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Republicans consider run for Sensenbrenner’s 5th CD seat

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Jim Sensebrenner is a little worried that conservatives may box each other of his seat in Congress. Sensenbrenner told WISN’s Jay Weber that he’s leaving Congress in 2021 to try and hand the seat to a new conservative who can represent the 5th Congressional District.

“One of the concerns that I have is that you will have 5 or 6 conservatives and one RINO running in the Republican primary, and the RINO ends up winning without about 20% of the vote.”

Sensenbrenner said he’s walking away now to give a younger Republican a chance to take over his WOW (Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington) counties seat before Wisconsin draws its new political map after the 2020 census.

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is “seriously weighing a run.” A statement from him says Washington D.C. “is a mess, and in need of more Wisconsin-style common sense,” and that “President Trump needs strong allies to fix it.”

Sensenbrenner has been in Congress since 1979. Fitzgerald hasn’t been in the legislature quite that long, but he is a veteran lawmaker, having first been elected to the Senate in 1994. Former state senator and 2018 Republican U.S. Senate nominee Leah Vukmir is also reported to be considering entering the race.

Evers taps Missy Hughes to lead WEDC

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Governor Tony Evers has named his choice to lead the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. A statement from Evers’ office said Thursday that he’s appointing Missy Hughes as as Secretary and CEO of the state’s development agency.

Hughes has a background in agriculture. She’s been Chief Mission Officer and General Counsel for Organic Valley/CROPP cooperative since 2003.

Mark Hogan had led WEDC since 2015 and stepped down effective this week. Hughes won’t start until October 1. A provision passed as part of the lame-duck legislative session following Evers’ election prohibits him from immediately appointing this position.

Battle over legal settlements continues between JFC, AG

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The dispute of who’s going to handle Wisconsin’s lawsuits continues.

The Joint Finance Committee was supposed to meet on Wednesday to go over some settlements with Attorney General Josh Kaul, but that meeting was cancelled by Republicans who say Kaul still isn’t giving them enough information to work with. Committee co-chair John Nygren says he wants to know exactly what sort of funding the state is going to be getting out of these settlements. 

“Our ultimate goal here, everybody’s goal, should be to protect the taxpayer. But we need more information than what we have been given.”

Kaul apparently sent over abstracts on the settlements to describe what they’re about, something Nygren says isn’t enough.

“Making an educated decision without all the information is irresponsible, so we’re going to again ask for it, and hope that he can get it to us so we can meet on the settlements.”

Kaul says he won’t turn over that information until the JFC signs a non disclosure agreement. He says that if JFC wants to have the authority to handle settlements, they need to take on the responsibility to maintain confidentiality.

Representative Jim Sensenbrenner won’t seek reelection

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Wisconsin’s longest serving member of Congress has announced he won’t seek reelection. Menominee Falls Republican Jim Sensenbrenner made the announcement on Wednesday. The 76-year-old was elected to the House in a 1979 special election.

Sensenbrenner currently sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Wisconsin’s Fifth Congressional District is heavily Republican, so the winner of the GOP primary will likely claim the seat.

Sensenbrenner’s announcement comes a week after another Wisconsin House Republican, Sean Duffy, said he’ll resign later this month.

Trump emergency declaration includes loss of $8 million for Madison Air National Guard base

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Funding for Madison’s Air National Guard base will be spent on the southern border instead. A Wisconsin National Guard spokesman confirmed Wednesday that $8 million that had been allotted for a small arms weapons range at the 115th Fighter Wing’s Truax Field has been diverted to help pay for border barriers, part of President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration.

Details of 127 military projects that stand to lose $3.6 billion to cover costs on the border with Mexico were made public by the Department of Defense.

New farm bills aimed at supporting struggling farms introduced at Capitol

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Three new farm bills aimed at helping struggling Wisconsin farmers were announced at the Capitol on Tuesday.

One of the bills would create a permanent position at the UW-Extension to help farmers with estate planning. Baraboo assemblyman Dave Considine says that’s critical in keeping family farms running. 

“Just a few years ago, my family had what we called our ‘farm talk’, or our succession planning meeting. I also hear about succession planning in almost every farm I tour.”

Another bill will offer funds to get entirely new farmers out into Wisconsin’s fields. Beloit Assemblyman Mark Spreitzer says the average age of a Wisconsin farmer is past 50, and is only getting older.

“To continue Wisconsin’s strong tradition of farmers that feed our state and beyond, we must recruit and retain the next generation of beginning farmers.”

The last of the three bills would offer matching grants to small farms looking to diversify their crops. Milton Assemblyman Don Vruwink says the wide variety of farm operations in his district shows that Wisconsin ag isn’t just beans, corn and cows. 

“People who grow mushrooms, I have a cherry orchard, a blueberry farm, a raspberry farm, a lot of different diversity. And that’s what this bill is designed to do, is to help these people continue to expand or continue these operations.”

All three bills already have support from both Republicans and Democrats.

State Senator Lena Taylor to run for Milwaukee mayor

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State Senator Lena Taylor has been a critic of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the past. Now the Democrat is running for the mayor’s job. “I consider him as a mentor, and a friend. But we’re at a crossroads. If when you’re moving to two decades, and all you can do is this, I just ask for one to lead or, with all due respect, get out of the way.”

Barrett, who’s been mayor since 2004, has yet to formally announce a re-election effort. Taylor, who’s served in the state Senate since 2004, is the fourth announced candidate for the spring mayoral primary.

“Right now my priority is to win the primary. And win the general. And change Milwaukee.”

 

American Lung Association sees need to increase age to buy tobacco and vaping products

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The American Lung Association is all-in, on a bill to raise the age to buy tobacco and vape products in Wisconsin. The bipartisan legislation would raise the age to 21, and the Lung Association’s Donna Wininsky said that would put it on an equal footing with alcohol. “These are both things that can alder brain chemicals and are addictive. And we would prefer to not have teenagers using them.”

Research shows that people are far less likely to start smoking once they’re 21. “It’s close to a 90 percent rate, that if someone hasn’t started using tobacco products by the time they turn 21, the chances are just very, very slim that they’re going to pick it up afterword.”

Wininsky is skeptical of claims by the vaping industry that its products are not meant for teenagers to use. “I don’t think an industry names and flavors products like ‘bubble gum’ and ‘cotton candy’ and ‘chocolate’ and all of the other flavors that both the tobacco and the vaping industries use, unless they are intentionally targeting kids.”

The legislation is being offered against the backdrop of growing public health concerns surrounding vaping, and vaping products concerning THC.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said last week that 24 of the 27 people with confirmed lung injuries reported vaping oil with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

While many users get sick, dealers of THC vape cartridges get rich. Police in Milwaukee in recent months made arrests of suspected dealers selling drugs that included THC cartridges. One trio of dealers was making $800,000 to $2 million a month selling THC cartridges, according to a criminal complaint cited by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.-

JFC and AG Kaul reach agreement on settlement scuffle

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A stalemate between GOP leaders and the state attorney general’s office might be over.

Joint Finance Committee co chairs Alberta Darling and John Nygren announced on Thursday that they will be signing confidentiality agreements in order to take part in settlements being negotiated by Attorney General Josh Kaul.

Kaul says he needs those agreements in order to read in members of the Committee so they can approve the settlements, as required by one of the lame duck laws. Republicans still say Kaul is trying to undermine that law. 

Rep. Hintz says lame duck law about settlements needs to change to break stalemate

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As the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee and Attorney General Josh Kaul continue to spar over one of the lame duck laws, Democrat Assembly Leader Gordon Hintz says this is just a vision of things to come. 

“We did tell them that this was going to happen, and now we’re at this day of reckoning, and it’s just humiliating reading the headlines that these guys don’t even know what they’re doing.”

Kaul came before the committee this week as required to discuss a possible settlement that the state was involved in, but wouldn’t disclose what the settlement was until lawmakers signed non-disclosure agreements. Republicans on the committee refused.

According to Kaul, the settlement that’s on the table will be significant for the state, and he’s got a deadline of Friday to respond. Hintz says forcing Kaul to come to Joint Finance is just cumbersome.

“It looks like we’re going to need some changes to fix this, otherwise Wisconsin taxpayers are going to be the ones holding the bag.”

JFC co-chairs Senator Alberta Darling and Representative John Nygren did not respond to requests for comment.