Wisconsin Right Now

Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol want the state to help save local newsrooms. Two Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, and Sen Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloint, introduced three pieces of legislation they hope will save local journalism. The first would be a local journalism fellowship that would pay a handful of young reporters $40,000 to start their career in a local newsroom. The lawmakers are also pitching a 50% tax credit for newspaper subscriptions and a Wisconsin Civic Information Consortium. “The Civic Information Consortium will boost local news coverage and civic engagement across the state, with a focus on addressing information gaps in communities long underserved by the commercial news market,” Spreitzer said. “A similar model in New Jersey has already allocated more than $6 million over just the past few years, uplifting Innovative new approaches to civic media and supporting news coverage in pockets of the state that have long been ignored by mainst...

If Democrats had a magic wand, they'd put Michelle Obama in the White House. The former first lady has more political star power than incumbent President Joe Biden and other famous and not-so-famous Democrats ahead of the November election, according to The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll , conducted Jan. 2-4. The poll, conducted with Noble Predictive Insights, found that if Democrats and Democrat-leaning likely voters could wave a magic wand, 24% would pick Michelle Obama. The former first lady was followed by Biden (20%), U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (12%), someone else (9%), U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (9%), former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (8%), Vice President Kamala Harris (7%), and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (5%). Three other Democrats didn't have as much appeal: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer got 4%, followed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (1%) and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (1%). Michelle Obama, the wife of forme...

Republicans and Democrats each question the plan to change the state’s indefinitely confined voter rules at the Wisconsin Capitol. Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Town of Delafield, presented her plan to tighten the state’s indefinitely confined voter law by defining what indefinitely confined means, requiring people to apply for a separate indefinitely confined absentee ballot, clarifying a public health emergency does not allow people to claim indefinitely confined status and would ban people from voting indefinitely confined if they vote in person. “Indefinitely confined means ‘I’m not leaving,’” Duchow told the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections. Wisconsin law allows people to vote absentee as indefinitely confined voters if they cannot or have trouble physically making it to the polls. Duchow says the rules need to be tightened because the indefinitely confined law also allows people to vote without showing an ID. “This is a problem that cuts to the heart of whether Wi...

The push against school choice in Wisconsin comes after a report last week that showed choice schools in the state saw better test scores with fewer state dollars than traditional public schools. Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol may be trying to roll back school choice in the state after presenting a package of legislation they say would reinvest in public schools and bring transparency to voucher school spending. “This is about public dollars, public schools, and public oversight,” Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, told reporters. The Democrats’ transparency plan would require the state to tell taxpayers how much money goes to voucher students each year. “If this bill passes, each property tax bill would have a line that says something like: The gross reduction in state aid to your school district in the current year is a result of people enrolled in one of the choice programs. Or as a result of payments to a private school under the special needs scholarship program,” Rep....

"The $2.4 trillion BBBA – before the U.S. Senate this week – would increase taxes on the middle- and working-class by up to 40%." Democrats have argued that the tax reforms implemented through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) only benefited the rich, and that the Build Back Better Act will help middle-and working-class Americans the most. But several nonpartisan groups found that the TCJA reduced the tax burden for the middle- and working-class by up to 87% and, they argue, the $2.4 trillion Build Back Better Act – before the U.S. Senate this week – would increase taxes on the middle- and working-class by up to 40%. A new analysis published by the Heartland Institute found that the TCJA reduced the average effective income tax rates for taxpayers in every income tax bracket – but the lower- and middle-class saw the greatest benefits – with the lowest-income filers receiving the largest tax cuts. The poorest Americans, with adjusted gross income of between $5,00...