JFC holds final public budget hearing (WAUSAU)
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee held its last public budget hearing in Wausau on Tuesday. During a press conference by committee Republicans, vice-chair Senator Pat Testin of Stevens Point said more money is needed for road projects in northern Wisconsin. Committee Democrats held a press conference at Hsu’s (Soos) Ginseng farm prior to the hearing. Kenosha Assembly Democrat Tip McGuire said Governor Evers’ budget will help Wisconsin farmers being harmed by tariffs on exports. Republicans who hold the majority on the budget panel have already said they plan to reject most of what the Democratic governor has proposed as they build a new two-year budget from scratch.
Madison city clerk failed to properly handle missing ballots, says city (MADISON)
Investigators found Madison’s former city clerk disregarded multiple policies when absentee ballots went uncounted in 2024. The Wisconsin State Journal reports an investigation by the city showed that Maribeth Witzel-Behl (wit-zul bale) did not properly report or account for nearly 200 absentee ballots that were found after last year’s presidential election. The report states that Witzel-Behl’s statements about the ballots to city leadership and the Wisconsin Elections Commission differ from what investigators discovered, and that Witzel-Behl failed to properly direct staff on how to handle the uncounted ballots. No corrective action was recommended, since Witzel-Behl resigned last month. The state elections commission has subpoenaed Witzel-Behl and other election workers as part of its separate investigation.
Abandoned boat remains stranded on Lake Michigan shoreline (MILWAUKEE)
Efforts to remove a stranded boat from Milwaukee’s lakefront have so far failed. The cabin cruiser “Deep Thought” has been hard aground on the Lake Michigan shoreline since being abandoned by its owners during a storm last October. Since then the boat has been vandalized and covered in graffiti – but hasn’t moved. Media reports indicated the boat’s days in Milwaukee were numbered when salvage efforts funded by an anonymous private donor began a week ago. That work was suspended last Friday due to the weather, and pictures posted to social media on Tuesday showed Deep Thought still deep in the sandy shoreline – along with a pontoon vessel used by the salvage crews.
UW Madison Day at the Capitol (MADISON)
Wednesday is UW Madison Day at the Wisconsin State Capitol. According to a statement from the university, a record-breaking number of alumni, donors, and friends have signed up to participate in the lobbying effort. A wave of red clad Badgers will descend on the Capitol as the UW faces federal funding cuts by the Trump administration, and scrutiny by state lawmakers of DEI spending on the Madison campus. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin will be keynote speaker for a panel discussion on housing challenges facing the university and the Madison community. The largest Universities of Wisconsin campus has a total of some 48,000 graduate and undergraduate students and employs more than 24,000 people.
Body of missing Chippewa Falls woman found in Minnesota (ST. CLOUD MN)
The body of a Chippewa Falls woman missing for nearly nine years has been fund in Minnesota.
Chippewa Falls police said then-22-year-old Shannah Boiteau went missing June 22, 2016. The national database for missing persons, NamUs, said Boiteau and her boyfriend were driving to California when she ran away from the vehicle near St. Cloud, Minnesota. Foul play was not suspected at that time. St. Cloud Police said human bones were found Saturday in the area where Boiteau was last seen in 2016. The remains were confirmed this week to be Boiteau, and the Chippewa Falls Police Department and the woman’s family were notified. St. Cloud Police are conducting the investigation.
Department of Corrections testifies on budget request (MADISON)
Governor Tony Evers’ has included $530 million in his next budget for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. DOC Secretary Jared Hoy testified in front of an Assembly committee Tuesday. He says aging facilities need to be updated, with Waupun and Green Bay Correctional Institutes having been built in the 1800s. Evers’ proposal would close the Green Bay Correctional Institution and convert others, while also expanding the earned release program. Republican leaders in the Legislature are skeptical of the plan.
Group sues to bring back “fusion voting” (DANE COUNTY)
A bipartisan group has sued the state with the hopes of allowing candidates to run for office under more than one party. Fusion voting allows one candidate to be nominated by more than one political party. The suit was filed in Dane County Court on behalf of a group called “United Wisconsin.” New York and Connecticut are the only states that currently permit the practice. Advocates call fusion voting a way to increase real political representation and political participation, while the Republican Party of Wisconsin calls it confusing and dishonest. Fusion voting was banned by the state Legislature in 1897. Current state law says candidates who file papers under a recognized political party may not also run as an independent candidate.