Baldwin ready to work with Republicans (WASHINGTON DC)

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin says she’s ready to work with Republicans. The Wisconsin Democrat who won a third term in November says she looks forward to meeting with Republican colleagues. During a town hall video conference on Monday with constituents in southwestern Wisconsin, Baldwin said her office is scheduling those meetings now. Issues she hopes to address include the bipartisan border security bill which Baldwin said was “tanked by politics” in the last Congress. Now that the election is over, she wants to bring that back up and pass it. Baldwin also hopes to address child care and housing costs, and defend against changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

UPFRONT: Sen. Johnson wants recess appointments for Trump Cabinet, approves of Jan 6th pardons and immigration arrests (WASHINGTON DC)

US Senator Ron Johnson wants to cut Democrats out of the confirmation process for President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. Speaking on WISN’s UPFRONT on Sunday, the Wisconsin Republican said Democrats are dragging their heels and that Republican leadership should move to using recess appointments. It took around 100 days for President Obama’s and President Trump’s first Cabinets to be appointed, and 50 days for President Biden. Johnson also says he generally approves of the presidential pardons issued to those convicted in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, but that he wouldn’t have pardoned those convicted of violent actions. He also voiced his approval of President Trump’s increased action on immigration arrests, as well as the executive order to undo birthright citizenship. That matter is now in the courts, after a federal judge blocked it last week.

Bill would return state workers to offices (MADISON)

Proposed legislation would return state employees to the office. Representative Amanda Nedweski has introduced legislation, alongside state Senator Cory Tomczyk to return state employees to in-person work. Nedweski chairs the new Assembly Committee on Government Oversight, Accountability, and Transparency. The Pleasant Prairie Republican says nearly five years after the COVID pandemic, a significant number of state employees continue to work remotely while productivity diminishes and office buildings sit mostly empty. She cites two 2023 Legislative Audit Bureau reports highlighting use of telework and space management in state agencies and the UW System. The proposal requires that all state employees return to work in their physical offices by July 1. Those whose job duties were already being performed off-site prior to March 2020 are exempt.

Business survey finds support for tariffs on China (MADISON)

A survey of Wisconsin businesses finds support for tariffs on China. That’s according to the latest Wisconsin Employer Survey by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. Eighty-six percent of respondents to the semiannual survey support imposing tariffs on countries like China in response to unfair trade practices. But business leaders have concerns about other proposed tariffs. Fifty-five percent support 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, while 56 percent oppose. Seventy-three percent support President Trump’s plan to use tariffs as a negotiating tactic to slow illegal immigration. When asked how increasing tariffs would impact their business, 50 percent said it would have a negative effect, 26 percent said it would be positive, while 24 percent said it would have no impact. WMC surveyed 153 employers that make up a representative sample of its membership.

Data shows lung cancer rates declining in Wisconsin (UNDATED)

The report from the Wisconsin Cancer Collaborative says declining smoking rates, effective tobacco control policies and regulations, earlier diagnosis, and improved treatments are responsible for the decline. In Wisconsin, lung cancer deaths still outnumbered all prostate, breast, and colon cancer deaths combined. The five-year relative survival rate for lung cancer in Wisconsin is 29.4%. In Wisconsin, the majority of people with lung cancer are between the ages of 70-79.

UW researchers find alcohol sales increase following mass shootings (MADISON)

The study found alcohol sales in communities hit by mass shootings persist for about two years after the event. Researchers looked at roughly 320 mass shootings from 2006 to 2019 and then compared alcohol sales from the same time range recorded by the Nielsen Retail scanner database, which tracks over half of national grocery and drugstore sales. The study found that communities that experienced public mass shootings had around a 3 to 5 percent increase in alcohol sales for two years following the shooting.

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