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Governor Walker says he’s ready to sign lame duck bills

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Governor Walker is now deciding how, and not if, he’ll be signing lame duck legislation passed last week that curtails the powers of incoming Governor elect Tony Evers.

Walker indicated at a Pewaukee press conference that his staff is deciding how best to sign those bills, and if changes need to be made.

“Right now it’s most likely that we’ll probably do a series, at least one if not multiple, line item vetoes, is what we’re looking at most closely.”

He says that Democrats and the media have been inflating the impact the bills will have. 

“I could veto everything, I could sign it all, or I could do a line item veto. No matter which of those three options I do, Tony Evers come January 7th, will have some of the strongest powers of any governor in America.”

Walker has not yet officially received the bills from the Legislature. 

Watch out for ‘spearphishing’ scam attacks on your business

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Scammers are sending out more targeted email attacks against specific people, in a process known as Spearphishing.

State consumer protection director Michelle Reinen says the scammers specifically target people with the authority to make payments or have access to financial information. One common tactic of the scam is to pose as your boss’s boss.

“The CEO or president of the company asks you to send over some piece of financial information or confirm something, and then you hand over important information for the company.”

Reinen says the scammers will send people in charge of finances phony invoice or bills that need to be paid, while impersonating someone else in the company or organization. 

“We’ve seen it with small towns that end up playing an invoice, and in their small town budget, they don’t necessarily have that money.”

Scammers are looking to capitalize on the idea that you might just blindly fill out an invoice or pay a phony bill without realizing it, she says. 

“Don’t let the busyness of the day help you to fall off guard with these situations, and don’t ever click on links from unsolicited emails.”

She reminds people to always check who’s sending you a mail, and not to get complacent about responding to emails that seem out of the ordinary.

 

Scammers impersonate Social Security to get your personal information

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Scammers pretending to be from Social Security have been hounding Wisconsin residents once again. (

State consumer protection spokesman Jerad Albracht says the scammers are using technology to spoof their phone numbers.

“So when you see the call on your phone, it will come up as their 1 800 number, and it might even say ‘Social Security Administration’ on your caller ID.”

The callers have becoming increasingly aggressive in their pitches, and have even threatened to cut off benefits if people don’t provide their personal information.

“They’re going to threaten you, they’re going to claim that your Social Security Number is going to be made inactive, they may threaten that if you don’t give information they may cut off benefits,” says Albracht. 

“They’ll come with any threat they can to try to get you to turn over money or personal information.”

If you get one of these calls, simply hang up. If you’re worried about your benefits, call a trusted, verifiable number for Social Security.

Help out the birds at your feeder this winter with tips from DNR

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Winter is here, and if you’re looking to keep birds at your feeder, you might have to make it more attractive to your feathered friends.

DNR biologist Ryan Brady says the best general bird seed you can put out is black sunflower seeds.

“It’s really inexpensive, it works for a lot of different species, and it has a high fat content so it’s good for the birds.”

Brady says you should also be sure to find some cover for the birds that is close enough to the feeder for them to hide in. He suggests low, thick shrubs, or a brush pile.

“A shrubbery that’s going to have a lot of thick branches, provide some cover from the elements. Evergreens or conifers are excellent, so maybe plant a spruce or a fir.”

That shrub can also provide some protection from predators, and make your feeder much more attractive to birds.

 

Evers holds out hope for veto on lame ducks bills

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Wisconsin’s incoming governor continues to push for a veto on a package of lame duck legislation that seeks to curtail his duties.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet The Press, Governor Elect Tony Evers says this is an end around on his lawful election in November.

“People of Wisconsin voted for me because they knew I was for good schools and a good transportation system and good healthcare. They didn’t elect me to fight over administrative powers in the state of Wisconsin vis a vis the Republican Majority.”

He’s called on Governor Walker to veto the bills, and is hopeful that it will happen. He’s calling on Walker to think about his legacy as he leaves office.

“He’s been a longtime public servant, and he has a legacy here so we’re hopeful that he will veto the whole thing.”

That package of bills was pushed through over last weekend with no debate between Republicans and Democrats in the state Legislature. Evers says we wouldn’t even be seeing these measures if he hadn’t won the election.

Evers and Vos at odds over WEDC bill (AUDIO)

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One of the “lame duck” bills passed by the Wisconsin legislature this week deals with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Governor-elect Tony Evers said during his campaign that he’ll seek to abolish WEDC, and return jobs creation to the old Commerce Department.

Speaker Robin Vos said on Wednesday morning that Republicans had to act, because Evers wasn’t talking to them. “It was a lot through the media. I never got a call. We never talked about it. It was an awful lot of negotiation through the Journal Sentinel, kind of the arm of the Democratic Party,” Vos said. “We really couldn’t get a fair hearing, that’s the problem.”

“I’m not sure what in the world that means,” Evers said later that day, when asked about Vos’ comment that he was negotiating through the media. “He never asked . . . to talk to me a about this legislation to begin with. It would have been great to find out exactly what his plans were to begin with.”

Vos and Evers :35

The bill allows WEDC rather than the governor, to appoint the agency’s CEO until next September. The Legislature would also get more say over the agency’s enterprise zone program that hands out tax breaks to businesses.

Governor Scott Walker is expected to sign the entire package of legislation passed by the extraordinary session of the Republican controlled legislature.

Johnson wants push back on Russia in the Baltic Sea

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Wisconsin’s Republican Senator is pushing back on Russia following an incident involving the Ukrainian navy last month. Senator Ron Johnson will be in Eastern Europe this weekend, and said on WISN’s Jay Weber Show that he intends to see what needs to be done to push back on Russian aggression.

“We need to do a whole lot more than just have one senator go over there and express support,” Johnson said Thursday. “We do need, from my standpoint, a multinational freedom of navigation exercise into the Baltic Sea.”

Ukrainian naval personnel were seized off their ships on November 25th, further increasing tensions in the region after the annexation of the Crimea.

“The Baltic states are nervous, Poland is nervous. They want more forward deployment of NATO troops and air patrols in the Baltic. We need to do all of the above,” Johnson said. The situation was serious enough for the Trump administration to cancel a planned face to face meeting last week in Argentina, between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Evers inaugural set for January 7

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Barnes, Evers WRN image

The official inauguration ceremony for incoming Governor Tony Evers and Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes has been announced.

The inaugurations will start at 11:00 a.m. on Monday January 7th. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee has been named the inauguration partner.

Spokespersons for Evers and Barnes say a celebratory gala will be held the evening of the 7th. More details will be released from the inaugural committee in the near future.

Evers asks Walker for ‘lame duck’ vetoes

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Tony Evers is asking Scott Walker to veto the “lame duck” legislation. The governor-elect is requesting that Governor Walker veto measures that will restrict some of the authority of Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul. “My belief is that the people of Wisconsin have spoken, and that . . . the three bills that have passed are a repudiation of that,” Evers said Wednesday in Madison.

GOP leaders say they acted in extraordinary session this week in order to restore the “balance of power” between the legislative and executive branches.

Kaul doesn’t buy it. “They are focused on their own power, and taking it away not just from executive branch officers, but from the people of Wisconsin who went out and voted in record numbers.”

Democrats are not alone in asking Walker to consider the veto — Governor Walker is being sharply criticized by a long-time supporter. The Journal Sentinel reported this week that influential Republican businessman and philanthropist Sheldon Lubar of Milwaukee sent Walker an email on Tuesday. In it, he asked Walker to consider what the governor’s recently deceased father and Jesus Christ would say about legislative efforts to limit the powers of Governor-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul. Lubar pleaded with Walker not to destroy his reputation by siding with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

Walker has ten days to make a decision. All indications are he’ll sign the bills. “Our efforts now is making sure the people of Wisconsin communicate directly to the governor, and communicate to him and his staff in a way that would convince him that he needs to change his thinking,” Evers said.

No deal to save jobs at Neenah Kimberly Clark plant

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A deal to save jobs at Kimberly Clark’s Neenah Cold Spring plant did not get done in the “lame duck” legislative session. It’s a big disappointment to the bill’s author, Representative Jim Steinke. “I’m afraid politics played a role. I was hoping once we got past the politics of the election, there would be more support for it. Obviously, we couldn’t garner any support from the Democrats,” the Kaukauna Republican said.

The $70 million tax incentives package passed the Assembly last spring — but there was no vote in the Senate. “I was really disappointed that Governor-elect Evers didn’t step forward, and at least give his opinion one way or the other, as to whether he thought it was a good idea.”

Ironically, Senate passage of the deal was Governor Scott Walker’s only stated reason for an extraordinary session. Walker said without it, the nearly 400 jobs at the plant will be gone by year’s end