Perhaps aided by the storms and tornadoes which swept through the state on Tuesday night, but this week has seemingly flown by. It’s already Thursday. We know you have a lot to do in anticipation of this upcoming long week, so let’s get right to it…
Whether it is the administration of elections in Green Bay or the prosecution of laws in the State’s Attorney General’s office, the targeted use of private funds to enforce public laws should concern all of us. Here’s the latest example.
GOP lawmaker wants changes after AG’s grant-hired environmental prosecutor | The Center Square
At least one Republican lawmaker wants changes after a new report exposed Wisconsin’s attorney general hired an environmental prosecutor thanks to a grant from Michael Bloomberg’s environmental non-profit.
Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, accused Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul of “selling the Department of Justice to the highest bidder.”
“New York billionaire and former Democrat presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg funds the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, a New York climate activist organization ‘defending, enforcing, and promoting strong laws and policies in the area of climate, environmental justice, environmental protection, and clean energy,’” O’Connor said in a statement. “AG Kaul has turned his back on the people of Wisconsin to cater to the radical climate agenda of out-of-state billionaires and Democratic activists.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story that Kaul hired special assistant attorney general Karen Heineman with a grant from the SEEIC. She’s being paid $90,000 annually to handle environmental cases.
O’Connor said Kaul needs to answer why he’s using the grant to hire a new prosecutor, and whether the non-profit is driving the prosecutorial agenda here in Wisconsin.
“It is the solemn duty of the attorney general to represent and serve the people of Wisconsin, not the bidding and agenda of out-of-state billionaire activists who purchased offices in the DOJ,” O’Connor added. “The DOJ and all other departments and agencies belong to the people of Wisconsin, not out-of-state activists and Democratic mega-donors.”
…The agreement between the AG’s office and Bloomberg’s non-profit is drawing comparisons to the Zuckerbucks scandal that saw Mark Zuckerberg’s non-profit use election grants to fund local election offices in 2020.
“I urgently call upon AG Kaul to reverse his decision and renounce the use of private money to directly fund public offices. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is not for sale, and immediate action is needed to protect its integrity,” O’Connor said.
Whatever happened to “The will of the people shall be the law of the land?”
Groups go to court to invalidate constitutional amendments on bail | Associated Press
Wisconsin criminal justice advocates argued in court Wednesday that Republican-backed cash bail constitutional amendments approved by voters last year should be invalidated over procedural flaws, a case that elections officials and the Legislature call a cynical attempt to undo election results…
The case revolves around whether the Legislature sent the ballot questions to the correct elections officials and whether deadlines for submission were met. If successful, the amendments could be struck from the state constitution and put on a future ballot for another vote.
One amendment allows judges to consider past convictions for violent crimes when setting bail for someone accused of a violent crime. Another allows judges to consider a defendant’s risk to public safety, including their criminal history, when setting bail required to release someone before trial…
State law requires ballot questions to be “filed with the official or agency responsible for preparing the ballots” at least 70 days before the election. That made the deadline for the measures Jan. 25, 2023. The Legislature sent the measures to the Wisconsin Election Commission on Jan. 19, 2023, but the commission did not file the measures with county election officials until Jan. 26, 2023.
The groups suing argued that county election officials are responsible for preparing ballots, not the state commission, and therefore the Legislature filed the ballot questions in the wrong place.
A COVID-era lapse in admission policies for the UW System will remain in place for at least another three years.
UW bucks trend in keeping ACT and SAT optional for admission | The Cap TImes
In 2020, the Universities of Wisconsin joined other colleges across the country by temporarily suspending standardized testing requirements, as students struggled to take and submit test scores during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the UW system and others are trying to figure out how to handle the issue long-term. In recent months, Harvard, the University of Texas at Austin and other schools announced they will require applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores again.
Meanwhile, test-optional admissions will continue across the Universities of Wisconsin, including at UW-Madison, through the summer of 2027.
One media-proclaimed “expert,’ who just a few years ago was covering the legislature for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, says this next story is nothing to worry about.
Wisconsin’s budget surplus shrinks slightly under latest estimates | WPR
The estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau shows Wisconsin’s budget surplus is projected to be around $3.13 billion dollars by the end of next June, which is the end of the current two-year budget cycle. That marks a slight decline compared to LFB projections from January, which anticipated the state would end the current fiscal year with a surplus of around $3.25 billion.
Wisconsin Policy Forum Vice President and Research Director Jason Stein told WPR the latest projections show some “softness” but there’s “no reason for alarm or panic.”…The LFB analysis also notes the current budget has what’s referred to as a structural deficit, which means the state is projected to spend more than it takes in. Over the next year, it’s projected to spend around $664 million more than it generates in taxes, according to the Fiscal Bureau.
Consider us leery of media-proclaimed experts. Especially when their expertise derives from writing news articles about a subject. We will continue to pay attention to revenue projections, the structural deficit and lawmakers’ plans to bridge the gap.
That’s it for today’s Key Reads. We’ll be back to wrap up a busy week tomorrow.
