … Evers sent a letter to Trump in response to [OMB’s] memo …
TOP STORIES Evers announces lower threshold for lead poisoning as part of [SOTS] kid’s health focus… to include $6M in the budget to support lead poisoning intervention and response. … new [DHS] rule will lower the threshold from 5 micrograms
TOP STORIES Battlegrounds PA, WI are back in the spotlight with high-stakes court elections… liberal majorities on both states’ high courts handed victories to Democrats in cases involving the [WI legislative] boundaries [and drop boxes] and PA congressional districts [and
TOP STORIES Judge rules Milwaukee Public Schools must have police in schools by Feb. 17Act 12 required MPS to have 25 SRO’s on duty by Jan. 1, 2024. MPS said SRO’s would be hired when City paid, but City said
TOP STORIES Evers calls for gun control measures and a bipartisan approach to immigration…. without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, said “there is a lot of angst about what may happen in the days, months, and years ahead. I
TOP STORIES Wisconsin joins challenge of Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship… Trump’s executive order asserts that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.” …
TOP STORIES Trump pardons 1,500+ Jan. 6 defendants, including 11 from WI… FBI has classified the melee as an act of domestic terrorism, which injured around 140 police officers. … included private messages Kasper [of Saxon] sent to another individual
TOP STORIES Battle over ‘conversion therapy’ ban, separation of powers before WI Supreme Court… Evers [suit] targets two votes by [JCRAR]. One deals with [DSPS’] “conversion therapy” ban. The other vote blocked an update to the state’s commercial building standards.
TOP STORIES Money allocated for reading law could go to state surplus if not used by June 30$50M for Act 20 is currently tied up in court system … change is complicated and expensive. New curriculum has to be purchased
TOP STORIES Gov. Evers creates new violence-prevention office in wake of school shooting… [funded by $10M-ARP, budget will request biennial funding, with] a sweeping package of gun violence and public safety measures. … office will work with local partners, including
TOP STORIES GOP challengers start to line up as Gov. Evers considers 2026 run for 3rd term… a congressman [Tiffany], a Whitefish Bay manufacturing businessman [Berrien, ex-Navy Seal] and suburban county executive [Schoemann] … have begun the conversations needed to
TOP STORIES State Building Commission approves funding for UW-Madison engineering building… approves revised proposal to shift unspent funds … new proposal broke the $70M [UWEC left-over] into two chunks, requiring two votes.* unanimously sent $29M to engineering building [total cost:
TOP STORIES Wisconsin’s alcohol-related deaths more than tripled since 1999… Midwest region had the largest spike, a 2.5-fold increase … In 1999, alcohol-induced deaths among Wisconsinites totaled 356. By 2020, that number had risen to 1,077. [CDC-defined as a range
TOP STORIES Senate passes voter ID measure, clearing way for final passage in Assembly next week… During debate on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Republicans and Democrats squared off, with Democrats questioning why there hasn’t been any action on issues
TOP STORIES Wisconsin GOP pushing to make voter ID a constitutional requirement… public hearing Tuesday … Senate was expected to pass it Wednesday. … Assembly was expected to give final approval next week. … Legislature passed the voter ID proposal
TOP STORIES Evers’ plan to let Wisconsin voters repeal and create state laws meets GOP resistance… Evers [FY25-27 budget] is reviving a [2022] plan previously rejected by Republicans giving voters the [constitutional] power to enact laws without approval of the
TOP STORIES Evers revisits effort to give voters more say in state laws… [Vos and LeMahieu previously dismissed his Constitutional citizen initiative as “desperate political stunt,” but] by including [it] in his 2025-27 biennial budget request, Evers hopes to force
TOP STORIES Nearly 200 ballots went uncounted in Wisconsin and officials want to know why… [WEC] voted unanimously to investigate whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl failed to comply with state law or abused her discretion. … concerned the clerk’s
TOP STORIES Coalition of 30 groups call for $953M investment for safe drinking water… long with policy changes [repeal REINS Act] and preventive measures … local rental inspection programs to ensure apartments are lead-free, funding for farmers that use practices
TOP STORIES Madison school policy cited in Trump order banning teaching CRT, gender identity… declares federal money cannot be used on the “indoctrination” of children, including “radical gender ideology and critical race theory” [an “inherently racist policy”] … says civil rights laws barring [sex, race] discrimination … would be used
TOP STORIES Evers urges Trump to reconsider pause of federal grants and loansUS Judge AliKhan temporarily halted the order Tuesday [but expires Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.] … Evers sent a letter to Trump in response to [OMB’s] memo … to all federal agencies Monday. … to “temporarily pause all
TOP STORIES Evers announces lower threshold for lead poisoning as part of [SOTS] kid’s health focus… to include $6M in the budget to support lead poisoning intervention and response. … new [DHS] rule will lower the threshold from 5 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5 … more in line with [CDC]
TOP STORIES Battlegrounds PA, WI are back in the spotlight with high-stakes court elections… liberal majorities on both states’ high courts handed victories to Democrats in cases involving the [WI legislative] boundaries [and drop boxes] and PA congressional districts [and provisional ballots]. … WI race has caught the attention of
TOP STORIES Judge rules Milwaukee Public Schools must have police in schools by Feb. 17Act 12 required MPS to have 25 SRO’s on duty by Jan. 1, 2024. MPS said SRO’s would be hired when City paid, but City said they were not liable. In October, MPS parent Abughrin sued,
TOP STORIES Evers calls for gun control measures and a bipartisan approach to immigration…. without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, said “there is a lot of angst about what may happen in the days, months, and years ahead. I have always been willing to work with anyone who is
TOP STORIES Wisconsin joins challenge of Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship… Trump’s executive order asserts that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.” … claims people born to parents who are “unlawfully present” and
TOP STORIES Trump pardons 1,500+ Jan. 6 defendants, including 11 from WI… FBI has classified the melee as an act of domestic terrorism, which injured around 140 police officers. … included private messages Kasper [of Saxon] sent to another individual as part of their case. “I pepper sprayed 3 cops
TOP STORIES Battle over ‘conversion therapy’ ban, separation of powers before WI Supreme Court… Evers [suit] targets two votes by [JCRAR]. One deals with [DSPS’] “conversion therapy” ban. The other vote blocked an update to the state’s commercial building standards. [GOP argue DSPS lacked authority to enact “conversion therapy” ban]
TOP STORIES Money allocated for reading law could go to state surplus if not used by June 30$50M for Act 20 is currently tied up in court system … change is complicated and expensive. New curriculum has to be purchased by already cash-strapped school districts. And literacy coaches need to
TOP STORIES Gov. Evers creates new violence-prevention office in wake of school shooting… [funded by $10M-ARP, budget will request biennial funding, with] a sweeping package of gun violence and public safety measures. … office will work with local partners, including law enforcement agencies, nonprofits, school districts and gun shop owners
TOP STORIES GOP challengers start to line up as Gov. Evers considers 2026 run for 3rd term… a congressman [Tiffany], a Whitefish Bay manufacturing businessman [Berrien, ex-Navy Seal] and suburban county executive [Schoemann] … have begun the conversations needed to launch campaigns. … [Tiffany] is primarily focused on passing the
TOP STORIES State Building Commission approves funding for UW-Madison engineering building… approves revised proposal to shift unspent funds … new proposal broke the $70M [UWEC left-over] into two chunks, requiring two votes.* unanimously sent $29M to engineering building [total cost: $419.8M] and $5.4M to UW-Stout, $10.5M to UW-Whitewater.* 5-3 shifted
TOP STORIES Wisconsin’s alcohol-related deaths more than tripled since 1999… Midwest region had the largest spike, a 2.5-fold increase … In 1999, alcohol-induced deaths among Wisconsinites totaled 356. By 2020, that number had risen to 1,077. [CDC-defined as a range of short- and long-term conditions such as alcoholic liver diseases,
TOP STORIES Senate passes voter ID measure, clearing way for final passage in Assembly next week… During debate on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Republicans and Democrats squared off, with Democrats questioning why there hasn’t been any action on issues such as gun safety or the high cost of living
TOP STORIES Wisconsin GOP pushing to make voter ID a constitutional requirement… public hearing Tuesday … Senate was expected to pass it Wednesday. … Assembly was expected to give final approval next week. … Legislature passed the voter ID proposal last session and must approve it again by Jan. 21
TOP STORIES Evers’ plan to let Wisconsin voters repeal and create state laws meets GOP resistance… Evers [FY25-27 budget] is reviving a [2022] plan previously rejected by Republicans giving voters the [constitutional] power to enact laws without approval of the Legislature. [2022 special session was intended to let voter decide
TOP STORIES Evers revisits effort to give voters more say in state laws… [Vos and LeMahieu previously dismissed his Constitutional citizen initiative as “desperate political stunt,” but] by including [it] in his 2025-27 biennial budget request, Evers hopes to force the budget committee’s 16 members to hold a vote on
TOP STORIES Nearly 200 ballots went uncounted in Wisconsin and officials want to know why… [WEC] voted unanimously to investigate whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl failed to comply with state law or abused her discretion. … concerned the clerk’s office didn’t inform them of the problem [discovered Nov. 12]
TOP STORIES Coalition of 30 groups call for $953M investment for safe drinking water… long with policy changes [repeal REINS Act] and preventive measures … local rental inspection programs to ensure apartments are lead-free, funding for farmers that use practices to reduce nitrate contamination from manure run and phasing out