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Evers condemns SCOWIS ruling allowing Walker appointee to remain on Natural Resources Board

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that a conservative member of the Natural Resources Board doesn’t have to relinquish his seat, even though his term expired last year.

Fred Prehn was appointed to the board by former Republican governor Scott Walker. His term ended in May of last year. But in 4-to-3 decision, the justices upheld a Dane County judge’s ruling that Prehn, a Wausau dentist, may keep serving until a successor is confirmed by the state Senate. Attorney General Josh Kaul had sued to remove Prehn.

Republican leaders have declined to schedule a confirmation hearing for Governor Evers’ appointee. The board sets policy for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Governor Tony Evers condemned the court’s decision.

Prehn cited a 1964 state Supreme Court decision that says appointed board members can remain seated after their term expires until a replacement is confirmed by the state Senate. Walker appointees continue to hold a majority on the 7 member board.

 

 

Pro-life groups condemn Kahl lawsuit to overturn 1849 abortion ban

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Attorney General Josh Kaul has filed a lawsuit, seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s 1849 law criminalizing abortion.

In Milwaukee on Tuesday, the Democratic AG said Wisconsinites need clarity on how the law applies now. “The truth of the matter is, the legislature has left us without that, and with conflicting laws in place. So we’re going to do as much as we can to provide clarity but, we’ve been left in a difficult spot. It’s why it’s so important that Republican legislators come into session to protect reproductive freedom.”

The suit, filed in Dane County Court, argues the 1849 law has been superseded by other restrictions in the years since and is therefore unenforceable. That includes a ban on abortion after 20 weeks that Republicans approved in 2015.

Kaul described the more than century old statute as “deeply ant-family.”

“A lot of the women who obtain abortions are mothers,” he said. “They’re often in very difficult circumstances, including potentially ectopic pregnancies that could leave kids who are alive without a parent. It is so important that we empower women and their families to make these decisions and not politicians.”

Abortion remains legal in two neighboring states – but Governor Tony Evers said that’s not a real solution for individuals needing one in Wisconsin.

“Of course the folks in Illinois and Minnesota are being helpful, we’re hoping to have services available nearest to our borders as possible,” Evers said. “But at the end of the day, that is not going to help all sorts of vulnerable women who can’t cross our borders, because they don’t have the wherewithal to do that.”

Pro-life groups are condemning Kaul’s action. “While I’m not at all surprised that a lawsuit has been filed, I am definitely disappointed in Attorney General Josh Kaul” said Julaine Appling, President of Wisconsin Family Action. “His job is to defend Wisconsin law, not to challenge a duly enacted statute that he and the governor disagree with. This is obvious pandering to Evers’ and Kaul’s political allies.”

“Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion ban is in full effect and that is why Wisconsin’s abortion providers, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and Affiliated Medical Services, are no longer performing abortions,” said Matt Sande, Pro-Life Wisconsin Legislative Director. “It is the job of our state’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Kaul, to enforce laws protecting human life, not sue to overturn them.”

Wisconsin politicians react as SCOTUS overturns Roe v. Wade

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Republican and Democratic Wisconsin politicians are reacting, to Friday’s action by the the U.S. Supreme Court, overturning Roe v. Wade.

“This is an absolutely disastrous and unconscionable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the consequences of which I hoped to never see again in my lifetime,” Governor Tony Evers said in a statement. “I know many across our state and nation are scared—worried about their own health and about the health and safety of their family members, friends, and neighbors, who could very soon see the ability to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions stripped from them.”

The high court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is a reversal that leaves states free to drastically reduce or even outlaw abortion, a right to which was established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade.

“Today is a victory for life and for those who have fought for decades to protect the unborn,” said U.S. Senator Ron Johnson in a statement. “For almost fifty years the decision of nine unelected Justices have prevented a democratically derived consensus on the profound moral issue of abortion to be formed.  This decision will now allow that democratic process to unfold in each state to determine at what point does society have the responsibility to protect life.”

Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban could be challenged in court, now that Roe V. Wade has been overturned. Attorney General Josh Kaul said the Wisconsin Department of Justice could be called into any such litigation, which is likely.

Kaul said there are newer state statutes in conflict with the older law. ” There are statutes that talk about exemptions for both, not just the life, but the health of the mother,” Kaul said. “The 19th-century ban doesn’t have an exception for the protection of health. So there are places where the laws are in conflict and I think that’s going to be something the courts will ultimately resolve.”

Kaul said as long as he is attorney general, the DOJ will not prosecute any cases under the 1849 law.

“An activist majority of the Supreme Court has overturned Roe and nearly 50 years of precedent, taking away the constitutional rights of American women to make their own personal choices about their body, their health, and their family,” U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin said in a statement. “Republicans have taken Wisconsin women back to 1849 and it is Republicans who want to keep us there with support for having politicians interfere in the freedoms of women who will now have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers have had for decades.”

“Let’s call this what it is: a brazen, political act that rolls back essential human rights,” said state Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neuabauer (D-Racine). “By striking down a precedent of nearly 50 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has sent our country back to the 1970’s and Wisconsin back to the 1840’s.”

“Wisconsin statute specifies that an ‘unborn child’ is a human being from the time of conception until it is born alive,” said state Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafiueld) in a statement. “And, if there is a medical issue where the life of the mother is in jeopardy, the life of the mother can be saved. These statutes are now in effect.”

WJMC-Rice Lake contributed to this report 

Republicans gavel in and out of special session to overturn Wisconsin’s abortion law

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Abortion advocates rallied in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda Wednesday, as Republicans failed to act on a special legislative session called by Governor Tony Evers, to repeal Wisconsin’s 1849 law criminalizing abortion.

“This is a law that was passed during a time when women didn’t have the right to vote, or hold elected office,” said Tanya Atkinson, President of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. “During a time when we didn’t understand that people of all genders need access to abortion. This law could go back into effect if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade making abortion a felony crime in the state of Wisconsin.”

The century old state law goes into effect once the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe versus Wade, which is expected to occur soon. ”We know the irreparable harm that will be caused if abortion is not safe and legal,” said Atkinson. “Abortion does not go away, it becomes unsafe.”

”We know that the people who make these decisions will always have access,” said Darlene Johns of Black Leaders Organizing Communities. “They can fly their daughters out, they can fly their family out. they can fly their mistresses out to wherever they need to get access. Hell, they can fly the doctor in to perform a procedure. We know that these bans don’t make it safer. It doesn’t make the problem go away, and it makes it happen behind closed doors. It makes it happen with unsterilized tools, and makes it happen in ways that will leave people permanently scarred, mentally and physically.”

State Senate President Khris Kapenga (R-Delafied) released a statement after gaveling the chamber in and out Wednesday.

“The United States Supreme Court has yet to issue their opinion, yet the Governor called a Special Session. This is nothing more than a calculated campaign move and the exact reason why the Legislature isn’t in session during campaign season. He’s not fooling anyone with this disingenuous political stunt.”

Planned Parenthood will begin referring abortions out-of-state

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Abortion will soon be a thing of the past with the borders of Wisconsin. Beginning on Saturday, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will direct patients to out-of-state facilities for abortions, or work with them to find alternative care.

The organization has stopped scheduling abortions past in anticipation of a U-S Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe versus Wade, which could come as soon as next Monday.

A law passed in Wisconsin in 1849 criminalizes abortion, so providers would have immediately suspend those services the same day the high court makes its decision. For now, there are just four health care providers which offer abortions in Wisconsin.

Study shows budget challenges for Wisconsin towns

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A new study finds tighter budgets for Wisconsin town governments. Wisconsin Policy Forum Research Director Jason Stein says towns reliance on local property taxes has grown in recent decades as state aid has slowed.

“Towns have had certainly seen a real significant loss in a form of state aid, known as shared revenue,” Stein said.

“What you’ve seen with town budgets is over the last generation they’ve become more dependent on both property taxes and bar are willing to . . . provide the limited range of services that towns provide, which is . . . typically . . . their core function is, is roads.”

Borrowing is at record levels as towns face road maintenance and emergency services staffing challenges. “There’s just been a challenge for towns to find adequate staffing for their fire and EMS departments to be able to meet demand.”

Stein said the share of towns overall budgets that go to roads has diminished over time, as spending on items like debt payments have risen.

Juneteenth flag raised at Wisconsin Capitol

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WRN photo

Tony Evers raises the Juneteenth flag over the Capitol in Madison.

Friday’s brief ceremony marked the third year the Democratic governor has raised the flag to commemorate the last enslaved Black Americans. They were freed in Texas, on June 19, 1865, some two-and-half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

“I want to acknowledge that I know a flag is not a policy solution,” Evers said. “And it’s not an investment. But it is a message, a message to black Wisconsinites across our state that we celebrate you, and that as a state we are committed to building a future that we dare to dream up for our kids and our grandkids and generations to come.”

Evers was joined by members of the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus.

“And I think it’s important that we realize on this day that Black history is not just black history. It’s American history,” said Representative Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee). “Just last year Juneteenth was made a federal holiday and that’s something to celebrate. That is something to celebrate.”

Evers also issued a proclamation to commemorate the event.

 

NWS confirms 6 tornadoes in Wisconsin from Wednesday weather

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A total of six tornadoes have been confirmed as a result of Wednesday’s severe weather in Wisconsin.

As of Friday morning the National Weather Service in Green Bay confirmed EF1 tornados in Seymour in Outagamie County and West Bloomfield in Waushara County, as well as a tornado in Silver Cliff in Marinette County.

In western Wisconsin, the Weather Service’s La Crosse office confirmed EF1 tornados in La Farge in Vernon County and Mauston in Juneau County, and an EF2 in Wyeville in Monroe County.

Weather Service crews also planned to survey damage and determine whether more tornadoes touched down in other locations.

‘Trying to change the narrative’- Tiffany dismissive of January 6 Committee hearings

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Wisconsin Seventh District congressman Tom Tiffany is dismissive of the January 6th Committee’s hearings into the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, calling it an effort to distract voters from current issues.

“This is clearly to distract the American people from the damage that’s being done to our country right now. Inflation, energy prices out of control southern border out of control crime. Speaker Pelosi wants to change the narrative,” the Republican said.

In a prime time hearing Thursday night, the committee held Trump responsible for the attack. Tiffany, in a Friday interview with the DrydenWire podcast, said he was on a flight from D.C. and did not watch the hearing.

“This is truly about trying to change the narrative from high inflation, high energy prices, the failure the the failure of the policies that have been implemented over the last year and a half.”

 

Vos taps tax attorney to fill WEC vacancy

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has filled a vacancy on the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission. Tax attorney Don Millis of Sun Prairie will fill the vacancy caused by last month’s resignation of Republican Commissioner Dean Knudson. Knudson’s abrupt departure delayed a vote on the next WEC chair, who by law must be a Republican commissioner to succeed current chair Anne Jacobs, a Democrat.

There had been speculation that Vos would tap Micheal Gableman, the former state Supreme Court Justice overseeing Vos’ partisan probe into Wisconsin’s 2020 election. While that didn’t happen, Vos’ Wednesday press release included an endorsement from Gableman, who said Mills “ will bring with him both the intellectual firepower and courageous resolve . . . necessary to . . . . help put a stop to the lawless actions of the leftist members of WEC.”

Millis previously served as one of the first members of WEC in 2016, following its’ creation by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature. The commission is scheduled to meet Friday to select a new chair.

Also Wednesday, Dane County judge Frank Remington called on Gableman to testify in public on Friday. Gableman’s office is being sued for handling of open records requests in the ongoing taxpayer funded review of the 2020 election.

The group American Oversight contends that emails and other documents from the office of special prosecutor should be public record, since Gableman’s review has cost Wisconsin taxpayers almost $900,000.

Gableman’s attorney argued this week that there’s a staff member who’s job it is to testify in legal challenges, and that Gableman’s testimony is unnecessary. Gableman has so far refused to testify, or to turn over the requested records.
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