Sturgeon season in Wisconsin will continue. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it will not add the lake sturgeon to the endangered species list. “After conducting a thorough species status assessment using the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined lake sturgeon do not require listing under the Endangered Species Act,” Fish and Wildlife said in a statement on Monday. A federal judge in Illinois ordered Fish and Wildlife to consider the lake sturgeon as a way to protect the species. State Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Stockbridge, said the problem was never in Wisconsin.

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_3800e59e-01a1-11ef-89fb-33a2089c4578.html

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One of the biggest critics of Wisconsin’s election administrator says no one should be threatening her and says threats don’t help fix election integrity issues. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, on Tuesday offered her thoughts after the Wisconsin Elections Commission confirmed elections administrator Meagan Wolfe is receiving extra security protection. "Threatening Administrator Meagan Wolfe, or any election official, is unacceptable and counterproductive. Venting frustrations on individuals like Wolfe, clerks, or poll workers is not only illegal but also harmful to rebuilding trust in our elections,” Brandtjen said. “Threats only undermine our republic and empower the courts and media. It's essential to address any concerns about election processes through legal channels. Threats have no place in our democracy.”

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_25d0b044-fc19-11ee-acda-1f9959a16caf.html

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A new report says Wisconsin is in its best fiscal position in decades. The Wisconsin Policy Forum released its latest report this week. It looks at the state’s debt, budget health, general fund reserves and what the future may hold for the state. “Overall, the state’s finances ended 2023 in outstanding fashion. Wisconsin has improved its fiscal condition substantially since the Great Recession years, a period marked by severe budget challenges in which the state raised taxes, cut aid to schools and local governments, delayed debt payments, and decreased benefits and take-home pay for state and local workers,” the report noted. The Policy Forum’s report makes a special note that Wisconsin’s long-term debt, or pension debt, has fallen dramatically since the Republican reforms of 2011.

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_93e8fe30-fcee-11ee-83fa-8770e1d07f1a.html

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There is now a legal challenge to Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto. The WMC Litigation Center on Monday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up their challenge to the governor’s summer veto that increased per-pupil funding for the next four centuries. The WMC Litigation Center is an affiliate of Wisconsin Manufactures & Commerce (WMC), the combined state chamber and manufacturers’ association. Litigation Center Executive Director Scott Rosenow said while Wisconsin’s governor has an incredibly powerful veto pen, there are limits.

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Wisconsin Republicans filed an election complaint about the balance of poll workers in Madison and Milwaukee. The RNC, along with the Dane County and Milwaukee County Republican Parties, filed two complaints with the Wisconsin Elections Commission that allege election managers in Madison and Milwaukee didn’t hire enough Republican poll workers. State law requires election managers to work off a list of approved poll workers, but the Republican complaint accuses Madison and Milwaukee of ignoring hundreds of qualified Republican workers.

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_e1b022b8-f7fa-11ee-957c-bb6d89752da2.html

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There is pushback to the University of Wisconsin’s decision to make the SAT and ACT optional for students for the next few years. State Sen. Duey Striebel, R-Cedarburg, on Tuesday said the plan to accept students’ high school grades only is short-sighted and politically motivated. UW regents approved an extension of the test-option policy. The university will not require the SAT or the ACT until at least the fall of 2027.

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 Most voters in Wisconsin support their local schools’ requests for more tax money. A new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum says a little more than 60% of the local school referendum questions that were on the ballot so far this year have passed. But the Policy Forum says that number is low. “Voters across Wisconsin approved 62 of the 103 school district referenda placed on primary and general election ballots this spring. The 60.2% approval rate was the lowest in a midterm or presidential election year since 2010, with the most ballot questions for spring elections since at least 2000,” the report stated.

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Wisconsin Republicans are up in arms about Gov. Tony Evers latest wave of vetoes. The governor scuttled 40 Republican proposals. The list includes vetoes of a tax cut for retirees in the state, a plan to set a wolf hunt number and vetoes of a child care tax credit and a proposal to keep road salt out of the state’s drinking water, both of which Evers has said were his biggest priorities. Republican lawmakers said the governor is simply playing politics.

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Voters across Wisconsin said yes to a lot of things on their ballots Tuesday. Both of the state’s proposed constitutional amendments to keep outside money and poll workers out of election operations passed, and a quarter-billion-dollar tax increase for Milwaukee Public Schools also likely gained approval. The first amendment, which bans so-called “Zuckerbucks,” passed with about 54% of the vote. The second question, which bans outside election workers from working in Wisconsin, passed with about 58% of the vote.

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Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday vetoed the Republican-backed legislation that would have banned trans athletes from girls sports in the state. “I will veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive and less welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids, and I will continue to keep my promise of using every power available to me to defend them, protect their rights, and keep them safe,” Evers said in a statement. The legislation would have kept anyone born a male out of girls sports in middle school, high school and at the college level.

Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_a1b4cc18-f115-11ee-a0e1-879a45ebf151.html

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