WisPolitics of State Affairs

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved a $31.3 million rate 📈 increase for Madison Gas and Electric over the next two years, $27.5 million less than what the #utility had requested, according to preliminary figures the agency shared with WisPolitics of State Affairs. When fully implemented in 2027, the typical residential 🏡 customer will pay 💰 $5.44 more a month for #electricity and $3.43 more for #gas compared to current rates. The foundation of the 📊 rate increase was a settlement that groups such as the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) reached with MG&E in September. Read on https://lnkd.in/gNK7aUbr

As #GOP lawmakers advance #legislation to encourage #schooldistricts to merge amid declining 📉 birth rates in #Wisconsin, #education stakeholders say districts considering consolidation could use extra support. The state’s #population is projected to drop by nearly 200,000 by 2050, and those backing the 📑 legislation have cited the projection to argue maintaining 421 school districts is unsustainable. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, more than two-thirds of the state’s districts show declining #enrollment and more than half of the districts across the state serve fewer than 1,000 students. Despite declining enrollment, only five #schooldistrict 📚 consolidations have occurred over the past 20 years. The most recent was in 2018, when the Friess Lake School District and Richfield Joint School District No. 1 joined to create the Holy Hill Area School District in Washington County. 🔎 Much more at https://lnkd.in/gHD9GiJx

🎬 Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel says federal #prosecutors have acted “ethically” and “followed the law” ahead of the trial of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah C. Dugan, who is accused of helping an #immigrant lacking permanent legal status evade federal #ICE agents. “This prosecution has survived the appropriate levels of getting an #indictment, survived a motion to dismiss, it has so far survived those things,” #Schimel said on WISN-TV's #UPFRONT, which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics of State Affairs. “Prosecutors have done this ethically. They have followed the ⚖️ #law. Ultimately, whether she’s violated the law is going to be up to a jury.” 🎬 Daniel M. Adams, a defense attorney not associated with the Dugan case, said while a #pleadeal is possible, it’s more likely the case will head to trial. “If I were a betting man, I think it’s going to trial,” Adams told UPFRONT. “There’s just so much here.” 🎬 Jonathan Henkes, president and CEO of WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network 📽, says he is asking the #GOP-controlled #Legislature and Dem Governor Tony Evers to remove a matching provision in the #statebudget that would provide $10 million 💰 in state funding to the nonprofit network. “To think we can raise $10 million between now and the end of June is something of a pipe dream,” Henkes told UPFRONT. “If we were to succeed in convincing lawmakers and the governor that it would be in the best interest of everybody to extract some of those dollars from under the match and feed the operating #budget, it’d be a win-win for everybody. 🎬 Ahead of #Thanksgiving, a Marquette University Law School poll shows a deep #partisan divide in how Americans view 🥦 #grocery prices. While 82% of Independent voters and 92% of #Democrats nationwide say grocery prices have gone up in the past six months, only 56% of #Republicans say the same. "The obvious thing is people go to the grocery store and they feel like they're paying more there's a partisan divide there," Charles Franklin, the poll's director, told UPFRONT. Read much more on these #Wisconsin stories [and watch episode) at ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gMsw2D7w

On this week’s episode of WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network's 🎬 #Rewind, WisPolitics of State Affairs’ JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya Van Wagtendonk 🗣 discuss former #Wisconsin AG Brad Schimel's appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern Distric of Wisconsin, this week’s Assembly and Senate floor sessions, a ruling upholding #weddingbarn 🥂 #alcoholpermit requirements, #utility rate hikes 📈 and more. Watch 🔃 Rewind at https://lnkd.in/g_iiTeR8

🐦 Quotes of the week “Quiet, piggy.” That’s how #Trump responded to a female reporter asking about the #Epstein files. That is the attitude of a life-long abuser of women and girls, and exactly why #Republicans are scared of the Epstein files. – U.S. Rep. Gwen S. Moore, D-Milwaukee, in response to President Donald Trump calling CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs #piggy when she asked him about files related to late sex offender #JeffreyEpstein. #Democrats spent years obstructing transparency and protecting those within their own ranks who maintained relationships with a convicted #sexoffender. Their conduct, including exploiting #victims’ trauma to distract from their reckless 43-day #governmentshutdown, has been disgraceful. – U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, in a statement on his 🗳 vote to release the Epstein files. 🗞 This week’s news ▪️#Wisconsin members of Congress this week voted in favor of a resolution to require the release of The United States Department of Justice documents 📑 related to the #investigation into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. ▪️New acting ⚖️ U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel told WisPolitics of State Affairs that Attorney General Pam Bondi had no alternative but to appoint someone to the position after the commission established by Wisconsin’s U.S. senators failed to agree on any #candidates for the vacant post. ▪️The latest results in a national Marquette University Law School Poll have warning signs for Republicans on the political environment building ahead of the 2026 📮 #elections. ▪️U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is cosponsoring a Dem bill, the Anti-Cash Grab Act, to repeal a measure allowing senators to sue up to $500,000 for each instance their 👥️ #data is obtained without their consent. ▪️U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany, who is running for #governor next year, indicated he’d vote against expanding 🩺 #AffordableCareAct subsidies. ▪️U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he is praying for former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's mother after she was hospitalized 🏨 this week. 🔎 Read more on these stories at https://lnkd.in/gJatMa9E

Our Public Affairs Policy expert and Executive Vice President Stephanie Kundert, a proud native of Wisconsin, attended the WisPolitics of State Affairs breakfast in Washington, D.C. where the discussion focused on the latest polling data and voter sentiment in the battleground state heading into the 2026 midterm election cycle.

Assembly #GOP leaders today pushed off a #vote on #legislation that would pave the way for #onlinebets 🏈 to be placed in #Wisconsin amid a backlash from some conservatives. Majority Leader Tyler August R-Walworth, told #WisPolitics that he expected to have at least 50 #GOP votes for the bill 📑 when it came to the floor. He said ahead of today’s floor period there was no rush to pass the bill with the Senate not taking it up until at least January and continued to express confidence it would pass the Assembly if put to a 📮 vote. “I had a conversation with a couple of members over the weekend that brought up some points I hadn’t 🤔 considered yet, so we’re going to work on those,” August said. Rep. Greta Neubauer, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Sports Betting Alliance, DraftKings, FanDuel, Senator Devin LeMahieu, Governor Tony Evers Read much more at https://lnkd.in/gBFu8b22