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Evers vetoes Republican passed abortion bills

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Governor Tony Evers vetoes bills curtailing abortion rights in Wisconsin. The Democratic governor on Friday vetoed five bills passed in October by majority Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again today: as long as I’m governor, I will veto any legislation that turns back the clock on reproductive rights in this state—and that’s a promise,” Evers said in a press release accompanying the  veto messages.

The bills include one that would require doctors provide care for a child that survives an attempted abortion, and another that would make intentionally causing the death of a child born alive from an abortion attempt a felony punishable by life in prison.

Doctors have said that they are already ethically obligated to provide care for the child in such cases- something that rarely ever happens. Supports of the measures had called them added protection.

Other vetoed bills would reduce funding for abortion providers and make it illegal to abort a pregnancy based on the baby’s gender, race, or cognitive ability. Evers vetoed similar bills in 2019.

Republicans lack sufficient voters to overcome the Evers vetoes, which were issued two days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortions.

A decision to uphold that law could have the effect of overturning the 1973 Roe versus Wade decision which effectively legalized abortion in the U.S.

Baldwin and Johnson split votes on resolution to fund federal government

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Wisconsin’s two U.S. Senators split their votes Thursday, on continued funding for the federal government. Nineteen Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, voted with Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin and the Democratic majority for a continuing resolution to fund the government through February 18.

In defending his no vote, Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson cited “unchecked spending” and President Joe Biden’s “pointless and coercive vaccine mandate.”

Johnson supports legislation that would continue federal spending at the previous year’s level, rather than shutting down government if a new budget isn’t passed. That’s similar to what happens in Wisconsin if the governor and legislature fail to agree on a budget.

Largely unvaccinated COVID-19 patients straining Wisconsin hospitals

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COVID-19 patients – largely unvaccinated – are straining Wisconsin hospitals. Dr. Ashok Rai, president and CEO of Prevea Health.

“The majority of what’s overwhelming us right now . . . of the intubated patients, the ICU patients are the unvaccinated,” Dr. Ashok Rai, president and CEO of Prevea Health said Thursday. “We know statistically speaking that they’re going to be sicker, despite the therapeutics that we have available to us today. They are the ones that are using not only the highest amount of resources, but staying the longest.”

New coronavirus infections in Wisconsin – mainly of the Delta variant – are as high as they were last December. A record number of hospitalized COVID patients are on ventilators.

A wave of mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients are straining hospital resources across Wisconsin. Health Services Secretary designee Karen Timberlake

“On average, people who are unvaccinated are nine times more likely to be hospitalized than are people who have been vaccinated. And I believe the latest data is that people who are unvaccinated are dying at a rate that is eleven times greater than people who have been vaccinated.” Department of Health Services Secretary designee Karen Timberlake said.

Ninety-seven percent of intensive care beds in the state are being used currently, and there are no ICU beds available in some parts of Wisconsin.

The latest coronavirus variant has yet to be detected in Wisconsin. But Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ryan Westergaard says there’s a one-to-two week lag in genome sequence testing.

“So it it is possible, perhaps likely, that the Omicron variant is circulating more widely in the United States, and it will take some time for us to detect it, and we’ll report that when we do,” Westergaard said.

Minnesota reported the nation’s second confirmed Omicron case on Thursday – a man who recently returned from a trip to New York City.

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

Redistricting: Wisconsin Supreme Court to make ‘minimum changes necessary’

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules it will not consider partisan balance in drawing the state’s new political maps.

The 75 page, 4-3 decision released on Tuesday spells out that the justices will make the “minimum changes necessary” to current Congressional and legislative districts. That’s the course argued for by Republican legislators, who drew maps that differed little from those drawn by the Republican controlled legislature following the 2010 census.

Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Rebecca Bradley said “Claims of political unfairness in the maps present political questions, not legal ones.”

The ruling also details how the parties may submit proposed maps to the court, which has set out a briefing schedule over the next month, with a possible January trial to determine the new maps.

 

Funeral for Master Trooper Daniel Stainbrook

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Funeral services were held Tuesday in Plover for Wisconsin State Patrol Master Trooper Daniel Stainbrook, who contracted COVID on the job and died. State Patrol Lieutenant Nate Henriksen

“We are very grateful for this opportunity today, that we can have our troopers . . . and the law enforcement community to come out here and pay their final respects for Trooper Stainbrook,” said State Patrol Lieutenant Nate Henriksen.

Governor Tony Evers has ordered flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Stainbrook, who died November 15th at age 42.

COVID-19 is now the number one cause of death for law enforcement officers. The Officer Down Memorial Page shows 285 line of duty deaths from COVID-19 this year.

Wisconsin delegation disagrees on how Build Back Better is paid for as House passes Biden bill

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President Joe Biden’s social spending bill passed the House Friday morning and Wisconsin’s delegation disagrees on how it’s paid for.

The House voted on the $2 trillion dollar bill after Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s eight hour delaying speech. 

Wisconsin Democrat Mark Pocan calls the bill “transformational” for American families. He says it’s paid for by the wealthy and corporations who have not paid their fair share of taxes.

Republican Scott Fitzgerald says that’s a lie, citing a Congressional Budget Office report that the Build Back Better package would add $367 billion to the deficit over ten years. He calls it a boondoggle. 

Republican Mike Gallagher says “the war on common sense has reached a new low with this crazy bill,” citing the CBO report.

Democrat Ron Kind promised Build Back Better will create millions of good-paying jobs, lower costs for working families, and rebuild the middle-class backbone of our nation – all without adding to the deficit.    

The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, where Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson is an opponent and Democrat Tammy Baldwin is a supporter. 

Evers vetoes Republican drawn redistricting maps

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Governor Tony Evers has vetoed Republican-drawn maps for Wisconsin’s new legislative and congressional districts.

The Democratic governor’s action moves redistricting to the Wisconsin Supreme Court – where lawsuits are already filed.

“I told the legislature early on to go back to the drawing board when these were first introduced,” Evers said Thursday. “I’ve said all along, I’d veto these maps if they came to my desk.”

Justices could select new maps by early next year. A federal court has signaled it will wait to see what the Wisconsin high court decides before acting on lawsuits filed there.

Bipartisan bill eases pot possession penalties in Wisconsin

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A bipartisan bill would ease penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis in Wisconsin, but stops short of legalization.

Republican Representative Shae Sortwell says his party’s attitudes are changing. “There was just a Gallop Poll that came out a couple of days ago, that mentioned that 50 percent of Republicans support full legalization. That’s not what this bill does . . it tries to run a middle of the ground approach,” Sortwell said during a Tuesday press conference.

The bill lowers the penalty for possessing less than a half-ounce to a one hundred dollar civil forfeiture statewide, similar to a traffic violation. The current fine in Milwaukee is just a buck plus court costs. “The damage that small amounts of marijuana being considered a felony in our state, it’s worth the tradeoff,” said Milwaukee Democrat, Representative Sylvia Ortiz-Velez.

“I’ve had discussions with cannabis advocates. I’ve had this discussion with numerous people. We understand it’s worth the tradeoff. And that’s coming from the person who actually made it one dollar in Milwaukee County. And the repeat offense also.”

“Yes, there’s going to be some areas of the state that are going to have their financial penalties raised, as in Milwaukee County. There’s going to be some counties where their fines are going to be lowered. I’ve talked to some sheriffs where right now they have fines of up to 500 dollars that they’re enforcing. This bill would not allow that to happen.”

Possession of between half an ounce and an ounce of marijuana would be a misdemeanor, while possession of over an ounce would see no change. The bill also ends the repeat offense enhancement for possession of less than a half-ounce.

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.