The following is and excerpt from Forward for the People: The Autobiography of America’s Longest Serving Legislator, by former Wisconsin state Sen. Fred Risser and Doug Moe, © 2025 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Reprinted with permission. Chapter

This was a budget with intense negotiations and compromises from both sides. But Legislative Republicans remained principled and ensured we delivered a budget with conservative wins for hardworking families.

To be sure, over the years the school has on occasion floundered, and it needs to be called out when it does. But it remains a key to Wisconsin’s economic and educational future. And state legislators need to understand that.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders, in a welcome bipartisan compromise, included UWM in the capital budget with $189 million for the long overdue renovation of the old Columbia Hospital, known as the Northwest Quadrant. UWM bought it 15 years ago.

In April 1964, Alabama Governor George Wallace entered the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary as a defiant challenger to the mainstream liberal consensus.

Environmentally, the grossly misnamed “big beautiful bill” is ugly as sin. The recently passed legislation is an ecological disaster.

Our ancestors’ response to their delayed independence was to creatively turn previous mourning into new-found joy by starting the Juneteenth Celebration on the actual day of their release, June 19, now a federal holiday.

In today’s highly charged political environment, in which a president’s handling of international crises, however competent or inept, is immediately subject to hyperbole and sanctification by supporters and in press conferences and tweets — sometimes by the president himself — it’s important to remind ourselves how some American presidents spoke publicly about past crises with clarity, humility and measured prose.

For first time in 14 years, Republican leaders needed Democratic votes.

The expanded retirement income exclusion will undermine the tax code’s neutrality and shift burdens onto working families over time, while yielding far less “bang for the buck” than other more pro-growth reforms.

ACT 12 is cementing anti-Blackness in legislation in a place that has suffered deep organized abandonment. It must be reversed.

In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Johnson said he could not support the bill ‘in its current form’ because it increased annual deficits. He voted for one that increased it more.

Without a reversal in federal policy, the long-term impact could be dire, not just for Wisconsin, but for the nation’s standing in global scientific leadership.

Managers say the struggle to survive hinges on the ability to adapt.

NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte has repeatedly called Trump “daddy” during and since the organization’s recent summit in The Hague.

Finished reading over this Independence Day weekend a book that explores the meaning of patriotism: “A Good American Family; The Red Scare and My Father.” David Maraniss wrote his 12th book about his parents, especially his father Elliott, edotor of The Capital Times.

Dianne Hesselbein and Senate Democrats proved critical in achieving major wins in a compromise deal. But overall, did Evers and Democrats press hard enough with newfound leverage?

In their latest attempt at micromanaging an institution for which their support ranks 44th among the 50 states, the budget contains a provision that requires faculty members to teach at least 24 credit hours per year, a number that is reduced to 12 credit hours for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The child care crisis has been ongoing for several years and demonstrates market failure. The costs are too high for families, and providers struggle to keep their businesses open and pay fair wages.

Just in case anybody is still wondering why Wisconsin Republicans lose statewide elections all the time, look no further than the GOP’s legislative leadership for a quick explanation.