MADISON - This week, we filed an amicus brief in the case against Speaker Robin Vos and Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu for misappropriating your tax dollars to defend their plan to gerrymander our voting districts once again later this fall.

You can read our posting, with a link to the brief, here:

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Files Amicus Brief in Case Against Vos and LeMahieu

Earlier this week, we submitted three testimonies on some of the anti-voter bills that Republicans in the Legislature have introduced. You can read these here:

Don't Make It Harder to Vote Absentee

Don't Legalize Harassment of Election Officials

Don’t Turn Away Poll Workers

And speaking of these bills, I’d like to thank you if you’ve already contacted your legislators and urged them to oppose them.

>> If you haven’t done so yet, you can still take action to protect the freedom to vote in Wisconsin by opening our action alert email from yesterday. <<

I hope you have a nice 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. Thanks!

Leading voice for victims of domestic abuse calls for reallocation of work, resourcing, & responsibility of care.

Madison – This week, as the trial of a former police officer takes place in Minneapolis for the murder of George Floyd, and as the police officer who shot Jacob Blake returns to full duty in Kenosha without discipline, we witnessed the horrific murder of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a former police officer just ten miles from where George Floyd was killed. Days later, video footage of 13-year-old Adam Toledo being killed by a Chicago police officer was released. The child’s hands were up and empty as he complied with police orders and was shot. We denounce these violent acts against Black and Brown bodies, families, and communities, and recognize them as horrendous displays of white supremacy and systemic racism.

End Abuse is an anti-violence coalition. As all forms of violence and oppression are connected, it is our responsibility to dismantle systems that allow racism and misogyny to thrive; to hold up a mirror to how we are complicit in violence we aim to end; to name and work to end this violence at its roots.

“There is no justice without accountability and change,” said Interim Executive Director Gricel Santiago-Rivera. “As we grieve for these lives taken, we call for reallocation of work, resourcing, and responsibility of care away from police and into local community safety initiatives that center those most marginalized. We call for accountability in ourselves, in our movement, and in the systems with which we interact as we strive to create safety for all.”

As stated in the July 2020 Moment of Truth letter in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, we say again – resoundingly, unequivocally, and until lives are no longer violently ended by systemic white supremacist violence – Black Lives Matter.

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End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (End Abuse, www.endabusewi.org) is the leading voice for victims of domestic abuse in Wisconsin. At End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, we educate shelter and program volunteers and advocates, law enforcement, legislators, and community members to provide safety and support to survivors. We strive to shift Wisconsin from the attitudes and beliefs that cause domestic violence to values of mutual respect and equality, and we partner with communities in the effort to prevent and end domestic abuse. We encourage reporters to include the National Domestic Violence Hotline number [1−800−799−SAFE(7233)] in their stories for victims who need help. A list of local Wisconsin domestic violence victim service providers can be found at www.endabusewi.org.

The bottom line is "we have got to change", says Governor.

MILWAUKEE - We review the huge victory for public education in the Department of Public Instruction race, and the immediate threat by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to take it out on our schools. We discuss the shockingly successful GOP effort to take down progressive school board members who follow the science and our educators by only supporting the safe reopening of schools. Is this a new Republican wedge issues for moderate voters they will uses in 2022 in state and federal races? Claire educates us on the Biden Administration’s decision to permanently end health-care denying work requirements to receive Medicaid. We talk about the COVID variants taking off with big spikes in 5 states (and counting), and the GOP use of the fraudulent vaccine passports issues to increase vaccine hesitancy, threatening to further delay heard immunity. Robert discusses Trump’s outrageous scamming of his own supporters, and its copycats in the Republican Party. We close by welcoming Hannah Faris from In These Times magazine to talk about the launch of a new rural focused reporting project called, “the Wisconsin Idea.” The project is a collaboration with People’s Action and Citizen Action of Wisconsin.

Listen Now – Episode #487
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MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on his Badger Bounceback agenda to do what's best for our kids, and which includes ensuring that every kid has access to a high-quality, public education, providing mental health supports for students at schools, expanding access to early childhood education and childcare, and investing in our higher education institutions.

Audio file of Radio Address.

Hey, Wisconsin! Governor Tony Evers here.

In February, I introduced my Badger Bounceback agenda, which is all about making sure our state and our economy can bounce back from this pandemic and build the future we want to see for our state.

Well, as I've always said, what’s best for our kids is best for state. So, what better way to build on our future than by investing in our kids. That’s why our Badger Bounceback agenda invests in our kids from early childhood to higher education.

We’re starting by investing more than $140 million in early education and childcare to improve access, quality, and opportunity for our kids and families. Those first few years of life set the base for all future learning.

I’m also proposing to restore our state’s commitment to two-thirds funding for our K-12 public schools, invest an additional $709 million in special education reimbursement, and fully fund sparsity aid for our students in our rural school districts.

This pandemic has been very difficult for all of us, but especially our kids. So, we’re also investing $54 million in mental health support and services for our students, too.

Finally, our higher education institutions have always been an economic driver for our state, and we need to double down if we’re going to bounce back.

We’re investing $36 million in our technical college system and making the largest investment in the UW System in 20 years at $190 million. We’re also expanding Bucky’s Tuition Promise to every UW campus to ensure kids from low-income families can get a high quality 4-year education tuition free.

If we’re going to bounce back from this pandemic better, then we have to start by making sure our kids are better off than they were when this pandemic started.

If you agree, then contact your legislator and ask them to support our Badger Bounceback agenda so we can bounce back, together.

Thank you.

MADISON - Yesterday, we joined with other pro-democracy groups in filing a brief at the Wisconsin Supreme Court to oppose the latest push to curtail the right of Wisconsinites to vote. Here’s what I posted on this:

Our Brief to Defend Voting Rights at the Wisconsin Supreme Court

The person asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to interfere with our voting rights is the same Jere Fabick who prevailed earlier this week on Evers’s mask mandate. And it just so happens that Justice Rebecca Bradley got a big check from Fabick when she was running for a seat on the bench, as we explain here:

Conservative Justice Sides with Major Campaign Contributor Over Pandemic Health Orders

Also this week, my colleague Cely Flores posted a strong piece praising Gov. Evers for proposing to give undocumented students in-state tuition:

Governor’s Budget Offers Undocumented Students A Brighter Future

Cely’s articles, by the way, are now being reprinted by La Communidad and by Madison Vibra, which we’re thrilled about!

Other staff members have been busy tracking the money in the State Superintendent’s race. Here’s what they put together:

Jill Underly Raises $1.3M+ Mostly From State Dem Party

Please remember to vote on April 6. If you are voting absentee, you can go here to track your absentee ballot and find your local options for returning your ballot before Election Day.

And I hope you’ll be able to enjoy the warm weather this 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 donation by clicking here. Or snail mail it to us at 203 S. Paterson St., Suite 100, Madison, WI 53703, and make your check out to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Thanks!

MILWAUKEE - We dive into the exciting details of President Biden’s historic Build Back Better plan released Wednesday. Will it pass? Does it go far enough?

Back in Wisconsin politics, we discuss next Tuesday’s Spring General Election and encourage listeners to volunteer this weekend for Jill Underly and local endorsed candidates. The panel evaluates the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision to overturn Gov. Evers’ mask mandate. Is there a valid legal argument or are right-wing justices acting like politicians in robes.? Claire updates us on this week’s Citizen Action Healthcare Week of Action focused on important state budget priorities. We also shine a light on Legislative Republican’s sham hearings peddling conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

Listen Now – Episode #486
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Press Clips

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on his plan to invest the $3.2 billion in federal funding Wisconsin received from the American Rescue Plan Funds into small businesses, families, and communities.

Audio file of Radio Address. 

Hello, Governor Tony Evers here.

I was excited to announce this week our plan to use $3.2 billion in federal funding from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan to help our state bounce back from this pandemic.

We know we have work to do to make sure our economy can recover from this pandemic. And that’s why we’re going to invest $2.5 billion into economic recovery and well-being, including $600 million to support our small businesses and $50 million to support our tourism industry.

Finally, we’re also going to invest $500 million into our state’s continued pandemic response and $200 million into building infrastructure, including a significant investment in broadband so families and communities can learn, work, and get connected.

Just like last year with our CARES dollars, we’re going to be working to get these funds out the door as quickly as we can. We know these American Rescue Plan funds will be critical to making sure our state can bounce back and better than we were before this pandemic hit. And time is of the essence to get support to folks who need it.

So, that’s why I vetoed Senate Bill 183 this week, which would have given Republicans in the Legislature approval over how we used these funds, potentially preventing us from getting this money out the door quickly to folks who need it.

At the end of the day, these funds don’t belong to me or any member of the Legislature—it’s your money, folks. We need to put people before politics and we can’t afford to waste time on all the political back-and-forth.

We’re going to keep working quickly to get these resources out the door to families, businesses, and farmers who need it so we can get through this pandemic and bounce back together.

Thank you.

The only place gun violence is a partisan issue is in the Capitol, say Democratic leaders. Common sense reforms have the power to save lives, and we need action now.

MADISON- On Thursday, Senators Melissa Agard (D-Madison), LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee), and Attorney General Josh Kaul called on Republican leaders in our state to support universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders proposed in Governor Evers’ 2021-23 Budget. This call to action comes in the wake of several mass shootings across our country over the past two weeks. Senator Agard released the following statement:

“Today, I was proud to join Attorney General Kaul and Senator Johnson in calling on Republican leaders to support the crucial gun safety measures in Governor Evers’ biennial budget, including expanding universal background checks to all gun sales and Extreme Risk Protection Orders.”

“The fact is, the only place that addressing gun violence is a partisan issue is in the Capitol. The people of Wisconsin know that those who skirt our gun laws using loopholes do a disservice to responsible gun owners everywhere,” Senator Agard stated. “It's common sense to prevent domestic abusers and felons from purchasing weapons using the ‘gun show loophole.’ That’s why we need universal background checks for all firearm purchases like Governor Evers is proposing.”

There is a societal and fiscal impact to gun violence. Recent research revealed that the annual cost of gun violence in the United States exceeds $229 billion.

“I cannot, and will never, treat gun violence and mass shootings as inevitable. Inaction is an admission that this is our fate as a state and nation. We need a commitment from Republican leadership in both chambers that they will keep these provisions in the budget. These common sense reforms have the power to save lives. We can no longer ignore the pervasive threat of gun violence in communities across Wisconsin. We must pass these policies to keep people safe. We must be brave enough to take action.”

MADISON - Automatic voter registration is in this year’s Executive Budget! THANK Governor Tony Evers for prioritizing democracy!

Gov. Tony Evers’s budget proposal, released in February, includes funding for automatic voter registration (AVR). By prioritizing AVR, he acknowledges that Wisconsin has the chance to be a national leader in election security, accuracy, and accessibility. Take action along with member organizations of the Wisconsin Voting Rights Coalition by thanking Gov. Evers for supporting democracy >>>

Here is a sample message you can send to Gov. Evers to thank him:

Dear Governor Evers,

Thank you so much for including automatic voter registration and other important pro-voter policies in your budget. We know how important voter access is to Wisconsinites across the state. We appreciate your commitment to voter access and making sure every Wisconsinite has the freedom to vote.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

AVR is the best option for secure and fair election registration that will benefit voters statewide. From rural areas to urban city centers, voter information will be automatically updated and new voters will be automatically registered when people interact with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This funding will help implement new systems that allow the DMV to transmit secure voter information to the Wisconsin Elections Commission daily. As election officials work to improve the security and integrity of our voting systems, it’s time for them to adopt proven policies like automatic voter registration. These updates will make registering to vote easier and more accessible for all voters, particularly those who are frequent movers, live in rural areas, or have disabilities.

Everyone who is eligible should have the freedom to vote.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign commends Gov. Evers for making democracy a priority in 2021. By including automatic voter registration in his budget, Wisconsin is one step closer to building a stronger, safer, and more inclusive democracy.

Contact Governor Evers, and thank him for breaking down barriers to the polls. Let’s make AVR happen!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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