
Senate Republicans will need Dem help to pass $1.8B surplus package
Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, criticized the deal right away, and Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, expressed his opposition in a post on X late yesterday.
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Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, criticized the deal right away, and Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, expressed his opposition in a post on X late yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein dismissed a $1.8 billion surplus spending deal from GOP leaders and Gov. Tony Evers as coming from “three men who will not be in elected office next year.” Evers, meanwhile, said during a stop in Barneveld that he believed voting against the tax cut deal would be a “hard position” for Democrats to take in an election year.

Dem Gov. Tony Evers and GOP legislative leaders reached a $1.8 billion deal to pump more money into schools, drive down property taxes, send Wisconsinites a rebate, plus exempt cash tips and overtime from the state income tax.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Dem candidate for governor, says the county could face a $1 million deficit because of the rising fuel prices, blaming President Donald Trump and the Iran war.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who has flirted in recent months with making another run for his old office, instead has endorsed fellow Republican Tom Tiffany.

Don Millis, who was elected without opposition, previously led the commission after beating fellow GOP appointee Bob Spindell for the post in 2022.

The state GOP has canceled a meeting of its executive committee that had been called to discuss personnel matters amid criticism of state Chair Brian Schimming, according to two sources.

GOP state Rep. Jessie Rodriguez announced today she won’t seek reelection to her swing state in the Assembly this fall, saying she wants to give more time to her family after nearly 14 years in the Legislature.

Two Madison voters are suing the state Elections Commission after the agency ordered local election officials to reject their absentee ballots even though the city clerk’s office received them before the April 7 election.

A split Dane County Board of Canvassers is preparing to appeal an order from the state Elections Commission barring the counting of 23 absentee ballots cast by Madison voters that the city clerk didn’t deliver to the polling site by the statutory deadline.

Documents obtained by WisPolitics show those pushing the effort are seeking a May 12 meeting, noting the executive committee has authority over matters related to employment, compensation, performance and organizational structure.

Former GOP Gov. Scott Walker says young independent voters are the “wild card” this November and could swing toward candidates like Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist from Madison who received the most support in the most recent Marquette Law School poll.

On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya van Wagtendonk discuss the dismissal of another lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map, a ruling requiring the state DOJ to release the names of all Wisconsin law enforcement officers, Judge Pedro Colón joining the 2027 state Supreme Court race and more.

Former UW President Jay Rothman accused Regents President Amy Bogost of misleading a state Senate committee when she said a 2% tuition increase for the 2026-27 school year wasn’t “written in stone,” according to an email obtained by WisPolitics.

The state Elections Commission is directing Madison to redo its canvass of the spring election after finding it improperly included 23 absentee ballots that arrived at polling sites after the deadline due to clerk error.

Jacque is the sixth Republican in the 18-member Senate GOP caucus to retire.

The Evers administration is asking lawmakers to sign off on spending $10.4 million to finish reimbursing states that provided law enforcement to assist in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention nearly two years ago.

The panel found the suit was barred by a 2022 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that found the partisan composition of districts can’t be challenged in state courts. The judges wrote as “an inferior court,” they were obligated to follow that ruling.

1st District Court of Appeals Judge Pedro Colón, a former Dem lawmaker, today launched his campaign for the state Supreme Court, pledging any who appeared before him as a justice would get “a listening ear and a fair shot.”

“The first congressional district, frankly on paper, is more flippable than the third district,” Peter Burgelis, a Democratic alderman in Milwaukee, said while announcing his candidacy on WISN-TV’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics-State Affairs.

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, criticized the deal right away, and Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, expressed his opposition in a post on X late yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein dismissed a $1.8 billion surplus spending deal from GOP leaders and Gov. Tony Evers as coming from “three men who will not be in elected office next year.” Evers, meanwhile, said during a stop in Barneveld that he believed voting against the tax cut deal would be a “hard position” for Democrats to take in an election year.

Dem Gov. Tony Evers and GOP legislative leaders reached a $1.8 billion deal to pump more money into schools, drive down property taxes, send Wisconsinites a rebate, plus exempt cash tips and overtime from the state income tax.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Dem candidate for governor, says the county could face a $1 million deficit because of the rising fuel prices, blaming President Donald Trump and the Iran war.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who has flirted in recent months with making another run for his old office, instead has endorsed fellow Republican Tom Tiffany.

Don Millis, who was elected without opposition, previously led the commission after beating fellow GOP appointee Bob Spindell for the post in 2022.

The state GOP has canceled a meeting of its executive committee that had been called to discuss personnel matters amid criticism of state Chair Brian Schimming, according to two sources.

GOP state Rep. Jessie Rodriguez announced today she won’t seek reelection to her swing state in the Assembly this fall, saying she wants to give more time to her family after nearly 14 years in the Legislature.

Two Madison voters are suing the state Elections Commission after the agency ordered local election officials to reject their absentee ballots even though the city clerk’s office received them before the April 7 election.

A split Dane County Board of Canvassers is preparing to appeal an order from the state Elections Commission barring the counting of 23 absentee ballots cast by Madison voters that the city clerk didn’t deliver to the polling site by the statutory deadline.

Documents obtained by WisPolitics show those pushing the effort are seeking a May 12 meeting, noting the executive committee has authority over matters related to employment, compensation, performance and organizational structure.

Former GOP Gov. Scott Walker says young independent voters are the “wild card” this November and could swing toward candidates like Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist from Madison who received the most support in the most recent Marquette Law School poll.

On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya van Wagtendonk discuss the dismissal of another lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map, a ruling requiring the state DOJ to release the names of all Wisconsin law enforcement officers, Judge Pedro Colón joining the 2027 state Supreme Court race and more.

Former UW President Jay Rothman accused Regents President Amy Bogost of misleading a state Senate committee when she said a 2% tuition increase for the 2026-27 school year wasn’t “written in stone,” according to an email obtained by WisPolitics.

The state Elections Commission is directing Madison to redo its canvass of the spring election after finding it improperly included 23 absentee ballots that arrived at polling sites after the deadline due to clerk error.

Jacque is the sixth Republican in the 18-member Senate GOP caucus to retire.

The Evers administration is asking lawmakers to sign off on spending $10.4 million to finish reimbursing states that provided law enforcement to assist in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention nearly two years ago.

The panel found the suit was barred by a 2022 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that found the partisan composition of districts can’t be challenged in state courts. The judges wrote as “an inferior court,” they were obligated to follow that ruling.

1st District Court of Appeals Judge Pedro Colón, a former Dem lawmaker, today launched his campaign for the state Supreme Court, pledging any who appeared before him as a justice would get “a listening ear and a fair shot.”

“The first congressional district, frankly on paper, is more flippable than the third district,” Peter Burgelis, a Democratic alderman in Milwaukee, said while announcing his candidacy on WISN-TV’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics-State Affairs.