http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/trump-exec-order-8820-s5.pngGet some facts and analysis beyond the glittering generalities of Trump's staged press event.

Some of those displaced by first wave of COVID-19 pandemic continue back to work.

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. gained 1.8 million jobs in July as rising coronavirus cases across much of the country hindered the economic rebound from the first wave of the pandemic, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent in July from 11.1 percent in June, according to the July jobs report, as the pace of the labor market recovery slowed due to surging cases and fading fiscal stimulus.

Read the developing report here

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/farm-family-s5.jpg“A lot of tears have been shed,” said Lynn Hicks, a dairy farmer from Gilman, WI

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/wi-national-guard-troops2-s5.jpgGuard members will mobilize to state active duty in the coming days, will serve in their home county wearing civilian clothes to supplement the shortage of poll workers caused by COVID-19.

Money will help safely reopen campuses this fall for students, faculty, staff, and university communities.

Campaign Academy 2020 will provide free electoral training to thousands during Democratic National Convention.

WISCONSIN -- The Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) and Arena, in partnership with Biden for President (BFP) and Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) are thrilled to announce the launch of Campaign Academy 2020, a free, all-virtual, interactive training that will teach participants the fundamentals of campaigning, organizing, and digital strategy in the COVID-19 era during the Democratic National Convention.

“In the age of coronavirus, the path to victory for Democrats up and down the ballot has shifted dramatically,” said Nellie Sires, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “In partnership with the DNCC and BFP, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Arena are proud to have the opportunity to pull back the curtain and equip Democratic volunteers across the country with the tools they need to succeed in such an unprecedented and rapidly changing organizing environment.”

From August 17-20, individual experts and leading progressive organizations, including staff of Biden for President, will join DPW and Arena to facilitate 16 sessions, livestreamed on DPW’s YouTube page. By registering at training.win, participants will be able to create their own schedule of sessions based on their interest and availability.

During the statewide election for Wisconsin Supreme Court in April, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin successfully pivoted its massive voter outreach operation to the digital space and sent Justice Jill Karofsky to a ten-point victory over a Trump-backed candidate. Since then, the party has rapidly scaled up its operation in anticipation of the 2020 presidential election, showing the world that what works on doors also works online. Now DPW seeks to impart the lessons of its successful digital pivot by partnering with Arena to host electoral trainings during national convention and channel the energy and enthusiasm of the moment into tangible action, empowering Democratic National Convention viewers with the tools to be fantastic Biden for President volunteers.

"Core to Arena's mission is the belief that winning campaigns don't just happen -- they are the product of smart collaboration between behind-the-scenes political professionals and passionate volunteers,” said Ravi Gupta, Co-Founder of Arena. “But too often, potential staff and volunteers find politics inaccessible. That's why we've built Arena to provide the training, coaching, and connections future campaign staff and volunteers need. There has never been a more important time to ensure that everyone has the knowledge, tools, and skills to participate in this election cycle, and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to provide them at scale with our partners during the Democratic National Convention."

Over the course of the Democratic National Convention, first-time volunteers and experienced activists alike will learn about the tactics and tools campaigns are using this cycle and about how best to plug into races up and down the ballot. They’ll also learn directly from community leaders in battleground states about the crucial organizing work already in action.

“As Vice President Biden often says, 'we are in the battle for the soul of our nation'. To win that battle, we need the strongest grassroots army the Democrats have ever seen,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, Campaign Manager for Biden for President. “We’re thrilled to partner with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Arena to host Campaign Academy 2020, an inclusive training that will empower and inspire the grassroots energy we need to defeat Donald Trump and see Democrats win up and down the ballot in November.”

###

About the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
Under the leadership of Chair Ben Wikler and Executive Director Nellie Sires, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has emerged as a leader in Wisconsin and on a national stage as a shining example of the power of state parties to lead Democrats to victory up and down the ballot.

On April 7, the nation watched as Wisconsin Republicans did the unthinkable and forced an in-person election for a critical State Supreme Court seat in the middle of a pandemic. The GOP used every lever at their disposal to rig the race in their favor – but DPW’s army of organizers and volunteers out-organized their suppression tactics, defeating Trump’s hand-picked candidate by over 10-points. We showed Democrats that what works on the doors also works online – we reached out millions of times through phone calls, text messages, and social media channels to help Wisconsinites cast safe absentee ballots from their homes, shifting our entire voter outreach program on the turn of a dime. By April 7, 2020, our organizing team was larger than it had been on election day of November 2018 – using a new set of tactics suited to a radically changed world. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has effectively established the COVID-19 campaign playbook for Democrats nationwide; as the New York Times wrote in the aftermath of the spring election, “Look to Wisconsin for Lessons on a Digital Campaign During a Pandemic.”

And we aren’t taking any vote for granted in 2020. With Wisconsin having the potential to swing the electoral college and legislative Republicans being three seats shy of veto-overriding supermajorities in each chamber -- thanks to egregious GOP gerrymandering -- the work we do in Wisconsin this cycle is incredibly important  and will have an impact for generations to come.

To learn more about the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and how to get involved, visit our website.

About Arena
Arena convenes, trains, and supports the next generation of candidates and campaign staff. Since its inception in 2016, Arena has built a robust suite of resources and trainings to create a progressive talent pipeline with the tools, skills, and networks needed to win in 2020.

In addition to supporting 63 individual candidates across the country, in 2018, Arena launched a campaign toolbox with free tools and templates that have been viewed more than 18,000 times. In 2019, we launched Arena Academy, a professional, immersive, in-person training opportunity through which we’ve trained more than 1100 current and future campaign staffers, the majority of which are women and people of color. Arena has also created Arena Careers, a one-stop platform for progressive job seekers and progressive organizations to search, connect, and hire for priority positions.

To date, we have trained over 1100 aspiring campaign managers, organizing directors, organizers, data and analytics directors, digital directors, finance directors, communications directors from 38 states + Washington D.C. 65% of our trainees are women or gender non-binary, and 55% are people of color. 59% of our trainees have come through our Academies on either a partial or full scholarship, and 77% of scholarship recipients are people of color.

We have placed more than 300 of our graduates into 2020 positions, 63% of which are campaigns on the national, state, and local levels. To learn more about our programs, visit arena.run.

Education Secretary ducks safe school re-opening issue, instead touts plan to make it harder for college students to report sexual harassment and assault through changes to Title IX.

WISCONSIN -- As Betsy DeVos held a closed door event with the Wisconsin Federalist Society on Tuesday, WEAC President Ron Martin, La Crosse Teachers Jesse Martinez and Tammy Gruen, and Wisconsin College Democrats Chair Cecelia McDermott called out herand Donald Trump’s inability to lead during this crisis and callous attitude toward the public education system.

As local school districts and teachers are left in the dark about a plan to keep families safe, DeVos is instead focused on touting her proposal that will make it harder for college students to report sexual harassment and assault through changes to Title IX. These educators and students make it clear that Trump and DeVos have no solutions to the issues facing our schools and universities, and that it is vital to elect Joe Biden and the Democrats this fall.

Watch the full event here or read excerpts of what the speakers said below.

WEAC President Ron Martin: “I started teaching for the same reason most teachers do -- we want to help children grow, succeed, and have a positive impact. Now, I represent educators all across Wisconsin who have also dedicated their lives to students. And what I’m hearing across the board is that teachers are frankly fed-up with Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump’s complete disregard for educators, children, and their families. DeVos and Trump are absolutely tone deaf to what’s on the mind of families and teachers…When COVID first forced our schools to close, we were devastated to end the school year without seeing our students in person, but we knew that closing buildings was the right thing to do. Now as we look to another school year, parents and educators are still anxious and uncertain, the result of the complete lack of leadership from DeVos and Trump. It’s clear there’s no plan…We all deserve better than that. We deserve more testing, a national tracing plan, proper PPE, and the funding to make it all happen, so we can go back to our schools, face to face, safely…We agree with teacher Jill Biden, and her husband Joe, that schools need a clear science-based strategy.”

Jesse Martinez: “It’s been very clear from the outset that Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump just don’t care about investing in our public schools, and they don't care about keeping our students, our families, and our teachers safe. Right now, that mindset is more dangerous than ever. Students and teachers are the future of this country and they deserve leaders who are willing to invest in their success. Trump and DeVos have made it clear that education is not a priority to them. They have continually punted the ball down the field on this issue, and now they are demanding that schools reopen their doors without proper funding or support. It’s time to think long and hard about what type of leadership we want for our students and for our communities. That’s why it is so vital to elect new leadership this fall. Joe Biden and his team have committed to putting a teacher in charge of the Department of Education and investing in our public schools. That is the type of leadership that our students, our families, and our communities deserve.”

Tammy Gruen: “For us to do the best jobs and students to have the best chance at learning, we need to all feel like we’re in a safe environment… but my student’s have been robbed of this by Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos. Instead of figuring out ways to slow the spread and put a plan in place to get me and my students back into the classroom together, they've used their time downplaying the risk and essentially just throwing their hands up, not caring about the health risk this disease poses to myself and my students…I want to be able to sit down with one of my students at their desk and work through a tough problem with them, but that wont happen until COVID-19 is under control. Teachers and students alike deserve better than Trump’s politically-motivated re-opening strategy. We must listen to science and experts, and not to the politics.”

President of the Wisconsin College Democrats Cecelia McDermott: “It’s appalling not just that Secretary Betsy Devos would make changes to Ttile IX that make it harder to report sexual harassment and assault on college campuses, but now she is taking a victory lap today in an event she’s with the Federalist Society holding in Wisconsin…These changes are meant to silence survivors, not protect them or serve justice…What makes this even worse is Trump and Devos are pursuing this agenda as the COVID-19 pandemic rages instead of figuring out how they’re going to send kids back to school safely this fall…It’s clear we cannot expect leadership from Trump or Devos, and that they have no interest in making things better -- whether that has to do slowing the spread COVID-19 or mitigtating sexual assault on college campuses.”

Wisconsin Historical Society Library Reading Room to be named in honor of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.

MADISON —​ Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order #83 recognizing the career and legacy of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson by naming the Wisconsin Historical Society Library Reading Room in her honor. Executive Order #83 is available here.

“Over her 43 years on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Chief Justice Abrahamson was a champion for our judicial and legal institutions and served with a unwavering commitment to independence and fair application of the law,” said Gov. Evers. “She has inspired many, being the first woman to serve on the bench and as chief justice, and served as role model for countless women and young people to pursue careers in law an public service. The Chief Justice Shirely Abrahamson Reading Room will serve as a reminder of her legacy for generations to come and a symbol of our deep appreciation for her years of public service to our state.”

Abrahamson was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1976, becoming the first woman to serve on the court, as well as the first woman to serve as chief justice when she assumed the role in 1996. Abrahamson retired from the court in 2019, making her the longest serving supreme court justice in the history of Wisconsin.

55 years after VRA enactment, the vote remains our most powerful tool against discrimination.

WISCONSIN -- On the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman released the following statement:

“Today we honor the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and the passing of civil rights hero John Lewis with an eye towards the unfinished work to protect the right to vote across Wisconsin. Republicans in Wisconsin continue to follow Trump’s lead in their relentless pursuit to dismantle voting rights in this country. Never was Trump and Republicans’ cruel determination to disenfranchise voters more acute than during the April elections when Republican efforts forced countless Wisconsinites to choose between their health and their right to vote rather than expand access to popular vote-by-mail measures.

“Wisconsinites know better than most just how malicious Republicans' efforts around the fundamental right to vote have been. From passing archaic voter I.D. laws, drastically limiting early voting, requiring a witness signature while still in the midst of a pandemic, to targeting voter purges in majority Black and Brown communities, Wisconsin Republicans have struck at the heart of democracy every chance they have gotten. Democrats remain steadfast in our support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, of expanding access to vote by mail, and vow to fight any effort to disenfranchise voters across the Badger state.”

SBA loans also available in Barron, Dunn, Pierce, and Polk counties and Washington county in Minnesota in response to severe storms June 28 through July 1, 2020.