Monthly Archives: January, 2022

(The Center Square) – Two years into Wisconsin's school bus driver shortage, the state of Wisconsin says it is now trying to help.

The state’s Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced plans to trim the school bus driver test to try and get more people behind the wheel.

“WisDOT is taking every available opportunity to ease the strain on communities struggling to recruit drivers by removing barriers that might keep prospective drivers from applying,” DMV Administrator Kristina Boardman said in a statement. “Drivers seeking their school bus license will have the portion of the test that identifies ‘under the hood’ engine components waived until March 31, 2022.”

School bus drivers need a commercial drivers license, a CDL, in order to drive a bus in Wisconsin. The state’s CDL test includes 90 questions for all CDL drivers, as well as 20 specific questions for carrying passengers and another 20 questions specific for bus drivers.

The "under the hood" questions are just a small portion of the special school bus driver portion.

“Wisconsin’s CDL examiners will focus on the testing requirements that are critical to safety in order to help school districts and communities struggling to recruit qualified school bus drivers,” Boardman added.

While the temporary waiver will be enough to get drivers into school buses, the DMV is quick to say that the waiver does not apply to other categories of CDLs.

Many schools have complained for years that they are short on bus drivers. The test is just one reason. It takes weeks for prospective school bus drivers to take their test, get their CDL, and then train to take kids to-and-from school.

The DMV this week also sent letters to nearly 1,000 former drivers who let their school bus license lapse, encouraging them to apply for many of the open school bus driver positions across the state.

(The Center Square) – It doesn’t look like voters will be able to use ballot drop boxes in the next election in Wisconsin.

The state legislature’s rule-making panel, the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules, on Monday ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to finalize its emergency rules for dropboxes, as well as its rules for "curing" ballots within the next 30 days.

After that, Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said lawmakers can kill those rules.

“Today, the legislature … has commenced the statutory procedures to compel the staff and commissioners of the Wisconsin Elections Commission to rapidly comply with state law,” Nass said Monday. “WEC must now either issue emergency rules within 30 days or cease issuing their guidance on absentee ballot drop boxes and the correction of errors/omission on absentee ballots.”

Nass and other Republicans at the Capitol say ballot drop boxes are not allowed under the state’s election laws. They also say WEC and local election clerks went too far in correcting mistakes on ballots in the 2020 elections.

Nass has butted heads with the Elections Commission for nearly a year. On Monday, he was clear about JCRAR’s intentions.

“If WEC promulgates emergency rules, the JCRAR has the power to suspend parts or all of those rules if the joint committee determines the agency lacks statutory authority,” Nass added.

Ballot drop boxes became a feature of the November 2020 election, largely because WEC told local election managers they could be used during the coronavirus outbreak.

The rules for "curing" ballots go back to 2016, but WEC’s own report states that ballot "curing" also played a huge role in the 2020 election.

“The statewide absentee ballot rejection rate was exceptionally low in November – 0.2% statewide compared to 1.8% in April 2020,” A WEC report from early 2021 stated.

WEC has until February 9 to publish its rules or drop them all together.

(The Center Square) – Ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on vaccine mandates expected as early as this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is under increased scrutiny after recent comments about COVID-19 deaths.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky fell into controversy after a clip of her appearance on Good Morning America Friday went viral.

“I want to ask you about the encouraging headlines we're talking about this morning, a new study talking about just how well vaccines are working to prevent severe illness,” co-host Cecilia Vega said on Good Morning America. “Given that, is it time to rethink how we're living with this virus if it is potentially here to stay?”

Walensky responded, saying “the overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities,” adding that, “Really these are people who were unwell to begin with.”

The clip went viral in part because many interpreted the comments to mean that 75% of all COVID deaths were among those with several comorbidities. Later, though, a CDC spokesperson clarified to Fox News that Walensky was referring to deaths among those who had been vaccinated.

Those comments come after another controversial media appearance from Walensky, where she said that many of the reported COVID-19 hospitalizations are not driven by severe COVID cases, but by other conditions.

“What we are seeing with the Omicron variant is that it tends to be milder person by person, but given how large the numbers are that we’re seeing more and more cases come into the hospital,” Walensky said on Fox News Sunday. “In some hospitals that we've talked to, up to 40% of the patients who are coming in with COVID-19 are coming in not because they’re sick with COVID, but because they’re coming in with something else and have had to, COVID or the Omicron variant detected.”

Comments like these have cast doubt on the severity of the current COVID surge even as the Supreme Court considers legal challenges to Biden’s sweeping private sector mandates on that very issue.

Walensky also faced criticism over her remarks from some who said she was callous to those with comorbidities. She responded to that on Twitter.

"We must protect people with comorbidities from severe #COVID19. I went into medicine – HIV specifically – and public health to protect our most at-risk," Walensky wrote on Twitter. "CDC is taking steps to protect those at highest risk, incl. those w/chronic health conditions, disabilities, & older adults."

Walensky sparked debate once again during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, where she said, “What [vaccines] can't do anymore is prevent transmission."

Critics of Biden’s vaccine mandate pointed to these comments, arguing they undermine the reasoning for forcing Americans to get vaccinated.

“Did Walensky just kill the vaccine mandates?” Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch, wrote on Twitter in response to Walensky’s comments.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has decided to run for a third term in the U.S. Senate.

Johnson answered the state’s great unanswered question in the state with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

"Much as I'd like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don't feel I should,” Johnson wrote.

His announcement ends months of speculation. It also starts a new round of political questions.

The first is what will Kevin Nicholson do?

Nicholson, a longtime candidate and the head of the No Better Friend Corp., was waiting for Johnson to make a decision so he could make his.

“It's no secret that I'm considering a run for Governor. It is time for new leadership in Wisconsin. We deserve a Governor who shares our values, works for our kids, stands up for law enforcement, defends life, and secures our elections,” Nicholson said on Twitter on Sunday. “I do believe I have a role to play in setting the course for a better future for all of us. Over the coming days my family, friends, and I will continue to pray for wisdom for our next steps.”

The Republican frontrunner in the governor’s race, Rebecca Kleefisch, took to Twitter as well on Sunday, but didn’t mention a possible primary fight against Nicholson.

“Run, [Ron Johnson], run! Now more than ever we need strong conservative leaders who are willing to stand up to Joe Biden and the Left,” Kleefisch said in a tweet.

It’s not just the Republicans who are looking at the ripple effect of Johnson’s decision.

A third Johnson run for the U.S. Senate means whoever wins the crowded Democratic primary will face a well-financed incumbent candidate in November.

Democratic Senate frontrunner, and current Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, previewed the strategy against Johnson in his statement on Sunday.

“The only people celebrating Ron Johnson’s announcement are his donors and the corporate special interest groups he’s bailed out time and time again. Let’s get to work and retire this failed senator,” Barnes said.

Many national polls say Johnson is one of the most vulnerable Senators this fall.

Marquette Law School poll master and professor Charles Franklin said on Sunday that Johnson’s favorability rating in the last Marquette Law School poll was just 36%.

But polls show none of Johnson’s potential Democratic challengers are very popular with voters either.

(The Center Square) – Tommy Thompson is leaving the University of Wisconsin to a round of applause and congratulations.

Thompson on Friday announced that he is leaving the UW System as interim president in March.

"I was honored to be asked by the Board of Regents to serve as System President, particularly through what could have been its darkest time," Thompson said in the letter announcing his retirement. "While challenging on many fronts, we worked together to continue to provide the quality of education our students deserve and parents expect."

Thompson took over the UW System in 2019, and immediately faced a crisis of confidence at the Capitol, then faced the coronavirus pendemic.

Lawmakers in Madison say he negotiated the school through both.

“During his 18 months leading the organization, he faced challenges no president had experienced before. He tackled them head-on and continued to provide quality education, maximizing in-person learning for the students of the UW System. During the last two years, there is no doubt education at the UW campuses would have been nowhere near as meaningful without Tommy Thompson,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester said Friday.

“President Thompson stepped in during a critical moment for UW System and our state, and he has provided strong and decisive leadership,” out-going UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a statement. “He has been an extraordinary advocate for our students, faculty and staff over these past 18 months, as he has been for the state of Wisconsin over his many decades of public service.”

UW Regent President Edmund Manydeeds also heaped praise on Thompson following his retirement announcement.

“Tommy Thompson was the right man at the right time. His leadership has helped carry us through a pandemic and set the standard for managing during a crisis,"

The UW System has been searching for a new president, and that search may be over. Thompson has said in the past he will only serve as interim president, and his retirement may signal that the school has found a permanent replacement.

Thompson’s last day at the university is set for March 18. The university has not made any announcements about a new president, or a timeline to bring someone on board.

(The Center Square) – The field of Republican candidates for governor in Wisconsin is getting smaller.

Former Northwoods Congressman Sean Duffy told New Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber on Thursday that he is not going to run.

“You have to be able to give 110% to a race, and right now with my kids it’s just not the right time,” Duffy said.

Duffy and his wife Rachel have nine children. They live in New Jersey because both Duffy and his wife are Fox News contributors. Duffy started with Fox News after nearly five terms in Congress representing Wisconsin.

“You have to raise strong, good, Conservative Christian kids if we're going to be successful and save them from the pressures of this woke culture,” Duffy said. “And that’s my number one job.”

Duffy never said he was thinking about running for governor, but former President Donlad Trump jump-started the rumor mill when he issued a statement in October urging Duffy to run.

"Working hard to get very popular and capable Former Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin to run for Governor. He would be fantastic!" Trump said at the time. "A champion athlete, Sean loves the people of Wisconsin, and would be virtually unbeatable."

Duffy’s decision means one fewer candidate to challenge Republican front runner Rebecca Kleefisch, who served as Wisconsin's lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2019.

“Sean Duffy is a conservative stalwart and a great family man,” Kleefisch said on Twitter Thursday. “Thank you for everything you and [Rachel Campos-Duffy] do to advance the conservative movement. I look forward to all of us working together to beat Tony Evers!”

Conservative Kevin Nicholson is a possible Republican candidate in Wisconsin, but he has not yet decided if he’s going to run for governor or for U.S. Senate.