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Vos strips Representative Tim Ramthun of staffer at Capitol office

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has sanctioned a member of his Republican caucus. Vos noted Thursday that Representative Timothy Ramthun (R-Cambellsport) claims Wisconsin can revoke the 10 electoral votes it delivered to President Joe Biden.      

“Every member has a right to their own beliefs,” Vos said. “So there are some who believe, there’s one who believes, that we somehow have the right, even though every lawyer that we’ve worked with in Wisconsin says we cannot undo the 2020 elections, Representative Ramthun has that belief. That’s his right.”   

 

According to Vos’ office, Ramthun also falsely accused Vos of signing a deal with attorneys for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to authorize ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin. 

Vos has stripped Ramthun of his sole staffer at his Capitol office.  According to WisPolitics.com, Vos took the action after Ramthun told “bold-faced lies” about Republican colleagues.

 

 

Assembly Dems call for immediate end to Gableman elections probe

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Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly say it’s time to pull the plug on Speaker Robin Vos’ partisan probe of the 2020 presidential election.

“We’re trying to eliminate the office of special counsel, and fire Michael Gableman and all the people that work for him, and end the spending of taxpayer dollars on this sham investigation,” Representative Mark Spreitzer of Beloit said on Wednesday. He’s among the authors of a resolution calling for an end to the investigation by the former state Supreme Court Justice, which is embroiled in litigation over multiple subpoenas Gableman has issued.

“There’s a lot of people – our clerks, people on the elections commission – who are being unfairly impugned by this investigation,” said Representative Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh. “Enough. It needs to stop. I think it’s been highlighted over again that they’re really just promoting the big lie. Donald Trump lost, let’s move on.”

“I don’t know where the spending of taxpayer money ends, unless we say that it ends right now,” Spreitzer said.

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin called out Gableman in her comments on the Senate floor. “Gableman has issued wide-ranging subpoenas to local officials in Wisconsin’s largest cities, and even threatened to jail them if they fail to comply with this taxpayer-funded promotion of Trump’s big lie,” the Wisconsin Democrat said.

 

 

Assembly Majority Leader Steineke not running for reelection

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Rep. Jim Steineke

The leader of Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly is not running for reelection. Representative Jim Steineke of Kaukauna was first elected to his northeast Wisconsin district in 2010, and elected as Majority Leader in 2015.

In a statement, Steinke said he won’t run for reelection this fall, and that “the time has come to pass the torch,” as he returns to the private sector. Speaker Robin Vos called Steineke “a dedicated, strong conservative voice.”

“As I refocus my efforts on returning to the private sector in the weeks and months ahead, I remain committed to doing everything in my power to advance conservative policies and serve as a check against the governor and his administration to prevent extreme ideologies from being enacted,” Steineke said.

Election oversight could be an issue in election for Secretary of State

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Rep. Amy Loudenbeck

For the first time in decades, the election for Wisconsin Secretary of State could involve debate over an issue.

Republican candidate, state Representative Amy Loudenbeck,  would like the Legislature to restore elections oversight to the office.

“I think that I have a great relationship with the legislature, who would be the ones to decide if they want to transfer any duties or powers to the Secretary of State,” Loudenbeck told WCLO. “And I don’t think those conversations are going to happen with Doug LaFollette still in office.”

“A lot of states have a Secretary of State who is involved in elections oversight, elections administration. I think that’s something that Wisconsin should take a look at,” Loudenbeck said.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette

Incumbent Democrat, Secretary of State Doug LaFollette, told WRN that have a partisan elected official involved in election oversight is a bad idea.

“In Wisconsin we’ve had a very good record, going back almost 50 years, of having an independent election board, or election commission, to keep politics out of the office,” LaFollette said, citing “some very bad results in Florida and Ohio and other places, where partisan politicians had control over elections. That’s a bad idea and I don’t agree with her.”

The Secretary of State has not had election oversight in Wisconsin since 1973 – a year before La Follette was first elected to the office. LaFollette said he’ll make a decision soon, on whether to seek another term.

Waukesha County judge rules against ballot drop boxes

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City of Madison drop box WRN image

A Waukesha County Judge has ordered a halt to the use of ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin elections. Judge Michael Bohren said Thursday he would finalize an injunction in 10 days ordering the state Elections Commission to withdraw its guidance to municipal clerks regarding drop boxes that are not located in their offices.

Bohren ruled in favor of a lawsuit by the Wisconsin Institute For Law and Liberty. Luke Berg with the conservative law firm argued that the Commission’s guidance carried a lot of weight with local clerks.

“It is charged with administering the election laws and it is charged with providing guidance to clerks. So when it says something is lawful, municipal clerks follow it’s lead.”

Representing the elections commission, Steven Kilpatrick countered that clerks had made a great effort to ensure the drop boxes were secure.

“The commission’s guidance states that clerks should ensure that drop boxes are secure, can be monitored, and can be regularly emptied.”

The lawsuit by WILL is part of part of an Republican effort to oppose drop boxes. Bohren’s ruling is likely to be appealed.

SCOTUS stops Biden administration vaccine mandate for large employers

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The U.S. Supreme Court has halted the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement on large employers. Conservative Justices expressed doubt that there’s legal authority for such a broad mandate.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers wasn’t surprised by Thursday’s decision. “We have to make sure that businesses aren’t burdened by this. But going forward, people can still get vaccinated, that’s the easy answer to that,” Evers said.

“Wisconsin businesses can breathe a sigh of relief that the Supreme Court has stayed this unlawful and unworkable mandate,” said Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce President & CEO Kurt R. Bauer. “If enacted, employers would face untold financial costs to comply with this ETS and an unprecedented number of workers would walk off the job in the middle of a historic workforce shortage.”

Wisconsin Health Services Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake says DHS continues to partner with businesses, to combat COVID-19.

“We have had many great partnerships with private sector employers, who have been offering on-site vaccination clinics, who are offering on-site testing, who are making it possible for their employees to take time off when they are sick, and need to be out of the workforce,” she said.

The high court did allow a separate policy to stand, which requires vaccinations for most health-care workers at facilities receiving federal Medicaid and Medicare funding.

 

State sets new COVID-19 hospitalization record

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Wisconsin sets a new record on Wednesday, for COVID-19 hospitalizations. The state Department of Health Services reports Critically High infection rates in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

But as the state’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ryan Westergaard recently noted, hospitalizations are the really critical number.

“I think that we should be looking at that number, we should be talking about that number, because it’s really high, it’s too high. That fact that it’s so high is creating an unsafe situation for people who need medical care.”

On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Hospital Association reported a pandemic high of 2,278, mainly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, including 488 in ICU beds.

DHS letter urges K-12 administrators to adopt tougher COVID mitigation strategies

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Wisconsin school districts are being asked to step up their efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. A letter to school administrators from the Department of Health Services urges them to require masks for everyone, follow the CDC’s new quarantine guidelines, and offer school vaccination and booster clinics.

The request comes as Wisconsin is experiencing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases.

DHS on Monday reported the 7-day average of new confirmed cases at 9,063 – a one hundred and fifty percent increase over two weeks.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly supports the recommendations from DHS. “We cannot keep our children engaged in learning if we cannot keep our children and our school staff healthy,” Underly said.

 

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson will seek third term

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Stating that he “believes America is in peril,” Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is officially running for re-election to the U.S. Senate. The Oshkosh Republican announced his campaign with a Sunday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, citing “Democrats’ complete takeover of government” as one reason for running again.

The news has been expected despite Johnson’s earlier pledge to serve only two terms. He’s been criticized for promoting misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines, and for downplaying the severity of last year’s violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

Several Democrats are competing to challenge Johnson, including Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

 

Interim UW System President Tommy Thompson gives March departure date

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Interim UW System President Tommy Thompson will resign his post in March. In a letter to Board of Regents President Edmund Manydeeds, Thompson said he took the interim position with the understanding he was needed, and that it would be temporary.

Manydeeds said Thompson has worked to shepherd the UW System through the coronavirus pandemic while being “a relentless champion of the University of Wisconsin.”

“President Thompson stepped in during a critical moment for UW System and our state, and he has provided strong and decisive leadership” said UW Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank. “He has been an extraordinary advocate for our students, faculty and staff over these past 18 months, as he has been for the state of Wisconsin over his many decades of public service.”

Wisconsin’s longest serving governor was brought aboard in July 2020, after a failed search to find a replacement for the retiring Ray Cross. In his letter, Thompson noted the regents will soon identify a candidate to become the full-time president.