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‘Failure not an option’ for co-chairs of Speakers Task Force on Racial Disparities

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Failure is not an option. That’s the message from the co-chairs of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ Task Force on Racial Disparities.

State Representative Sheila Stubbs (D-Madison), has accepted the role of co-chair.

“We cannot allow another unarmed Black person to be shot, and or killed,” Stubbs said. “Let me be clear, this task force is not a substitute for action. And it is not the solution. But it is a step forward.”

“I am not going to fail. Failure’s not an option, for me.” Stubbs says politics will need to be left at the door, in order for the task force to meaningfully address Wisconsin’s worst in the nation disparities for Black families.

Stubbs will be joined as co-chair by Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steinke (R-Kaukana). “And like Representative Stubbs, I don’t get involved in efforts only to see them fail.”

Stubbs said she expects the first meeting to happen before the end of this month, with meetings every two to three weeks after that, up to the start of a new legislative session in January.

UW Elections Research Center prepares for presidential polling

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As the nation approaches Election Day, the question remains: can we trust the polls?

UW Madison Elections Research Center director Barry Burden says that polling, while flawed, still remains the best tool to keep tally on people’s potential votes. 

“Letters to the editor or interviewing people at rallies, or focus groups are all really helpful, but they don’t give you a picture of the full electorate where each person’s opinion is weighed equally and where it’s designed to represent the full set of voters or the full set of residents of the state.”

Burden says pollsters will need to take a serious look at how people respond differently to polling over the phone rather than online polling. 

“Now that could just be because phone surveys reach a different sort of person than an internet survey does, after all it’s a very different methodology. But it might also be that people online are are more willing to express unpopular views.”

While the polls accurately predicted the final popular vote of the 2016 election, they failed to catch the surge of rural voting that pushed President Trump over the edge in the Electoral College.

The Elections Center will be doing more polling of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, all of which flipped from Democrat to Republican in the 2016 elections, after narrow victories by President Trump.

Republican-controlled legislature takes no action on special session

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Rep. Sheila Stubbs

Both chambers of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature on Monday quickly gaveled in and gaveled out  of a special session on police reforms called by Governor Tony Evers.

Member’s the legislature’s Black Caucus spoke before that, including Representative Sheila Stubbs (D-Madison), who pointed out that Wisconsin is the worst state in the nation in which to raise a Black family

“Yes, 44 percent of our Black children are living in poverty, yes, 13.2 percent of Black children in Wisconsin are found to have elevated blood lead levels. We must dismantle and break down these barriers, because they are fatal. Wisconsin has the highest infant mortality rate for Black babies, nationwide.”

“Republicans need to find the morality to address these issues, not just the use of force reform, but the disparities facing our communities of color,” said Senator LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee). We don’t need a study committee to verify what we already know.”

In the Assembly, where Speaker Robin Vos has formed a task force on racial disparities, Majority Leader Jim Steineke said any legislative action would likely be after January.

Governor Tony Evers said that’s not good enough. “The people of Wisconsin don’t want another task force or more delays — they want action and results, and they want it today, not tomorrow or some day months down the road,” Evers said, calling the failure to act is a letdown for all of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Senate to convene special session on Monday

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The Wisconsin Senate plans to convene Monday for a special session to discuss police reform. Governor Tony Evers on Monday ordered lawmakers in both chambers back to Madison, following the shooting of Jacob Blake in the back Sunday by a Kenosha police officer.

Evers wants lawmakers to work on a package of police reform bills which he first introduced in June.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said they’ll do that, as well as considering other legislation by Republican state Senator Van Wangaard.

Fitzgerald’s office said it is not a full floor session, but a procedural move to “open up” the session. No word on Assembly action.

Conservation lobby group releases annual ‘Scorecard’

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It was a disappointing legislative session for Wisconsin Conservation Voters. Jennifer Giegerich is Government Affairs Director for the environmental lobby group, which released its annual Conservation Scorecard this week.

“Not a single clean water bill addressing root causes of water pollution passed this session,” Giegerich said. “And there was not even a single public hearing addressing climate change, one of the top issues addressing our planet.”

The group inducted Speaker Robin Vos into its “Conservation Dishonor Roll” – the only lawmaker to earn that distinction this year. “When we looked at every bad bad bill or any bad situation that came up over the past legislative session, we kept coming back to Speaker Vos being the root cause of it.” Vos’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeff Lamont of Marinette, a community where PFAs contamination remains a major concern, was on a media call this week announcing the group’s Scorecard.

“It was so frustrating . . . that we worked so hard on drafting this legislation with Senator Hansen’s office, and then bringing (Rep. John) Nygren and him together for a compromise bill, and having Vos just shut it down, not even bringing it to a vote,” Lamont said.

While great hopes were pinned on the Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality at the time Vos announced it’s formation, Giegrich charges it was “a sham,” which accomplished little.

“There were 13 bills that were introduced by the water quality task force. And rather than being a substantive package that would tackle long term problems like nitrate contamination in rural areas, or addressing new issues like setting standards for PFAs, these bills were . . . very small in scope. Almost half of them would have had almost no impact on water quality. And then three of those bills would have actually set us back for protecting water quality in the state of Wisconsin.”

While the package of bills did pass the Assembly with bipartisan support in February, none of the measure were subsequently taken up by the state Senate.

Blank says UW-Madison faces ‘financial crisis’

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Chancellor Rebecca Blank

The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says the state’s flagship campus is “in a real financial crisis.”

Chancellor Rebecca Blank blames the challenging situation the school faces as the fall semester approaches on the coronavirus pandemic.

Blank told the Rotary Club of Madison that how bad things will get depends on factors like students who are enrolled for the fall semester actually showing up, how deep state budget cuts are, and whether lawmakers give the university the authority it needs to borrow money.

Interim UW System President Tommy Thompson said he will make a personal appeal to Governor Tony Evers and members of the legislature to spare the UW in the next round of budget cuts. The UW already announced system-wide administrative cuts earlier this month.

Mask repeal action looks unlikely in Assembly

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It’s still not clear, whether Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature will be able to roll back Tony Evers’ mask mandate, with Assembly Republicans apparently less interested than their Senate counterparts.

State Representative Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee) hopes they will. “It’s not about masks, per se,” Neylon said Sunday on WISN’s UpFront.

“I think it’s a dangerous overreach of power, and if we aren’t able to overturn him now, what will this lead to in the future.”

Representative Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) agrees there ought to be limits on government power. “But doing what we can to save the lives of our community members by enacting common sense public health measures, is clearly within the role of government.”

While state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has said he’s ready to roll on repeal, Assembly Speaker doesn’t plan to challenge Evers’ order.

WISN‘s Matt Smith asked Neylon whether Assembly Republicans have the votes. “I don’t believe we do, no,” he said.

Sen. Baldwin seeks answers after report that new Postmaster General is intentionally slowing mail delivery

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Senator Tammy Baldwin is calling for an investigation of newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after reports that he’s ordering postal carriers to intentionally slow down mail service. 

“Look I’ve heard from Wisconsin Postal Service workers and many constituents who are concerned about these new policies and I share their concerns.”

The comments come after a story in the Washington Post that that packages from Amazon and regular citizens are being left behind at post offices.  

“It’s wrong for President Trump’s new Postmaster General to direct letter carriers to leave mail behind and delay delivery.”

Baldwin says she’s seen pictures of left-behind packages in the Oak Creek mail facility in southeast Wisconsin. 

Assembly Republicans directly lobby school districts into reopening

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Republican leadership in the state Assembly are directly lobbying school districts into reopening.

That letter sent out to school superintendents was obtained by UpNorthNews.

Signed by 47 Assembly Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Majority leader Jim Steinike, the letter tells superintendents that they have an obligation to educate students, and that virtual schooling may not meet that obligation in some cases.

It also suggests that if districts don’t reopen to students the GOP will call for the Department of Public Instruction to examine greater open enrollment, which would divert school taxes away from individual districts.

Speaker Vos did not respond to a request for comment, and Representative Stieneke’s office said he was not available.

State Democrats introduce package of unemployment reform bills

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Legislative Democrats have unveiled a package of bills to make it easier for Wisconsinites to claim and file for unemployment.

State Senator Janice Ringhand says they want to undo some of the obstacles that were erected in getting unemployment during the Walker administration. 

(“There were a lot of bills that were passed between 2011 and 2018 that made it more complicated to get unemployment. So this will eliminate some of those obstructions that were put in place during that time frame.”

The bills would peel back application requirements, and would reduce the amount of work Wisconsinites have to do during each week to continue claiming unemployment. 

“There was a bill that was forwarded several years ago that requires four work searches every week, and this reduces that to two. And it gives D W D more authority to make individual decisions.”

The bill will also allow people who both work and qualify for disability benefits to file for unemployment, and allow those getting job skills training to apply as well.