Written by Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Matt Rothschild
Friday, 04 June 2021 09:52
MADISON - I hope you’re having a good week.
Here are two actions I’d like you to take:
1. Tell your legislators to oppose Assembly Bill 369 relating to the timeline for local redistricting in Wisconsin following the 2020 federal decennial census.
This is a bill whose draft we were notified about last Friday as Memorial Day weekend was starting. It was formally introduced on Tuesday, the Assembly committee public hearing held yesterday, and it is on the agenda for a vote without a hearing in the Senate committee tomorrow morning! That’s far from adequate process. On substance, the bill would postpone the redistricting of local political districts until 2023. It would unconstitutionally disadvantage local communities, such as Madison, that have grown in population, and it would also let the State Legislature impose boundaries on local communities after that, which goes against the traditional way of Wisconsin, which starts the redistricting process from the local level on up, as I noted in my testimony here:
As part of the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, we’re encouraging all of our members to sign this petition demanding that our legislators pass nonpartisan redistricting legislation:
Written by Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Matt Brusky
Friday, 04 June 2021 07:29
MILWAUKEE - We discuss Legislative Republican’s scheming with their corporate patrons such as Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce (WMC) to gin up a fake “worker shortage” to punish the unemployed. Does Robin Vos really believe Wisconsinites are lazy and irresponsible or is he just trying to exploit the working class? In a clear effort to mobilize a 2022 off-year election base of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists, Legislative Republicans are supporting bills to make anti-vaxxers a protected category and pumping life into the “Big Lie” with bogus “Arizona style” voter fraud investigations into the 2020 election. Meanwhile new data from the Wisconsin Election Commission demonstrates minuscule voter fraud in Wisconsin elections, most of it generated by Jim-Crow still disenfranchisement of released prisoners. We close with a discussion on the centrality of the Senate filibuster in the success of the Biden agenda, addressing the nation’s major challenges and needs, and the survival of democracy itself.
Written by Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Matt Rothschild
Friday, 28 May 2021 10:26
MADISON - This morning, our colleague Iuscely Flores represented the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign at a press conference called by BLOC (Black Leaders Organizing in Community) to condemn the pitiful proposals by the Legislature on policing. Here’s the statement that she read:
Here’s the talk I gave at the rally to ban gerrymandering on May 17:
We Deserve Fair Maps. (click the photo for a video highlight. Go here for the full 45-minute rally video).
And by the way, we had a fun annual gathering last week, by Zoom.
State Rep. Francesca Hong gave us an inside look on what it’s like for her to work in the Legislature. She was characteristically outspoken: “It’s a frustrating and incredibly racist” place, she said, but she hasn’t lost faith in “people power.”
Urban Milwaukee Editor Bruce Murphy thanked us for being of such assistance to reporters with our invaluable database.
You can also view the entire 90-minute program of the gathering by clicking here.
I hope you have a nice long holiday weekend!
Best,
Matt Rothschild Executive Director
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P.S. If you like the work we’re doing, please send us a tax-deductible gift by clicking here or by mailing it the old-fashioned way to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, 203 S. Paterson St, Suite 100, Madison WI 53703. Thanks!
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on the Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant Program. The grants will provide up to $420 million in $5,000 grants to as many as 84,000 Wisconsin small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with annual gross revenue between $10,000 and $7 million. To apply for these grant funds, small businesses should visit revenue.wi.gov. Applications will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Mon., June 7, 2021.
Wisconsin continues to be a national and regional leader in getting available vaccine in arms. With everyone 12 and older eligible to get the vaccine, we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and look ahead to our economic recovery.
Our Main Street businesses have been hit hard this past year. We know if we’re going to bounce back from COVID-19, we have to get support to small businesses across our state to help them get through this pandemic and make it to the other side.
In April, I announced we’d be using our American Rescue Plan Act funds to do just that. We announced our Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant program that will provide up to $420 million in grants to help as many as 84,000 small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
These businesses will receive $5,000 that can be used to restock shelves, catch up on bills, rehire and retain workers, and continue to help keep their customers, employees, and our communities safe as we work to bounce back together.
Applications for this program opened earlier this week and will be accepted through June 7th, so don’t wait! If you’re a small business owner in Wisconsin with an annual gross revenue between $10,000 and $7 million, head to revenue.wi.gov to apply today.
Written by Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Matt Brusky
Friday, 28 May 2021 09:53
MILWAUKEE - We welcome Citizen Action’s Movement Politics Director, JoAnna Bautch, to discuss her new podcast, This is NOT that, which was launched this Tuesday on the 1 year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. The panel reviews the BadgerCare legislative special session that came and went quickly while Legislative Republicans spent time attacking transgendered kids and severely cutting public school funding. Robert discusses the reasons behind a new exodus of teachers in Wisconsin and how the state opening up too soon is a threat to those with pre-existing conditions and suppressed immunity. State Senator Chris Larson enters the U.S. Senate race while the GOP attacks Sarah Godlewski and national Democrats and all mainline pundits increasingly agree that the GOP is a threat to democracy itself. We close by welcoming Citizen Action Driftless Organizing Cooperative organizer, Ben Wilson, to discuss the proposed expansion of the Roth Feeder Pig CAFO in Crawford County and local efforts to stop it.
MADISON - I hope you’re having a good week.
Thanks for taking these two actions to keep the heat on the Legislature!
MILWAUKEE - We discuss Legislative Republican’s scheming with their corporate patrons such as Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce (WMC) to gin up a fake “worker shortage” to punish the unemployed. Does Robin Vos really believe Wisconsinites are lazy and irresponsible or is he just trying to exploit the working class? In a clear effort to mobilize a 2022 off-year election base of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists, Legislative Republicans are supporting bills to make anti-vaxxers a protected category and pumping life into the “Big Lie” with bogus “Arizona style” voter fraud investigations into the 2020 election. Meanwhile new data from the Wisconsin Election Commission demonstrates minuscule voter fraud in Wisconsin elections, most of it generated by Jim-Crow still disenfranchisement of released prisoners. We close with a discussion on the centrality of the Senate filibuster in the success of the Biden agenda, addressing the nation’s major challenges and needs, and the survival of democracy itself.
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on the Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recovery Grant Program. The grants will provide up to $420 million in $5,000 grants to as many as 84,000 Wisconsin small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with annual gross revenue between $10,000 and $7 million. To apply for these grant funds, small businesses should visit 
Hello Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers here. 
MILWAUKEE - We welcome Citizen Action’s Movement Politics Director, JoAnna Bautch, to discuss her new podcast, 