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Foxconn’s Racine County factory is on

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The latest on Foxconn: never mind. Just days after a Reuters report cast doubt on its future plans in the state, Foxconn Technology Group now says it will build a liquid crystal display manufacturing plant in Racine County. A company statement says that follows talks between President Donald Trump and company CEO Terry Gou. A spokeswoman said there would be no other comment for now.

The state agreed to give Foxconn about $4 billion in state and local incentives if it invests $10 billion and creates 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, under terms of a deal brokered by former Governor Scott Walker.

Evers declares State of Emergency for Wisconsin

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Governor Tony Evers

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has declared a State of Emergency.  In the wake of a winter storm that brought significant snowfall to parts of Wisconsin, life threatening cold air will cover the state this week, setting possible record overnight lows of -15 to -25 with wind chills from -35 to -50.

Evers’ Executive Order directs all state agencies to assist with any emergency response and recovery efforts. It also gives Adjutant General Don Dunbar the authority to call Wisconsin National Guard personnel to state active duty, as needed to support local emergency responders.

“I’m concerned about the safety and well-being of our residents as this major storm and bitter cold moves in,” Evers said. State offices remain open to the public and to all State employees. State agencies will follow their inclement weather policies.

Dangerous wind chills across Wisconsin

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After a midweek snowfall, it’s getting dangerously cold across Wisconsin. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill advisories, and the weather service in Green Bay issued a statement that these wind chills “could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.”

Northwest winds will make sub-zero lows feel as cold as minus-35 degrees. The state Department of Health Services wants you to take extra precautions. Last winter saw 38 people die from exposure in Wisconsin.

Much of the state will see highs in the teens and some snow on Monday, but very cold temperatures will return after that.

Assembly approves preexisting conditions protections

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The future of legislation to protect people in Wisconsin who have preexisting medical conditions remains unclear. The state Assembly passed a bill on a bipartisan vote Tuesday that does three things, in the event the Affordable Care Act is ever repealed.

It prevents denying individuals insurance coverage because of a preexisting condition, something known a guaranteed issue. It prevents refusing to cover services that people need to treat a preexisting condition. And it prevents charging a higher premium based on a person’s health status.

The bill was amended by Assembly Republicans based on a meeting that Speaker Robin Vos and state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald had with Democratic Governor Tony Evers last week. The bill does not include essential health benefits, which Evers also wanted.

“These things (essential health benefits) have nothing to do with preexisting conditions,” Vos said prior to Tuesday’s vote. “For eight years, Democrats have been nothing but 24/7 bomb throwers, always trying to figure a reason that a deal should break apart. Now they have to actually sit at the table and negotiate, and give.”

At least some Democrats were willing to give this bill their votes – it passed on a bipartisan 76-19 vote. However, Governor Evers has already signaled he won’t support the bill. He tweeted while it was still being debated that it “would offer less benefits for fewer people.”

Evers to deliver State of the State address

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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is set to deliver his first State of the State address Tuesday tonight. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is hoping the state’s new Democratic governor sets a bipartisan tone. “There are a lot of things that I would love for him to say tonight,” Vos said. “If he picks the tone of partisan rhetoric and divisive issues and trying to somehow say ‘here’s all the liberal checklists that I want to go off of,’ well that’ll be really disappointing.”

Evers will address a joint session of the Republican controlled legislature, beginning at 7:00 in the Assembly chambers of the state Capitol. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steinke went with a baseball analogy, when talking about what he’d like to hear.

“Tony Evers is really the manager of a team that has bases loaded, the cleanup hitter at bat with nobody out. He is inheriting an extremely good position in the state of Wisconsin. It’s going to be very easy for him to score runs if he’s willing to work with us on stuff.”

Vos and Steinke spoke with reporters at the Capitol, prior to the Assembly taking up legislation to protect people with pre-existing conditions, in the event that the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

Get set for snow and cold temps

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Winter weather is headed towards parts of the state which have yet to see much of it. There’s a winter storm watch for Friday night into Saturday for much of southern Wisconsin.

Snowfall amounts could range from 2 to 5 inches in the southwest to 4 to 8 inches in the southeast.

Snow will be followed by bitterly cold temperatures for the weekend, with overnight lows below zero across most of northern Wisconsin, and dangerous wind chills.

 

Assembly Republicans propose middle class tax cut

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Speaker Robin Vos

Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature are pitching a middle class tax cut, one that puts them at odds with Democratic Governor Tony Evers.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday that it will be paid for from the state budget surplus. “We actually have this huge surplus that’s been generated, and rather than allowing it to stay in Madison and be spent on growing government, we’d prefer to keep Tony Evers’ campaign promise and make sure that we have an opprtunity to do a middle class tax cut,” Vos said.

Vos and Assembly Republicans held a press conference at the Capitol on Thursday. Other members of the Assembly GOP caucus held similar press conferences in Wausau, Green Bay and La Crosse. In Wausau, state Representative Pat Snyder said he
doesn’t think that using surplus funds will be an issue as long as business growth continues. “I want to keep that momentum going, and with that momentum going, we’ll see surpluses every year.”

Governor Tony Evers

Evers campaigned on a tax cut which he’d proivide by scaling back a tax break for farmers and manufacturers. “Why jeapordize what has brought us to this point of prosperity by undoing a tax cut that has brought us to today,” State Representative John Nygren said.

An Evers spokeswoman said the Republican plan falls short of what the governor has proposed.

The governor’s sustainable plan to cut taxes for middle-class families-which is funded by rolling back tax giveaways for millionaires-would provide relief for 86 percent of taxpayers without adding to the deficit or relying on one-time funds.
In contrast, Speaker Vos’ spending plan continues to grow. Between this unfunded proposal, their refusal to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid, and growing legal fees for outside counsel to defend their lame-duck laws, Republicans are willing to leave taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Under the Republican proposal, couples filing jointly and making between $60,000 and $70,000 would see the largest average decrease – $311.

Evers says he’ll leave WEDC in place

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Speaker Robin Vos WRN iamge

Governor Tony Evers will leave the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation in place. Evers, who was highly critical of WEDC during his campaign for governor, met with Senate and Assembly Republicans on Tuesday. “The caucuses impressed upon us how important WEDC is, and the fact that while it had a shaky start, it is now being successful, and it’s highly audited,” Evers said.

Evers’ comments mark a change from his campaign threat to eliminate WEDC, a successor to the old state commerce department which got off to a rocky start.

“He made the commitment that he would not touch WEDC in this budget,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. “I think that’s a huge victory. I’m hoping, and I’ve been hearing that some Democratic legislators have been reaching out to him as well, saying there have been some good successes in their own backyard.”

Evers’ campaign for governor also saw the Democrat critical of the deal WEDC and Walker administration reached with Foxconn, to get the Taiwanese firm to build a huge plant in Racine County. “That said, Foxconn is in existence in the state. We have to make sure that they succeed in a way that is open and transparent,” Evers said.

“I think all of us want transparency,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, noting that “there’s provably not been an organization that has been audited or poked into more in the past eight years than WEDC. Of course we want transparency as much as Governor Evers does.”

Legislative Republicans to meet with Evers next week

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Governor Tony Evers will meet next week, with a joint caucus of Republicans in the state Senate and Assembly. They’ve sent a letter to the Democratic governor, identifying issues where they might work together.

“I’m trying to, on issues where I think we can work together, say look ‘here’s my plan, take it or leave it,’ said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steinke saidsome potential bipartisan issues might include protecting pre-existing conditions, funding K-12 education, and addressing homelessness. “In all these issues where we think we can find some common ground, we don’t want to come out and say we have all the answers before we’re able to negotiate with the administration to see where that overlap is,” Steinke said.

Vos called the letter is a “good faith effort” to avoid partisan rancour during the first days of the Evers administration. “We’re going to have plenty of those fights over the next two years, but it certainly doesn’t need to happen in the first week,” he said.
“We hope Speaker Vos and his caucus will work with the governor to make progress on these important priorities,” said Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said.

Vos predicts lame duck actions will be upheld

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Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, Speaker Robin Vos WRN image

Several groups want a Dane County judge to overturn new laws that restrict the authority of Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul. Their lawsuit alleges Republican leaders illegally convened a legislative session to take up the Republican-authored bills.

“I’m sure we will probably waste a bunch of taxpayer dollars on these liberal special interest groups raising money from outside special interests to file lawsuits against duly passed laws, which will be a waste of taxpayer money,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

The laws were passed by a “lame duck” extraordinary session of the legislature before Evers and Kaul took office. “There is absolutely, positively no doubt, that what the legislature did is constitutional, because we have the right to convene ourselves in extraordinary session,” Vos said Thursday.

A separate suit has been filed by Dane County Democratic Representative Jimmy Anderson. Anderson is in a wheelchair and says he left the Capitol after Legislative leaders told him they didn’t know when the vote would take place. He then missed the vote on the bills.
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