Uppitywis Blogs

Update -

The bill passed 58-39. Three Republicans joined all the Democrats in voting against the bill - Todd Novak, of Dodgeville; Warren Petryk, of Eleva; and Travis Tranel, of Cuba City. -- Next up? Gutting Campaign Finance Laws.

As another example of the saying "haste makes waste" the GAB bill needed two amendments today to "clarify" the mess that the bill is. One of the amendments that passed this afternoon was to clarify how many people would be on the newly-created board. That's right, you can't tell from the bill. I will not even go INTO the concept that the board will need to beg the

Once again we see the state legislature being confused. As anyone who is in any way sentient will know, today is Back To The Future Day. In Madison the Gang That Couldn't Vote Straight seems to have misunderstood and thought it was Back To The Past Day. Rumor has it that a Delorean pulled up in front of the Capitol early this morning, and a young man who looked a lot like Michael J. Fox dropped off a pile of old legislation.

Remember the Good Old Days? Back before the GAB? Remember the Caucus Scandal? It's back! The Assembly is taking up a bill (AB377/SB294) to destroy the GAB and replace it

Yesterday morning Midwestern Environmental Advocates and multiple plaintiffs across the state filed a lawsuit asking the federal EPA to closely monitor progress Wisconsin is making against violations of the Clean Water Act.

Press conferences were held around the state yesterday morning to announce the lawsuit. Video from the Menomonie press conference is below. I apologize for the occasional outbursts of happy children - they were in the next room at the library enjoying themeselves.

In many states the EPA has delegated enforcement of the Clean Water Act to state agencies. In Wisconsin the DNR

Judge Lynn Adelman today ruled against the ACLU in the lawsuit they had brought to allow a wider range of ID's to be used for voting in Wisconsin.

The ACLU had wanted technical college IDs, out-of-state driver licenses and veterans photo IDs to be ruled as acceptable forms of ID for voting purposes. Judge Adelman refused this request on various grounds - stating that the out of state plaintiffs all had passports, there's been no firm ruling on whether tech school ID's are acceptable, and that the plaintiffs with military ID's had all obtained other forms of identification. In essence, he ruled

  Vos Bill opens the door on “dark money” in campaigns By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   “This bill strengthens democracy because it allows more citizens to participate,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal. Vos is the lead author of a bill to overhaul the state’s campaign finance law.   Wisconsin was an early leader in campaign finance reforms of 1911 that limited money in campaigns and provided “rigorous penalties” including disqualifying candidates and sending them to prison. Ironically, the effort over 100 years ago was led by legislative Republicans.   Today’s Assembly leader

In the usual Friday afternoon news dump that we have grown to expect from our governor, the citizens of Wisconsin are treated with another weak resume.  This should give us all concern regarding the Republicans' plan to dismantle the current civil service system and  the replacement of civil service exams with "resumes".   I don't think that a PhD with 20 years experience who had signed the recall could have under any circumstances taken this job from the sycophant in the baseball cap. Kyle's current salary is approximatly $33,000. He will be replacing Wendy Reimann who is making $103,101.  I

Putting Political Parties Back in Charge of Elections and Ethics? By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   “Wisconsin is the only state with a truly nonpartisan board structure,” wrote Professor Daniel Tokaji in 2013. The Ohio State law professor hailed the Government Accountability Board as “America’s Top Model” of nonpartisan elections.   Clean elections and corruption free elected officials are goals most of us share. Yet few states have laws that truly create a nonpartisan watchdog to assure public confidence. Wisconsin is blessed to be a national leader.   “The United States is an outlier among democratic

How Dismantling Civil Service is happening in Wisconsin One Step at a Time By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   “Please do what you can to stop the dismantling of the civil service system,” Mary from Trempealeau County asked me.   Mary is a retired social worker. Her call is one of a number of contacts I received lately from residents unhappy with a bill that would change state employment. Residents expressed concern that government jobs will be filled with political friends and relatives of those in power and will fail to serve its citizens.   A newly introduced bill would do away with examinations for

Update --- a few links at the bottom.

In a ruling that will probably have far-ranging effects, the 2nd District Court of Appeals has ruled that the EPA has failed to protect the nation's water from invasive species under the Clean Water Act.

According to Mark Smith, policy director of the National Wildlife Federation:

“This is a huge win for our environment, economy, fish, wildlife, communities, and businesses. The court, in no uncertain terms, has told the federal government that it needs to uphold its responsibility under the Clean Water Act to protect our drinking water, jobs, and way of life

Audit Bureau Turns 50, Receives National Recognition and Calls for its Demise
By Senator Kathleen Vinehout

 

“Fix the broken programs, get rid of the ones that don’t work and fund those that are working.” There’s not a state candidate around that would disagree with this statement.

 

Yet there are some in the Legislature that would eliminate the very source of information on which programs are a waste of taxpayer dollars and where the broken programs need fixing.

 

For fifty years, auditors at the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) have assisted legislators and the people of Wisconsin in

State Supreme Court Justick Patrice Crooks died in chambers today. Justice Crooks had recently announced that he would not run for another term, and 3 different candidates have already filed to run for the position.

Governor Walker expressed his condolences for the justice at the beginning of his remarks that he was dropping out of the presidential race. 

According to Reid Magney, spokesperson for the GAB, the governor may appoint a replacement for Justice Crooks - the replacement would finish the term until the new justice can be elected.

As expected Governor Walker has just announced that he is "suspending" his campaign for president. In a brief speech the Governor explained that he is dropping out of the campaign to clear the field for other candidates, and encouraged others to do the same to allow a "positive conservative" message to ovvertake the Democratic alternatives. Perhaps we will now see the Governor in our state more often, and have more of a chance to hold him accountable.

Multiple news sources including the New York Times are reporting that the press conference that Scott Walker has called in Madison at 5 PM today

Strong Consumer Protections Rely on You and Your Neighbors By Senator Kathleen Vinehout     “I got a call saying the IRS was taking me to court, but I filed everything on time. What do I do?” Linda asked.  We both agreed the phone call sounded fishy, so I reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to learn more.   The Consumer Protection experts explained there has been an explosion in the number of IRS imposters contacting people and demanding their financial information. Tax identity theft can lead to fraudulent tax filings or use of the victim’s

It was a John McEnroe moment watching Capitol City Sunday interview with State Rep. Joe Sanfilippo of West Allis.

Sanfilippo was there to promote his idea to turn the elected State Superintendent of Schools into an appointed position.

This is the just the latest proposal as the majority Republicans continue their march to assume absolute power in Wisconsin--turning civil service positions in to appointed positions, destroying labor unions, gerrymandering voting districts, voter ID, changing the method for selecting a chief justice, turning the GAB into a partisan agency, make changes to the John

WEDC Leaders Missed Opportunity to Apologize and Reform By Senator Kathleen Vinehout   “Are you going to follow the recommendations in the audit?” I asked the Board Chair of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). He crossed his arms, sat back and smiled at me.   A smile that, to me, said I was annoying him.   The clearest path to better outcomes at Governor Walker’s flagship jobs creation agency is to follow the recommendations of the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB).   However, during a recent and very long public hearing investigating the troubled agency, I repeatedly heard

I am looking at the current agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Lodi School Board (in whose district I reside). I see that it has a closed session scheduled for the first hour of the meeting under a grab bag listing of items that include “review minutes of regular meeting”, “review resignations and retirements,” and “review staff-2015-16.”

I went back a year and found the board has been doing this at every regular meeting with a catch-all closed session agenda with slight variations from month to month.

Besides being legally suspect the construction of this agenda has another result. It

Audit Shows Riders Received Poor Services

Elderly and disabled stranded when company did not deliver rides

By Senator Kathleen Vinehout

 

“Just how many ‘no shows’ are acceptable?” I asked Medicaid Director Kevin Moore at a recent Audit Committee Hearing. “Is 4,154 people left without a ride too many?”

 

Wisconsin needs a different system for getting seriously ill elderly and disabled to their medical appointments. A recent audit showed poor services provided by a private company contracted to give rides to some elderly and disabled.

 

A Rock County resident arranged for a wheelchair van. But the

Senator Kathleen Vinehout

“Please sound the alarm,” Superintendent Mary Baier wrote to me. “We are not able to find people to fill positions in Wisconsin.” She needed a special education teacher and only one applicant had applied to her rural Plum City district.

When the school bells ring across Wisconsin, parents expect classrooms to be filled with qualified teachers. But a dramatic decline in education majors at university-based programs and an exodus of both newly minted and experienced teachers have left Wisconsin parents asking, “Who will teach our children?”

The “impending crisis” is here

Re: Scott Walker today on Meet The Press. It's always interesting to see how our gov descends into half-truths, waffling, and plain old prevarication when pressed. Are we really all looking for a President who will tell us what to do? Is the Mexican border really the biggest threat to the US?

And really - how can you continue to keep saying you are "unintimidated" when you can't tell the same story two weeks in a row?

Watch it yourself and judge if this is who you want leading the country.

Genetic probability says that if your maternal grandfather and your father are bald, the chances of you NOT being bald is pretty close to 0%. 

But, science schmience...