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Kooyenga to finally pay settlement fine

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A state representative on the hook for a settlement after illegally removing a protest sign from the Capitol will finally be paying that fine.

A report from the Journal Sentinel on Friday stated that Brookfield Republican Dale Kooyenga still hadn’t reimbursed the $30,000 settlement three months after the fact.

About a half hour later, Kooyenga’s office announced he’d be paying for the fine from his own accounts, and not his campaign funds.

The state settled a lawsuit after Kooyenga removed a sign critical of Donald Trump and Republicans from a public area of the Capitol in May of 2017.

State aid package could keep Kimberly Clark in Wisconsin

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State lawmakers could be coming back to Madison to try and keep Kimberly Clark in Wisconsin.

The company announced that they’ve reached a new agreement with their Union, and that they’re willing to work with the state to use an aid package to keep 600 jobs in Wisconsin.

The State Assembly had previously passed a package of aid that would provide 100 to 115 million dollars in incentives over the next 15 years.

The State Senate did not pass the bill before they adjourned this year.

Former State Senator Mike Ellis dies at 77

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Mike Ellis, a former leader of the Wisconsin State Senate, died Friday morning. He’d been in state politics for more than 4-decades and represented Neenah in the legislature for 32-years.

Ellis began his career on the Neenah City Council in the 1960s and served as council president before running for the state legislature in 1970. He’d served in the state senate from 1982 to 2015, and was majority leader from 2011 to 2015.

Ellis announced he would not seek re-election two days after the release of a video that showed him talking about creating a political action committee to run attack ads against a political opponent. He did not go forward with the idea.

Governor Scott Walker issued the following statement: “Tonette and I are saddened to hear of the passing of Senator Mike Ellis. He was a giant in the Legislature and a bigger-than-life personality in Wisconsin politics. I enjoyed serving with him as a lawmaker and as governor. We were just on the radio together recently and I love his wit and passion. He will be missed by so many of us. Tonette and I send our prayers to his entire family.”

Ellis was 77. Funeral arrangements are pending.

WSAU

Joint Finance Committee votes in favor of I-94 spending

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State Republicans will be spending federal road grants to complete repairs on I-94 near Milwaukee.

A vote in the state’s joint finance committee on Thursday will send around $22 million in grants to fund the I-94 expansion project.

Assembly minority leader Katrina Shankland says those funds would be better used elsewhere in the state. “Potholes are not economic development. This is not a real solution. Giving more money to one part of the state will not help the rest of the state’s local roads.”

Democrats had proposed adding the funds Governor Walker wanted for the project to a statewide fund to repair roads.  

Republican senator Alberta Darling says this funding benefits the entire state. “This is not a Foxconn road, this is I-94 North South. And as long as I’ve been around in Wisconsin that road is the entrance from Illinois into the state of Wisconsin.”

Under the plan, $22 million will be spent to refund the construction project, now slated for completion in 2021. The rest of the funds will be spent to replace bridges across Wisconsin and for the state’s highway resurfacing projects.

Senator Johnson seeks Congressional oversight for tariffs

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Senator Ron Johnson is joining a bipartisan effort to try and return control of trade tariffs to Congress.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, and would allow Congress to review all tariff agreements made over the past two years.

“For too long Congress has ceded important policymaking authority to the executive branch on a wide range of issues,” Sen. Johnson said. “It’s time for Congress to reclaim its constitutional authorities on tariffs to ensure we don’t undermine the significant economic progress we have made over the last 18 months.”

The move comes days after President Trump called for blanket tariffs against Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

Johnson says these tariffs can push up the overall price of raw materials for American manufacturers. “That makes us less competitive in global markets and that exacerbates the trade deficit, if that’s the metric that President Trump is trying to address.”

“The opening salvos have been fired in what could be a more damaging trade war,” said Johnson. “I’ve said repeatedly, I don’t think anyone wins a trade war. We may lose less than other nations because we do have the world’s largest trade deficit.”

That review process would take 60 days, and would include a debate and a vote on the floors of Congress.

U.S. Senators react to cancelled North Korean peace talks

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U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin says she’s not surprised by the cancellation of the North Korean peace talks. The Wisconsin Democrat Baldwin says she’s still backing sanctions against and diplomacy with North Korean leadership.

“We should continue to pursue all diplomatic and economic options to achieve that, because we can’t have name calling and cancelled summits lead to a military conflict. That would be a disaster.”

She also says that the end goal hasn’t changed. “Our goal is to achieve a verifiable elimination of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.”

Wisconsin Republican, Senator Ron Johnson, said the U.S. “will absolutely demand that all the benefits that can flow to North Korea will not occur until we achieve our definition that he is well aware of – crystal clear – of complete dismantlement.”

The cancellation comes after heated verbal and diplomatic exchanges between North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump while negotiations were underway.

Vukmir and Nicholson square off in first Republican Senate debate

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There weren’t a lot of major policy differences shared during last night’s Republican Senate Debate, but feathers did get ruffled near the end.

In her closing statements State Senator Leah Vukmir attacked Kevin Nicholson for his time as a Democrat. “We know more about Kevin’s track record as a Democrat than we do about his track record as a Republican. And I think that’s the issue: who can you trust?”

Nicholson said his status his time spent as a Marine was all the credentials he needed. “For those who have said that leading Marines in combat during the course of two wars does not qualify as conservative credentials have to look inside them and decide what they think conservative credentials are.”

Over the course of the debate the two agreed on policy issues more than they disagreed, both coming out in favor of Donald Trump initiatives like building the wall, imposing tariffs on Chinese imports and more.

When asked about how best to handle government spending and budget overruns, Nicholson says he’s willing to stand up to Republican leadership and push for better spending packages and better budgets. “That means people withholding those omnibus bills to the last second, and you’ve got to be willing to say ‘No, I will not vote for that.'”

Vukmir said more has to be done to cut back on discretionary spending. “And that would be much better suited if we would bring that money back to the states and let the states administer the programs they way they know how and the way they see fit. They’re closer to the problems.”

Vukmir also told the crowd she’ll work on improving infrastructure by lowering the cost of building through the dismantling of the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage acts. “These were my initiatives. We repealed them at the local level. We repealed it at the state level. I’d like to go to Washington and say ‘Let’s get rid of Davis-Bacon.'”

Nicholson says the federal government needs to better plan out how to cycle their construction efforts. “You have to be smart about what you pay for, how you maintain it and then plan for it to end at some point so you can build a new one.”

That debate was hosted by Americans For Prosperity of Wisconsin.

Early polling shows most Republicans are still undecided in the race.

Rep. Kleefisch won’t run for re-election

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State Representative Joel Kleefisch has announced he won’t be running for re-election.

In a press release posted to Facebook on Monday, Kleefisch said he will be stepping down to spend more time with his daughters and wife, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. “My kids have never really known parents outside of elective office. It’s time for them to sit with me on the side of a parade route”

Kleefisch says he’s happy to have served in the Assembly since 2004. “Words can’t describe what an honor it’s been to be part of Wisconsin’s successes for nearly 14 years.”

“I have never stopped believing that hard work and heartfelt convictions can make this state a better place for the people who live here.”

Kleefisch says that he’s especially proud of a number of bills and policies he’s promoted through his tenure, including fighting human trafficking, combating the opioid crisis, cracking down on sex offenders and making it easier for more hunters and anglers to get into Wisconsin’s great outdoors.

His departure is another in a string of Republicans announcing their retirement from office in Wisconsin, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Vos won’t run for Congress

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State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he won’t run for Congress, even as he downplays allegations of ethics violations connected with a trip to London.

Vos told WISN’s Jay Weber on Friday that he will not run for Congress following the pending departure of House Speaker Paul Ryan. Vos says he’s decided to stay and work for Wisconsin in the state legislature. “I am incredibly proud of the state we’re in. I’m proud that on every single conservative reform that has passed since 2010, I have been in the room, and I’ve been one of the people that helped to make it happen.”

“I’ve decided that I will stay in Wisconsin, stay in the state Assembly, and hope to bring back a very strong conservative majority to show Washington how states can lead and not the reverse,” says Vos.

Democratic State Representative Peter Barca, who held the 1st Assembly seat for one term in the 90s, is said to be considering getting in. There are already two Democrats in the race.

Meanwhile, Vos is also denying that there was any political wrongdoing on his part for taking a trip to London paid for by a political action committee. Vos was among a number of lobbyists and lawmakers from other states who took that trip for free.

Fallout from the trip has already cost Ohio’s Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger his job after an FBI investigation.

Vos says he followed state ethics laws in accepting the August trip, and that he hasn’t been contacted by the FBI or other authorities concerning the trip.

Final day of activity in Wisconsin Assembly

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A final day of activity for the state Assembly. The chamber signed off Thursday, on package of school safety bills proposed by Governor Scott Walker, and already passed in the Senate.

“Our goal is to make sure that every child that leaves for school, comes home from school,” said Representative Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma)

“This is not something that we are new to, it’s something that we have been working on for session after session,” said Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester)

But Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) said Republicans in past sessions took actions that made schools less safe, and the measures passed Thursday are inadequate.

“It does nothing to reduce the risk of firearms in the wrong peoples hands,” Hintz said of the package. Provisions include creation of an Office of School Safety within the state Department of Justice, that would administer a one-time $100 million grant program to fund building improvements, school resource officers and training opportunities.

The Assembly also passed a bill to expand to 11 the number of data sources consulted in background checks for long gun purchases. It’s unclear whether than bill will make it to the governor.

The Assembly voted unanimously Thursday to approve changes made by the Senate on a bill overhauling the state’s juvenile corrections system — and moving towards closing the troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison. The Assembly also approved 59-31 a 100 dollar per child tax credit, and an exemption from the state sales tax for some school supplies, during the first weekend of August.