Report: State tax credit benefits wealthy
Budgets are about choices and Gov. Walker and the Republican Legislature chose to give a $300 million tax break to millionaires and billionaires. [Associated Press]
Meet the Majority
One Wisconsin Now Statements on Trump Takeover of GOP
Donald Trump is the embodiment of the same hate culture upon which Gov. Scott Walker and many of the state’s leading elected Republicans built their careers and rose to power.
Assembly Republicans Advance Legislation Denying Student Loan Borrowers Any Help Reducing Monthly Student Loan Payments
Republicans on the State Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities today voted for bills that will do nothing to reduce skyrocketing student loan debt.
Gov. Walker and Republicans’ Student Debt Scheme Denies Any Help to Lower Borrowers’ Monthly Payments
Make no mistake, none of these bills will reduce by one cent the monthly student loan payments of Wisconsin student loan borrowers.
Senate Republican Session Agenda: More Cronyism and Corruption, Less Health Care
Wisconsin would be ill-served by more of the Walker administration’s cronyism and corruption and less access to comprehensive health care services for families.
Assembly Republicans Hold Public Hearing on Legislation to Discriminate Against Transgender School Students
Singling out transgender youths and students is the latest giant leap backwards being considered by the Assembly Republican legislative majority.
Assembly GOP Stiffs Wisconsin Student Loan Borrowers, Again
Efforts to help Wisconsin borrowers deal with the crushing burden of student loan debt were rebuffed today by the Republican majority in the State Assembly.
Assembly Republicans Continue Comprehensive Assault on State Law to Open Wisconsin for Corruption
Republicans are scheduled to vote to gut state laws that protect state employees from improper political pressure and help prevent cronyism in state hiring.
‘Bathroom bill’ aimed at transgender students a joint effort between Jesse Kremer, Julaine Appling
"That playing bathroom monitor counts as lawmaking is a sad commentary on how Gov. Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature are running Wisconsin." [Capital Times]
The Republican Plan on Corruption in Wisconsin: Hide It From the Public, Prevent It From Being Investigated
Legislative Republicans have come up with their solution for the cronyism and corruption running rampant in state government: hide it.
State Assembly Fall Forecast: Mostly Corrupt
With the removal of anti-corruption protections for state workers and in state law on the legislative fast track, the fall forecast is “mostly corrupt.”
Hearing pits Republicans who call elections board ‘failed experiment’ vs. board leaders, Dems
Government watchdog group Common Cause of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin League of Women Voters, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, liberal group One Wisconsin Now and Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell were among those who registered opposition to the measure. [Associated Press]
Sen. Steve Nass ‘Out to Lunch’ on GOP Scheme Gutting State’s Anti-Corruption Law
Sen. Steve Nass plans to recess a committee on the GOP effort to gut civil service anti-corruption protections for a two hour plus break over the lunch hour.
Lawmaker Defends Bill To Overhaul Wisconsin’s Civil Service System
Scot Ross blasted the plan, saying it would lead to more cronyism, more corruption and more incompetence. He said it would also pack state agencies with partisan hacks. [Wisconsin Public Radio]
Here They Go Again. Despite Past Assurances, Gov. Walker and Republican Legislature Target State Civil Service System
Gov. Scott Walker is endorsing a new attack on Wisconsin workers revealed today by state legislative Republicans.
State Senator Chris Kapenga Endorses Barring A Muslim From Being Elected President While Using Tax Dollars to Support Islamic Religious Schools
In Kapenga’s mind it’s fine to spend tax dollars for kids to get an Islamic religious education while telling them they shouldn't be allowed to be President.
Attacks on Lifesaving Medical Research and Women’s Access to Health Care Top State Senate Agenda
From lifesaving research to access to birth control and reproductive health care, it seems as if there’s nowhere Republicans won’t insert partisan politics.
MEMO: Nygren, Darling Record of Cutting Drug Treatment for Children
As part of the 2011-13 budget, the GOP-controlled legislature cut the entire $8.7 million in general purpose revenue appropriated for an AODA grant program.
State superintendent would be appointed by governor under Republican proposal
"Having failed to win at the ballot box or in the courts these power hungry Republicans now want to change the Wisconsin Constitution to get their way," said One Wisconsin Now executive director Scot Ross. [Capital Times]
Assembly Republicans Advance Legislation Putting Their Political Vendettas Before Health of Wisconsin Families
Assembly Republicans today continued to push their effort to put politics and their personal beliefs before the health care needs of Wisconsin women, men and families.
Republicans’ Latest Power Grab: Appoint Superintendent of Public Instruction Instead of Allowing Voters to Elect Education Chief
In yet another power grab, state legislative Republicans today are proposing to take away the selection of the state Superintendent of Public Instruction from voters.
Pair of State Legislators’ Effort to Protect GOP Anti-Voter Laws May Violate Ethics Statute
The two are seeking to intervene and argue against a federal lawsuit filed by eight plaintiffs including One Wisconsin Institute seeking to protect Wisconsinites' right to vote.
Report: Property taxes, rates drop in southeastern Wisconsin
Republicans have repeatedly cut general fund support to K-12 schools and the UW System to pay for tax breaks disproportionately benefiting the wealthy and corporations. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Politics Takes Center Stage, Again, As GOP Seeks to Limit Wisconsin Women’s Access to Health Care, Again
The State Assembly Health Committee is holding a public hearing today on legislation that would make it more difficult for Wisconsin women to access comprehensive reproductive health care services.
Drafting files reveal series of changes to Wisconsin fetal tissue legislation
One Wisconsin Now research director Jenni Dye noted that the provisions of the original drafting request are no longer part of the bill being introduced and said the timing of the addition of the research ban language suggests it was driven by the release of the Planned Parenthood videos. [Capital Times]
Sen. Rick Gudex Reveals Himself as a Politician, Not a Leader
Sen. Gudex and his fellow Republicans need to remember they’re supposed to be working for us, not covering Scott Walker’s backside, and resist the temptation to allow partisanship to overcome common sense.
ICYMI: One Wisconsin Institute Report Details Continuing Failures of Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
Updated research by One Wisconsin Institute analyzes four years of failure by the quasi-private Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, created by Gov. Scott Walker and supported by state legislative Republicans.
Assembly Republicans Play Politics With Life-Saving Medical Research
Since the late 1990s legislative Republicans have proposed ill-advised legislation that would cripple cutting-edge medical research and threaten scientists with prison time and fines.
Assembly Republicans Put Gov. Walker’s Presidential Ambitions Before Women’s Health With New Abortion Ban
Politicians have no business imposing their beliefs on women making an intensely personal decision to terminate a wanted pregnancy, often in the most tragic circumstances.
Assembly Budget Packed With Giveaways for Special Interests, Nothing for One Million Wisconsin Student Loan Borrowers
Instead of helping borrowers, Gov. Walker wrote a budget to advance his presidential ambitions and Assembly Republicans piled on approving a budget full of special interest giveaways.
Open records proposal scrapped
[M]embers of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 on party lines to adopt a measure which included a provision that would have greatly altered the state’s open records law. The liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now and the conservative think-tank the MacIver Institute for Public Policy each issued statements critical of the JFC’s decision. [DeForest Times-Tribune]
‘Bad, bad idea’: A plan to change Wisconsin’s open records laws was met with swift, strong opposition
Despite being introduced and passed at the start of a holiday weekend, the proposal sparked outrage among constituents, journalists and good government advocates. The opposition transcended party lines, with groups like the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, One Wisconsin Now, the MacIver Institute and the Center for Media and Democracy united against it. [Capital Times]
Will Assembly GOP Allow Raid on Public Education to Benefit Unaccountable Private School Voucher Program?
Will the State Assembly give approval to a scheme to raid funds directly from K-12 public schools to fund an unlimited and unaccountable private school voucher program in the state budget?
GOP-Led State Senate Set to Launch Massive Raid on K-12 Public School Funding to Support Unaccountable Private Voucher Schools
The private school voucher industry has poured millions of dollars into buying a friendly legislature that won’t demand accountability from the voucher program.
Republicans refuse to identify lawmaker behind measure restricting access to legislative records
The liberal group One Wisconsin Now, which frequently requests legislative records, said it takes the move as "validation of our effectiveness and proof that the lawless Republican machine running state government will do anything to try and stop us from holding it accountable." [Capital Times]
Changes to open records laws prompt criticism from both sides of the aisle
“The biggest fear is that government will run a muck... And, that whoever is making the actual decisions of government will be shielded from the public's ability to see that.” [WKOW-TV]
Scott Walker will ‘make changes’ to public record restrictions before budget vote
The biggest fear is that government will run amock. And, that whoever is making the actual decisions of government will be shielded from the public's ability to see that. [Wisconsin State Journal]
Sen. Duey Stroebel: Lawmaker, Lawbreaker?
Stroebel crossed the line of what’s legal in Wisconsin with his action publicly demanding a vote on that bill as a bottom line demand for giving his vote in favor of the state budget.
Changes to open records laws prompt criticism from both sides of the aisle
The biggest fear is that government will run amock. And, that whoever is making the actual decisions of government will be shielded from the public's ability to see that. [WKOW-TV]
Assembly Speaker Vos Claims He Can Pass Milwaukee Bucks Arena Deal in GOP-Controlled Assembly
At a Madison press conference Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos revealed the full details of a secretly negotiated deal to help build a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks and claimed he could pass it in the State Assembly.
Why are Republicans wary of arena deal? Check the scoreboard
Republicans can't claim surprise when politicians who rode into office on the backs of their special interests attacks over a $5 million scoreboard for the Milwaukee Bucks aren't lining up to support a $500 million arena for the Milwaukee Bucks. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
GOP Senate race in Waukesha County brings debate on U.S. Constitution
One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint with the state's ethics oversight board alleging Kapenga should have disclosed on public forms that he has solicited donations for his organization to be sent to his Capitol office. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Kapenga embraces complaint filed by liberal group
The liberal group One Wisconsin Now on Wednesday filed a complaint alleging state Rep. Chris Kapenga had violated state law, an accusation the Town of Delafield Republican said he takes “as a badge of honor.” [Waukesha Freeman]
Rep. Kapenga Touts Violations of State Law as ‘Badge of Honor’
In response to a complaint filed yesterday with the Government Accountability Board (GAB), Rep. Chris Kapenga bragged on a right-wing website that his failure to comply with state law was “badge of honor”.
OWN Files Complaint Against Rep. Kapenga
Rep. Kapenga has failed to abide by the laws of Wisconsin prohibiting the use of state resources to benefit outside groups and requiring elected officials and candidates for office to be transparent about their dealings. [Wisconsin Daily Independent]
Rep. Chris Kapenga’s Constitutional Crisis: Has State Representative Who Wants to Rewrite U.S. Constitution Violated State Laws?
What’s clear is that Rep. Kapenga has failed to abide by the laws of Wisconsin prohibiting the use of state resources to benefit outside groups.
Critics say Wisconsin’s 20-week abortion ban jeopardizes women’s health, despite amendment
The last-minute, rushed amendment shows that the drafting of this bill has been as careless as it is heartless. [Capital Times]
New Abortion Ban Up for Senate Vote Could Prevent Doctors From Saving Lives of Mothers When a Pregnancy Goes Tragically Wrong
According to nonpartisan legal counsel for the state legislature, a new abortion ban scheduled to be considered by the State Senate tomorrow contains no provision to protect the life of the mother in a pregnancy related medical emergency.
‘Medical emergency’ exception in Wisconsin’s 20-week abortion ban leaves room for confusion
"It is offensive and dangerous that politicians are putting their judgment ahead of doctors' medical training and families' beliefs when lives are at stake." [Capital Times]
Do State Legislature’s Republicans Think They Are More Qualified to Make Health Care Decisions Than Wisconsin Women, Their Doctors and Their Families?
Does being a state legislator qualify you to make potentially life or death medical decisions and dictate medical procedures for the women of Wisconsin?