Recently appointed Corrections Secretary Jon Litscher testified before a Senate committee Wednesday, following recent scandals at the state’s largest juvenile facilities. Gov.
The Wisconsin Assembly passed a package of bills to address college affordability last month, but the fate of the legislation remains uncertain with an end to the two-year session looming. The bills, introduced by Gov.
Gov. Scott Walker signed 58 bills into law Tuesday, including a strip search bill and a bill that allows the UW System’s Board of Regents to regulate agricultural land without oversight of the Building Commission. Governor approves strip search bill Walker signed Senate Bill 248, which dismisses the requirement that a person who is arrested or taken into custody can only be strip searched if they are going to be held with other detainees for a minimum of 12 hours.
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Democratic leaders renewed their calls Monday for an audit of the state Department of Corrections after allegations of abuse at the Lincoln Hills juvenile facility in Irma. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, and three other top Democrats sent a letter to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee in an effort to spur on a closer look at the state’s correctional facilities. Public outcry has mounted after a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation alleging that workers at the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile facilities committed acts of abuse, sexual assault and intimidation of inmates. The scandal has forced the resignation of former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall, and over a dozen prison staffers have been placed on leave. Lawmakers said in the letter that an audit of the DOC would hold staff accountable, as well as provide a plan for future reforms within the state prison system. “The situation can no longer be ignored,” the letter said.
Gov. Scott Walker signed 46 bills into law Monday, including one prohibiting legislators from concurrently holding office as county executives. Written by Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, Senate Bill 707 passed the Senate with a 19-13 vote. The measure is intended to prevent government officials from taking two salaries from taxpayers’ dollars, Fitzgerald said in a Feb. 2 Wisconsin State Journal article.
Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill Friday that would streamline bureaucratic hurdles for Medicaid patients with chronic mental illness and create pilot programs for alternate mental health care. The bill, authored by state Sens.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., proposed a bill Thursday requiring the U.S. State Department to inform Congress on Guantanamo Bay prisoners being transferred.
A new Marquette Law School poll released Thursday reported a tightened Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and U.S.
State Sen. Nikiya Harris Dodd, D-Milwaukee, announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election in 2016.
Current members of the UW System Board of Regents have given more than $245,000 to political candidates over the past 25 years, according to campaign finance documents. The issue has come to light after it was reported that one of the most recent appointments to the 18-member board was a campaign contributor to Gov.
Due to rising numbers of drug overdose deaths in Wisconsin, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced a new bill Wednesday to tackle the problem from prevention to recovery.
UW-Madison experts and policymakers gathered Tuesday to discuss what potential changes to the state’s insurance rules could mean for university faculty and staff. Wisconsin is considering paying health benefits for state employees directly instead of buy through health maintenance organizations, a system known as self-insurance. Gov.
A bill barring so-called sanctuary cities, the subject of a mass protest on the Capitol Square last Thursday, could be stalled in the state Senate. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Friday that “no member has indicated it [Assembly Bill 450] is a top priority,” creating doubt about whether the body will take it up in its March floor session. The bill would ban state funding to local governments that don’t require law enforcement to question a person’s citizenship status.
The State Assembly met Thursday for what is likely its last floor session of the year. Among the bills voted for approval was a revision of the current strip search law, as well as an addition to the existing teacher loan program.
Gov. Scott Walker signed two bills into law Thursday that will cut funding for Planned Parenthood in the state of Wisconsin by an estimated $8 million dollars.
They came in thousands, from the dairy farms of Oshkosh, from the city centers of Milwaukee and Eau Claire and from high schools in Madison, all in an attempt to give Wisconsinites a glimpse at what their state would look like without Latinos. An estimated 20,000 protesters crowded the Capitol Square Thursday to protest two bills moving through the state Legislature they say are discriminatory. The first bill, approved Tuesday by the state Assembly, would cut state funding from cities, that don’t enforce immigration statutes in an effort to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities.
City officials are preparing for protests Thursday, after two bills were passed in the Assembly that organizers claim relay anti-immigration sentiments in the community.
The state Assembly passed early Wednesday Gov. Scott Walker’s college affordability package late Tuesday night in a marathon session, despite the concerns of some lawmakers that the bills do not go far enough. The six bills would allow for full deductions of student loan interest on state income taxes, help students find internships to enhance skill development; and require colleges to provide more financial information to students. Walker introduced the bills in his state of the state address last month and pledged to work with legislators to ensure their passage.
State Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley and state Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg were victorious in the state Supreme Court primary Tuesday night. Bradley received 44.9 percent of the vote and Kloppenburg followed with 43.2 percent, with roughly 96 percent of the precincts reporting.
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