Yearly Archives: 2023

(The Center Square) – There is another proposal to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin, but there aren't any expectations this one will finally be the one.

State Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, introduced legislation she says would allow for “responsible adult use” of marijuana in the state.

“I’ve said this time and time again – we know that the most dangerous thing about cannabis in Wisconsin is that it remains illegal,” Agard said in a statement.

Agard has been one of the most vocal supporters of legal marijuana in Wisconsin for years. she recently wrapped up the second leg of her Grassroots Tour.

“For the past decade, I have worked to undo Wisconsin’s antiquated and deeply unjust marijuana policies and put our state on a prosperous path forward.”

State Rep. Darren Madison, D-Madison, is joining Agard in this latest legal marijuana pitch. He said legalizing marijuana is not just about tax money, or drug use, he said there is an issue of social justice at hand.

““Legalizing cannabis is a matter of public safety and racial justice here in Wisconsin. People in Wisconsin indulge in cannabis use and deserve the ability to buy safe cannabis and use it responsibly without being criminalized,” Madison said.

Agard agrees.

“This proposal will not only allow Wisconsin to right past wrongs, it will bring us in line with our neighbors and create countless opportunities to grow our economy and attract people to our state,” Agard said. “Wisconsin is ready to legalize it – 69% of Wisconsinites, including a majority of Republicans, support the full legalization of marijuana. It is way past time that our state honors the will of the majority and seizes the many positive economic and social benefits that cannabis legalization has to offer.”

A Marquette law school poll from February of last year showed 61% of people in the state want to see marijuana legalized, while 31% want to keep it illegal.

Republican lawmakers at the Wisconsin capital have said they could support a medical marijuana program, but there is little support among the Republican controlled legislature for full marijuana legalization.

Twenty-three states across the country already have fully legal marijuana, including Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

Federal judge Roger Benitez overturned California's ban on standard-sized ammunition magazines, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta filing an immediate notice of appeal. The injunction on the ban will be stayed for 10 days, which means that the ban's overturn will likely not take effect as the decision is appealed.

“Unless we enshrine a Right to Safety in the Constitution, we are at the mercy of ideologues like Judge Benitez,” said California Governor Newsom in a public statement responding to the decision. “This is exactly why I’ve called for a Constitutional amendment, and this is why I’ll keep fighting to defend our right to protect ourselves from gun violence.”

Standard-capacity magazines have been illegal to manufacture, import, keep or offer for sale, give, or lend since 2000, and illegal to purchase or receive in any way since 2013. Proposition 64, passed by California voters in 2016, made it illegal to possess even legally-acquired standard-capacity magazines with more than 10 rounds under the rationale such a measure would limit mass shootings. Anyone who did not turn in their standard-capacity magazines by July 1, 2017 could have faced up t o a year in prison before an earlier inunction by Benitez. The most popular firearm sold in 2022, a Sig Sauer P320 pistol, comes with a 15 round magazine except where otherwise limited, such as in California.

“There is no American history or tradition of regulating firearms based on the number of rounds they can shoot, or of regulating the amount of ammunition that can be kept and carried,” wrote Benitez in his latest ruling.

Benitez first struck down Proposition 63’s rule in June 2017 right before enforcement began, noting only six mass shootings between 2006 and 2013 used the banned magazines, and that “entitlement to enjoy Second Amendment rights and just compensation is not eliminated simply because they possess ‘unpopular’ magazines holding more than 10 rounds.” In 2018, a 2-1 panel of the Ninth Circuit Court affirmed Benitez’ ruling on the confiscations.

In 2019, Benitez ruled against the ban on the acquisition of standard-capacity magazines, citing varying outcomes of women’s self-defense cases where having additional bullets made the difference between life and death. This decision was upheld in a 2020 panel of the Ninth Circuit Court, then overturned by an en banc decision of the same court in 2021. The United States Supreme Court vacated the Ninth Circuit Court’s en banc decision in 2022 and remanded it back to Benitez for a new decision. Benitez’ latest ruling, if upheld in the appeals process, could allow for the resumption of legal sale of standard-capacity magazines in California.

Connecticut lawmakers are calling for an investigation and changes in state election laws following allegations of absentee ballot fraud in a mayoral election.

Following the Sept. 12 primary, John Gomes, a Democrat who challenged incumbent Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, released video footage showing a woman depositing absentee ballots into a dropbox a week before the election. Gomes lost to Ganim by 251 mail-in or absentee votes despite beating him at the polls, according to the election results.

Gomes' campaign has filed a complaint with the state Elections Enforcement Commission as well as a lawsuit asking a state Superior Court judge to prevent the certification of last Tuesday's primary results and order a new election.

But the growing scandal has prompted Connecticut's top elected officials to call for investigations, changes in state elections laws, and tougher penalties for voter fraud.

House Republican leader Vincent Candelora said the Bridgeport incident confirms GOP concerns about voting by mail and "poses a direct threat to the public’s fragile confidence in our state’s voting process."

"Bridgeport residents, and voters statewide, deserve a swift, transparent response to this crisis with strong backing from Democrats at the capitol who promote themselves as defenders of democracy – including taking action in the upcoming special session to suspend use of absentee ballot drop boxes until the investigation is complete," he said in a statement.

Gov. Ned Lamont has said he wants investigators to "leave no stone unturned" looking into the claims of election fraud in Bridgeport but urged voters "not to jump to conclusions" about the video showing a Ganim supporter – identified by some news outlets as a city worker – stuffing ballots into a dropbox.

In a statement, Ganim denied any wrongdoing and said he doesn't "condone, in any way, actions taken by anyone including any campaign, city, or elected official, which undermines the integrity of either the electoral process or city property."

"The Bridgeport Police Department is actively investigating all these matters, and my administration will continue to update the public as we are able to obtain more information," he said.

Under Connecticut law, absentee ballots can only be returned by the registered voter who filled it out, a family member, law enforcement officers, local election officials or an individual caring for an ill or physically disabled person who received an absentee ballot. Violators face up to five years in prison and $5,000 fines.

Lawmakers, who will meet in a special session this week to deal with unrelated matters, are expected to approve the appointment of a special monitor for Bridgeport's next mayoral election.

Ben Pronto, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, has also called for an investigation and said Lamont and other top Democrats "should be screaming that it is time to charge the people seen on the video who are violating the law."

He called for stricter punishment "and actual jail time and larger fines for individuals who attempt to manipulate elections and destroy voters’ confidence in our electoral process."

"Our elections are too important to be wishy washy or to try to distract voters by pointing to national figures who have nothing to do with this debacle in Bridgeport," he said in a statement. "It is time for Democrat leaders across Connecticut to join with Republicans and work to make this practice a thing of the past."

Former President Donald Trump would defeat President Joe Biden by nearly 10 points in a head-to-head general election matchup, a newly released poll shows.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll was done in conjunction with Langer Research Associates and found that in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, Biden has 42% support compared to Trump’s 51% support.

“Joe Biden’s job approval rating is 19 points underwater, his ratings for handling the economy and immigration are at career lows, a record number of Americans say they’ve gotten worse off under his presidency, three-quarters say he’s too old for another term and Donald Trump is looking better in retrospect – all severe challenges for Biden in his re-election campaign ahead,” the group said in a news release.

The survey found 62% of Democrats say the party should pick someone other than Biden as their nominee.

“Among the 62 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who oppose Biden for the nomination, 16 percent say they’d vote for Trump over Biden,” Gary Langer of Langer Research Associates said in his analysis.

Trump, who maintains a healthy lead over his Republican primary challengers, has slightly improved in his support while Biden has slightly declined, according to the poll.

Trump faces an array of state and federal charges with expected court dates to interrupt his campaigning in 2024. Biden faces an impeachment inquiry and ongoing questions about his son Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings and just how much the president was involved.

The developments in all of those cases will likely significantly impact the race.

The survey queried more than 1,000 adults in September with a margin of error of 3.5%.

(The Center Square) – A national government watchdog a complaint over the group of former Wisconsin Supreme Court justices who are offering the state's assembly speaker advice on impeachment.

American Oversight, which says it’s a nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog, filed a complaint with Dane County's district attorney, asking him to void any action that comes from the panel.

The group says Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is breaking the state’s open meetings rules by asking the former justices for their advice on how to possibly move forward with an impeachment of Justice Janet Protasiewicz.

“Speaker Vos has convened a secret panel to quickly craft recommendations for the potential impeachment of a newly elected state supreme court justice – a fundamentally anti-democratic action that is of great public importance and interest. His efforts to shroud the work and the identities of the panelists in secrecy violates Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law as well as the state’s strong and well-established commitment to government transparency,” American Oversight Executive Director Heather Sawyer said in a statement.

Vos last week said he was reaching out to former justices to get a sense of how the state could move forward with an impeachment proceeding.

“I am asking a panel of former members of the state Supreme Court to review and advise what the criteria are for impeachment,” Vos said at the time. “And to be able to go to the next step of this process if we’re not able to determine an off path.”

Vos has not said just which justices he has reached out to.

American Oversight says Wisconsin's open meeting laws require he make that information public.

“According to reports, the panel comprises three people, including former Justice David T. Prosser, but Vos has refused to disclose the identities of the other members. Vos has announced that the secret panel will complete its work within “the next few weeks,” Sawyer said. “The Wisconsin Open Meetings Law requires that governmental bodies provide advance notice of every meeting and hold those meetings in open session unless specific exemptions apply.”

Wisconsin's open meetings law generally applies to the state legislature, though there are exemptions for party caucuses, and rules set by the legislature itself.

(The Center Square) – Wolf hunters in Wisconsin say the state needs a population number, not for hunters and trappers but to help manage the health of the state’s wolf packs.

Luke Hilgemann, executive director of the International Order of T Roosevelt told state lawmakers the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is making an error by leaving a wolf population goal vague.

“Scientific research has shown that setting a numeric population goal for wolves can help ensure their survival while also addressing concerns about their impact on livestock and game species,” Hilgemann said.

As opposed to a specific wolf number, the DNR is considering wolf population ranges.

The population range proposal sets a goal of between 800 and 999 wolves in the state. If wolf numbers fall below 800, DNR says more protections may be needed.

If the wolf numbers top 1,000, DNR said hunting and trapping could be considered. If Wisconsin’s wolf population tops 1,200, the state would order a hunting and trapping season.

Hilgemann said those vague ranges could lead to problems down the road.

“The DNR currently estimates our wolf population to be around 1,000. However,

without a specific numeric goal, it is challenging to determine whether this number represents a healthy population size. A numeric goal would provide a benchmark for assessing the status of our wolf population and guide management decisions,” Hilgemann said.

Hilgemann said other states rely on specific wolf numbers, and Wisconsin should follow those models.

“In Wyoming, for instance, the state has set a goal of maintaining at least 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs outside of Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Reservation,” Hilgemann said. “Idaho has set a population goal of 150 wolves, while Montana's goal is 100 wolves. These goals have not only provided a clear direction for conservation efforts but have also helped to balance the needs of the wolves with those of the local communities, including ranchers and farmers.”

The DNR scheduled two more listening sessions for the wolf management plan, both for early next month. The DNR board is expected to finalize Wisconsin's wolf management at its next meeting Oct. 25.

The Department of Homeland Security has sparked controversy by adding to its Intelligence Board multiple members who signed on to the now debunked 2020 letter saying the Hunter Biden laptop story was “Russian disinformation.”

Now, House Republicans want answers, saying the new additions bring into question the federal group’s credibility and impartiality.

“Your decision to appoint members to this group who have demonstrated political bias suggests misplaced priorities,” the letter said.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and August Pfluger, R-Texas, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, sent the letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the appointees.

The appointments in question include former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan, and former Associate Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tashina Gauhar.

The letter points out they were among the intelligence officials that influenced the last presidential election when they “incorrectly implied the New York Post’s reporting about Hunter Biden’s political influence peddling was the product of Russian disinformation.”

“That statement was used by various media organizations and social media businesses to downplay and censor the Post’s reporting before the 2020 presidential election,” the letter said.

These new members were added to DHS’ new Homeland Intelligence Experts Group, which is tasked with providing advice to DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

“Another member of this newly-created group, then-Associate Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tashina Gauhar, was extensively involved in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe into baseless allegations that former President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia,” the letter said “These are just a few notable examples of concerning actions by some of the members appointed to the group that call into question the group’s neutrality.”

The controversy comes as the border remains in crisis with millions of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. in recent years. As The Center Square reported, in the Texas town of Eagle Pass, Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. declared a state of emergency this week as thousand of migrants have poured into his town.

So far, more than 50 counties in Texas alone have declared a state of emergency. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott officially has declared an invasion of his state citing the millions of migrants, a sentiment he reiterated earlier this week.

Other border states have had similar troubles, but it is not just an issue in border states.

New York City mayor Eric Adams has raised the alarm about his city’s difficulty in keeping up with the influx of migrants, one of several large metro areas north of the border feeling the impact of the increase in migrants.

The high number of migrants has become a political thorn in President Joe Biden’s side, and for now it seems likely to remain into the next presidential election.

“Rather than focus on addressing the catastrophic border crisis or I&A’s shortcomings to live up to its original purpose to equip the Homeland Security Enterprise, especially, our State, Local, Tribal and Territorial law enforcement partners, with timely intelligence and information, these actions appear to politicize the Department’s homeland security mission,” the letter said.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

(The Center Square) – A plan to renovate the Milwaukee Brewers’ American Family Field now could include $600 million of public funds, according to a report from CBS 58 Milwaukee.

The report says a new bill could be introduced early this week that would include $400 million in state funding along with $202.5 million in county and city funding for the $700 million project.

That included $5 million a year from Milwaukee County for 27 years along with $2.5 million annually from the city of Milwaukee over that same span.

“This is ridiculous and indefensible public policy,” said economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University. “Any elected representative who supports this should be voted out of office, if not recalled. Remember George Petak.

"I am genuinely curious. What is the justification for spending $600 million of taxpayer money on renovating a 22-year-old stadium for a private business? What kind of person says, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable?’ "

The plan comes a month after anonymous threats were published saying the National League Central-leading Brewers would pursue leaving Milwaukee for a different city if publicly funded renovations for the stadium were not approved.

A Milwaukee County supervisor recently discussed reviving a five-county sales tax to pay its portion of the deal.

The CBS Milwaukee report also said it was undetermined what developments would occur outside the stadium and any tax deals related to those developments.

"The Brewers are continuing to work with both sides of the aisle to find a creative solution to ensure that the Stadium District can meet its obligations," Rick Schlesinger, the team's president of business operations, said in a statement to CBS Milwaukee. "And sign a generational lease extension at American Family Field.”

(The Center Square) – Right to Work supporters aren't worried about its future in Wisconsin, yet.

Workers at ASartek in Sparta recently removed their union, the United Electrical Workers Local 1161, after a three-year wait according to National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens.

“To begin with, Spartek employee Carl Berg and his coworkers were trapped under a union-imposed ‘contract bar’ for roughly three years, during which they weren’t allowed to decertify the union. When Berg was finally able to submit the petition asking the NLRB for a decertification vote, it already contained signatures from the majority of his colleagues,” Semmens said. “That’s likely why the UE union disclaimed interest before a vote could even be scheduled: Union officials saw the support for the decertification vote and decided to disclaim interest in the unit as opposed to facing an embarrassing loss at the ballot box.”

Wisconsin lawmakers approved Right to Work in 2015, though it's never been popular with Democrats and continues to be a target.

Simmons isn't as worried about the future of Right to Work in Wisconsin as he is about proposed changes from the Biden administration.

“As long as the Foundation-backed 2020 reforms to the NLRB’s election rules remain in effect (collectively called the “Election Protection Rule”), workers have a 45-day window after an employer recognizes a union’s ‘card check’ claim of majority support in which to file a petition asking for a union decertification vote,” Semmens said. “Unfortunately, the Biden NLRB will release a rule any day now undoing the commonsense 2020 reforms. Additionally, the Biden NLRB has recently overturned decades of precedent to effectively mandate card check, and as a result there will be numerous legal challenges in federal court on that issue.”

Simmons said other states where right to work has been rolled back have seen that done through the legislature and Wisconsin's legislature continues to remain Republican-controlled.

“No state Right to Work law has ever been overturned in court, but union officials in Wisconsin have vast influence across the political system. National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys stand ready to defend Wisconsin workers’ Right to Work,” Semmens told The Center Square.

Spartac makes everything from fishing lures to vacuum sealed cups to Injection molded plastics. It has been in business since the 1950s and recently added on italics division.

The U.S. gross national debt surpassed $33 trillion, a troubling benchmark as lawmakers show little interest in reining in spending, let alone a balanced budget.

The milestone comes as Congress faces a deadline of Sept. 30 to pass another spending measure or face a federal government shutdown.

“$1 trillion more debt… SINCE JUNE!” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., wrote on social media. “Now $33 trillion. Your family’s share is over $260,000. The swamp’s answer: let’s do another CR.”

The current deficits mean that debt will only continue to grow. Earlier this month, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office published its estimate of the deficit 11 months into the fiscal year which reported that the U.S. deficit hit about $1.5 trillion. At the same point last year, the deficit was under one trillion dollars.

That debt has several economic consequences, including elevated inflation and taxpayers shelling out billions just for interest payments on the debt. As The Center Square previously reported, within a decade the cost of interest payments on the national debt will cost taxpayers more than spending on national defense. In addition, interest payments on the national debt are on track to become the federal government’s biggest expense.

Some Republicans blasted President Joe Biden after the news broke.

“The U.S. national debt has exceeded $33 trillion for the first time in history,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on social media. “Biden’s reckless spending has created an economic crisis.”

Both parties, though, have rapidly added to the national debt over the last two decades.

“We’re $33 trillion in debt because when Congress passes spending bills, each item is often tied to every other item—packaged together in one, gigantic bill,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on social media. “That bill is then presented to Congress on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, with no real chance to amend, improve, or cut.”

Budget experts and fiscal projections show the debt will only get larger over the next decades.

“The Congressional Budget Office confirmed just last week that the underlying deficit is going to roughly double from last fiscal year to this one,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement. “Instead of hearing about solutions, we hear promises of which programs our leaders are unwilling to touch and which taxes they are unwilling to raise. That kind of talk is not only pandering, but it’s also downright irresponsible when we have a mess like this on our hands.”

As The Center Square previously reported, a bipartisan coalition of budget and fiscal groups formed a coalition to call on Congress to create a fiscal commission to address the issue.

The group of experts sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

“We write to encourage the establishment of a bipartisan fiscal commission to help address the nation’s many budgetary and economic challenges,” the open letter said. “Though the recent Fiscal Responsibility Act improved the nation’s fiscal outlook, the national debt continues to approach record levels, major trust funds remain at risk of insolvency, and rising interest costs are increasingly crowding out other priorities.”

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced its first impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is scheduled for Sept. 28, next Thursday.

The impeachment inquiry committee will have power to subpoena records and communications to dig up evidence and will likely be a thorn in Biden’s side heading into the 2024 election year.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last week directed three House Committees to lead the inquiry, pointing to evidence that the president's son, Hunter Biden, and his associates allegedly received millions of dollars from foreign entities and that the president knew about it.

Biden’s supporters immediately pushed back, arguing there was no evidence for the inquiry. McCarthy responded, saying the inquiry is to find the facts and that there is plenty of evidence. He pointed to about 150 U.S. Treasury Department suspicious activities reports filed by the agency around Hunter Biden’s dealings as well as bank records and testimony from IRS whistleblowers who said the Biden family and associates received around $20 million from entities in adversarial nations.

"The Treasury Department alone has more than 150 transactions involving the Biden family and other business associates that were flagged as suspicious activity by U.S. banks,” McCarthy said in his announcement. “Even a trusted FBI informant has alleged a bribe to the Biden family. Biden used his official office to coordinate with Hunter Biden’s business partners about Hunter’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.”

Biden has repeatedly dismissed questions about his involvement in any kind of overseas payment scheme. He brushed aside the impeachment inquiry, but his campaign released a more aggressive statement in response.

“As Donald Trump ramped up his demands for a baseless impeachment inquiry, Kevin McCarthy cemented his role as the Trump campaign’s super-surrogate by turning the House of Representatives into an arm of his presidential campaign,” Ammar Moussa, spokesperson Biden’s presidential campaign, said in a statement, adding that "...McCarthy unequivocally said he would not move forward with an impeachment inquiry without holding a vote on the House floor. What has changed since then?

"Several members of the Speaker’s own conference have come out and publicly panned impeachment as a political stunt, pointing out there is no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden as Republicans litigate the same debunked conspiracy theories they’ve investigated for over four years," Moussa added.

The impeachment inquiry will be led by House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., as well as Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, of the Judiciary Committee as well as Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., who leads the Ways and Means Committee.

(The Center Square) – Milwaukee Brewers President Rick Schlesinger understands $600 million is a lot of money. He also understands American Family Field is running out of money, quickly.

Schlesinger didn’t downplay the cost to taxpayers after Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol introduced a plan to spend $600 million over the next 25-plus years to maintain and upgrade the Brewers’ ballpark.

“It is a lot of money,” Schlesinger told The Center Square. “Unfortunately, it is not inexpensive to keep a ballpark of this size and this stature in the condition it needs to be through the next generation.”

The latest ballpark funding plan would have $400 million coming from the state, another $200 million coming from Milwaukee and Milwaukee Count, and $100 million from the Brewers.

Schlesinger was clear, however, none of that money is going to the team or its owner Mark Atanasio.

“The money is not going to the Milwaukee Brewers baseball club. It is going from one or more governmental entities to a creature of the state government, i.e., the stadium district,” Schlesinger explained.

The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District was created in 1996 to essentially serve as the Brewers’ landlord. The Stadium District, and what was then Miller Park, were funded through the .1% five-county tax.

That tax was repealed in 2020.

The end of the five-county tax is what Schlesinger says is driving the need for the $600 million.

“The district, which no longer has any revenue source of any amount coming in, other than miniscule license plate revenues, will run out of money in the next year or two,” Schlesinger said. “And the reason I am giving a little bit of wiggle room on the year or two is because we’re not sure how much The Stadium District has in funds right now.”

Much of the opposition to the Brewer ballpark funding deal centers on the idea of taxpayers paying for a stadium where a billion-dollar baseball team, and multi-million-dollar baseball players play.

Schlesinger said, again, American Family Field is owned by the state, not all of the money is needed at once, and there is a return on investment for having a professional baseball team in Milwaukee.

“The one thing I’d say to people who rightly focus on the dollar amount is, ‘what are the taxpayers getting for that $600 million?’” Schlesinger said. “I would say the direct revenues that we generate in income taxes and sales taxes exceed that amount. And the economic output and economic multiplier that we create through the ballpark exceeds that amount. The value of having Major League Baseball in the state certainly has a value that you can assign to it.”

Under the new deal, the Brewers would also sign a new lease that would keep the team in Milwaukee through 2050, 20-years longer than the current lease, and seven years longer than what Gov. Tony Evers first proposed.

(The Center Square) – The legal challenge to Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion law could move more quickly after Planned Parenthood announced Thursday it will resume providing abortions in the state.

“With the recent confirmation from the Court that there is not an enforceable abortion ban in Wisconsin, our staff can now provide the full scope of sexual and reproductive health care to anyone in Wisconsin who needs it, no matter what,” President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Tanya Atkinson said.

Planned Parenthood plans to resume performing abortions Monday.

A Dane County judge ruled in July Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion law didn’t apply to abortions. Judge Diane Schlipper said there is no such thing as an ‘1849 Abortion Ban’ in Wisconsin,” she said the state’s ban on abortion, instead, applies to feticide.

Gov. Tony Evers praised Planned Parenthood’s announcement.

“This is great news, but our fight to restore the same reproductive freedoms Wisconsinites had up until the day #SCOTUS overturned #Roe must continue,” Evers said on Twitter.

Planned Parenthood stopped providing abortions in June 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Gracie Skogman, legislative director for Wisconsin Right to Life, said Planned Parenthood’s decision will be devastating for “pre-born children and women here in the state.”

Skogman also accused Planned Parenthood of ignoring the legal process that has yet to unfold.

“Our belief is that Planned Parenthood is putting profit over actually waiting for a final determination from the courts,” she added.

Wisconsin’s pre-Roe law bans nearly all abortions, except in certain cases to save a mother’s life.

Schlipper heard an argument against the law in June, and has yet to issue a ruling. However, she is expected to strike the law down. From there, the law is expected to be challenged in front of the new liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Republicans in Wisconsin want newly-elected Justice Janet Protasiewicz to recuse herself from that case because of what she said about the pre-Roe abortion law while running for the high court.

A panel of 16 experts commissioned by NASA released a report Thursday that found no evidence that unidentified anomalous phenomena – better known to many as UFOs – have an extraterrestrial origin.

Read the full report here:

(The Center Square) – 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. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, said.

Andraca says the plan is not anti-school choice, but rather about transparency.

Larson, who has long been an opponent of school choice, said Wisconsin must choose between public schools or choice schools.

“Wisconsin cannot afford to fund two competing school systems,” Larson added. “We need urgent action to stop the unchecked expansion of the voucher programs and independent charter schools.”

Republicans at the Capitol secured a major expansion of school choice funding in the new state budget.

The plan, signed by Gov. Tony Evers, will eventually increase voucher payments from $8,399 to $9,874 per-student for younger students and from $9,045 to $12,368 for high school students.

The new state budget includes $1 billion more for traditional public schools.

Yet, Rep Francesca Hong, D-Madison, said Wisconsin’s public schools need more.

“Our budget cycle this past year, unfortunately, did not do enough,” Hong said. “Our children deserve more.”

Wisconsin’s public schools received more than $6 billion in state funding in 2021 and are on pace to receive billions more this yearvwhile enrollment is falling.

Public schools in the state are also in line for 400 years of per-pupil funding increase, after Gov. Evers used his veto to extend a two-year per-pupil increase for four centuries.

The push against school choice in Wisconsin also 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.