La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio, discussing the end of the Wisconsin state Legislature's work for the year that essentially got the second-highest ranking Republican to quit — but it wasn't over banning milkshakes from legislation.

Before we got into that though, WIZM's Brad Williams joined to discuss how the farmers market is coming back to Cameron Park — just on a different day — and how the prospect of having an indoor pool between the city and the school district is going.

After that, we got into how "Big Milkshake" created its own exemption in a state bill that bans poor people from buying candy or soda with food stamps in Wisconsin, but they can still have their ice cream. It's a ban that will cost millions of dollars in added administrative costs, and another $5-6 million to create such a database.

We also discussed how the second-highest ranking Republican is retiring now due to two sports bills he allowed Democrats to help pass — one that essentially gives the Wisconsin Badgers $14.6 million in taxpayer money to pay players, while the other allows sports betting throughout the state. 

Chergosky explains the Wisconsin Senate's "Rule of 17" which means only Republicans (or who controls the state Seante but it's been Republicans over 15 years) should have the votes to pass bills. Since the two sports bills needed Democrats, Devin Lemahieu is now retiring from the Legislature because he allowed the bills to be voted on.

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La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey in the WIZM studio discussing the Kmart lot and development in La Crosse, advocating for the city in Madison — as well as other stakeholders here — plus the city-school relationship with elementary buildings coming offline and the idea of creating an indoor pool facility.

We also discussed how Washington-Spivey has changed strategic planning sessions and where a city administrator role could fit into everything that’s going on.

We began the show, though, discussing the mayor’s “Our city, Your 15” initiatives, where he talks one on one with residents for 15 minutes about whatever topics, issues or ideas they have with the city. 

In terms of development, the mayor was asked if he’ll be the one that finally gets to take the wrecking ball to the Kmart. 

We also talked about billionaire Diane Hendricks buying the Charmant and if Washington-Spivey had reached out to her. She could have other plans for the city — like what she’s doing in her hometown of Beloit. 

We also discussed the public market idea, as well as a Cowboy Jacks restaurant coming to River Point and Hollandberry Pannekoeken opening last weekend.

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La Crosse School Board candidate Scott Neumeister Q&A with Rick Solem.

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La Crosse School Board candidate Deb Suchla Q&A with Rick Solem.

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La Crosse School Board candidate Loretta Hass Q&A with Rick Solem.

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La Crosse School Board candidate Jake Williams Q&A with Rick Solem.

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La Crosse School Board candidate Lee Weis Q&A with Rick Solem.

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Trevor Sprague, La Crosse School Board candidate Q&A with Rick Solem.

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The Wisconsin Badgers are pushing for a state funding bill that would take $14.6 million in taxpayer money to essentially help pay its players.

The funding would help pay down facility debt and free up funding Wisconsin could use to pay NIL money to athletes.

We tried to solve that dilemma with University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh by joking that the beer sales should have been enough, but perhaps they need to move all the Badgers volleyball games to Camp Randall, where sellout crowds would surely bring in more revenue. 

McIntosh explains why even those ideas wouldn't be enough to bridge the gap.

The AD joined Friday just after the Badgers upset No. 9 Illinois in the Big Ten tournament — so that’s where we started — but the conversation quickly turned to the $20.5 million price tag now required to stay competitive in Division I sports. 

Thanks to a massive lawsuit settlement, the "pay-to-play" era is officially here, and McIntosh discusses the dilemma the university claims to have trying to satisfy the star players while keeping the less profitable sports and Olympic programs afloat.

There’s no guarantee the state Senate actually votes on the legislation this week, or that it will pass, despite sailing through the Assembly with a 95-1 vote. The Senate is only scheduled to work 1-2 days before taking the rest of 2026 off — meaning the future of the Badgers' budget is currently racing against a very short clock.

We ran McIntosh through various scenarios, weighing the positives and negatives of the bill. We covered the open records dilemma, the potential fallout if the funding stalls, plus we get into the "how we got here" context — from the transfer portal and NIL money to the court rulings that have changed college sports forever.

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Giving UW-Madison $14.6 million in taxpayer money to pay players, will sports gambling become legal and gas prices going up were the big topics we covered Friday with economist, Dr. Adam Hoffer.

Hofffer is the director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation and began by explaining what excise tax is — or sin taxes, like gambling, alcohol, marijuana. Another one of those excise taxes is gas, and Hoffer explained how Wisconsin’s gas prices could skyrocket because of the war in Iran — if certain Legislators had their way — but the way the state taxes gas now, makes the most sense. 

In the sports world, the Wisconsin state Senate is going to work one or two more days next week, before calling it quits for the rest of 2026. Among the flurry of bills that could get a vote, one would be on legalizing sports gambling, and Hoffer explains how that might work — and how that will immediately trigger lawsuits.

The other bill is a request from UW-Madison for $14.6 million. This money would be for “facilities” but it is a way to offset costs of Division I college now having the option to pay their players up to $20.5 million total a year. Hoffer explains some of the pros and cons for the state, the university and the taxpayer around that bill.

We also look at how the sports gambling bill could help the "paying the players" request. 

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