One Wisconsin Institute has undertaken a multi-year student loan debt campaign involving both state and national partners conducting cutting edge research, polling, communications and the development of policy alternatives as well as executing a massive public education campaign to both the media and the public about the full economic impact of the $1.3 trillion crisis affecting 43 million Americans, including nearly one million in Wisconsin.

Why this Issue Matters

For decades, conservatives have utilized the issues of race and LGBT rights to divide voters in the waning days of political campaigns. As younger generations grow as a percentage of the voting public, their evolved positions on these issues will denude the effectiveness of this divisive tactic. Unfortunately, saddling young people with multiple decades of record amounts of never before seen personal education debt will create fearful and pessimistic young voters without economic power. Fearful voters are more susceptible to the conservative economic message and inclined towards less investment in their communities, schools and neighborhoods.

Success on this Issue

To say the Institute’s campaign on student loan debt has started with a bang is an understatement to say the least. The results of a comprehensive report on student loan debt, homeownership and automobile purchasing were the lead story in the state’s largest newspaper and featured in media across the country. The Institute has generated print and television additional coverage of the crisis around the state and country, as we’ve presented findings to allied organizations, student groups, labor unions and business leaders.

The Wisconsin Investigative Research Project involves synthesizing and marketing complex research on critical topics facing Wisconsin’s middle class and those in need. Over the years, the Institute’s research has focused on topics ranging from the attacks on voter rights, student loan debt, public education privatization, the conservative financing network in Wisconsin and Wisconsin taxation and finances.

Past reports from One Wisconsin Institute staff include:

• P is for Payoff
• WEDC: Four Years of Failure
• Wisconsin’s Great Cost Shift
• S is for Shill
• The Impact of Student Loan Debt on the National Economy
• Protecting the Right to Vote in Wisconsin
• The Impact of Student Loan Debt on Wisconsin’s Economy
• Scott Walker’s Billionaires Club
• D is for Dismantle
• We’re Not Broke

One Wisconsin Institute fights tirelessly against voter suppression and voter restrictions such as the state’s voter identification law. We’ve conducted comprehensive research around the legalities and challenges of enacting voter identification legislation, including being the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging at least a dozen changes made to Wisconsin voting laws related to voter ID, early voting and registration restrictions, and polling place voter intimidation.

Fighting the Myth of Voter Fraud: In elections since 2005, less than two dozen cases of voter impropriety have been charged and successfully prosecuted in the state of Wisconsin. Given the more than 14 million ballots cast during that period, it is clear there is no real fraud in Wisconsin. This has not stopped the right wing from promoting the myth of voter fraud and passing draconian restrictions, such as voter identification in Wisconsin. We have fought this both in the media, in the state legislature and in the courtroom.

Expanding Access to the Polls: The Institute utilizes research, communications and organizing to expand access to the polls for voters in Wisconsin, particularly in traditionally underserved communities. The Institute’s legal counsel secured a historic first-in-the-nation victory for proof of residency for voters. In addition, the Institute developed a user-friendly voter registration site and working with partner organizations, conducted voter registration on various University of Wisconsin campuses, while engaging students on the issue of student loan debt.

Exposing Voter Suppression: The Institute has been a statewide leader in exposing voter suppression schemes in Wisconsin. In the past, staff at the Institute uncovered a nationally-covered voter caging scheme between the Republican Party of Wisconsin, headed by then-chair Reince Priebus, Americans for Prosperity and the various tea party groups. Work like this has made our organization one of the primary media sources in Wisconsin on voter suppression. In 2012, this culminated with our greatest victory over voter suppression to date: our exposure of the anonymous funder of voter suppression billboards in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Opposing Voter Restrictions: In 2011, Wisconsin passed one the nation’s most restrictive voter identification bills. The bill was ruled unconstitutional in state court and is currently under appeal by the Walker administration. In mid-November, Gov. Scott Walker announced during a speech in California at the Reagan Foundation, he would seek to repeal Wisconsin’s 36-year-old law allowing Election Day registration and we have immediately mobilized opposition to the Walker plan.

One Wisconsin Institute works with numerous partners across the state as a leading member of the Why Courts Matter Coalition in Wisconsin. Why Courts Matter focuses on ensuring the federal judiciary is representative of America’s diverse population and ending the judicial vacancy crisis. Our work on the issue is showcased at Why Courts Matter | Wisconsin.

The environment in the state provides the opportunity for Why Courts Matter to achieve success in Wisconsin by providing education and outreach to Wisconsinites about how the courts impact our lives; hold our public officials accountable for their action or inaction related to the judiciary; and advocate for a judiciary that is reflective of the diversity of the United States, where vacancies are promptly filled, and every Wisconsinite can expect to be treated equally under the law and access the justice system without delay.

Coalition Partners:

• One Wisconsin Institute
• People for the American Way
• Common Cause Wisconsin Education Fund
• League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
• WISPIRG
• Planned Parenthood
• Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort
• League of Conservation Voters Education
• Wisconsin Justice Initiative