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Gov. Evers, Nygren to continue fight over mental health funding for farmers

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The battle of funding mental health programs for Wisconsin farmers will move into the courts next. 

The Republican co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, Representative John Nygren of Marinette, has sued the governor in an effort to have him release some records. 

Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Legislative Republicans have been fighting over the 100-thousand dollars in funding since the new budget went into effect.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture first asked lawmakers to release the money since July, and it took until September for that funding to make it out of the Joint Finance Committee. Former secretary designee Brad Pfaff was recently fired by the Senate, after starting that fight with Joint Finance. 

Evers on GOP leaders: ‘I don’t think they’re bastards’

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He doesn’t really think they’re bastards. Governor Tony Evers was asked in the Dells Wednesday about a report that he used that pejorative last week, in referring to Republican leaders in the legislature. “I don’t think they’re bastards, obviously,” Evers said. “‘Don’t let the bastards keep you down’ is a term of art, it’s not a term of necessarily insult.”

The Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday that Evers was so angry when Republican state senators fired Brad Pfaff as state agriculture secretary, that he told state workers the move was “amoral and stupid” and urged them not to let the “bastards” impede their work.
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Speaker Vos, Minority Leader Hintz spar over slow legislative session

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Democrats in the state Legislature are criticizing majority Republicans over what they say is a lack of action this year.

Assembly minority leader Gordon Hintz says Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald are slow-rolling legislation. 

“It’s a do-nothing legislature that’s not moving on legislation, that’s not addressing issues, and that is giving very few opportunities for the Governor to sign things.” 

Hintz says it’s a calculated effort to downplay the effectiveness of Governor Tony Evers. “No one but the Speaker should be blamed for how anemic this legislative session is, and I think the public deserves better.”

“There’s no reason why we can’t take meaningful action on a number of the most important issues facing our state.”

Speaker Vos says Democrats aren’t playing ball with Republicans. 

“Most of the proposals they would like to bring up are ones that are only supported by their party. Most of the ones we’re bringing up, the Speaker’s Task Force on Clean Water, Suicide Prevention, they are strong bipartisan efforts.”

Speaker Vos says last session Democrats complained about the speed of legislative proceedings.

“We have done a lot an awful lot of good things, we have a successful state budget that none of them voted for or really participated in.”

The Assembly will likely meet one more time before the end of the year. 

State Senate passes pair of bills toughening OWI penalties

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The State Senate has approved a pair of measures aimed at toughening drunk driving laws.

The two bills both cover stricter sentences for drunk driving convictions. The first bill will impose a minimum five year prison term for people convicted of O W I homicide. That bill now heads to the Governor’s desk.

The second bill toughens the penalties for 5th and 6th time OWI to a minimum of six months. An exemption could be made by a judge, if they believe the person is not a danger to the community, and state their reasons for the record. 

WATCH: Salty Evers slams GOP over Pfaff firing

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The state Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to reject Brad Pfaff, Governor Tony Evers’ pick to head the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said his members were not comfortable with some of Pfaff’s actions since his appointment.

“Comments about Republicans and farmer suicide, certainly going back to some earlier changes that were made under DATCP, there’s a whole a slew of things that anybody could bring forth. But you’ve got to be comfortable. And I think as we stand here today there’s a number of members of the majority that just aren’t comfortable with Brad Pfaff.”

Pfaff was unanimously confirmed by the Senate Ag committee in February – but received zero Republican votes on the floor Tuesday, as GOP Senators essentially fired him as DATCP Secretary. The final vote was 19-14.

Democrats like Milwaukee’s LaTonya Johnson said Pfaff is extremely qualified, but had angered Republicans. “Let’s just say why we are really here. His tone and his words were not flattering to Republicans.”

In an unusual move, Evers, who picked Pfaff to lead DATCP, was in the chambers as the Senate debated his fate. Afterwards, he spoke with reporters. “There’s nobody who generates more enthusiasm and passion for Wisconsin’s agriculture industry than Brad Pfaff. Now we just threw that away, and for what reason, frankly I don’t know.”

Evers also said expectations that other appointees might need to “keep their mouths shut” in order to get Senate approval “is absolute bullshit.”
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Ag organizations lobby to support confirmation of Brad Pfaff at DATCP

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Governor Tony Evers’ pick to head the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is getting support from a large swath of Wisconsin’s agriculture community as the State Senate’s top Republican calls for his replacement. Executive Director Tom Bressner with the Wisconsin Agri-Business Association said Brad Pfaff needs to stay on the job.

“He has been total supportive. And he just works diligently for agriculture, and we’ve been very pleased and very impressed with the work that he’s been doing. It just makes total sense to us.”

State Senate Majority Scott Fitzgerald said last week that the votes are not in place to support Pfaff in the Senate, which has a scheduled vote on the appointment on Tuesday.  Pfaff and Fitzgerald tangled publicly earlier this year, over the issue of mental health funding for farmers.

Joint Finance approves legal settlement after parties waive privacy

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The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has approved a settlement from attorney general’s office. 

That vote was able to be cast because the two parties in the case, a convenience store chain and the attorney general’s office, both waived confidentiality in the case. Democratic Representative Evan Goyke says that’s not how things should work.   

“The lengths to which two parties had to go to bring this settlement through is an example of how broken this new process was.”

Under the lame duck laws, the J F C has final approval of any financial settlements that the state is a party to. Attorney General Josh Kaul says he needs leadership to sign confidentiality agreements to hear those cases, something Republicans have refused to do. 

Wisconsin Democrats propose decriminalizing marijuana

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Decriminalize it. That’s the message from some Democrats in Madison, and advocates for easing the state’s marijuana laws. Their bill would decriminalize 28 grams or less of marijuana in the state. Alan Robinson is Executive Director of NORML Wisconsin.

“Robin Vos is on record saying that he’s not for people running around the state with little baggies of marijuana,” Robinson said during a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday. “They already are. And they’re not asking him if they can.”

First-time criminal marijuana possession charges are treated as a misdemeanor under state law, but second and subsequent criminal offenses can be charged as a Class I felony, which carries a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three and a half years.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald – both Republicans – are opposed to any easing on marijuana laws. “I’ve long been an opponent to any type of marijuana legalization and doubt that any proposals currently being floated will gain support from Republicans in the Senate,” Fitzgerald said. “There isn’t support for marijuana decriminalization in the Assembly Republican caucus and Speaker Vos remains opposed to it,” said Vos’ Communications Director Kit Beyer.

“Speaker Vos is one of 63 Republican members, and just because he is against this bill doesn’t mean that as Democrats, or as anybody who’s a member of the legislature, that we shouldn’t put forth bills that can actually make true change in peoples’ lives,” said Representative David Crowley (D-Milwaukee).

Numbers show the existing criminal statute disproportionately impacts communities of color. “The mass incarceration of African American men who have been disproportionately charged and imprisoned for low-level marijuana offenses is something that must be urgently addressed,” said the proposal’s author, Representative Sheila Stubbs (D-Madison).

“Look at the drinking laws in this state. We’ve got like three of the top ten drunkest cities in America here in the state of Wisconsin,” said Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, who joined lawmakers at the press conference. “There is more danger, more harm being done by people who are under the influence of alcohol than marijuana.”

State Senator Fred Risser (D-Madison), who’s also on board with decriminalization, authored a similar measure in 2017 with Assembly Republican Adam Jarchow. It failed to advance.

According to the Marquette Law School Poll conducted in April, 59% of respondents believe marijuana should be made legal in Wisconsin. That was an increase from 50% who favored legalization when the question was first asked in 2013. In the most recent poll, 36% said they opposed legalization.

Fitzgerald cites rocky relationship as Senate slow walks Evers’ Cabinet picks

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Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (WRN image)

The Wisconsin state Senate has so far confirmed five of Governor Tony Evers’ Cabinet appointees. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) blames a rocky relationship between Republicans and the Democratic governor.

“Obviously, the lawsuits around the extraordinary session that happened in December was pretty rocky, so it took awhile for the caucus to get into a frame of mind where they would even consider taking up some of the Cabinet members,” Fitzgerald said.

At a Wispolitics luncheon in Madison on Thursday, Fitzgerald said it’s possible some of the remaining 11 Cabinet members will not be confirmed. “I could envision a place where there’s people who are never confirmed,” he said. Those appointee could remain in their jobs without confirmation unless the Senate votes to fire them.

Earlier this month, the Senate did vote to confirm three of Evers’ picks, including heads of the departments of Revenue, Corrections, and Veterans Affairs.

Fitzgerald also pointed to the relationship between Evers’ administration and GOP legislative leadership for a lack of bipartisan action in this session. “I’m not finger-pointing, I’m just saying I think it’s up to the governor to come to us with what might be ideas he thinks could garner some bipartisan support,” he said “It hasn’t materialized up until this point.”

‘Truth in labeling’ food bills introduced at Capitol

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Three bills requiring truth in labeling of milk, dairy products and meat, got a hearing Thursday in the Senate Agriculture Committee. State Senator Marklien (R-Spring Green) is a sponsor on all three. “This legislation isn’t about what they call their product, it’s about what we call our products,” Marklein said. “Milk is milk, meat’s meat, and dairy products come from dairy.”

“As a farmer myself, I can tell you it’s very frustrating, when you go through the grocery store, and you see people choosing soy milk, thinking that it’s actually milk from a cow,” said Representative Travis Tranel (R-Cuba City).

 

The authors contend these bills will also bring pressure on the federal USDA to enforce existing food labeling regulations. Right now, that’s not happening.