A public hearing on a bill that would limit FoodShare benefits to foods and drinks with “sufficient nutritional value” seems to have violated a new Assembly requirement because only the bill’s author spoke in favor of the legislation. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, imposed the requirement near the beginning of

A bill that would give Wisconsin farmers the go-ahead to grow industrial hemp unanimously passed a Senate committee this morning. But four Dem amendments to the bill failed on 5-4 party-line votes, including one that would nix a requirement under the bill to allow for the seizure and destroying of

The state is adding an additional layer of verification over the Foxconn deal that would ensure an independent accountant reviews whether the Taiwanese company is meeting its promises to the state, according to a DOA spokesman. State lawmakers this year approved the $3 billion incentive package for the company, which

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — WEDC Secretary and CEO Mark Hogan said today the earliest that the agency’s board could vote on the $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn would likely be at its next scheduled meeting Nov. 8. Hogan spoke to reporters after a WEDC board

The state Dairy Business Association today pushed back against a suggestion from a Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce exec to remove “America’s Dairyland” from the state’s license plates, calling the proposed change “disheartening.” WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer yesterday suggested the slogan be replaced with something more “contemporary” like “Forward,”

Two GOP FoodShare bills with the shared goal of promoting healthier eating got very different receptions from Dems in an Assembly committee public hearing today. That’s because the methodology behind one allows for self determination, Dems argued today, while they say the other is punitive because it limits a recipient’s

A spokesman for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson says he lost faith in Mitch McConnell as Senate majority leader after the chamber failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act last month. Nicholson won the endorsement of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC, which has ties to former White House

Former Dem state Rep. Mandela Barnes, who went to work for a policy shop for progressive legislators after losing a bid for the state Senate, is considering a run for lt. guv next year. Barnes said his job as deputy director of strategic engagement with State Innovation Exchange has taken

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The state finished 2016-17 with a surplus of $579 million, a better ending balance than what the Legislative Fiscal Bureau had previously projected. The last LFB estimate of a $467 million ending balance, though, did not include a final look at expenditures

Gov. Scott Walker today urged NFL players to stop protests during the national anthem, calling them a “divisive political sideshow.” In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, Walker wrote players should instead “take a stand against domestic violence.” The letter comes a

WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer called for removing “America’s Dairyland” from Wisconsin’s license plates, suggesting it should be replaced with something more “contemporary” like “Forward.” Saying people outside the state hold “misperceptions about the kinds of jobs we are creating here in Wisconsin,” namely that jobs are largely agriculture-dominated,

House Speaker Paul Ryan today denounced the “class warfare rhetoric” surrounding the GOP tax reform framework that suggests the deal is structured to benefit the wealthy. “This is about getting middle class taxpayers a tax cut,” he told reporters following a speech at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce State of

The state finished 2016-17 with a surplus of $579 million, a better ending balance than what the Legislative Fiscal Bureau had previously projected. The last LFB estimate of a $467 million ending balance, though, did not include a final look at expenditures over the fiscal year. The Department of Administration