Category: Wisconsin

Commentary: Brown County’s $30 Million Taxpayer Loan for Broadband Expansion Deserves Closer Scrutiny

Admin

Brown County residents may be aware of a proposed broadband expansion project in their area. What they may not be aware of is the potential cost of this project – “$27.2 million loan at 4 percent interest to be repaid over 30 years,” as reported by the Green Bay Press Gazette. This should raise some eyebrows. Not only does Brown County receive service from multiple broadband providers, but there are additional projects on the horizon and federal broadband funding that is expected to flow into the state.

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Sparks Fly at Only Debate Before Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

M.D. Kittle

Two weeks to the day before a crucial election to decide whether conservatives or liberals control Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, the two candidates sparred in the only debate before Election Day.

The face-off Tuesday between far-left Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly quickly took on the feel of bitter divorce proceedings — packed with allegations of corruption, scandals, and lies.

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Wisconsin Law Firm Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against Biden’s Woke Small Business Agency

M.D. Kittle

The Biden administration is facing another discrimination lawsuit, accused once again of employing identity politics to play favorites. 

On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed the complaint in U.S. District Court-Northern Texas alleging President Joe Biden’s Minority Business Development Agency “violates the Constitution’s core requirement of equal treatment under the law.” 

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Report: Wisconsin Schools Directing Largest Share of Federal COVID Aid to Construction Projects

M.D. Kittle

A new report shows Wisconsin schools are marking a significant amount for federal COVID relief on construction projects, outpacing planned pandemic aid for core educational and mental health programs.  

The Institute for Reforming Government’s updated K-12 COVID relief Audit found some $265 million of the current $1.49 billion in taxpayer funds allocated is going to construction.

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Majority Chairman: $36 Million Won’t Offset Costs of Legalizing Marijuana in Wisconsin

The Center Square

A Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo asserts Wisconsinites spent nearly $40 million on Illinois taxes to Illinois through cannabis-related taxes last fiscal year,

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau Analyst Sydney Emmerich wrote in a March 10 memo to State Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, that an Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation report shows that 50.6 percent of marijuana sales, or $121.2 million, in counties bordering Wisconsin were to out-of-state residents. The sales amount to 7.8% of Illinois’ total cannabis-related tax revenue.

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Republicans Support Wisconsin PFAS Testing and Monitoring, Want More Specifics

The Center Square

The head of the Wisconsin Senate’s natural resources committee says lawmakers could find $100 million for PFAS testing in the new state budget, but he wants to make sure it’s spent wisely.

Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, focused on Gov. Evers’ clean water plans during Thursday’s confirmation hearing with Department of Natural Resources secretary-designee Adam Payne.

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Wisconsin Republicans Want Answers About State Broadband Spending

The Center Square

There continue to be questions about more than $100 million in coronavirus stimulus money that Wisconsin spent on broadband internet expansion.

Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, on Wednesday questioned the state’s Public Service Commission about last September’s audit that stated there was almost no tracking of what was spent, what work was done, or if the new internet access even worked.

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Human Rights Campaign Endorses Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Despite Allegations of Human Rights Abuses

M.D. Kittle

Far left Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Janet Protasiewicz wears the “progressive label” as a badge of honor, including her endorsement by the left-wing Human Rights Campaign PAC. 

But reports that the Milwaukee County judge repeatedly abused her late elderly ex-husband when the couple were married 25 years ago and used the N word to refer to black people in children’s court would seem to tarnish Protasiewicz’s human rights halo. 

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Frequently Asked Questions About Wisconsin’s Bail Reform Constitutional Amendment

M.D. Kittle

While all eyes are on Wisconsin’s crucial Supreme Court election, the April 4 ballot also includes an important question asking voters to amend the state’s constitution.

The constitutional amendment proposes to reform a bail system that most agree is broken, although there’s argument on how to fix it. State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and State Rep. Cindi Duchow (R-Delafield), authors of the legislation, offer answers to many of the most frequently asked questions surrounding their proposed amendment.

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Governor Tony Evers Quickly Names Liberal Political Climber Godlewski Wisconsin Secretary of State after Long-Serving La Follette Retires

M.D. Kittle

In a surprise move Friday, Governor Tony Evers hastily appointed former Democrat State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski Secretary of State after Doug La Follette suddenly resigned the post he’s held for nearly half a century. 

Consider it a gift to the far left Godlewski, who ceded last year’s Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate to former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes in his losing campaign against Wisconsin’s Republican senior U.S. Senator Ron Johnson. 

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Wisconsin Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Check Big Government Bugging

M.D. Kittle

In the wake of Green Bay’s city hall bugging scandal, two Green Bay-area lawmakers are introducing a bill creating clear requirements for government officials to collect audio recordings. 

The measure, authored by State Representative David Steffen (R-Howard) and State Senator Eric Wimberger (R-Green Bay), would establish “stringent requirements” should local or state government officials feel the need to audio record in public buildings. 

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Wisconsin Republicans Pitch Abortion Exemptions, Democrats Call Them Disingenuous

The Center Square

Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are offering a plan that would allow for some abortions, but the state’s Democratic governor is already saying “No.”

A group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation that would create exemptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest, which they assert would better define Wisconsin’s only exemption for the health of the mother.

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Wisconsin Schools Allocate Millions in Stimulus Dollars After Report on Slow Progress

The Center Square

Wisconsin schools have double the amount of coronavirus stimulus money they plan to spend in just the past two months.

Quinton Klabon, senior research director for the Institute for Reforming Government, says schools across Wisconsin rushed to allocate millions of dollars in ESSER III money after IRG reported in late January that most of the state’s $1.5 billion in stimulus cash was just lying around.

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Wisconsin Senator Baldwin Introduces Codification of Roe v. Wade

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) this week introduced legislation to codify the legality of abortion everywhere on American soil. 

Twelve states currently have laws that prohibit abortion during much or all of a woman’s pregnancy and many other states have restrictions that the Baldwin-Blumenthal legislation could threaten. The senators, who count 47 Democratic senators as cosponsors of their bill, want to act federally to reverse these statutes which were allowed to go into effect when the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 pro-abortion Roe v. Wade ruling last year. 

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Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Janet Protasiewicz Set a Very Violent Felon Free

M.D. Kittle

Aliyah Perez “brought an abundance of love, laughter and light to the world,” the 26-year-old woman’s family wrote in her obituary. Perez, the niece of Milwaukee Common Council President Jose Perez was found dead near 26th St. and Clayton Crest Ave.  on Sunday, Feb 26 — a victim of domestic abuse, her family said. 

But the young woman might very well be alive today had liberal Milwaukee County judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz not set Perez’s killer free. 

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Liberal Supreme Court Candidate Janet Protasiewicz Ditches Debate Sponsored by Liberal Group

M.D. Kittle

Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz will be a no-show for a key debate Tuesday sponsored by the liberal American Constitution Society. Now, according to the Russ-Feingold-led ACS, the debate is off, The Wisconsin Daily Star has learned. 

The campaign for conservative candidate Daniel Kelly told the group that he would still attend the event — originally scheduled for noon Tuesday in Milwaukee — with or without his opponent. The Constitution Society said thanks, but no thanks. They are canceling the debate. 

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Gallagher Reintroduces Bill Demanding Biden Administration Declassify Docs on COVID and Wuhan Lab

M.D. Kittle

In the wake of growing support for the idea that COVID-19 originated in a lab in China, U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) is reintroducing a bill requiring the Biden administration to declassify intelligence related to links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the pandemic. 

Gallagher’s COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 comes back as the U.S. Department of Energy concludes at least with some confidence that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely arose from a lab leak. The agency came to that conclusion based on a classified intelligence report provided to the White House and certain members of Congress.

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Think Tank Unveils Market-Oriented Recommendations for Wisconsin Healthcare System

Bradley Vasoli

The Institute for Reforming Government (IRG), a Delafield-based free-market think tank, this week released a report detailing several reforms to improve Wisconsin’s healthcare system. 

A major problem the document tackles is the state’s anticipated shortage of 2,263 physicians by 2035. Areas expected to be especially underserved are those west of Milwaukee, northwest of Madison, east of Lake Winnebago and in various locales along the state’s northern border. 

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Brown County Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Green Bay Demanding Officials Cease Bugging City Hall

M.D. Kittle

A Brown County judge has issued a temporary injunction, ordering the city of Green Bay and its mayor to “cease all audio surveillance and recording in Green Bay City Hall.”  

Circuit Court Judge Marc Hammer late Thursday granted the injunction sought by the Wisconsin State Senate. He ordered the city to end its bugging program by 5 p.m. Thursday, almost immediately. 

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State Representative: Liberal Wisconsin Group Accused of Election Bribery May Face Legal Action

Bradley Vasoli

State Representative Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) on Wednesday said a leftist nonprofit could face legal action for its alleged election bribery in favor of state Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz. 

Brandtjen, who recently chaired the state Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, told The Wisconsin Daily Star she believes discussions toward that end are underway though no complaints against Wisconsin Takes Action have yet been filed at this writing.

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Commentary: Liberal News Outlet Tramples the Truth in Reporting ‘Mispronouning’ as ‘Sexual Harassment’ Story

Admin

As readers may be aware, in the spring of 2022 my colleagues and I at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty represented three eighth-grade boys who were accused by the Kiel Area School District of “sexual harassment” under Title IX for “mispronouning.”

As we pointed out, “mispronouning” does not violate Title IX and is not “sexual harassment” under any reasonable definition of that term, and punishing students for their speech violates the First Amendment. The district had also violated Title IX’s clear procedural requirements. We urged the district to drop its misguided investigation, and it ultimately did. 

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Wisconsin State Senate Asks District Attorney to Launch Criminal Probe into City Hall Bugging

M.D. Kittle

The attorney representing the Wisconsin State Senate in a civil rights lawsuit against Green Bay — alleging the city bugged its citizens — is asking the local district attorney to open a criminal investigation into the audio-surveillance practices. “To our knowledge, those practices are unprecedented,” wrote attorney Ryan Walsh in a letter to Brown County District Attorney David Lasee. “We know of no other municipality in Wisconsin that has installed bugs in the hallways of the seat of government.” Walsh earlier this month filed the lawsuit against the city and Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich. The attorney represents the Senate, State Senator Andre Jacque (R-De Pere), Anthony Theisen, a former City Council member, and an unidentified female. The lawsuit alleges the installation of the audio recording devices is a violation of the Wisconsin Electronic Surveillance Control Law. The complaint, filed in Brown County Circuit Court, seeks an emergency temporary injunction and a court order requiring the defendants immediately disable the recording devices. It also would prohibit the defendants from accessing or disseminating any audio recordings obtained from devices installed in the building. As The Wisconsin Daily Star first reported, Green Bay city officials installed at least three audio recording devices in City…

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Gallagher Calls on Biden Administration to Declassify Intelligence on Origins of COVID-19

M.D. Kittle

It’s time to open up the classified pandemic files, says U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. 

With revelations the U.S. Department of Energy now believes a lab leak was the likely cause of the COVID-19 outbreak, Gallagher is calling on the Biden administration to declassify the intelligence surrounding the origins of the deadly coronavirus. 

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Wisconsin Congressman Gallagher Reintroduces Bipartisan Bill Targeting Over-budget, Behind-Schedule Projects

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) and Katie Porter (D-CA-47) are pushing for passage of their reintroduced Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act, a bill to publicize which federal projects are dramatically over budget or behind schedule. 

The measure instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to generate an annual report on all projects that run at least $1 billion over initially authorized expenses or whose completion takes at least five years longer than originally scheduled. 

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Wisconsin Law Firm Wins Race-Based Discrimination Lawsuit Against Comcast’s ‘Woke Corporate Policies’

The Center Square

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has won another case based on the argument that you cannot discriminate against people based on their sex or the color of their skin.

WILL recently settled a case with Comcast over the company’s Comcast RISE program. That program offered grants to small businesses, but only if they are 51% owned by someone who is “Black, indigenous, a person of color, or female.”

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Conservatives Have Their Work Cut Out for Themselves in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

M.D. Kittle

Supreme Court Justice candidate Daniel Kelly emerged victorious from Tuesday’s primary election, but the conservative finished a distant second to his opponent, far left Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz. 

While Kelly and fellow conservative candidate, Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, divided up the right side vote (24 percent and 22 percent, respectively),  Protasiewicz grabbed 46.5 percent on her own. 

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Abortion Interests Clamor for Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Court Seat

Bradley Vasoli

Wisconsin abortion advocates are following up Tuesday’s nomination of liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice with strident calls for her election over conservative former Justice Daniel Kelly. 

Protasiewicz and Kelly beat right-leaning Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow and progressive Judge Everett Mitchell of Dane County in Tuesday’s four-way nonpartisan primary. The following day, Dorow endorsed Kelly and Mitchell stated his support for Protasiewicz going forward. 

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State Senator Van Wanggaard Commentary: Milwaukee’s Criminal Justice System Failed Officer Peter Jerving and Milwaukee

Admin

Last week, following the killing of police officer Peter Jerving, local and state leaders alike called for change to stop the senseless, preventable, tragic violence in Milwaukee. And they’re right. While the causes of violence are many, solving the crisis that is the Milwaukee criminal justice system would go a long way. 

Let’s start with the front line – police officers and police policies.

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Wisconsin State Senate Sues Green Bay over City Hall Recording Devices

M.D. Kittle

As promised, the Wisconsin State Senate has filed a lawsuit against the city of Green Bay and its mayor alleging the installation of secret recording devices installed at city hall is a violation of the Wisconsin Electronic Surveillance Control Law.

The complaint, filed in Brown County Circuit Court, seeks an emergency temporary injunction and a court order requiring the defendants immediately disable the recording devices.

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Sun Prairie School District Accused of Using AmFam Donation for ‘Discrimination Laundering’

M.D. Kittle

Sun Prairie Area School District’s use of American Family Insurance grant funds to promote programs that appear to be exclusively for black students is an attempt to launder race discrimination, a public interest law firm attorney told The Wisconsin Daily Star.

Documents obtained by The Star News Network show Madison-based American Family Insurance cut a check for $35,000 to fund a cross-country field trip in October for Sun Prairie East High School students to visit Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

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Wisconsin Law Firm Sues Biden Administration over Woke ESG Investing Policies

M.D. Kittle

The Biden administration’s woke Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) policies are putting politics ahead of people and hurting retirees savings, a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.

The complaint, filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) on behalf of two Waukesha County residents, seeks a temporary restraining order prohibiting the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing its controversial ESG rule, pending the resolution of the lawsuit. Ultimately, the suit seems a declamatory judgment that the rule violates federal law on administrative powers.

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Think Tank Issues New Recommendations to Cut and Modernize Wisconsin Government

Bradley Vasoli

The Delafield-based Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) on Tuesday issued a report listing ways the free-market research group believes Wisconsin’s state government can become leaner and more responsive. 

Titled “Reimagining Wisconsin Government for the 21st Century,” the document is the product of a year and half of research. It proposes the kind of decentralization that Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has suggested for the federal government by moving some of the public workforce out of Washington, D.C. so it can more closely work with local communities. 

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Liberal Protasiewicz and Conservative Kelly to Face Off in Election to Decide Control of Wisconsin Supreme Court

M.D. Kittle

The candidates in the election to decide idealogical control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are set, as liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, a conservative, advanced in Tuesday’s primary election.

With all but 14 percent of Wisconsin precincts reporting, Protasiewicz had tallied 46.4 percent of the vote, while Kelly claimed 24.4 percent

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Out-of-State Big Liberal Money Looks to Buy Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Janet Protasiewicz an Election

M.D. Kittle

Liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, one of four candidates vying for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, has taken in nearly $2.2 million in campaign donations — much of it from big money, left-wing interests, according to a review of campaign finance statements. 

Wisconsin voters head to the polls today in a primary election to winnow down to two the field of four — two liberals, two conservatives — for an ultimate showdown in April.

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State Senate Attorney Tells Green Bay It’s About to be Sued for Bugging Citizens

M.D. Kittle

An attorney for the Wisconsin State Senate is warning Green Bay city officials not to destroy documents related to its use of audio recording devices at city hall. He said a lawsuit is coming. 

Ryan Walsh, with the Eimer Stahl law firm, sent a letter to Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich late Friday after city officials all but ignored a warning letter demanding they remove the three recording devices. 

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Evers Budget Hurts Wisconsin Job Creators, Middle Class, Think Tank Says

Bradley Vasoli

The nonprofit Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) on Friday issued a comprehensive analysis of Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’s 2023-25 state budget and bemoaned the proposal’s likely impact on job creators and the middle class.

Evers’s spending plan totals $104 billion, $16 billion more than the budget on which the Badger State now operates. If enacted, the new proposal would be the first state budget exceeding $100 billion. It includes massive spending increases in such areas as public education, childcare assistance, “affordable housing” and broadband expansion. Republican lawmakers, who object to the extent of the spending hikes and the governor’s refusal to devote more of the state’s $7.1 billion surplus to tax cuts, promised last week to thoroughly rewrite the plan. 

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