Wisconsin Right Now

There is another lawsuit over another race-based program from the Biden Administration with a Wisconsin tie. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging the McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program. The McNair Program is a $60 million scholarship program open only to certain minority students. “The government says that these groups are underrepresented. That may be, but that doesn’t give the government a right to discriminate against our clients and other students on the basis of race. Any attempt to balance the races – or create equal outcomes – is a dangerous and illegal policy,” WILL attorney Dan Lennington told The Center Square. WILL is representing Young Americans Foundation, a college-based program that teaches conservative values and thoughts. Its president is former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. “Denying a student the chance to compete for a scholarship based on their skin color is not only discriminatory but also demean...

Another local prosecutor declined to bring charges against a Republican state lawmaker in a campaign funding raising case. Waukesha County’s District Attorney Sue Opper said she would not file charges against state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. But Opper said she is not clearing Brandtjen in the case. “I am simply concluding that I cannot prove charges against her. While the intercepted communications, such as audio recordings may be compelling in the court of public opinion, they are not in a court of law,” Opper said. Wisconsin’s Ethics Commission suggested charges against Brandtjen and a handful of others in a case that investigators say saw them move money around to allegedly skirt Wisconsin’s limits on campaign donations. Opper said the Ethics Commission investigation was based on “reasonable suspicion and then probable cause.” But she added that those “burdens are substantially lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt which is necessary for a criminal conviction.” Opper sai...

Another judge has ruled that absentee ballots must be properly – and completely – filled-out in order to be counted on Election Day in Wisconsin. Dane County Judge Nia Trammell on Wednesday refused to issue a temporary restraining order that would have stopped local election clerks from rejecting incomplete absentee ballots. "I believe that to issue a temporary injunction would upend the status quo, not preserve it," said Trammell. "I also believe that the fact that the election is all but two weeks away lends some credence to the argument raised by [the Wisconsin Election Commission] and the Legislature that any decision issued by the court granting the temporary injunction would frustrate the electoral process by causing confusion." The issue continues to be absentee ballot witness addresses. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin wanted a judge to give clerks some wiggle room on those addresses. State law is clear that voters and their witnesses must p...

GOP insiders now expect former Senate candidate Tim Michels to announce his run for governor later this week. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson on Monday announced he is not running for governor. “This is a very difficult conclusion,” Thompson said in a statement. “After a full life of service and leading and growing businesses, I know I have the vision, drive and vitality to serve another term as governor. Wisconsin needs strong leadership to bridge political divides, care for our most vulnerable, set our economy on a path to succeed in the 21st-century, and again make us the shining star of the nation. I would have brought those qualities and commitment as governor.” Thompson served four terms as governor in Wisconsin, he was first elected in 1986. He left the governor’s mansion to serve in the George W. Bush Administration in 2002. Thompson last ran for office in 2012, when he lost a bid for U.S. Senate. Thompson most recently was the interim president of the University of Wisco...

It is another round of education changes from Assembly Republicans in Madison. Republicans on Tuesday moved ahead with a series of plans that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says focuses on learning and makes it clear that parents are in charge of their child’s education. “That’s really what the focus is,” Vos told reporters at the Capitol. “Making sure that parents have every single right to ensure what happens with their own kids. AB 995 Vos is pushing one plan, AB 995 , that would require an in-person option for all kids if schools ever decide to try remote learning again. The plan would also spell out that parents will decide on vaccinations for their kids. The plan that may get the most attention is AB 446 , which would begin early literacy screenings for kids in kindergarten. Rep. Bob Whitke , R-Racine, said the plan is unpopular because it comes with consequences for schools that don’t get kids reading at grade level by the third grade. “Generally, those schools that ha...