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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.

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.

 

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.

Republican redistricting maps head to Evers

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Republican-drawn congressional and legislative maps have passed the state Assembly, and Speaker Robin Vos hopes Governor Tony Evers will sign them.

“It follows traditional redistricting principles of making sure we have compact, contiguous districts where every single person has the ability to be represented,” Vos said. “It also follows clear redistricting principles that have been utilized around the country.”

Evers and Democrats in the legislature argue the maps are Gerrymandered, providing Republicans an unfair advantage. The governor has promised to veto them, sending redistricting to either federal court or the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Redistricting maps drawn by Evers’ “Peoples Maps Commission” were overwhelmingly rejected in the Assembly.
Majority Republicans introduced the maps as a courtesy during Thursday’s redistricting debate.

They failed on a 77-21 vote, including “noes” from 17 Madison and Milwaukee area Democrats.

Milwaukee Representative Sylvia Ortiz-Velez noted the Evers’ maps dramatically reduce the number of districts with black and Hispanic majorities.

DNR holds public hearing on new PFAS regulations

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The Department of Natural Resources is now taking public comment on a proposed rule to regulate PFAS and other forever chemicals.

That includes what has to be done to dispose of the chemicals, and how people who use fire-fighting foam have to respond to spills. At a public hearing on Thursday, Erik Cantor from Clean Wisconsin says the new rules don’t go far enough. 

“Clean Wisconsin remains extremely disappointed the legislature, that originally directed the department to develop containment disposal measures, intervened to water down the measures and benchmarks proposed by DNR in the emergency rule, which were also left out of this rule.”

Peter Burress with Wisconsin Conservation Voters asked for the D-N-R and the Natural Resources Board to pass the rules. 

“Wisconsin Department of Health Services has advised that exposure to certain PFAS may contribute to a number of negative effects including increased cholesterol levels, increase risk of thyroid disease, high blood pressure in women, lower infant birth weights, and decreased fertility in women.”

The rule is open for public comment for another week before heading to the Natural Resources Board for a vote. 

State Senate will vote Monday on redistricting bills

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New legislative and congressional district maps are ready for a vote in the full state Senate next week. Senator Kelda Roys (D-Madison) was a “no” in Thursday’s committee vote

“The maps before us are based upon the worst gerrymander in the nation, by many accounts,” Roys said.

Rots noted that more than a hundred people testified against the Republican drawn legislative and congressional district maps last week.

“I’ve been in this building long enough to know that when you have a public hearing and you have a whole lot of people show up, that is not necessarily indicative of the sentiments of all residents of the state of Wisconsin,” said Senator Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville).

The maps as drawn would solidify Republican majorities in the Wisconsin Legislature and the state’s congressional delegation. Governor Tony Evers has already pledged to veto the Republican drawn maps, which will send a final redistricting decision to either a federal court, or the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said the redistricting votes will take place on Monday.

Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe says she won’t resign

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State elections administrator Meagan Wolfe says she won’t resign. Wolfe spoke with reporters on Monday, responding to Republican legislators demanding her resignation from the non-partisan post with the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

“They think I’m an easy target. I’m not,” Wolfe said.

Calls for resignations from Wolfe, as well as the resignations of all six elections commissioners, are in response to accusations by Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling. He alleges the Commission broke the law by telling election clerks to mail absentee ballots to nursing homes rather than sending in special voting deputies

“I do think that this is partisan politics at its worst,” Wolfe said. “But at the same time I have an obligation as the state’s non-partisan election official, to rise above it.”

Wolfe said the commission followed the law because nursing homes were not allowing in election workers during the pandemic, and residents of nursing homes deserved the right to vote.

“Being non-partisan means that when somebody wants or expects me to do something that is motivated by partisan politics, that I have to stand strong, and I have to rise above those attempts to sway me.”