Wisconsin Political News

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/23524449

> Seven western Wisconsin Republican lawmakers did not appear at an event hosted by the Wisconsin Farmers Union in Chippewa Falls Friday as farmers from the area said they were concerned about the effect that President Donald Trump’s first month in office is having on their livelihoods.  > > Madison-area U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth), state Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) and state Reps. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) and Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire) were in attendance.  > > U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden, state Reps. Rob Sommerfeld (R-Bloomer), Treig Pronschinske (R-Mondovi) and Clint Moses (R-Mondovi) and state Sens. Jesse James (R-Thorp) and Rob Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) were all invited but did not attend or send a staff member.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/33140391

> Not content with spending more than a quarter of a billion dollars to elect Donald Trump and Republican candidates in 2024 and then taking a wrecking ball to the federal government, Elon Musk is now trying to flip the balance of power on the top court in one of the country’s most important swing states. > > Building America’s Future, a dark money group backed by Musk, is spending at least $1.6 million in support of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, a conservative judge in suburban Milwaukee who is running for an open seat in an April election that will decide whether progressives or conservatives control the court. The group began running ads across the state on Thursday.

Fuck that requirement.

Farmers need to stop voting against their own interests. You knew when they voted republican that your migrant workers would be deported.

Headline should read A woman-choking excuse of a law degree died today and the world is better for it.

Anyhow, rot in hell, woman abuser.

In keeping with republican tradition, Hovde is the latest losing candidate who questions election integrity.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/19153925

> The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday on whether a law that legislators adopted more than a decade before the Civil War bans abortion and can still be enforced. > > Abortion rights advocates stand an excellent chance of prevailing, given that liberal justices control the court and one of them remarked on the campaign trail that she supports abortion rights. Monday's arguments are little more than a formality ahead of a ruling, which is expected to take weeks.

It is a felony in Wisconsin to impede or prevent “the free exercise of the franchise at an election.” The Wisconsin Elections Commission urged clerks to contact law enforcement if anyone attempted to tamper with a drop box or prevent its use.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14310763

> From the Article: > > >GOP lawmakers overstepped their constitutional authority when they used a committee to block certain gubernatorial actions, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court concluded in a 6-1 ruling. > > > >Friday’s near-unanimous decision hands a major victory to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who filed a lawsuit arguing legislative committees like the GOP-led Joint Finance Committee violated the separation of powers established in Wisconsin’s Constitution. > > > >The lawsuit cited moves by the committee, such as blocking the ability of Evers’ Department of Natural Resources to acquire land for conservation using funds that had already been earmarked by the full Legislature. > In circumventing the DNR’s ability to carry out those purchases for what’s known as the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, Wisconsin’s budget-writing committee “intruded” on executive power, six justices concluded. > > > >“Maintaining the separation of powers between the branches is essential for the preservation of liberty and a government accountable to the people,” conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in the majority opinion. “By placing the power of the executive branch to carry out the law in a committee of the legislature, the legislative branch subsumed the executive power.” > > > >Evers called the ruling a “victory for the people of Wisconsin” in a statement Friday. > > > >“Republican lawmakers have spent years giving themselves outsized influence and power that they’ve used to unconstitutionally obstruct basic government functions and prevent my administration from doing the people’s work,” the statement said. “I’ve spent years working against near-constant Republican obstruction, and this historic decision rightfully resets constitutional checks and balances and restores separation of powers.” > > > >Joint Finance Co-Chairs Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said the decision was an “unfortunate” reversal of longstanding, “key components” of the land stewardship program that have been in place under both Democratic and Republican administrations. > “These provisions have ensured taxpayer resources are spent wisely and that local communities and stakeholders have had a seat at the table on important projects impacting their area,” the statement said. “This decision removes our current legislative oversight process. Our entire stewardship program is now in jeopardy.” > > > >Evers has long been engaged in a tug of war over authority with Wisconsin’s Legislature. Republicans hold a majority in both Wisconsin’s Senate and Assembly, but are just shy of the Assembly supermajority needed to override vetoes from the governor.

Huge win for democracy

After the Supreme Court of the United States legislated from the bench this past session, republicans celebrated.

But when Wisconsin's Act 10 was passed in 2011 it was very much unconstitutional from the get-go. A stacked, gerrymandered republican legislature and a republican WI Supreme Court, led by a judge who choked one of his fellow judges, ensured that our idiot governor at the time, Scott Walker, got his way around our state laws.

Now that a smart judge has ruled that indeed Act 10 violates WI State Law, it's suddenly NOT OK for judges to legislate from the bench. Here's a quote from Devin LeMaheieu, a sad little king of his sad little village of Oostburg WI:

“Once again, the only way the Democrats can get their way is through activist judges dropping decisions on a holiday weekend when no one is watching. Unfortunately, if this decision stands, it will cost Wisconsin's hard-working families millions of dollars.”

Fuck you and your hypocrisy Devin. Stand up and be for or against judicial legislation. You cannot praise the republican cult leader's interpretation of immunity from the SCOTUS as acceptable bench legislation, then turn around and get pissy when a judge points out serious factual errors within Act 10. You cannot have it both ways.

I call on you to speak up against trump, SCOTUS, and the immunity ruling from earlier this week, or come on and admit you were wrong about Act 10. Which will it be, sir? Is judicial legislation only OK for republicans? Come out and say that then. Say the quiet part out loud.

It's what your cult party does best.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/23385020

> The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto that locked in a school funding increase for the next 400 years, the justices announced Monday. > > The Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Litigation Center filed a lawsuit in April arguing the governor exceeded his authority. The group asked the high court to strike down the veto without waiting for the case to go through lower courts. > > The court issued an order Monday afternoon saying it would take the case. The justices didn’t elaborate beyond setting a briefing schedule. > > At issue is a partial veto Evers made in the state budget in July 2023 that increased revenue public schools can raise per student by $325 annually until 2425. Evers took language that originally applied the $325 increase for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and vetoed the “20” and the hyphen to make the end date 2425, more than four centuries from now.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15908715

> A law that drew massive protests and made Wisconsin the center of a national fight over union rights is back in court on Tuesday, facing a new challenge from teachers and public workers brought after the state’s Supreme Court flipped to liberal control. > > The 2011 law, known as Act 10, imposed a near-total ban on collective bargaining for most public employees. It has withstood numerous legal challenges and was the signature legislative achievement of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who used it to mount a presidential run. > > The law catapulted Walker onto the national stage, sparked an unsuccessful recall campaign, and laid the groundwork for his failed 2016 presidential bid. It also led to a dramatic decrease in union membership across the state. > > If the latest lawsuit succeeds, all public sector workers who lost their collective bargaining power would have it restored. They would be treated the same as the police, firefighter and other public safety unions who remain exempt. > > The law is “fundamentally unequal,” irrational and unconstitutional, unions argue in court filings.