Well, the storms passed through yesterday as predicted. By all indications, today promises to be a more mild and pleasant day.
Our mid-week Key Reads bring news of legislative action, a legal challenge to legislative action, an update on one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions, and more.
Let’s get right to it.
This complicated issue deserves the scrutiny it has been getting.
Wisconsin legislature launches DEI Audit | The Center Square
Wisconsin Republican lawmakers want to know exactly what diversity, equity and inclusion is doing in state government and what it is costing.
The Joint Legislative Audit Commission on Tuesday began an audit of DEI programs throughout the state’s executive agencies.
“I look forward this audit to uncover the monies spent and tactics used to achieve state-sponsored discrimination,” Sen. Erc Wimberger, R-Green Bay said at Tuesday’s hearing. “I will ask agency leaders if they think their departments are systemically discriminatory, and if so, what is the optimal percentage of an immutable characteristic to obtain equity.”
Wimberger opened the first audit hearing with a blistering rebuke of DEI, which he says is nothing more than a fancy term for discrimination.
“DEI is a neo-marxian philosophy meant to put one socially constructed class against another. When the identities in DEI relate to race or ethnicity, it is nothing short of rebranded ethnic nationalism,” Wimberger added. “DEI efforts seek to retrench Concepts from before the Civil Rights Acts, proposing that a person of a particular immutable characteristic ought to get what they deserve since discrimination against the individual is the way to achieving a preconceived group equity target.”
The head of the Department of Administration defended Wisconsin’s DEI mandates, saying looking for diversity is a lofty hiring goal.
“The governor recognizes that implementing best practices relating to efforts to support diversity, equity and inclusion in our workforce allows us to better recruit and retain talented staff, improve outcomes and deliver effective and efficient services,” DOA Secretary-designee Kathy Blumenfeld told Wimberger and other lawmakers.
Gov. Tony Evers’ spokeswoman Britt Cudaback took to social media Tuesday to accuse Republicans on the audit committee of playing games and adding to the culture war.
Road America is breathtaking. Even if you’re not a fan of auto racing, it’s quite the attraction. But will the ‘big boys’ of motorsports ever return?
Will NASCAR ever return to Road America? | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Although the first full spectator event doesn’t come until the SVRA spring vintage weekend May 17-19, season passholders have had access to smaller-scale action. They’ve seen the added viewing area at the Kink, a cleaned-up Canada Corner and the new facilities at Turn 1.
What they won’t see this year – for the first time since 2009 – is a NASCAR race on the hilly, 4-mile course in rural Sheboygan County.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Journal Sentinel recently, Mike Kertscher, RA’s president and general manager, reiterated what he said since the announcement last fall that the Xfinity Series would go away just as the Cup Series had a year earlier: The facility will be just fine without NASCAR, but it’d be better with it.
…A two-year run for the Cup Series saw some of the largest crowds in track history. But with a schedule heavy on road courses and an opportunity to be in the heart of the United States’ third-largest market, NASCAR opted to bypass Road America and instead race on the streets of downtown Chicago. That event also was successful.
…Asked if he thought Road America would get another chance with NASCAR in the foreseeable future, Kertscher didn’t offer a yes-or-no answer, only the hope that it could happen.
This lawsuit could be the last gasp to save this industry.
Wedding barns fight Wisconsin law they say threatens their business | The Cap Times
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday seeks to invalidate part of a new state law that is bringing sweeping changes to Wisconsin’s liquor policies, policies that some fear will drive certain wedding barns out of business.
The lawsuit, brought by a conservative legal group on behalf of wedding barns in Green Lake and Trempealeau counties, objects to language in a law signed by Gov. Tony Evers last year that changes when a venue needs to obtain a liquor license.
The provision was one part of the wide-ranging law, which touches every aspect of the state’s alcohol industry and was backed by high-profile industry groups such as the Tavern League and trade groups representing craft breweries and wineries in Wisconsin.
…Lawmakers who supported the bill said it would add more regulation to the wedding barn industry. The businesses themselves note they have to obtain permits locally in order to operate.
Wedding barns have become popular, both with wedding goers enamored with their country charm and with farmers seeking a new revenue source.
…The sweeping bill targeted Wisconsin’s longstanding system of liquor licensing, lengthening hours at certain types of establishments, allowing breweries to serve other types of alcohol on premises and creating a new agency to regulate the industry.
Its passage late last year came as somewhat of a surprise. The measure appeared to stall out in committee but top Republican lawmakers in the state Senate, with some Democratic allies, used a procedural move to force a floor vote and secure its passage.
A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fall legislative races have begun in earnest. Whether the expanded calendar is a good thing for Wisconsin remains to be seen.
Wisconsin’s legislative candidates face strict rules, deadlines to get on the November ballot | Isthmus
The deadline for filing is June 1
Let’s consider those steps that candidates hope lead to the Capitol.
Start with the no-felons rule. The state Constitution says no one may hold any state or local elected office in Wisconsin if they have been convicted of a felony in any court in the United States, unless they have been pardoned of the conviction.
…Nomination papers must be submitted in which candidates ask their neighbors, friends and strangers to sign petitions supporting their seeking a specific office. At least 400 signatures are required to run for the state Senate; at least 200 for the Assembly. WEC officials suggest that candidates submit more signatures than those minimums.
..Nomination papers for candidates for the Legislature must be filed with the WEC by 5 p.m. on June 1.
…One other report — a statement of economic interest in which a legislative candidate reports a general overview of their financial assets and liabilities — must be filed with the state Ethics Commission.
We close with a sad note. UW Administrator in Madison and Milwaukee did not take advantage of last night’s severe weather. As the storms moved in, protestors scrambled for safer cover. As the storms abated, the illegal campgrounds remained in tact.
It would have been a great opportunity to sweep in and clear them out with minimal conflict.
It’s pretty clear the UW administrators from the System president to the chancellors, are perfectly fine with the continued on-campus lawbreaking.
