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New rules allow for more deductions of charitable donations, says IRS

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If you donated for Giving Tuesday to get a tax deduction, you’re in luck this year.

I R S spokesman Christopher Miller says that changes to the tax laws mean you can still file a simple return and deduct some of those donations. 

“It certainly opens up avenues for taxpayers who still want to make a donation and take a deduction for those donations but find it more advantageous to take the standard deduction.”

That means you can deduct 300 dollars of those donations on the standard 1040 or 1040 EZ without filing more paperwork.

Miller says it’s important to remember to donate by check or credit card to get a proper receipt of your transactions and make sure that the charity you’re giving to qualifies for donations under tax laws.

“Don’t fall for or be pressured into donating by a gift card like an iTunes gift card or a wire transfer. That should be a big red flag to people that the charity is not for real.”

You can find a list of qualifying charities online at https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search

Dems introduce climate change bills

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Democrats in the Wisconsin Legislature are introducing a set of bills to deal with climate change in Wisconsin. Representative Greta Neubauer says the package of 22 bills will form a framework to build on to protect Wisconsin from future climate disasters.

“This package of bills includes everything from resources for farmers to sequester carbon in the ground to programs for Union to train the next generation of renewable energy workers.”

Neubauer says the bills are needed to protect Wisconsin and its residents from the future hazards of climate change.

“With additional money for the state’s successful Focus On Energy program we can support low-income homeowners to weatherize their homes and we can build larger clean-energy projects with resources for school districts, businesses, and municipalities.”

Neubauer attempted to get these bills through the Legislature in 2019 as well. They are unlikely to make it to the floor of the Assembly.

DNR holds public hearing on new PFAS regulations

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The Department of Natural Resources is now taking public comment on a proposed rule to regulate PFAS and other forever chemicals.

That includes what has to be done to dispose of the chemicals, and how people who use fire-fighting foam have to respond to spills. At a public hearing on Thursday, Erik Cantor from Clean Wisconsin says the new rules don’t go far enough. 

“Clean Wisconsin remains extremely disappointed the legislature, that originally directed the department to develop containment disposal measures, intervened to water down the measures and benchmarks proposed by DNR in the emergency rule, which were also left out of this rule.”

Peter Burress with Wisconsin Conservation Voters asked for the D-N-R and the Natural Resources Board to pass the rules. 

“Wisconsin Department of Health Services has advised that exposure to certain PFAS may contribute to a number of negative effects including increased cholesterol levels, increase risk of thyroid disease, high blood pressure in women, lower infant birth weights, and decreased fertility in women.”

The rule is open for public comment for another week before heading to the Natural Resources Board for a vote. 

State Sen. Bernier says she’s not convinced of legal charges in Racine nursing home voting case

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The head of the State Senate elections committee says she doesn’t agree with a claim that the Wisconsin elections commission committed a crime in Racine County.

State Senator Kathleen Bernier tells Capital City Sunday that she does think the elections commission dropped the ball on serving elderly people in nursing homes. 

“They needed to make sure the people who are assisting them, they knew exactly who they are, they had to be trained, they had to take an oath of office and there should have been some protections.”

Bernier says that really doesn’t matter, though. 

“That’s not for me to say. As I keep explaining to everyone there’s the separation of powers and the legislature creates that the law or the policy, the executive branch carries it out, and the judicial branch enforces it.”

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling says the Commission itself should face charges for keeping special voting deputies out of nursing homes in 2020. He claims that allowed nursing home staffers to cast false ballots in the name of patients. No charges have been filed by the DA’s office.

State Senate Republicans pass package of anti-abortion bills

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Republicans in the State Senate have passed a package of abortion restrictions on party-line votes.

Among those bills are requirements for doctors to offer so-called abortion reversal treatments, a measure to prevent abortion based on a fetus’s race, gender or genetic abnormality, and a bill that would cut off clinics that provide abortions from the Medical Assistance program.

Democrat Kelda Roys says it’s a cynical ploy to rile up the Republican base. 

“This bill and a few others on the calendar, Mr. President, insert political judgment for the most personal intimate choices in people’s lives.”

Democrat Senator Chris Larson called the bills just another method of removing healthcare from women and said you don’t get these sorts of measures when it comes to male vasectomies. 

“The state does not require that that man to be patted on the head and say, ‘you go home and you think about this for 24 hours. This is a really big decision fella.'”

The only Republican to comment on the bills was Senator Chris Kapenga, who defended the bill on abortion reversal, saying it was there to provide choices for women. 

“It’s more information so that she can make a better-informed decision and she knows that she can continue the pregnancy she may continue the pregnancy if she chooses.”

All four bills will likely be vetoed by Governor Evers. 

 

UW-Madison Chancellor Blank takes leadership position at Northwestern

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Longtime UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank will be leaving the university next year to take over as the president of Northwestern in Illinois.

The transition should happen sometime next year, and Blank says she’s happy to have helped UW-Madison through some tough times, including the pandemic.

“With the actions that we took last year between furloughs and budget cuts and then some money from the federal government, and the state gave back part of its lapse there at the end, we are entering this year without any financial hangover from last year.”

Blank says she’s happy to have helped both the university and the city grow and evolve during her time in office. 

“It’s economically more diverse and stronger now than it was 9 years ago when I came and I think that’s going to continue a lot of that is due to the presence of the university in this community.”

Under the Walker administration, Blank had to contend with major cuts to the UW-System, as well as a change in how the state treats tenure. She says she’s most proud of the creation of the Bucky’s Promise program which has helped over 4 thousand low-income students get a full education.

Dane County judge orders Speaker Vos to turn over records from elections investigation

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will have to turn over documents related to his investigation of the 2020 presidential election.

That’s after an open records request from Washington DC-based watchdog group American Oversight. Spokesperson Melanie Sloan says they’re looking for documents connected with Vos’ decision to hire former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman and others.

“We’ve been requesting documents for many months. We have numerous requests outstanding and basically, they’ve been refusing to provide those, and so we were left with no option but to go to court to enforce our records request. Neither Speaker Vos nor the Assembly has provided any documents related to the hiring or work product of the contractors they hired to do this audit, including any records of former Justice Gableman.”

The judge’s order said Vos has “unjustifiably withheld and refused to release the contractor records to which Petitioner is entitled.” Vos called the lawsuit frivolous. 

Senate Republicans pass “Born Alive” bill

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A Republican-authored bill that would require doctors to perform life-saving care on babies who survive late-term abortions has passed the State Senate.

Republican Senator Roger Roth says the bill ensures care for all children. 

“Many across the aisle talk about the importance to lower mortality rates for babies and for every baby to be able to get the care they need here in Wisconsin. Should that not include babies who survive abortions?”

But Democrats say the bill’s premise is just an excuse to attack abortions. Senator Kelda Roys says if Republicans really wanted to save the lives of children, they should start with the ones that have already been born, by accepting Medicaid expansion. 

“It’s one of the easiest ways, one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of women and babies, and yet time and again this body has refused to do just that.”

The bill will now head to the Assembly for a vote, before heading to Governor Evers.

Assembly Republicans pass bill banning anti-racism messages and efforts in K-12 schools

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Assembly Republicans brought a number of bills related to anti-racism education to the floor on Tuesday.

One of the bills requires that districts be more transparent about what they’re teaching their students. Republican Representative Elijah Behnke says districts would have to put their curriculum on public display on the internet. 

“It doesn’t tell you what to teach it just makes what is being taught available to the public which is I think a great idea.

The measure comes in response to complaints from conservative groups that some anti-racism messages being taught in schools are harmful to white students. Democrat LaKeisha Myers says it’s a republican strategy to divide America and quoted one of the proponents of the push. 

“‘We have de-codified the term and will re-codify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.’ So there you have it, Southern Strategy 2.0. Go back and read Nixon and go to Reagan and here we are today.”

The bill passed the Assembly and is likely to be vetoed by the Governor if it passes the Senate. 

New bill seeks to move Wisconsin Elections Commission to Wausau

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A Republican lawmaker from Green Bay is looking to move the state elections commission to Wausau.

Representative David Steffen says that the days of keeping offices in Madison for the sake of being in Madison are over. 

“It made sense 173 years ago to have everything together when a person like myself had to get on a pony, put on a powdered wig to walk over, to get over to someone else’s office, to sit by whale-oil light to make a decision but that’s no longer the situation.”

He says Wausau is a central location in the state on two major highways, and rent would be much cheaper than in Madison. 

“Their lease is expiring at the end of the year for office space that cost twice that of almost every other community in the state.”

This is not the first attempt to start moving state agencies out of Madison. There’s been an effort to move the DNR farther north for many years.