Vos: voters may have chance to roll back Evers partial veto (MADISON)
Wisconsin voters may have the opportunity next fall to roll back a partial veto by Governor Tony Evers. The Democratic Governor’s partial budget veto committed the state to spending more on K-12 education each year for the next 400 years. Assembly speaker Robin Voss telling the Wisconsin State Journal that Republican lawmakers plan to bring back for a second consideration a constitutional amendment to reverse Evers’ veto. which was upheld in April by the state Supreme Court. The proposed amendment would prohibit Wisconsin governors from using a partial veto to increase taxes or fees in appropriation bills such as state budgets. It passed the legislature for the first time in early 2024 and if it passes both chambers again this year could come before voters in the fall election.
Lake Mendota freezes over on New Year’s Day (MADISON)
It’s official: Lake Mendota is iced-over. The State Climatology Office announced Thursday that the largest lake in the Madison Area has frozen, marking the start of winter for the Yahara River. The average freeze date of Lake Mendota is December 20th, making this one of the later freezes on record. The Clean Lakes Alliance runs a raffle each year to guess the date, and this year 22 people out of over 19-hundred participants guessed New Year’s Day. Three of them will win gift certificates.
Cryptocurrency kiosk scams on the rise (UNDATED)
Cryptocurrency kiosk scams are becoming more and more frequent across Wisconsin. AARP Wisconsin Director Courtney Anclam says there’s more than 700 of these machines across the state. Anclam says fraudsters in these scams will typically pose as government officials or offer phony investment opportunities to get people to convert their money into cryptocurrency at a kiosk. Anclam says AARP is calling on state lawmakers to pass legislation next session that would combat these scams.
Evers touts child care and education gains in 2025 (UNDATED)
Democratic Governor Tony Evers touts child care and education gains in 2025. During his State of the State of address in January, Evers named 2025 “The Year of the Kid” and called on state lawmakers to support education focused initiatives in the 2025-27 biennial budget. That budget, which Evers signed in the summer, allocated $1.4 billion for K-12 schools and over $360 million for childcare support. There were also increases for the Universities of Wisconsin System and technical colleges in Wisconsin. Evers also signed into law a bill that bans cellphone use in classrooms, and his administration launched a program to provide direct payments to childcare providers.