MILWAUKEE - Robert is away from the show this week so we are joined by long time show producer, Brian Wooldridge, to get his perspective on producing over a decade of Battleground Wisconsin Podcasts. We discuss Citizen Action’s release of state survey data this week that found 59% of Wisconsinites experienced at least one health care affordability burden over the last year and 39% struggled to pay the resulting bills. This survey data makes clear the intense need to expand BadgerCare in the next State Budget. We welcome new Citizen Action Driftless Co-op organizer Kristie Tweed to introduce herself and invite listeners to the Driftless Co-op Meet and Greet on Feb. 15th at 5:30pm in La Crosse. We also speak with Pio from Delta Beer Lab in Madison to thank them for a major donation to our election work and to promote Delta Beer Lab’s monthly fundraising for groups, including the Wisconsin Conservation Voters in February.

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MADISON - This morning, I availed myself of the public comment opportunity at the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and I told Robert Spindell to his face (via Zoom, anyway) to resign. Here’s the full statement I then sent in to all the commissioners:

Rothschild Tells Spindell to Resign

I started off the week writing about Tyre Nichols’s death at the hands of five Milwaukee police officers. Here’s what I said on that horror:

Tyre Nichols—Another Senseless Death at the Hands of Police

And during the week, I’ve been busy handling media calls about the indispensable chronicling that our staff does of the record-breaking money in last November’s governor’s race. Here’s our post, which drew so much attention:

2022 Governor’s Race Cost Record $164M+

If you’re one of those who likes to keep track of the latest spenders in the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court race or the special election near Milwaukee, you can click on the link below:

Campaign 2023 (Updates)

We’re about to get buried in an avalanche of outside and dark money for the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. And you can count on us to tally it all up for you.

We make it easy for you to be our eyes and ears around the state and to notify us on ads from these groups (not the party or the candidate committees) via our online reporting form. Help us shine light on dark money.

I hope you find these items interesting.

And I hope you’re encouraging your friends and family to vote on Feb. 21 and April 4.

Have a nice weekend!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address highlighting his priorities in the upcoming 2023-25 biennial budget to expand access to mental health services across the state, as announced during his 2023 State of the State address delivered last week.

As an anti-violence organization that sees the connections between all forms of violence, End Abuse echoes the demands of Tyre’s Nichols’ community.

MADISON - As we continue to tally all the money in last November’s races here in Wisconsin, we’re finding that one record after another is being broken in almost every race.

For instance, in the race for attorney general, an astonishing $14 million was raised, with the outside groups actually outspending the candidates themselves, as we noted here:

Groups Outspent Candidates in Record $14M AG Race

And in the race for secretary of state, Doug La Follette was outspent by a 2-to-1 margin, and there was a lot of outside money in that one, too:

2022 Secretary of State Race Sets $1.1M+ Spending Record

In the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court race, we expect to see the old $5 million record shattered, as well.

These records are being broken for several reasons:

1. Citizens United and related U.S. Supreme Court decisions that opened the floodgates for big money and the SuperPACs.

2. The 2015 rewrite of Wisconsin’s campaign finance law by the Republicans in the Legislature and Scott Walker. It doubled the amount (to $20,000) that the super-rich can give in races for governor, state supreme court, attorney general, and secretary of state. And it tore down the ceiling on donations to the political parties, which used to be $10,000 and now the sky is the limit.

3. The hyper-partisan nationalization of our politics. With Wisconsin as one of the few purple states left, super-rich partisans from all over the country are throwing their money around here to affect the outcome of our elections.

This combination is drowning out the voices of almost all Wisconsinites and making a mockery of self-rule.

That’s why we’ll keep fighting for amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn Citizens United and its ugly relatives, and for tightening up Wisconsin’s own laws on campaign finance.

Only then could we each have something like an equal say in the political arena, which, after all, is what democracy is supposed to be about!

Thanks for supporting us in this effort.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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P.S. If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, just click here. Or you can give the old-fashioned way and send a check, made out to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, to 203 S. Paterson St, Suite 100, Madison, WI 53703.

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers delivered the Democratic Radio Address on Thursday highlighting his priorities in the upcoming 2023-25 biennial budget to support the state’s workforce and working families, as announced during his 2023 State of the State address delivered earlier this week.

Audio File of Radio Address.

Hey there, Governor Tony Evers here.

This week, I delivered my fifth State of the State address. I talked about our work these last four years to make smart, strategic investments—and our state’s economy shows it.

Unemployment has hit record lows; we had the highest number of people employed ever, and our state has never been in a better fiscal position than it is today.

We made groundbreaking investments in programs like the Workforce Innovation Grant program, which supported local projects for long-term, locally based solutions to meet the needs of our communities.

In my address, I announced that I’ll be investing $100 million in my upcoming budget to help find long-term, community-based solutions to our workforce challenges.

I also announced that we’ll be proposing historic investments to bolster our state’s healthcare workforce, expand opportunities in our clean energy workforce, and retain and attract educators to help keep class sizes small.

And if we want to bolster our workforce, we have to make sure child care is accessible and affordable, too.

So, I’ll deliver on my promise to expand the Child and Dependent Care Credit—we’ll provide nearly $30 million in tax relief to more than 100,000 Wisconsinites in my next budget.

We’ll also continue critical programs that help bolster our child care industry, expand access to affordable child care in places that need it, and invest in employer-provider partnerships.

We have a lot of work to do ahead of us, but there is also much opportunity to continue doing the right thing for our workforce, economy, and kids and families across our state.

And I know that together we will. Thank you.

More than $100 million will be allocated to fight the insidious toxic chemicals.

Shelton, Snodgrass express optimism as Governor Evers talks historic investments in education, jobs and mental health support.

Governor Tony Evers highlights his vision to bolster Wisconsin’s economy.

MADISON – Tuesday, Governor Evers delivered the 2023 State of the State Address in the Assembly Chambers. Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) released the following statement upon conclusion of the Governor’s address: