We’re a bit politics heavy on this Thursday, but that’s just how it goes some days.
The power struggle between the Legislative and Executive branches in Wisconsin has been constant, even when one party has control of both. But the balance of power could shift dramatically in favor of the Governor, if the State Supreme Court intervenes.
Let’s get to today’s key reads.
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices question how much power Legislature should have | AP News
A ruling in favor of Evers would upend decades-old practices in the Legislature and make it easier to approve projects in a land stewardship program. But justices echoed concerns raised by Republicans that the case could have far broader impacts on the separation of power between the executive and legislative branches.
Siding with Evers would “overturn how our state government has functioned for almost a century,” Misha Tseytlin, a lawyer for the Legislature, told the court.
But liberal Justice Jill Karofsky, in deflecting arguments that the court should not overturn such established practices, said “Maybe they’ve been wrong for the last century and we shouldn’t double down on how wrong this is.”
Evers argues that the Legislature’s powerful budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, which is controlled 12-4 by Republicans, is exceeding its constitutional lawmaking authority and effectively acting as a fourth branch of government. The Legislature counters that the committee’s powers, including the approval of certain state conservation projects, are well established in state law and court precedent
Meanwhile, thanks to federal COVID programs and other largesse and despite (or maybe as a result of) the gridlock in Madison, the State of Wisconsin’s balance sheet has never been better.
Report: Wisconsin’s finances in best shape in decades | The Center Square
A new report says Wisconsin is in its best fiscal position in decades.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum released its latest report this week. It looks at the state’s debt, budget health, general fund reserves and what the future may hold for the state.
“Overall, the state’s finances ended 2023 in outstanding fashion. Wisconsin has improved its fiscal condition substantially since the Great Recession years, a period marked by severe budget challenges in which the state raised taxes, cut aid to schools and local governments, delayed debt payments, and decreased benefits and take-home pay for state and local workers,” the report noted.
The Policy Forum’s report makes a special note that Wisconsin’s long-term debt, or pension debt, has fallen dramatically since the Republican reforms of 2011.
“The state’s long-term liabilities grew as a share of assets during the 2000s, peaking at 41.2% of assets in 2011. Since then, they have fallen as a share of assets to 30.2% in 2023. Though that was up slightly from the prior year’s record low of 28.4%, it was still one of the lowest percentages in our two decades of data,” the authors wrote.
As for Wisconsin’s other debt, the report says Wisconsin’s debt payments are at their lowest level in decades, Wisconsin’s net assets are rising, and Wisconsin has more than enough cash on hand to pay its bills.
“Four years after the arrival of COVID-19, the state of Wisconsin’s finances are the strongest on record, thanks to federal relief aid and the actions of state leaders. From ample cash reserves to low debt, the state measures up well on key fiscal metrics,” the report states.
But there is a warning as well.
“But recent decisions to cut taxes and increase spending will reduce some of these advantages this year, leaving policymakers with important questions to consider in the next state budget,” the Policy Forum added.
All the politicos in Madison are chattering about the latest Marquette University Law School poll results. No surprise at the top of the ticket, the presidential race is and will be a tight one. But in a shocking bit of news, the US Senate race between incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin and her likely Republican challenger Eric Hovde is also essentially tied.
In April. The race is already tied. That’s big news.
Hovde, Baldwin tied| WPR
Her 5-point lead among registered voters included “leaners,” or voters who initially said they weren’t sure who they’d support. When those voters were listed as undecided, Franklin said Baldwin’s lead was 7 points, with 18 percent undecided.
But among likely voters, those with stronger party affiliation, Marquette’s poll showed the race between Baldwin and Hovde was tied. That’s despite a majority of voters — 54 percent — saying they don’t know enough about Hovde to form an opinion.
We can no longer blame this on people letting off steam after the COVID lockdowns. This is just crazy.
Tickets for people driving 100 mph or faster have tripled across Wisconsin | TJM4
The head of Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation (WisDOT) wants people to know, reckless driving is not just a Milwaukee problem. Secretary Craig Thompson says everyone in the state is being affected by reckless driving if they use the roads.
As Milwaukee works to fight reckless driving on city streets, Secretary Thompson says this issue doesn’t stop when you leave the city….
“It has just been a dramatic jump in people going excessively fast. We have seen the amount of tickets our state patrol has given out to people going in excess of 100 miles-per-hour triple,” said Thompson. “It is not just speed but excessive speeding. From our state patrol back in 2019, we gave 583 tickets for going over 100 miles per hour. That jumped to almost 1500 for 2021, and back down 1,100 last year.”
Along with the rising number of speeding tickets, the DOT has also seen crash deaths increase since 2019. There were about 550 in 2019 and it jumped to nearly 595 deaths in 2021. Last year, it was 603 deaths.
If only we could merely blame this on Illinois tourists.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back again, tomorrow.
