WisPolitics Capitol Chats

On this week's Capitol Chats episode, Clean Wisconsin Government Relations Director Erik Kanter talks about a proposal to spend $125 million on a state PFAS trust fund. Kanter says the money is important, but he's concerned with the proposal's restrictions on how the Department of Natural Resources can regulate PFAS contamination and cleanup efforts.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Department of Safety and Professional Services Secretary Dan Hereth talks about how his agency has been working to address a backlog of license approvals that arose during the pandemic. Hereth says DSPS has implemented several technology and process improvements to speed the process along and ensure those who need help get it.

On this week's Capitol Chats episodes, Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, explains why the shared revenue proposal floating around the Capitol is so important for Milwaukee. He also expresses some of his frustration with policy and spending restrictions that specifically target Milwaukee in the Assembly's version of the shared revenue deal.

League of Wisconsin Municipalities Executive Director Jerry Deschane says this session is turning out to be one of the most consequential for local governments in a generation. Several bills are circulating the Capitol to address shared revenue, workforce housing and PFAS "forever chemical" contamination.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, says he'll need to see a border security bill included in the debt limit increase for him to support it. He also talks about a possible Senate bid for next year's election.

On this week's Capitol Chats episode, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary James Bond says many of DVA's budget requests focus on improving housing, medical, substance abuse and other veteran care. He also says he's conducting a survey at the troubled Union Grove home to address issues lawmakers have raised about the quality of care there.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Superintendent Jill Underly argues Joint Finance Committee Republicans should support public school funding proposals because they would help everyone. She also says a proposal to allow teachers with concealed carry permits to bring guns to school would not reduce gun violence; reducing guns in schools would.

On this week's Capitol Chats episode, School Choice Wisconsin Director of Policy and Government Affairs Amy Loudenbeck rebukes Gov. Tony Evers' proposed enrollment caps. She says Wisconsin families rely on school choice "and anything that would limit or eliminate the program is going to meet some heavy resistance."

On this week's Capitol Chats episode, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Legal Director Michelle Velasquez says the future of mifepristone is still up in the air as legal battles continue. She also says it'll be interesting to see how the legal battle of AG Josh Kaul's lawsuit to overturn the state's 1849 abortion ban plays out after the recent Supreme Court race created a 4-3 liberal majority on the bench.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr says the current administration has no appetite to increase prison capacity. And any talks about building new prisons to replace aging facilities would need to come with a criminal justice reform deal. Republicans in the Joint Finance Committee have been focusing on the aging Green Bay Correctional Institution, first opened in 1898.