by Andrew Beckett | Aug 12, 2011
State Senate Republicans lost two seats in Tuesday’s recalls, leaving them with a 17-16 majority. However, Senate GOP Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) doubts that having fewer members in the chamber will have much of an impact on their agenda. Fitzgerald says...
by Bob Hague | Jul 1, 2011
There’s a move afoot to end state Supreme Court elections. Public financing of state Supreme Court races has had its funding cut, and state Senator Dale Schultz doesn’t think it’s a realistic response to a partisan court and divisive elections....
by Bob Hague | Mar 12, 2011
The fourteen state Senate Democrats who left Wisconsin to forestall action on Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair returned to a tumultuous welcome on Saturday, and according to their leader, a new political dynamic after just two and a-half months in office...
by Andrew Beckett | Mar 10, 2011
A day of turmoil at the state Capitol wrapped up Thursday afternoon, with the state Assembly giving final approval to a modified version of the Governor’s budget repair bill. The bill passed on a 53-42 vote, despite numerous calls from Democrats to stop an...
by Bob Hague | Mar 10, 2011
Protests erupted at the Capitol Wednesday night, after action by the state Senate to advance a modified version of Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, which succeeds in stripping most collective bargaining rights from public employees in Wisconsin. The...
by Bob Hague | Feb 25, 2011
Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate brought Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill to the floor on Friday. With the fourteen Senate Democrats still not in the chamber – or even the state – they could not vote, but they did discuss the...
by Bob Hague | Feb 23, 2011
The state Senate met for a second time Wednesday without the 14 minority Democrats who were elected to serve in the chamber, and a frustrated Scott Fitzgerald is still trying to get those legislators to return to Madison. The Senate Majority Leader said he’s...
by Bob Hague | Nov 4, 2010
Jubilant state Senate Republicans select new leaders. Kudos for state Senator Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau from Senator Alberta Darling of River Hills, who says “Big Fitz” put his party back in the majority. “You knew that we couldn’t win as...
by Bob Hague | Jul 22, 2010
The rainy weather at Farm Technology Days matched the mood of many attendees who knew Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen. Nilsestuen died Wednesday evening while swimming in Lake Michigan. Nilsestuen was taking part in a Habitat for Humanity building...
by Bob Hague | Jan 29, 2010
The state Senate has passed legislation requiring mental health coverage in employer provided health insurance. Debate revolved around potential costs and potential savings to small and medium sized Wisconsin employers, if group insurance plans are required to provide...
by WRN Contributor | Dec 1, 2009
A Southwest Wisconsin lawmaker is blasting Governor Jim Doyle over the recent firing of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary, John Scocos. State Senator Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) says in all his years of state government, Scocos is clearly one of the most...
by WRN Contributor | Jul 9, 2008
The state Supreme Court has ruled that sex with a corpse is indeed illegal in Wisconsin, reinstating criminal charges against three young men accused of digging up a corpse to have sex with it. The men went to a cemetery in Cassville two years ago to rob the grave of...
by WRN Contributor | Mar 6, 2008
Lawmakers from opposing parties got in each others faces at the Capitol Thursday, as a press conference turned into an impromptu and noisy debate. Senate Republicans, who want a vote during today's floor session on a constitutional amendment requiring voters to...
by WRN Contributor | Feb 8, 2008
A Southwest Wisconsin lawmaker says workers facing layoff at Advance Transformer in Boscobel will get help in paying for job retraining. State Senator Dale Schultz says because the jobs are being sent to Juarez Mexico, workers will be eligible under the federal trade...
by WRN Contributor | Jan 8, 2008
A statewide smoking ban has passed a legislative committee. Months after a holding a public hearing on the measure, the Senate health committee on Tuesday approved a comprehensive statewide smoking ban. Eau Claire Democrat Pat Kreitlow, argued for amending the bill to...
by WRN Contributor | Sep 19, 2007
State lawmakers are trying to help the small Grant County town that FEMA forgot. More than a hundred homes in the small Village of Bagley were damaged or destroyed by flash flooding during a July storm. Not enough by itself, FEMA says, to meet the standard for federal...
by WRN Contributor | Jul 26, 2007
A new bill will make necrophilia illegal in Wisconsin. Why is that needed? State Senator Dale Schultz says it's because of a case in Grant County last year, in which three young men were initially charged with attempted sexual assault after trying to dig up the...
by WRN Contributor | Jun 26, 2007
Senate Democrats weighed in on free trade Tuesday, prior to the day's major action, passage of their version of the state budget. A resolution from Green Bay Democrat, Sen. Dave Hansen, asks Congress replace the "Fast Track" system, so trade agreements...
by WRN Contributor | Feb 21, 2007
Democrats in the state Senate on Tuesday quashed debate on the "Frankenstein veto" constitutional ammendment. Republicans, like Scott Fitzgerald, fear Governor Jim Doyle will be able to once again rewrite the final budget bill to his liking....
by WRN Contributor | Nov 16, 2006
A state lawmaker says efforts to fight Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin have been a "complete and utter failure." That's according to State Senator Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), after the release of a state audit of efforts to fight CWD. The...
