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Evers announces climate change task force

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Governor Tony Evers has announced creation of a climate change task force for Wisconsin. Climate change as an issue was largely ignored by the administration of Evers’ Republican predecessor, Scott Walker.

Evers signed an executive order on Thursday at Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center. He said it’s “time to deliver on the promise to our kids that we’re leaving them a better life and world than the one we inherited.”

Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes will lead the task force. The task force will report their findings and policy recommendations to Evers by August 2020.

Amendment would further rein in governor’s veto authority

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A proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution would limit a governor’s ability to use the veto power to increase spending in the state budget. State Senator Dave Craig (R – Big Bend) is the author.

“By passing this resolution the legislature will consider the historic trend to prevent gubernatorial intervention into the legislature’s purview, regardless of which party holds the executive branch. And this would shield taxpayers from further unauthorized spending increases in the future.”

Craig testified on his proposed amendment before a state Senate committee on Tuesday. “This has been an ongoing, evolutionary process, by which I think the legislature, the people of Wisconsin and the courts have all winnowed that authority to the concept that the governor cannot use the line item veto, the partial veto authority, to increase funds.”
Craig said he received feedback from constituents, after Governor Tony Evers used the veto authority to move an additional $65 million to K-12 schools in the current budget.

“It’s unfortunate that Republicans are upset the governor used his broad veto authority to provide more money to our schools. Instead of devoting all their time and energy toward trying to override the will of the people and seeking political retribution for an election that happened almost a year ago, Republicans should get to work on the pressing issues facing our state,” Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement.

Constitutional amendments must pass two consecutive sessions of the legislature and a statewide referendum in order to go into effect.

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One year later, Jayme Closs ‘stronger every day’

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One year after her abduction, Jayme Closs is moving forward with her life. Family attorney Chris Gramstrup spoke at a press conference at the Barron County Sheriff’s Department.

“She continues to work very, very hard on her emotional well-being. She’s moving forward courageously with her life.” Gramstrup read a statement from Jayme, now 14-years-old, in which she said she’s feeling stronger every day.

Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald honored investigators on the case. “Thank you for continuing to put up with the danger that we live in every day, and our work and the hours that we put in. Jayme, thank-you for teaching us the true meaning of courage, resilience and hope.”

Jayme was abducted from her Barron home, and her parents murdered, one year ago. Jake Patterson is serving life in prison for the crimes.

Assembly GOP leaders offer to accommodate Rep. Jimmy Anderson

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Republican leaders in the Assembly said Tuesday that they’re ready to accommodate the needs of state Representative Jimmy Anderson, a Madison area Democrat who uses a wheelchair.

“We took the politics out of it, just took a step back, and all figured out the best way to make sure that Representative Anderson can represent his district, but also do it in a way that doesn’t really compromise the integrity of what we think the legislature should be, and that’s a body where citizens have a right to come and see eye-to-eye with their legislator,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Proposed rule changes would allow Anderson to phone in to committee meetings at the Capitol. Anderson had asked Vos earlier this year to allow that, and to avoid holding sessions late into the night. It’s not immediately clear if the changes will placate Anderson, who said it looked as if leaders were hoping to avoid a lawsuit.

“I think if they take a fair look at it, it’ll be clear that we addressed his concerns in a way that doesn’t affect the integrity of the body,” said Majority Leader Jim Steinke said the changes include allowing lawmakers with a disability to attend committee meetings by phone. Anderson said it looks as if GOP leaders are trying to avoid a lawsuit.

The accommodation for Anderson is included in rule changes that the Assembly will take up Thursday, and Democrats are critical of some of those proposals, especially one that would allow the chamber to make multiple attempts to override a governor’s veto. Currently, the Assembly is only allowed one vote on a veto. “Republicans ruined the chance to do something good and instead used it to make a power play for their political stature,” said Assistant Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein.

 

Johnson opposes Trump plan to pull U.S. troops out of Syria

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U.S. Senator Ron Johnson is opposed to President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw American troops from Syria. The Wisconsin Republican, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that while he doesn’t believe the U.S. “can or should be the world’s policeman,” he does believe that “the fight against ISIS and preventing further unnecessary bloodshed in Syria” is in the U.S. national interest.

“I have never believed America can or should be the world’s policeman. But I do believe when it is in our national security interest, and we have the capability of stabilizing a situation to prevent violence, we should do so,” said Sen. Johnson. “Supporting a key ally in the fight against ISIS and preventing further unnecessary bloodshed in Syria is in our national interest. Abandoning the Kurds would not only send a terrible signal to America’s allies and adversaries, it would simply be unconscionable.”

In a Tuesday tweet, the president said the U-S is not abandoning the Kurds, calling them “a special people and wonderful fighters.”

Johnson said that abandoning the Kurds would send a terrible signal to American allies and adversaries, and “would simply be unconscionable.”

Johnson, Grothmann stick with President Trump

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On the Sunday shows, Wisconsin Republicans in Congress were sticking with President Trump. They portray a president simply “frustrated,” by corruption in the government of Ukraine. Congressman Glenn Grothman on WKOW’s Capitol City Sunday. “I’m sure it frustrates President Trump, when it appears that on the surface, the American government in dealing with Ukraine, which has a history of being crooked, the American may have been a little bit crooked itself.”

Senator Ron Johnson was on WISN’s UpFront. “I can understand the president’s frustration, and his desire to find out exactly what happened. I want to find out, and I know a fair number of President Trump’s supporters would like to know that as well.”

Johnson said there was nothing inappropriate about Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky. On NBC’s Meet the Press, Johnson said President Donald Trump did not want to “dig up dirt” on former vice-president Joe Biden, but to find out whether Ukrainian officials helped Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. . Johnson’s exchange with host Chuck Todd grew heated, as Johnson said he did not trust former FBI and CIA officials.

Johnson has no problem with Trump’s request that China investigate Bidens

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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson said Thursday that he wants the truth, and has no problem with President Donald Trump asking China to investigate former vice-president Joe Biden and his son.

“I want to find out what happened during 2016. If there’s wrongdoing, if there’s potential criminal activity, the president of the United States is our chief law enforcement officer. We have cooperative agreements with countries to investigate potential crimes. So I don’t think there’s anything improper about doing that.”

The Wisconsin Republican commented Thursday on the latest development in the rapidly developing impeachment inquiry into the president. Johnson was in Middleton, where he spoke to the Chamber of Commerce. Trump on Wednesday publicly called on China to investigate the Biden’s activities there.

AUDIO: Senator Ron Johnson 1:30

“From my own standpoint, the last people I’d ask to investigate crimes would be China . . . I’m saying I don’t think there’s anything improper about it, the chief law enforcement officer, if there’s a potential crime, I’m not saying there is, there’s nothing improper about asking another government where we have those type of investigative agreements with, to provide information for that investigation. That’s the way things work.”

“The American people have a right to know. Something wrong happened, as relates to politics in the 2016 election. We have a right to know that. And quite honestly I don’t think the Democratic primary voters know if there’s some scandal sitting outside there, whether it’s in the Ukraine between vice president Biden’s son, or in China, I would think they’s want to know that before they start casting their ballots in the Democratic primary.”

Trump has sought to implicate the Bidens in Ukrainian corruption. No credible evidence has surfaced yet, of any illegal actions by Joe or Hunter Biden, in either China or Ukraine

 

Mayor says incident in Superior shows need for regional bomb squad

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It was not a pipe bomb that shut down a main thoroughfare in Superior for hours on Tuesday. But Mayor Jim Paine told KDAL that the object spotted outside the city’s fire hall was deemed a credible threat.

“That means that we can’t rule out that it’s a hoax. We got an actual suspicious device that could be a bomb. That’s what a credible bomb threat means.”

A Police Department robot was able to handle the device and determine it to be inactive, but containing a grainy residue. It will be sent to the Wisconsin Crime Lab for testing.

Paine said the incident highlighted the fact that the nearest bomb squad is more than three hours away, in Marathon County.

“I’m aware that there’s one at the airbase in Duluth, but that is part of the Minnesota Air National Guard and therefore can’t operate in Wisconsin right now. So we’ve got a little bit of a political challenge trying to make the partnership there, or a financial challenge trying to create a regional bomb squad that can serve us up here in the north.”

The pipe bomb was spotted by a passerby at about 9:15 AM on Tuesday, outside the city’s new fire hall. The response blocked off Tower Avenue/WI 35 for several hours.

KDAL contributed to this report 

Finance panel approves suicide prevention hotline funding

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Sen. Jon Erpenbach

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to give $110,000 to a suicide prevention group — but not without partisan commentary. State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-West Point) noted that the money was included in the budget approved this summer.

“I get the due diligence, but this in my eyes is not due diligence. This is jut holding things up for a couple months,” Erpenbach said.

Committee Republicans held off, awaiting recommendations of a suicide prevention task force. JFC co-chair Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette).

“We might have been even doing some other changes here today if four minority members of that task force hadn’t decided to leak their initial report to the media because it wasn’t going the way they wanted it to,” Nygren said.

The money will go to the Center for Suicide Awareness to operate Hopeline, a text-based counseling service.

Rep. John Nygren

The UW-System will be getting $8.8 million to fund new dairy research facilities at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls, after those funds were released by the Joint Finance Committee. But committee members spent time discussing USDA secretary Sonny Perdue’s comments about small farms needing to consolidate or fail.

John Holevoet with the Dairy Business Association said Perdue’s comment’s just emphasize a long standing discussion in the industry.

“There’s always been this sort of discussion about ‘how do we protect small farms?’ Do we do that at the expense of big farms? Do we protect big farms at the expense of small farms? At least from our perspective, there’s space for both to operate.”

Like suicide prevention funding, the Dairy Innovation Hub was part of the recent state budget.

Dassey legal team requests clemency

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The legal team for convicted killer Brendan Dassey is asking for his release from prison. Attorney Laura Nirider spoke with CBS This Morning in a segment which aired on Wednesday.

“He has spent almost half his life behind bars. We’re filing a petition for executive clemency with Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin.”

Nirider and others claim the then 16-year-old Dassey was coerced into confessing that he helped his uncle Steven Avery murder photographer Teresa Halbach in 2006.

“He required an aide to sit next to him in the classroom, to help him understand the teacher’s spoken sentences. Then shift him into the interrogation room, where he was barraged with 1,500 questions over three-and-a-half hours,” Nirider said. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand how an interrogation like that would overwhelm someone like Brendan Dassey.”

He’s now 29 years old and has served more than 13 years in prison.