http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/lacrosse-xmas-lights-s5.jpgStay safe this holiday season by staying home, and having virtual celebrations with family, friends and loved ones says Governor Evers.

State will follow federal guidance on who gets the vaccine and when, starting with frontline healthcare workers and other essential services.

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers delivered the Democratic Radio Address on Thursday encouraging Wisconsinites to continue to taking precautions to protect their health and safety as the state works to distribute and administer the COVID-19 vaccine over the coming weeks and months.

Audio file of radio address.

Hello, Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers here.

Hope is on the horizon in the new year, as this week we began distributing and administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine across the state.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has been working hard with our federal, state, and local partners to prepare for this and now they are putting their plan into action with regional hubs to ensure the safe, efficient distribution of vaccine.

While we will continue to follow federal guidance on who gets the vaccine and when, starting with our frontline healthcare workers and other essential services, the important thing to remember is that we are not out of the woods just yet.

So please, don’t give up on the public health guidance that we know will keep our families and communities safe and healthy.

Please continue to stay safer at home, wear a mask whenever you are out in public, and practice physical distancing.

Let’s stay hopeful, let’s stay safe, and let’s get through these upcoming months together, Wisconsin.

Thank you.

Vel Phillips is a shining example of Black Excellence in Wisconsin.

MADISON- Today, Governor Evers announced the community advisory committee that will propose a monument in honor of the late Vel Phillips to the State Capitol and Executive Residence Board (SCERB). Representative Stubbs (D-Madison) is a part of this committee, and her statement is below:

“Vel Phillips is a shining example of Black Excellence in Wisconsin. As the first Black woman to be elected to the Milwaukee Common Council, and the first to become Secretary of State, she became the role model for many other Black women to enter public service, including myself. Her legacy of civil rights action paved the way for a generation, and her service deserves to be recognized”

“I want to thank Governor Evers for supporting this advisory committee, and for recognizing the moment we are in today. I also want to thank President and CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Dane County Michael Johnson for bringing this idea to legislators and Governor Evers. Our state capitol needs to be an accurate reflection of our state, and the people that call Wisconsin home. For too long, Black faces have been excluded from recognition, and it is time that status quo is changed”

“I look forward to working with my fellow committee members to bring this proposal forward, and to bring diversity onto our capitol grounds. Most of all, I am excited to honor the memory of Vel Phillips by bringing her story to the forefront. I hope this monument will inspire the next generation of leaders, and show that there is no limit to what they can achieve.”

The committee is made up of the members below:

• Dave Endres, Corporate Legal Counsel for American Family Insurance (Chair)
• Michael Phillips, son of Vel Phillips
• Michael Johnson, President and CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County
• Jessica Cavazos, President and CEO, Latino Chamber of Commerce
• Anthony Cooper, CEO of Focused Interruption Coalition
• Shelia Stubbs, State Representative, 77th Assembly District
• Angela Arrington, Senior Attorney for Alliant Energy, Delta Sigma Theta
• Jake Brown, Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County
• Lucy Mathiak, Former MMSD Board member, Historian

STATEWIDE - We review a surreal week that saw Texas and 17 states sue Wisconsin and other states where Trump lost narrowly to overturn the election. In Wisconsin, Rep. Tussler, the chairman of the Assembly Elections committee, is holding a sham hearing Friday, and has already said he is willing to defy the will of the voters. We talk about the issues the do-nothing-good Wisconsin Legislature and US Senate are ignoring, especially COVID 19 , and laud Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes’ broad Climate Task Force plan which was released this Wednesday. Will its provisions make it into Governor Evers’ state budget? Finally, we welcome Shawn Phetteplace, Wisconsin State Manager of the Main Street Alliance, to discuss the budget priorities of small business owners.

Listen Now – Episode #471
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http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/mining_wisconsin_senate_s5.jpgLegislative Republicans Hold Sham Public Hearing, trying to throw out 221,000 legally cast votes on Baseless, Unsubstantiated Election Fraud Claims says Senator-Elect.

MADISON —​ Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes Thursday delivered the Democratic Radio Address on the release of the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change Report, which the task force released after a year of meetings and listening sessions.

Audio file of address.

Hi everybody, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes here. This week, I’m proud to announce that the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change has released its full report including over 50 strategies for Wisconsin to begin addressing the climate crisis. 

Climate change is having an impact on everyone in our state—whether it be illness caused by air pollution, loss of life and livelihood from extreme weather events, or the economic toll it’s having on farmers, the tourism industry, or infrastructure.  

Communities of color and low-income communities in our state are feeling the burden of the climate crisis the most—despite contributing the least to the problem. In order to address this crisis and the environmental injustices associated with it, we must take urgent action. 

That’s why in October of last year, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #52 creating the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change and appointing me as its Chair. 

I’m proud to have led this work as we considered science and data, learned from Native Nations, farmers, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and local governments that are already taking action to address the crisis, and — most importantly —  listened to the experiences of Wisconsinites — particularly those of communities that have been excluded from policymaking in the past.  

The solutions in the report range from the creation of an office to address environmental injustices, green job training programs for displaced and marginalized workers, funding to help farmers adopt more sustainable practices, policies to promote cleaner methods of transportation, and statutory changes to help the energy sector transition to cleaner energy production.  

This report will lay the foundation for our state to become a leader in tackling the climate crisis. Find the report at ClimateChange.wi.gov and join us in fighting for a cleaner, safer, and more equitable Wisconsin.

MADISON - Tomorrow, Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature are holding a joint hearing on allegations of election fraud, and I wanted to share with you the letter I wrote to the chairs of that hearing:

Don't Trash the Vote!

Here’s the gist of the letter:

“Please do not bow to political pressure ginned up by a President who has neither the dignity to concede when he has lost nor the decency to uphold the norms of our treasured democracy. Please use the power and authority you have to speak the truth, to point out the irrational, to calm the frenzied, and above all, to defend democracy itself.”

You can watch the hearing yourself starting at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning on WisconsinEye.

I appreciate your own concern for our democracy!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

STATEWIDE - We discuss the adolescent and divisive COVID-19 legislation introduced by Robin Vos and Assembly Republicans that cuts funding for school districts and fails to address the historic pandemic bludgeoning Wisconsin families. We review Trump’s illegitimate lawsuit which seeks to change the rules of the game after the election and throw out hundreds of thousands of legal ballots in Milwaukee and Dane County. We kick off the State Budget fight that commences with Governor Tony Evers’ budget that he must present early next year. We discuss our top budget priorities, including a BadgerCare Public Option, Pharma Reform, and Green New Deal initiatives, and encourage our listeners to contact the Governor.

Become a Citizen Action member and attend our Annual membership meeting this Saturday, December 5th, 10am – Noon.

Episode #470
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MADISON —​ Gov. Tony Evers Thursday delivered the Democratic Radio Address urging Wisconsinites who attended a holiday gathering to help stop the spread by taking precautions to keep others safe.

Audio file of radio address.

Hello, Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers here.

As we continue to move through the holiday season and winter months, we must be as vigilant as ever that we are taking every precaution to protect ourselves, our friends, families, neighbors, and fellow Wisconsinites from the spread of this virus.

If you chose to gather with people outside of your household for Thanksgiving, then we’re going to need your help in the days ahead to keep others safe.

So, go get tested. Symptoms could appear 14 days after exposure, but we need your help to box in the virus and stop the spread, so you can help today by isolating yourself away from others until you get results.

And also remember—a negative test today does not guarantee a negative test tomorrow, and not every COVID positive person will display symptoms, so the safest thing to do is to continue to stay home as much as you can and avoid contact with others.

If you absolutely must go out, please wear a mask and maintain distance from anyone you do not live with.

Staying home, practicing social distancing, and wearing a mask are not political statements—it’s a sign to the people you pass that you care about them and their health and safety.

Those basic actions can and will save lives when done properly and when done together. Thank you very much.

Federal dollars the state of Wisconsin received to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic will expire on December 30, 2020. We need movement on a plan.

MADISON - State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-West Point) confirmed in a new memo from the Wisconsin Legislative Council that any federal dollars the state of Wisconsin received to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic will expire on December 30, 2020.

“The situation in Wisconsin is dire. Our hospitals are at capacity, our medical workforce is strained, small businesses are suffering and need our help, said Erpenbach. COVID-19 isn’t going away on December 30th and we need to be able to respond.”

According to the memo, barring any new federal legislation addressing the issue, costs for expenditures using Corona Virus Relief funds must be incurred by the end of the day on December 30, 2020. After that any remaining money must be returned to the federal government. We do not have the ability to put the money into a fund to spend later and there is no provision to ask for an extension.

Wisconsin is on pace to spend all federal dollars it has received from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, without federal assistance in the form of another relief package, we will have to spend state dollars to fund any program that will help combat the pandemic.

“There isn’t a person in Wisconsin that hasn’t been impacted by COVID. Our friends in the GOP here in Wisconsin need to recognize that and step up to the plate and get our state ready to have the kinds of programs in place to assist those who need it most-our hospitals and clinics, child care centers, schools, small businesses and our local governments and public health departments,” said Erpenbach.

“We’ve given them over 7 months to come up with a plan and all they have given us are empty promises of bipartisanship, broad support for doing nothing from Republicans in the Senate and from Speaker Vos we get a plan that will actually increase division in our communities, increase the spread of Covid-19, and put politicians in charge of decisions that should be left to public health experts. Meanwhile, Wisconsinites face eviction, food insecurity, job loss and a medical system that is completely overwhelmed. We need new funds from Congress and we need a plan to bring Wisconsin back stronger than ever,” added Erpenbach.