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Kaul joins lawsuit opposing merger of T-Mobile and Sprint

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Wisconsin has joined a lawsuit to block the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.  Alleging it is anticompetitive and will drive-up prices for consumers, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined 8 states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit to halt the proposed merger of the telecom companies.

The complaint, filed in New York federal court in coordination with California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. alleges that the merger of two of the four national mobile network operators would deprive consumers of the benefits of competition and drive up prices for cellphone services.

Women’s Suffrage Centennial Celebration at the Capitol

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At the Capitol, a celebration of Wisconsin’s status as the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, 100 years ago. Former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch noted that women have taken full advantage of the right to vote. “Since the 1980s, women have outnumbered men at the polls. Women today are 53% of the electorate.”

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley urged young women to learn from the stories of women in the suffrage movement, by voting and getting involved in the political process.

Comments from state Sheila Stubbs of Madison and Stockbridge Munsee Mohican Band President Shannon Holsey served as a reminder that women of color were largely excluded from the suffrage movement. State Representative Jesse Rodriguez said women also gained other rights, from keeping the wages they earned to having custody of their children. “A lot was on the line, and I’m glad that women led the effort, and didn’t falter.”

The event in the rotunda on Monday included a display of the original document that was ratified by the Wisconsin legislature.

Pride flag flies over Wisconsin Capitol

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Governor Tony Evers has ordered the rainbow pride flag to be flown over the Wisconsin state Capitol for the first time.

Evers on Friday issued an executive order to fly the rainbow flag over the Capitol for the remainder of June in recognition of “Pride Month.” It will fly over the east wing of the Capitol, where the governor’s office is located.

GOP Senators propose roads funding package

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A group of Republican state Senators propose a roads funding plan. The $133 million proposal comes as the Joint Finance Committee is set to consider transportation funding on Thursday. It includes giving each county $1 million, and towns $1,000 per mile for their roads. “They’ve been falling behind for a long time, and I believe this is a way for them to catch up, and level the playing field a bit,” said Senator Howard Marklein.

Jerry Deschane with the League of Wisconsin of Municipalities noted that there’s nothing for cities and villages. “We’re glad they’re talking about specific solutions, we look forward to working with them on a solution that’s more fair. he said. “Right now towns get roughly 40 percent of their road costs covered by the state. In cities and villages they get roughly sixteen percent.”

The plan uses one time money from an anticipated state budget surplus. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald called it “a laudable idea” but one that should be considered outside the state transportation budget.

Agencies partner in health care outreach initiative

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Two state agencies are partnering to help people access health care. Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said the joint effort with the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance will reach out, to some 290,000 thousand uninsured Wisconsin adults. “Shift workers, direct care workers, child care workers. These are the folks that end up falling through the gaps when we as a team . . . are not focused on making sure that those folks are accessing the care that they are eligible for.”


The goal is to inform more people aware of their options with BadgerCare or through the private insurance marketplace. “A major piece of this initiative is the education, and making the options available of coverage,” said Insurance Commissioner Mark Afable

Palm and Afable announced the partnership in a Capitol press conference on Monday, with Governor Tony Evers. Evers said he’ll continue to advocate for Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin. “Seventy percent of the people in the state have indicated in the most recent poll that they favor Medicaid expansion. We’re going to continue to fight for that.”

The legislature’s budget panel has removed a provision from Evers’ budget proposal, to accept $1.6 billion in new federal funding for Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin. Joint Finance Committee co-chair John Nygren, opposed to accepting the money, has said that expanding Medicaid is the same as expanding welfare, and not the right path to increase access and affordability.

Evers tells state Democrats he’s not boring

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Governor Tony Evers served notice, at the weekends’s state Democratic party convention in Milwaukee. Evers said that he and Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnws were pegged during the camapaign as “boring”

“A lot of us have said that about me. We’re boring,” Evers told delegates. “And you know what we said to that? The hell with it.”

Evers told delegates at the Potowatomi Casino and Convention Center that’s there’s nothing boring about standing up for the people of Wisconsin. Republicans continue to take apart Evers’ budget proposals. “I have the most powerful veto in the nation, and to them I say, who is boring now?”

The new chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said said his first order of business will be to get the party more engaged with expanding Medicaid in Wisconsin. Evers proposed budget included a provision to accept federal money through the Affordable Care Act to expand the program. Republicans have pulled that provision from the budget.

Ben Wikler told delegates in Milwaukee over the weekend that “Republicans are on the wrong side of history.” Wikler, who defeated state Representative David Bowen, said he personally called every delegate as he campaigned for the job that was vacated by outgoing chair Martha Laning.

Drunk driving bills clear Assembly committee vote

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Two bills related to drunk driving were approved by a state Assembly committee on Thursday. One of the measures from Mequon Republican, Representative Jim Ott, requires first-time drunk driving offenders to appear in court rather than simply paying a fine.

“Maybe standing in front of a judge would have enough of an impact on them that they say ‘you know what, I don’t ever want to do this again,'” Ott said Thursday.

The other bill establishes a minimum five year prison term for those convicted of causing a death by drunk driving. “Many times judges sentence appropriately,” Ott said, but noted that’s not always the case. “The worst case I heard was 11 months in jail for killing someone while drunk>”

Ott noted that in 2015, the most recent year for which we have statistics, the DOT reports 190 people died in drunk driving crashes. That’s more than one every two days

State Dems to elect new chair this weekend

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The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will pick a new chair this weekend.  Sheboygan native Martha Laning is not running after leading the state party since 2015.

Vice chairman, state Representative David Bowen of Milwaukee, and former MoveOn-dot-org leader Ben Wikler of Madison, are seeking the support of delegates who will meet at the state party convention in Milwaukee this weekend.
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Kelly to seek 10 year term on Wisconsin Supreme Court

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Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly is seeking a 10-year term. The 55-year-old Kelly, a member of the court’s conservative majority, was appointed in 2016 by former Governor Scott Walker to fill the unexpired term of David Prosser.

Kelly said Tuesday that he decided to seek a full term after hearing from enthusiastic voters following the April Supreme Court win of conservative appeals court judge Brian Hagedorn. Kelly faces Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky and Marquette University Law School professor Ed Fallone in a February primary.
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Patterson gets two life sentences in Closs case

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Two life sentences without the possibility of parole for the man who kidnapped 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killed her parents. Judge James C. Babler handed down the ruling in a Barron County Court for Jake Patterson. He will also serve a 40-year sentence for the kidnapping charge.

“There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of the most dangerous men to ever walk on this planet. You are the embodiment of evil. And the public can only be safe if you are incarcerated until you die,” Babler said

Jayme Closs did not appear in court, but a lawyer read a statement written by the 13-year-old. The teen asked the judge to give Patterson the maximum sentence for his crimes. “I feel like what he did is what a coward would do. I was brave, he was not. He thought that he could own me, but he was wrong. I was smarter. I watched his routine and I took back my freedom. I will always have my freedom and he will not.”

Defense attorneys said Patterson has clearly accepted responsibility for his acts and asked the judge to keep the possibility of parole as part of the sentence, not so Patterson could actually ever get out of prison, but so he could have different rehabilitation options while in prison.

The 21-year-old Patterson also addressed the court. “I would do absolutely anything to take back what I did. I would do. I would do absolutely anything to bring them back. i don’t care about me. i’m just so sorry.”

Barron County District Attorney Brian Wright, in a 40 minute presentation, showed crime scene photos from the Closs home and the cabin where Patterson held Closs after kidnapping her. The courtroom also heard a recording of the 911 call made by Closs’s mother Denise just before she was killed.

Jayme escaped in January after being held by Patterson for 88 days at a house in Douglas County. Patterson had earlier entered guilty pleas on all the charges against him.