Wisconsin in Focus

Wisconsin voters are being asked whether the state lawmakers who currently write the state budget should have any say in how billions of dollars in federal money are spent. There will be two constitutional amendments on the ballot in August, both look to give the legislature some say in how federal money is spent. A new report says it’s a limited, and little-covered question that could have a big...

Declining high school graduates in the state, flat or decreasing enrollment, and reliance on student tuition dollars are chief concerns for a study committee on the University of Wisconsin System. With plans to meet through the year and into next, the 18-member panel is considering reform and the challenges the state’s higher education public system faces. The Legislative Council Study Committee o...

Through tears, people with loved ones inside Wisconsin’s prisons told horror stories, and begged lawmakers for help at the Wisconsin Capitol on Tuesday. The Assembly Committee on Corrections held a hearing seeking answers about a string of recent inmate deaths, to find out more about the former warden at the prison in Waupun, and the eight others who were charged last month in two of those inmate...

Wisconsin has the most public drinking water systems in the entire country, and almost all passed the standards in the state’s latest water report. The Department of Natural Resources this week released their Annual Drinking Water Report for 2023. The state has 11,206 systems statewide. The report said in part, “During 2023, more than 99% of Wisconsin’s public water systems provided water that met...

The League of Women Voters is joining a host of groups in Wisconsin that are asking voters to reject a pair of constitutional amendments that would give state lawmakers some say in how Wisconsin spends billions-of-dollars in federal money. The League released an open letter that says the amendments are “purposefully confusing” and create “more red tape.” The proposed amendments will be on the Augu...

Nearly a third of Wisconsin’s public schools are going to get less money from the state for the next school year. The state’s Department of Public Instruction on Monday announced the general state aid estimates for July. “Estimated general school aids for 2024-25 total $5.58 billion, representing an increase of 4.2% from 2023-24,” DPI stated. “Payments to districts will increase an estimated $234....

 A new audit raises questions as to whether Wisconsin's attorney general will be able to meet a new state requirement to get sexual assault kits tested within six months. The Legislative Audit Bureau released its new report on the state’s crime recently, saying there are fewer requests for sexual assault DNA kits at the crime labs, but it is taking the labs longer to process each kit. A state law,...

 There are questions about the plan from public schools in Madison to raise taxes by more than half-a-billion dollars this fall after the Madison Metropolitan School Board recently approved two tax increase questions for the fall. The $600 million requests come after MMSD got a $350 million tax increase in 2020. Will Flanders, an education expert at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, sai...

There aren’t any fears about running short on money for Milwaukee’s Republican National Convention. Former Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman, and current chairman of the RNC Host Committee, Reince Priebus said Tuesday the “money is solid” for next month’s convention. Priebus did not say just how money has been raised, or just how much the 2024 RNC will cost. The last in-person convention, in Cle...

Most voters in Wisconsin say they are struggling or just getting by, and more than half don’t think the state’s economy is in great shape. The latest Marquette Law School Poll asked voters in the state about both the state’s economy and their personal finances. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx Full stor...

One of Wisconsin’s Republican congressmen who is in one of the state’s competitive districts says Republicans have to be willing to go as far as Democrats to win the 2024 elections. Congressman Bryan Steil said on News Talk 1130 WISN that Republicans have to turn out their votes this November. To do that, he said, the party has to embrace every tool that’s available. “You got to play by the rules...

Wisconsin’s public health managers don’t want the bird flu to ruin fair season this summer. The state’s Department of Health Services and Department of Agriculture announced plans to monitor fairs across the state this year for the bird flu. “Obviously it is a concern for us having had the avian flu going from mammals to people, and from poultry to mammals to people as well. Right now, the risk is...

Lawmakers at the Wisconsin Capitol say Milwaukee Public School’s financial crisis will cost their schools as well. Republican Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, said MPS’ recently approved property tax increase will shift the way that state school aid dollars are spent. “Under Wisconsin’s equalization aid formula, state tax dollars are distributed to school districts inversely based on property v...

There are calls for hearings and action at the Wisconsin Capitol after the state’s public school managers announced a plan to change student reading and math scores. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently updated the asset-based performance levels that are used to see how well students are reading, writing and doing math. Kids who are thriving in reading, writing and math will con...

The new free speech lessons for the University of Wisconsin’s next freshman class will not just be about speaking your mind. UW President Jay Rothman told regents during meeting in Milwaukee he is planning a new curriculum for new students about both sides of the right to freedom of speech. “This fall, all incoming freshmen students will learn more about freedom of expression and about the rights...

There is now a recall effort to replace Milwaukee’s school board. A group of parents and activists said they are looking to recall half of MPS’ board of directors, including President Marva Herndon, Vice President Jilly Gokalgandhi, Erica Siemsen and Missy Zomber. Tamika Johnson, who spoke for the group, said those four mislead Milwaukee voters about April’s quarter-billion dollar MPS referendum a...

None of the Republicans who signed on as one of former President Donald Trump’s Wisconsin electors is being charged in a new fraud case, but three former Trump advisers are. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced forgery charges Tuesday against attorneys Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro. Kaul also filed charges against former Trump campaign aide Michael Roman, who was also indicted in Geor...

Wisconsin’s former governor says Milwaukee Public Schools must be “saved” for the students. Former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson told a crowd at the Milwaukee Press Club on Wednesday that there is a clear emergency in Milwaukee schools, and he said he’s “damn serious” about solving it. Thompson said he pushed for school choice in Wisconsin in the 1990s because of the poor performance of Milwaukee...

The latest argument against Act 10 has been tried before, but some think this time it could work. Lawyers for the teachers’ union in Abbotsford on Tuesday tried to once again make an equal protection claim in the latest effort to strike down Act 10. Specifically, Karabell says the public safety carve out creates two classes of public employees. But Jacob Curtis, an attorney with the Institute for...

 Wisconsin is putting $50 million towards startups and entrepreneurs in hopes that a lot more companies come to the state to grow. Gov. Tony Evers and WEDC CEO Missy Hughes announced the Wisconsin Investment Fund. Evers said the Wisconsin Investment Fund is using $50 million from the federal government’s State Small Business Credit Initiative. Private investors are kicking in another $50 million,...

Milwaukee Public Schools are facing a second possible funding suspension, this time over missing state financial reports. MPS Superintendent Keith Posley said Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction is threatening to withhold millions of dollars in general state aid and special education money because the city’s school district has not yet turned in financial reports that were due as far back...

 At least one Republican lawmaker wants changes after a new report exposed Wisconsin’s attorney general hired an environmental prosecutor thanks to a grant from Michael Bloomberg’s environmental non-profit. Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, accused Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul of “selling the Department of Justice to the highest bidder.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story tha...

The Human Rights Campaign wants to spend millions of dollars to connect with equality voters in Wisconsin this election season. The Human Rights Campaign bills itself as the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.  It says equality voters are people who share their LGBTQ focus and agenda. In all, the Human Rights Campa...

Wisconsin’s uninstructed, or uncommitted, voters are out with a new poll that says they could keep President Joe Biden from winning the state in November. The Americans for Justice in Palestine-Action group commissioned the poll from YouGov. It says 1-in-5 Democrats and Independents in Wisconsin say they are less likely to vote for the president because of how he’s handled the war in Gaza. Full st...

Just days after University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s chancellor finalized an agreement with campus protesters, the head of the UW is expressing his disappointment in that deal. University of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman took to social media to explain how the university moves forward after weeks of campus protest camps. “Maintaining viewpoint neutrality on challenging public issues is critically...