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Rep. Moore proud of her vote on Justice in Policing Act on police reform

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Congresswoman Gwen Moore says he’s proud of her vote on the Democrat backed Justice in Policing Act.

Moore says the goal of the bill is to rein in police departments that mistreat the public that they’re supposed to be serving. 

“That addresses police misconduct, outlawing racial profiling, chokeholds, the no-knock warrants that killed Breonna Taylor.”

Moore says one important part of that bill is removing military equipment from departments. That equipment was sold as surplus to police as the US Military pulled back from the war on terror. 

“So it felt like a really good idea, until we say, actually, what that looked like on the ground in real time.”

Moore says police departments need to actually protect and serve their communities, rather than be a standing army in military gear. 

“And so to the extent that police departments are behaving more like military units, I think it was important to send that message.”

Asking for masking: Milwaukee business group launches PSA

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A coalition of Milwaukee business owners who want the city to require face masks is taking their case to the internet.

A new public service announcement asks Milwaukee to be “safer and smarter than Florida.” Several dozen businesses last week signed a letter to the mayor and the city council president, asking them to impose a mask order in order to “level the playing field” for businesses who don’t require masks on their own. The business group says masks are needed to stay safe, and the city needs to order people to wear them.

Weekend COVID-19 numbers: no new deaths, positive test rate above 10 percent

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Sunday was a second straight day of no new COVID-19 deaths in Wisconsin.  However, the 10.4 percent positive tests was the second straight day of positive test rates above 10 percent. The Department of Health Services reported 522 of 4,996 new test results were positive.

Saturday saw 738 of 6,822 new test results come back positive. That was 10.8 percent and also broke the previous single day record for positive cases. DHS also reported 31 additional hospitalizations over the weekend.

Friday COVID-19 numbers: 5.7 percent positive as cases top 24,000

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The percentage of new positive COVID-19 tests in Wisconsin increased on Friday, as total tests decreased heading into the holiday weekend.

The Department of Health Services reported 579 of 10,186 new test results came back positive. That’s 5.7 percent and compares to 4.2 percent positive from more than 12,000 tests on Thursday.

As infections increase across Wisconsin, public health officials have urged people not to travel over the Fourth of July weekend. DHS also reported seven deaths and 36 additional hospitalizations on Friday.

The recovery rate remains at 79 percent, with the state now having had 24,043 positive cases.

Liberal group says Wisconsin billionaires have gotten richer during pandemic

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While many of us are taking a financial hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, a handful of Wisconsin billionaires a doing quite well for themselves. Citizen Action of Wisconsin executive director Robert Kraig believes they’re benefiting from a tax cut included in the CARES Act.

“When people are literally having trouble figuring out how to get food on the table and rent, and unemployment benefits . . . are going to run out at the end of July, it’s just stunning to think that the one thing that does get done is to make these folks even richer,” Kraig told WCLO.

The liberal advocacy group is endorsing the new HEROS Act passed by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives, which would repeal the tax break from the CARES Act.

Citizen Action cites data compiled by Forbes, which shows 8 Wisconsin billionaires collectively saw their wealth increase by more than 14 billion dollars, or 36 percent, during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WCLO

Kaul launches Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force

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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has launched a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force.

Members will lead an effort to fight the abduction, homicide and trafficking of Native American women and girls in the state, according to a press release from Kaul’s office.

The task force is to examine the factors which contribute to missing and murdered Indigenous women. It will work with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Native American communities on data collections and reporting methods.

“While there is so much that needs to be done to stop the violence perpetrated on Native women and girls, I applaud the Wisconsin Department of Justice for taking an important first step in establishing this task force,” said Shannon Holsey, president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council.

Additional details on the task force will be forthcoming, according to the press release.

New online database shows law enforcement spending in Wisconsin

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A new online database offers Wisconsin residents the opportunity to see how much is being budgeted for law enforcement in their communities.

“Counties, cities, villages and towns in Wisconsin spend more on law enforcement and associated costs on things like jails, than on any other purpose,” said Tamarine Cornelius, an analyst at the Wisconsin Budget Project.

Cornelius said that adds up to between two and three billion dollars per year, and in some cities, it’s the single biggest budget item.

“We looked at the ten biggest cities in Wisconsin, and four of Wisconsin’s ten biggest cities spent more on law enforcement than any other purpose. That’s Milwaukee, Appleton, Kenosha and Racine. It’s a lot of money.”

Conelius said the database can help citizens engage with elected officials to assess law enforcement spending.

“Wisconsin policymakers should listen to calls to assess law enforcement spending, and reallocate resources in a way that better supports communities and allows them to thrive.”

The database allows residents to look up spending on law enforcement and related costs for Wisconsin’s largest 100 cities and all 72 counties, and see how that amount compares to public spending for other purposes.

Thursday COVID-19 numbers: 4.2% positive cases out of more than 12,000 tests

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Wisconsin’s rate of positive COVID-19 cases dropped to just over four percent Thursday.

The state Department of Health Services reported that 539 of the 12,339 tests processed over the previous 24 hours were positive. That 4.2 percent was the lowest rate of positive tests since June 25.

As the effort to test as many people as possible continues, the rolling seven day average of confirmed new cases has continued to increase. Wisconsin has seen a recent surge in cases with half of all positive cases coming within the past five weeks, according to DHS. Seven deaths from COVID-19 brought Wisconsin’s total death toll to 793.

Wisconsin residents are being urged by DHS to spend the Fourth of July weekend at home.

The Department of Health Services urges residents to also follow best public health practices, social distancing and wearing face masks when that’s not possible.

Wisconsin has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases – with nearly nearly twenty percent of all positive cases coming within the past two weeks.

According to DHS this is driven in part by an increase in infections among younger people, and contact tracing by some local health departments has revealed that many of these cases can traced back to bars.

Self-employed in Wisconsin experiencing delays in getting federal assistance

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Some self-employed or independent contractors in Wisconsin have been waiting up to four months for benefits under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance plan.

The PUA covers non-traditional workers not normally eligible for unemployment benefits.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development confirms that only about 10 percent of 70,000 applicants had received benefits.

According to DWD, it takes longer to determine eligibility and the amount of benefit the applicant should receive, a difficult process that can’t be streamlined.

Wisconsin DPI releases general school aids estimate

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Most of Wisconsin’s K-12 public school districts are receiving additional money money from the state.

The Department of Public Instruction’s general school aid estimate for the next school year says, overall, schools will split about $5 billion.

That’s up 3.5 percent from the previous school year. Not every school will see more though: 114 of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts will see less money from DPI.