Welcome to Wednesday. It’s the middle of the week, everyone has a lot on their plate, so let’s get right to today’s Key Reads.
Maybe people’s attention spans are just too short these days. Whatever the case may be, there is a scandalous problem with the State Department of Corrections. In years past, these stories would lead the news, multiple days a week. Now they get coverage when someone dies or when a former warden is in court facing misconduct charges. Today, we get a twofer.
Fifth inmate dies at Wisconsin prison as former warden pleads not guilty to misconduct charge | Associated Press
The former warden at a maximum security Wisconsin prison where multiple inmates have died over the last year pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a misconduct charge as legislators intensified their scrutiny of the state’s troubled corrections system.
Five inmates have died at Waupun Correctional Institute since June 2023. The latest, Christopher McDonald, was found dead at the facility Monday morning, according to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
…Prosecutors charged former Waupun Correctional Institute Warden Randall Hepp with felony misconduct in office in June in connection with the deaths of an inmate who died of a stroke in October and another inmate who died in February of malnutrition and dehydration.
…While Hepp was entering his plea Tuesday, the state Senate’s judiciary committee was grilling top agency leaders about a counselor’s death at the state’s youth prison.
…Republican legislators have been blasting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration for years over chronic guard shortages at Wisconsin’s prisons and have been pushing him to close an aging maximum security prison in Green Bay.
Evers has upped guard salaries in an attempt to generate more hires but has refused to entertain closing the Green Bay facility, saying he won’t consider it
Senators grill Department of Correction leaders after death of guard at Lincoln Hills | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Secretary-designee Jared Hoy took questions from members of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety during a hearing in the auditorium of Merrill High School.
…Hoy highlighted changes made in the year following a 2015 raid by state agents on Lincoln Hills and its sister school and subsequent FBI investigation of the treatment of the youth housed there and said those reforms weren’t the reason for the tragic event that unfolded on June 25.
…Felzkowski said she’s heard from staff who feel unsafe and that a majority are afraid to report issues within Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake due to a fear of retaliation. She said she’s spoken to administrative employees of the schools who have been placed into situations where they don’t have adequate training for safety.
…Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, asked DOC leadership about how the guards, called youth counselors, are trained to protect themselves.
Felzkowski highlighted throughout the hearing that employees at Lincoln Hills are scared, something she is “not afraid to shout from the hills.”
Felzkowski highlighted throughout the hearing that employees at Lincoln Hills are scared, something she is “not afraid to shout from the hills.”
This may not be an ominous sign that the economy is worse than many fear. In a week when the global markets continued their slide, we received word that Wisconsin had fewer business startups last year than the previous one. But ‘experts’ say we must consider the post COVID period an outlier.
Wisconsin startup investment down in 2023 following pandemic boom | WPR
Even though investment was down, 2023 still registered the third-highest level since the tech council began tracking the data.
So far in 2024, Kremer said the tech council has tracked $256 million in startup investments.
Health care accounted for the most investment last year at $245 million, just over half of all the dollars secured, according to the report. Kremer said investments in the health care industry also included those in biohealth and biotech companies.
He said the state’s federally-designated tech hub focused on biohealth will likely help drive more investment into that industry.
Southeast Wisconsin’s Republican congressman wants to get to the bottom of a controversial online political fundraising portal that may be ripe for fraud.
Steil puts pressure on ActBlue’s donor verification policies | The Center Square
Following months of investigations into political donation platform ActBlue, Rep. Bryan Steil urged the Federal Election Commission to initiate an emergency rulemaking process requiring more transparency in online donations.
Steil launched a probe into ActBlue’s donor verification policies last year amid his concerns the organization was allowing foreign and fraudulent contributions.
“Illegal and malicious conduct have no place in our elections. Ensuring all parties are complying with federal election law as we approach a presidential election is of utmost importance. I am investigating ActBlue’s lack of transparency in its online donor verification standards,” Steil said…
Accusations of ActBlue violating or skirting federal campaign finance laws included laundering foreign contributions through prepaid gift cards, and accepting hundreds of donations for $2.50 from the same individual. Unlike the vast majority of other online fundraising platforms, ActBlue does not require a CVV number on donor transactions.
Steil is requesting the FEC prohibit political campaigns from accepting contributions from gift cards or other prepaid credit cards, and require them to obtain and verify the CVV of all online credit and debit donations.
“ActBlue’s practices invite the possibility of foreign donations, and allowing political committees to accept donations from gift cards or other prepaid credit cards promote the appearance and the very real possibility that straw donors are making campaign donations with funds provided by another person or an unlawful donor including a foreign national,” the letter reads. “These issues present a serious loophole to the transparency and integrity of the campaign donation process, and an emergency rulemaking is required to rectify these issues.”
The requested rules would also require political campaigns to get the affirmative consent of donors before they make a recurring contribution.
That’s it for today. We hope you get through your hump day and can find some time for at least one more trip to the Wisconsin State Fair!
