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State Senate Republicans pass package of anti-abortion bills

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Republicans in the State Senate have passed a package of abortion restrictions on party-line votes.

Among those bills are requirements for doctors to offer so-called abortion reversal treatments, a measure to prevent abortion based on a fetus’s race, gender or genetic abnormality, and a bill that would cut off clinics that provide abortions from the Medical Assistance program.

Democrat Kelda Roys says it’s a cynical ploy to rile up the Republican base. 

“This bill and a few others on the calendar, Mr. President, insert political judgment for the most personal intimate choices in people’s lives.”

Democrat Senator Chris Larson called the bills just another method of removing healthcare from women and said you don’t get these sorts of measures when it comes to male vasectomies. 

“The state does not require that that man to be patted on the head and say, ‘you go home and you think about this for 24 hours. This is a really big decision fella.'”

The only Republican to comment on the bills was Senator Chris Kapenga, who defended the bill on abortion reversal, saying it was there to provide choices for women. 

“It’s more information so that she can make a better-informed decision and she knows that she can continue the pregnancy she may continue the pregnancy if she chooses.”

All four bills will likely be vetoed by Governor Evers. 

 

Environmental group files lawsuit to obtain text messages sent by NRB chair

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An environmental advocacy group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Natural Resources Board chair Dr, Frederick Prehn, in an effort to access text messages as a part of a records request.

“Any record related to a governmental function are public records, and the public has right to them. Public officials have a duty to maintain, preserve and turn over those records when requested, and Dr. Prehn’s failed to do so here,” said Midwest Environmental Advocates attorney Rob Lee.

he suit filed in Dane County Circuit Court requests that Prehn turn over text messages sent and received about his term on the board. Prehn has remained on the board which sets policy for the DNR, respite his term having expired in May.

Pandemic exacerbates shortage of truck drivers in Wisconsin

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The pandemic has put a new focus on Wisconsin’s shortage of commercial truck drivers. Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association Vice President Dan Johnson said it’s not a new problem.

“This has probably been going on for at least the last ten years, maybe even longer than that.”

Johnson said the trucking workforce is “graying,” with many older drivers retiring, and not enough young people entering the field.

“Over time, we see a steady increase of driver shortage, but at the same time we’ve also seen an increase in the amount of freight that’s being moved across the country,” he explained.

Johnson said Wisconsin trucking firms have improved their compensation packages in order to attract and retain drivers. In addition, a provision of the federal infrastructure package would allow drivers ages 18 to 21 to drive interstate routes

“You can drive from Beloit to Superior, if you’re under the age of 21 . . and you’re fine. But you can’t drive from Beloit to Rockford, Illinois because you’re crossing state lines,” Johnson said.

“It’s not just truck drivers. School bus drivers, motor coach drivers, tow truck drivers. There’s a whole host of driver shortages that go much further than just the trucking industry.”

Vos says Gableman elections probe will continue

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The latest development in a partisan Republican investigation into the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin saw state State Attorney General Josh Kaul make a request of Speaker Robin Vos

“So my request to Speaker Vos is simple: shut this fake investigation down,” the Democratic AG said during a press conference in Madison on Monday.

Vos hired former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who’s issued multiple subpoenas to local officials, asking them to be interviewed at his office in Brookfield

“The whole use of this subpoena process is really a show here, because there are elections officials around the state who are happy to talk voluntarily to folks in an open forum, where the public’s able to see what’s happening,” Kaul said.

In a statement, Vos said Gableman will continue his investigation, and that the subpoenas have been issued correctly.

“Election integrity should be a bipartisan effort. Sadly Attorney General Kaul has sided with the out-of-state billionaires meddling in our elections and ignored Wisconsin citizens who bring up irregularities.

“In order to restore confidence in our election system, Justice Gableman will continue his investigation. The subpoenas have been issued correctly – a fact backed up by the nonpartisan Legislative Council in a memo requested by Assembly Democrats.”

Governor Tony Evers has called the taxpayer funded investigation “a boondoggle,” but in a video posted to YouTube over the weekend, Gableman insists it’s nothing of the sort.

“Looking the other way, while millions of dollars in private funds may have been used the public management of elections to achieve a preferred outcome at the expense of election integrity – if indeed this occurred – would be the true definition of a boondoggle.”

Gableman is referring to grant money from a group funded by Facebook executive Mark Zuckerberg. The money to help administer elections want to hundreds of Wisconsin communities, but the former state Supreme Court justice’s focus has been on the state’s five largest cities, all of which went for President Joe Biden.

 

UW-Madison Chancellor Blank takes leadership position at Northwestern

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Longtime UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank will be leaving the university next year to take over as the president of Northwestern in Illinois.

The transition should happen sometime next year, and Blank says she’s happy to have helped UW-Madison through some tough times, including the pandemic.

“With the actions that we took last year between furloughs and budget cuts and then some money from the federal government, and the state gave back part of its lapse there at the end, we are entering this year without any financial hangover from last year.”

Blank says she’s happy to have helped both the university and the city grow and evolve during her time in office. 

“It’s economically more diverse and stronger now than it was 9 years ago when I came and I think that’s going to continue a lot of that is due to the presence of the university in this community.”

Under the Walker administration, Blank had to contend with major cuts to the UW-System, as well as a change in how the state treats tenure. She says she’s most proud of the creation of the Bucky’s Promise program which has helped over 4 thousand low-income students get a full education.

Dane County judge orders Speaker Vos to turn over records from elections investigation

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will have to turn over documents related to his investigation of the 2020 presidential election.

That’s after an open records request from Washington DC-based watchdog group American Oversight. Spokesperson Melanie Sloan says they’re looking for documents connected with Vos’ decision to hire former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman and others.

“We’ve been requesting documents for many months. We have numerous requests outstanding and basically, they’ve been refusing to provide those, and so we were left with no option but to go to court to enforce our records request. Neither Speaker Vos nor the Assembly has provided any documents related to the hiring or work product of the contractors they hired to do this audit, including any records of former Justice Gableman.”

The judge’s order said Vos has “unjustifiably withheld and refused to release the contractor records to which Petitioner is entitled.” Vos called the lawsuit frivolous. 

Gableman issues subpoenas to five Wisconsin mayors

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The attorney in charge of a Republican investigation into results of the 2021 presidential election in Wisconsin dropped in on Tuesday night’s Green Bay Common Council meeting.

Michael Gableman told alders he was in town for other other meetings and wanted to introduce himself to the council.

The former conservative state Supreme Court justice explained that “the vast majority of American citizens have no idea how elections are supposed to be administered.”

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel before he addressed the council, Gableman said he also does not have “a comprehensive understanding” of how elections work.

Gableman – who this week issued subpoenas to the mayors of Wisconsin’s five largest cities – also said an October 31 deadline for him to complete his work was unrealistic. That date was set by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman to oversee the review.

“There’s been a lot of concerns raised about influence of private organizations – such as Center For Tech and Civic Life – participating directly in the administration of public elections,” Gableman said in response to a question about the scope of his investigation. “Finally, there is great concern by many citizens over the reliability, the accurate nature, of the voting machines.”

Mayor Rhodes-Conway

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, one of the mayors subpoenaed, tooks Republicans in the legislature to task, for attempting to change Wisconsin election laws following Donald Trump’s loss in the state last year.

“There’s a lot of Republicans that one elections using those same laws. The same ballots, the same voting equipment, the same polling places, that voters used to elect President Biden and other Democrats.”

Rhodes-Conway said that to this point, the election review headed by Gableman has been confusing.

“I don’t what he’s doing, I don’t know what kind of investigation he’s running, and I don’t know what they think they’re going to get out of it.”

The mayor added that she’s willing to meet with Gableman – but that any meeting ought to be open. “So if I’m going to go to Brookfield and spend my time in a strip mall answering questions, I think that room should be open to the public, and I think it should be open to the press.”

Rhodes-Conway said the level of what’s being requested by Gableman’s office of special prosecutor is “unprecedented,” and it’s unclear whether the city will be physically able to comply.

 

State Senator Lena Taylor running for Lieutenant Governor

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While the 2022 races for Governor and Senate ramp up, there’s a new entrant for Lieutenant Governor. State senator Lena Tayor of Milwaukee has put in her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor, running for the position that’s currently being held by Mandela Barnes.

Barnes is one of many Democrats in the running for the U.S. Senate.

Taylor says her 18 years in the Legislature will help Governor Evers better work with the rest of the Capitol if he’s re-elected in 2022.

Several Republicans are also in the running, including State Senator Pat Testin and Lancaster mayor David Varnam.

Owens drops out of race for state Attorney General

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A Republican candidate for state Attorney General is dropping out of the race. UW-Madison law school professor Ryan Owens released a statement on Monday, in which he said that “wrongheaded and false claims” have taken a toll on his family.

Owens’ decision to leave the race follows reports regarding podcasts that he hosted as director of UW-Madison’s Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership. Four episodes were found to have been removed from the web.

Owens’ departure leaves Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney to face Democratic incumbent AG Josh Kaul in 2022.

Pfaff announces he’s running in 3rd Congressional District

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The first high profile Democrat is stepping forward to run for U-S House from western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.

State Senator Brad Pfaff was elected to the state Senate last year. Before that, he was Governor Evers’ acting Agriculture secretary, until state Senate Republicans fired him in 2019. Republican Derrick Van Orden, a former Navy Seal, announced his campaign in April. Van Orden narrowly lost to Kind in 2020. Navy veteran Brett Knudson is running as a Democrat.

Incumbent Ron Kind announced in August that he won’t seek reelection to the seat he’s held for 25 years. The 3rd District is regarded as the most competitive in Wisconsin.

The primary election for the seat will be held in August.