Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has complied with court orders and will now tell the over 1,800 local election clerks they can accept absentee ballots that are missing parts of a witness address. The commission made the move after members voted 5-1 Thursday.

Western Wisconsin’s congressman wants the governor to help with the planned hospital closures in the Chippewa Valley. Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden asked Gov. Tony Evers to use any state or federal resources that can be tapped to make sure the people who use HSHS’ hospitals or Prevea’s clinics in and around Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls are not left without medical care.

Experts hired by Wisconsin’s supreme court to redraw the state’s political maps say there won’t be anymore Republican gerrymandering. The court’s outside experts rejected maps drawn by Republican lawmakers and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. The experts said both maps continued to gerrymander the state for Republicans.

Act 10, the law that fundamentally weakened Wisconsin’s public school teachers’ unions, is headed back to court. And again there is an effort to save it. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Monday filed a motion to join the new case that seeks to end Act 10. That case claims there was “no conceivable rational basis” for Act 10 to begin with.

The threat of losing federal funding or defending against an expensive lawsuit, for allegedly promoting discrimination against popular punching bags on campus, isn't dissuading the University of Wisconsin Law School from inculcating students in the dogma of diversity, equity and inclusion. UW Law required first-year students to participate in a "reorientation" Friday that catechized the same ideologies that prompted doctor and House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Andy Harris to float federal funding cuts to medical schools that force DEI upon students.

The latest report on school choice in Wisconsin again shows choice schools outperform public schools in Milwaukee’s biggest cities and rural areas. The Apples to Apples report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty compares proficiency rates in math and English language arts in public schools, charter schools and private schools part of Wisconsin’s voucher program.

Wisconsin Republicans introduced a bill Friday that would ban abortion at 14 weeks, just months ahead of the 2024 presidential primary. The bill would limit abortions in the state by an additional six weeks since Wisconsin already has a 20-week ban on the books, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In addition to passing the legislature and getting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ signature, the bill would also have to appear on the ballot for voters during the state’s primary election in April, which is just months before the presidential election in November.

The latest version of a Parental Bill of Rights has cleared its first major hurdle at the Wisconsin Capitol, but it’s not expected to get much further. The State Assembly on Thursday approved AB 510, which spells out the rights that parents in the state have over their own children.

A reform group in Wisconsin wants to take what works for plumbers and get it to work for teachers. The Institute for Reforming Government has been working since last spring to create teacher apprenticeships in the state.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court will not reconsider its ruling that tossed out the state’s political maps. The new liberal-majority court ruled 4-3 against a request from Republican lawmakers to listen to arguments again.

Wisconsin’s governor may be softening on a tax cut for retirees in the state. Gov. Tony Evees was a guest on Capital City Sunday on television in Madison. He said he’s open to the idea of a tax cut for retirees in the state.

Milwaukee’s new 2% sales tax has spawned a war of words between the city’s mayor and the county executive in Washington County. It began New Year’s Day when Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann posted a message on social media welcoming people to shop in his county.

A judge in Dane County says absentee ballots in Wisconsin don’t need a full address to be counted this year. Judge Ryan Nilsestuen ruled local election managers need not reject absentee ballots if the absentee witness’ address is incomplete.

The Republican who led the first investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 election says she does not trust the effort to count the state’s absentee ballots early because she doesn’t trust election officials in Milwaukee. State Rep. Janel Brandtken told The Center Square there are serious security concerns with the Monday Count plan moving ahead at the Wisconsin Capitol.

One Republican state senator wants more answers from the University of Wisconsin about the porn-producing former chancellor at La Crosse. Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, the legislature needs to find out just what the UW knew about Joe Gow’s porn videos.