Monthly Archives: February, 2022

(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden is expected to deliver the State of the Union address Tuesday evening, and economic and fiscal policy experts are raising the alarm about the fiscal state of the nation.

The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) released its economic growth projections for the next quarter and downgraded their forecasts.

"NABE panelists have downgraded their forecasts for economic growth in 2022,” the report said. “The median forecast for inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (real GDP) growth from the fourth quarter (Q4) 2021 to Q4 2022 is 2.9% – down from the 3.6% forecasted in the December 2021 Outlook Survey. In general, panelists anticipate further deceleration in GDP growth in 2023: the median forecast calls for GDP growth of 2.3%.”

The report said experts point to policy “missteps” as a key factor.

“Thirty percent of panelists identify monetary policy missteps as the greatest downside risk,” the report said. “One-quarter (25%) sees ongoing supply-chain issues and 19% cite geopolitical tensions/global growth slowdown as the most prominent downside risks to their growth projection (considering both probability of occurrence and potential impact).”

Experts point to the soaring national debt and inflation as key reasons for the economic woes. Federal inflation data released Friday showed another significant increase in prices, the latest in a steady trend of inflation figures that have economists worried.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data on Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), a key marker of inflation, which has shown a sharp rise in recent months.

“The PCE price index for January increased 6.1 percent from one year ago, reflecting increases in both goods and services …” BEA said. “Energy prices increased 25.9 percent while food prices increased 6.7 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index for January increased 5.2 percent from one year ago.”

That increase was the highest in nearly four decades.

A coalition of groups have come together to support a congressional resolution to require an annual “Fiscal State of the Union” to be released by certain federal agencies.

“This concurrent resolution requires the congressional budget committees to conduct an annual joint hearing to receive a presentation from the Comptroller General regarding (1) the Government Accountability Office's audit of the financial statement of the executive branch, and (2) the financial position and condition of the federal government,” said the official summary of the resolution, sponsored by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., in the Senate and Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., in the House.

The House has approved the measure, but the companion resolution in the Senate is still in committee.

“Lawmakers need to begin paying more attention to our fiscal outlook,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “An Annual hearing by the Senate and House Budget Committees featuring the Comptroller General would shine some much-needed light on our unsustainable budget situation, rather than sweeping it under the carpet.”

The groups emphasized Republicans and Democrats are responsible for the national debt, which recently surpassed $30 trillion. The national debt has increased significantly under both Democratic and Republican administrations over the past two decades.

“Both parties in Congress need to get serious about America’s debt and deficits, and it starts with a full, honest, and public accounting of the country’s financial health,” said Andrew Lautz, director of federal policy for National Taxpayers Union. “The Fiscal State of the Nation resolution is a first sensible step in understanding the federal government’s budget picture from year to year.”

(The Center Square) – The head of the University of Wisconsin-Madison wants Gov. Evers to scuttle two plans aimed at Critical Race Theory and free speech on campus.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the two plans are bad for the university.

“As a university, our aim is to graduate well-rounded, critical thinkers; to teach our students not what to think but how to think,” Blank said in a statement Wednesday.

Both plans were up before the Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday.

Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, said the idea of his legislation is to do just what the chancellor claims she wants. To teach people how to think, not what to think.

“Our colleges and universities should be a place of higher learning where all schools of thought can come together,” Moses said Tuesday. “However, our campuses have become increasingly hostile over recent years with students who openly share their ideas that may not necessarily be those of the institution or their teachers.”

Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger, said the idea of reining in Critical Race Theory at UW schools simply means telling students they don’t have to subscribe to a teachers’ political philosophy.

“This includes that one race or sex is superior to another race or sex, that an individual by virtue of their race or sex is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive either consciously or unconsciously,” Gundrum explained. “Or that an individual should be discriminated against, or receive adverse treatment based on their race or sex.

Chancellor Blank said if Gov. Evers doesn’t veto the plans, the UW System will suffer.

“UW’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest faculty, staff and students depends on being an environment where both academic freedom and freedom of speech are core values,” Blank added in her statement.

(The Center Square) – The proposal to spell out just how involved parents can be in their children’s education continues to face opposition at the Wisconsin Capitol, even as it moves forward.

A handful of parents turned out to support the Parents’ Bill of Rights during a hearing in the Senate Committee on Education on Wednesday.

Mom Julie Zaccaria told lawmakers there needs to be a state structure to balance the relationship between parents and local schools that she says has shifted over the past few years.

“The battle is against a system with what seems like endless financial, legal, and political backing” Zaccaria explained. “Children are being victimized and parents have no recourse.

Zaccaria made headlines last year when she publicized a graphic sex survey in her child’s school in Brookfield.

Mom Scarlett Johnson, who was one of the leaders of the Mequon-Thiensville school board recall, said parents feel shut-out by their local school boards and school administrators. She pleaded with lawmakers to step in.

“I continue to be very surprised that partnership with parents is considered controversial,” Johnson said. “They’re involvement should be welcomed. It’s ideal. Considering the considerable learning deficits that must be addressed, it’s necessary. Teachers, parents, and administrations need to work together.”

While Republicans support the Bill of Rights, Democrats don’t. The bill passed the Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday.

Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, pressed parents as to why they aren’t taking these complaints up with their local school boards.

“Your children’s schools are attended by hundreds of individuals. Right now, I see three parents who are here asking for this,” Sen. Johnson said.

The moms say they did bring these issues to their school boards, months ago. And all of them said they received platitudes or no responses at all.

“These are not hard things that we’re asking,” mom Johnson said. “We’re asking to know what are our kids learning in school? What books are they reading? What are the supplemental materials?”

The Parents Bill of Rights is on track to be approved in the Wisconsin Senate. But as with most education legislation in Madison this year, it is also on track to be vetoed by Gov. Evers.

(The Center Square) – It is another round of education changes from Assembly Republicans in Madison.

And much like the first time around, the plans are likely doomed.

Republicans on Tuesday moved ahead with a series of plans that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says focuses on learning and makes it clear that parents are in charge of their child’s education.

“That’s really what the focus is,” Vos told reporters at the Capitol. “Making sure that parents have every single right to ensure what happens with their own kids.

Vos is pushing one plan, AB 995, that would require an in-person option for all kids if schools ever decide to try remote-learning again. The plan would also spell out that parents will decide on vaccinations for their kids.

The plan that may get the most attention is AB 446, which would begin early literacy screenings for kids in kindergarten.

Rep. Bob Whitke, R-Racine, said the plan is unpopular because it comes with consequences for schools that don’t get kids reading at grade level by the third grade.

“Generally, those schools that have children who can’t read by the third grade would have to hold those students back until they are proficient enough to move on,” Whitke explained. “That is an uncomfortable conversation to have. But that is the reality of where we are at.”

Whitke said nearly two-thirds of school kids in Wisconsin cannot read, write, or do math at grade level.

“How many students are we going to fail?” Whitke asked. “This has got to stop. We are at a point in history where parents are demanding that we stop. That is why we are bringing up a number of these policy bills. That is our responsibility.”

Another Republican plan would require school resource officers if a school sees over 100 police calls or 25 arrests in one semester.

Two other proposals focus on free speech and Critical Race Theory at universities and technical colleges in the state.

All of the plans are expected to pass the Republican-controlled legislature. All of the plans are expected to be vetoed once they reach Gov. Evers’ desk.

(The Center Square) – Newly uncovered federal grant documents show that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded roughly $2.5 million in taxpayer dollars to a Florida-based education program that trains education future teachers in, among other things, critical race theory.

The funding came through two grants, one in 2017 and another in 2021. Both grants went to faculty at Florida State University, which has partnered with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Grant documents from the federal Institute for Education Sciences database show that the DOE awarded $1,020,800 in the first grant and $1,498,620 in the second grant. The program offers participants 1-year fellowships.

The program in question is called Partners United for Research Pathways Oriented to Social Justice in Education (PURPOSE).

“The PURPOSE training program's P–20 theme focuses on researching social justice issues within educational contexts,” the grant says. “Throughout the year fellows will participate in proseminars, within which they will learn about social justice issues.”

Those proseminars include teaching and training on critical race theory.

From Purpose’s website:

The theme of the PURPOSE program is, “Social Justice: Using Research to Address Inequities in Education.” Students from FSU and FAMU will have opportunities to develop their own research projects during the yearlong fellowship by engaging research problems targeting educational injustices. One of our program outcomes is a value for participating in the process of social justice, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all groups of people can fully participate in a society that meets their needs, beginning with an equitable education.

In the spring and summer semesters, fellows will participate in proseminars that focus on social justice topics including culturally relevant pedagogy and research design, tools for analyzing oppression, critical race theory, multicultural leadership, and tools for social change and action, which are led both by PURPOSE mentors and guest speakers from both institutions.

Alysia Roehrig, a professor of Educational Psychology at FSU who is listed as the “principal investigator” for the 2017 grant, acknowledged that critical race theory is taught in the taxpayer-funded program. She defended PURPOSE, saying it focuses on training education researchers, not teachers, though some of the fellows do go on to be teachers.

“The purpose of our project is to train minoritized students in education research methods so that they may obtain a PhD and perhaps become university professors,” Roehrig said. “We talk about CRT as one of many frameworks that can be used in conducting research with minoritized populations to address social justice issues in education. It is important to spend federal research money on understanding social justice issues because those from racially minoritized populations (who also pay taxes) are underrepresented in the education sciences.”

Roehrig also said it is important to inform teachers about “structural racism.”

“Without diverse perspectives in the field, it is very difficult to address research questions and issues that are relevant to our diverse U.S. population, or to overcome the pipeline problem (increasing the representation of minoritized students in graduate school and university faculty),” Roehrig said. “CRT has been taught in universities for a while (typically at the grad not undergrad level), but I think it has not been taught or used in K-12 schools.

“Teaching young children directly about the theory does not seem developmentally appropriate to me, but the theory can inform their teachers about structural racism and hopefully reduce deficit thinking about their students,” she added.

The principal investigator faculty member at FSU for the 2021 grant, Jeannine Turner, did not respond to a request for comment.

The office of U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., responded to a press inquiry on the program, calling it “inherently racist.”

“Last year, Senator Scott introduced a resolution condemning the use of Critical Race Theory in K-12 schools and teacher training, and he believes any taxpayer dollars spent to push the far-left’s narrative that America is inherently racist and evil in our classrooms, from Pre-K through higher education, is a gross and unacceptable misuse,” Scott’s office said in a statement.

Other critics also attacked PURPOSE, saying it rebuffs Democrats’ argument that CRT is not an issue in K-12 education.

“This is another example of how critical race theory – by name – finds its way into K-12 schools,” said Jonathan Butcher, an education expert at the Heritage Foundation. “These programs train graduate students to apply critical race theory’s discriminatory concepts to classroom teaching.”

The grant falls under the federal “Pathways to the Education Sciences Research Training Program.” The Pathways program’s website says it seeks to “increase the number of fellows from groups underrepresented in doctoral study including racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, economically disadvantaged students, veterans, and students with disabilities and provide greater diversity in the types of institutions that provide IES-funded research training.”

That research training, though, often includes controversial critical race theory curriculum, training educators who then go on to teach at all levels of secondary and higher education. The federal program has not just pushed CRT in Florida.

The Center Square previously reported that the DOE awarded millions of dollars to a North Carolina based program that trains future educators in critical race theory.

In two federal grants, North Carolina Central University (NCCU) received more than $2.6 million for training college students in critical race theory. That program is named “The Research Institute for Scholars of Equity," or RISE. As part of the taxpayer-funded program, students receive a travel allowance, a $5,000 stipend, and money for housing and food. According to the program’s promotional materials and grant documents, RISE students are taught to use critical race theory as a framework by which to evaluate teacher quality, among other things.

News of that program sparked controversy.

“Critical Race Theory is inherently bigoted and it is a lie,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in response to news about that grant funding. “The federal government should not be funding the training for a Marxist ideology that teaches people to hate America. That’s why I introduced legislation earlier this year to block federal funding for CRT.”

(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are pointing to another report as proof their policies are working.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu on Wednesday released a memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau that shows Wisconsin’s tax burden has fallen by $22 billion since 2011.

“In 2010, Wisconsin had the 5th highest tax burden in the nation. Residents were sending far too much of their earnings to Madison. On top of high taxes, the state had a $3.6 billion structural deficit, no Rainy Day Fund, and businesses were leaving in droves,” LeMahieu said.

Wisconsin is headed toward a record $4 billion surplus, plus a $1.7 billion rainy day fund.

“After twelve years of consistent tax cuts, fundamental reforms of government, and responsible budgeting, we’ve reduced the tax burden on Wisconsinites by $22 billion,” LeMahieu said. “As a result, our economy is more competitive and our state is attracting more people.”

Wisconsin’s tax burden, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, was the fifth highest in the nation back in 2011. Now, the Policy Forum reports Wisconsin’s tax burden is the 23rd highest in the country.

LeMahieu said none of the tax changes or savings would be possible if Gov. Evers had his way. He points to Gov. Evers’ first two budgets that would have raised taxes by over $1 billion, and increase state spending by up to $3 billion.

LeMahieu has expressed some support for using Wisconsin’s record surplus to lower or eliminate the state’s personal income tax.

He hinted at that again on Wednesday.

“The Legislature will continue our work to reduce the tax burden and the size of government so the people of Wisconsin can keep moving our state forward,” LeMahieu added.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a challenge to Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers.

The lawsuit, filed in August by the Florida-based Liberty Council on behalf of more than 2,000 Maine health care workers, alleges that the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is violating federal law by requiring vaccinations for health care workers without allowing a religious exemption for those who object.

On Tuesday, the justices rejected the group's motion to present oral arguments in the case without comment, per the high court's practice. The high court has rejected two previous requests for injunctions against the vaccine rules.

An executive order signed by Gov. Janet Mills, which went into effect in October, requires health care workers in the state to be fully vaccinated against the virus. The requirement includes health care workers in nursing homes and other long term care facilities, firefighters, emergency medical service and dental workers.

Only medical exemptions are allowed, not religious or philosophical.

The Mills administration said the rules, which were enacted during a surge of COVID-19 cases last year, are needed to prevent further outbreaks.

The vaccine mandate is backed by the Maine Medical Association and Maine Hospital Association and several other health care groups, which say it will protect public health.

But the Liberty Counsel argued that religious objections to the vaccines must be allowed under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the First Amendment.

"Many people hold sincere religious beliefs against taking any vaccines, or taking those derived from aborted fetal cell lines, or taking those sold by companies that profit from the sale of vaccines and other products derived from abortion," the group's lawyers wrote in court filings.

The Supreme Court's decision not to take up the Maine case follows it's rejection of President Joe Biden's proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal health care workers and a similar mandate for large companies. Maine was not one of the states that joined those legal challenges.

(The Center Square) – Florida’s former governor and current U.S. senator, Rick Scott, and eight other Republican senators introduced a bill to exempt all non-U.S. citizen commercial truck drivers from vaccination requirements as a condition to transport goods into the U.S.

It was filed one month after the Department of Homeland Security’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all foreign travelers entering the U.S. became effective Jan. 22.

Canada also began requiring proof of vaccination for all essential travelers, including truck drivers crossing the Canadian-U.S. border, on Jan. 15.

“Starting on January 22, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security will require that non-U.S. individuals entering the United States via land ports of entry or ferry terminals along our Northern and Southern borders be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and be prepared to show related proof of vaccination,” DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas said when announcing the mandate. “These updated travel requirements reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to protecting public health while safely facilitating the cross-border trade and travel that is critical to our economy.”

Before the cross-border vaccine mandates were put in place last month, essential workers, including truck drivers, have been able to transport supplies to the U.S. freely crossing the border during nearly two years of the pandemic. Putting the mandate in place now, amid a supply chain crisis, doesn’t make any sense, critics argue.

Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said the senators introducing the bill was “an important effort to reverse an arbitrary mandate that has slowed the movement of freight across our borders and made the already difficult job of trucking even more challenging. Truckers are essential workers and federal policies should reflect the critical role they play in our daily lives.”

The Terminating Reckless and Unnecessary Checks Known to Erode Regular Shipping (TRUCKERS) Act would exempt non-U.S. citizen commercial truck drivers traveling from Canada or Mexico who are seeking to temporarily enter the U.S. for business through a land port of entry from proof of vaccination requirements.

Cosigners include Republican senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven of North Dakota, Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas, and Marco Rubio, also from Florida.

“Truck drivers are the backbone of America’s economy. My dad was a truck driver and I know firsthand how critical these men and women are to getting products flowing to American families and businesses again,” Scott said. “President Biden’s inflation and supply chain crises are devastating so many Americans, especially our poorest families like mine growing up. By pushing these ridiculous mandates, he is only making things worse.

“The government has no business pushing mandates on families and our hardworking businesses and my TRUCKERS Act will help stop this nonsense in its tracks,” he added. “Joe Biden would be wise to take note of what’s happening in Canada and see that the top-down, ‘government controls all’ approach doesn’t work,” referring to the Freedom Convoy organized by Canadian truckers in protest of Canada’s ongoing mandates.

Scott also urged Canada’s government “to drop its ridiculous mandates on foreign drivers.”

Instead, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergency Services Act for the first time in Canadian history. The government also began freezing protesters’ and supporters’ bank accounts, prompting several U.S. attorneys general to take action.

“When I ran my business, a third of my employees were truck drivers, so I know firsthand how important they are to our economy and our country,” Braun said. “Federal government vaccine mandates are wrong and we should not make our supply chain problems worse by turning away commercial truck drivers temporarily entering the country for business for not showing their vaccination papers.”

Blackburn added, "If the Biden administration is that worried about unvaccinated individuals entering into the USA, they should secure the southern border and stop the millions of unvaccinated illegal aliens from flooding into our country.”

The bill was filed after 12 Republican senators urged President Joe Biden to abandon his plans to impose a vaccine mandate on non-citizen truck drivers.

Led by Montana Sen. Steve Daines, they argued that keeping the mandate would hinder the transportation of goods across the norther border and exacerbate the ongoing supply chain crisis.

"Trucking is the largest mode of surface trade with Canada; every day, there are approximately 14,000 total truck entries along the U.S.-Canada border hauling more than $846 million of goods. Any disruptions to the continuity of U.S.-Canada trade would likely have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond our shared border," they wrote.

"In March of 2020, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency classified truck drivers as essential to the continued viability of our nation’s infrastructure because trucking is an indispensable component of North American trade and the linchpin of America’s domestic supply chain.”

They urged the president to “reengage our northern neighbor and leading export partner to establish a reciprocal policy for cross-border truck drivers that does not include a vaccine mandate and will not disrupt the North American supply chain."

They didn’t get a response, and the mandate went into effect.

Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Giménez, who’s introducing a companion bill, said, “Time and time again, Joe Biden has made catastrophic decisions that have hurt the American people. By imposing an unnecessary vaccine mandate on truckers from Canada and Mexico conducting trade with the United States, Biden has further stifled our supply chains and made trade with our most important partners too costly. It is time for us to end this ridiculous vaccine mandate on truckers and begin taking steps to return America back to normal.”

(The Center Square) – The plan from Wisconsin Republicans to get people back to work took its first step forward at the Capitol Thursday.

The Wisconsin Assembly approved new rules for people receiving unemployment and Medicaid benefits.

“We are looking to build a stronger workforce,” Rep. Bob Petryk, R-Town of Washington, said Thursday, “It is the number one issue among employers in our state.”

Petryk’s proposal, AB 883, would make a series of changes to how unemployment benefits are managed in the state.

“Instead of looking at an entitlement, what we want the Department [of Workforce Development] to do is change their focus to helping people get back to work,” Petryk said.

Some of the changes would require people on unemployment in Wisconsin to look for work, actually go on interviews, and accept jobs that they’re offered in order to qualify for benefits.

Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said the idea is not to punish people, but to get them back into the workforce.

“We know this is the biggest issue facing our state, facing our state economy right now,” Born said. “We know that we have 100,000 fewer people in the workforce than we did pre-pandemic. And we know that we have seen growth in our benefit programs.”

The Assembly passed the plans on party-line votes. The state Senate is next.

But that’s about as far as the changes will go. Gov. Evers is expected to kill the plans when or if it makes it to his desk.

(The Center Square) – One Republican lawmaker is offering to accept Gov. Tony Evers’ offer to provide tax relief for Wisconsin, and even add a little.

The governor on Wednesday signed an order calling for a special session of the legislature on March 8 to consider his plan to provide $150 tax rebate checks for everyone in the state.

“[The] Legislative Fiscal Bureau recently released new projections indicating the state general fund balance will have a $3.8 billion surplus at the end of the 2021-23 biennium – nearly $2.9 billion more than was previously projected in June 2021,” the governor wrote in his special session proclamation. “Nevertheless, these costs remain a top concern for working Wisconsinites and families in every corner of the state, many of whom are already working to try and make ends meet.”

Most Republican lawmakers call Evers’ $150 rebate plan an election-year giveaway. The Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate are expected to ignore the March special session call.

But Sen. Roger Roth, R-Appleton, is willing to come back to Madison and vote on tax reforms. Just not the governor’s plan.

“Let’s not stop at $150 in one-time refunds, let’s use this historic opportunity to return all surplus funds back to the hard working families and businesses of Wisconsin,” Roth said Thursday. “Let’s use this special session to take up my bill to become the first state in the Midwest to eliminate the state income tax.”

On Monday, Roth and other Republicans introduced a plan to reduce Wisconsin’s personal income tax with the hope of fully eliminating it in a few years.

The proposal would lower income tax rates to:

2.15% (currently 3.54%)2.85% (currently 4.65%)3.20% (currently 5.30%)4.50% (currently 7.65%)

Roth says if Wisconsin’s finances don’t suffer, the tax rates would be reduced again.

Wisconsin Republicans are looking to make the state the eighth in the nation without a state income tax.

The debate is expected to ramp-up next year when the legislature will begin the process of writing a new state budget. And when Wisconsin may have a new governor.

(The Center Square) – The days of face masks are numbered at the University of Wisconsin.

The UW System on Wednesday announced campuses across the state can begin to end their mask requirements on March 1.

“While we will continue to take prudent prevention measures when warranted, restrictions can be lifted as case counts drop,” UW President Tommy Thompson said in a statement.

Wisconsin’s seven day average for new cases is down to 239 cases, and the state’s positivity rate is down to 8.9%. Both of those numbers are just about where they were at the beginning of the school year when the university ordered students to mask-up for a return to class.

“Our students have been terrific for the last two years in demonstrating a culture of responsibility,” Thompson said. “We have worked relentlessly to instill in them the need to protect themselves and those around them. Students should be able to cheer on sports teams, attend concerts and performances, and go to classes without masks when the conditions are right.”

UW-Madison, the state’s largest campus, said it will end its mask mandate on March 12. Other campuses on Wednesday announced their mask mandates will end on March 11.

“That means we’re at a point where responsible behavior is up to the individual to decide,” UW-Madison said in its statement. “We recognize that individuals will have different reactions to mask requirements ending and that for some it may feel stressful. We encourage those who want to continue to wear masks to do so and we will continue to make high-quality masks available to our campus community free of charge. Please respect everyone’s individual choices about masking.”

(The Center Square) – No one is any closer to an agreement on just what happened during the 2020 election in Wisconsin after the latest election hearing at the Capitol.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission testified before the Assembly’s Committee on Campaigns and Elections.

“A lot of the concerns about the November 2020 presidential election are based on assumptions that lack full understanding of election policies, laws, and technologies. Other concerns expressed to this committee have alleged startling claims of fraud without evidence,” WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe told lawmakers. “Nearly all of these concerns can be easily explained and understood once placed in context of how our election systems work.”

Wolfe said WEC has worked hard to answer questions about the state’s voter rolls, vote count, and allegedly fake voters.

On Wednesday the Commission said one of those accused fake voters, a man by the name of Ambrose Adventure, turned out to be a real person who legally changed his name.

Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, told Wolfe that quicker and more complete answers from the Commission would have helped.

“There’s 50-plus conspiracy theories out there,” Tusler said. “If we can narrow down the most tangible one, kind of get rid of these easier to explain ones, I think we’d all be in a better place now.”

The hearing came as tensions between Republicans grew over their response to the 2020 election. Assembly Campaigns and Elections Chairwoman Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, issued a statement after the hearing in which she accused Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of “kneecapping” her election investigation and reform efforts.

“It is no secret that the Speaker of the Assembly, Robin Vos, and State Sen. Kathy Bernier have been severely downplaying the significance of the voter fraud that the elections committee, the special counsel, and numerous independent groups have uncovered. Even in the face of growing outrage from an overwhelming number of Wisconsinites across the state, they continue to play political games with the future of our elections and our state,” Brandtjen said.

She’s upset that Vos sent some election reforms to a different Assembly committee. Bernier is the chairwoman of the Senate’s election committee.

“My question is simple: What are Robin Vos and Kathy Bernier afraid of?” Brandtjen asked.

Wednesday’s hearing also came one day after Brandtjen and now Republican candidate for governor Rep. Tim Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, rallied at the Capitol with a few hundred people.

Ramthun is running for governor on a promise to recall Wisconsin’s electoral votes, which election officials say is impossible, and move forward with a complete forensic audit of the 2020 election.

(The Center Square) – Gov. Tony Evers covered a lot of ground during his fourth State of the State, ranging from such topics as farm aid to the internet to tourism.

But Republican lawmakers say the governor ignored two of Wisconsin’s most pressing issues: crime and election reform.

“While crime is skyrocketing across the state, [Gov. Evers] has no plans to make us feel safer in our homes,” Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, said after Tuesday night’s speech. “He lamented his inability to accomplish ’justice reform,’ another way of lamenting that Wisconsin isn’t more like Illinois, California and New York. The solution isn’t weaker criminal penalties, defunding the police, prosecuting fewer crimes, or eliminating cash bail.”

The senator continued, noting the state's crime rate has spiked upward at 9%.

"Milwaukee just recorded a record high in homicides. And people don’t feel safe in their communities, yet Gov. Evers failed to present a plan to combat crime or even mention the subject,” Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, said. “One in five murder or attempted murder suspects in Milwaukee County was out on bond for another felony. It’s time to get tough on crime, pass meaningful bail reform, and actually support our police.”

Republican lawmakers also noted Evers failed to mention election reforms.

“The governor also failed to address the issues with our previous elections by vetoing several reforms,” Rep. Chuck Wichgers, R-Muskego, said.

Evers used the speech to take credit for Wisconsin’s low unemployment rate, as well as tax breaks and the state’s record budget surplus.

Republican lawmakers were quick to say that they are responsible for the tax cuts and the $4 billion surplus.

“Gov, Evers tried to take credit for a slew of Republican victories, including a massive $2 billion tax cut, record low unemployment, and the largest rainy day fund in state history,” Rep. Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said. “For four years, Governor Evers has pushed a radical-left agenda that includes more government, higher taxes, and less freedom. Republicans are committed to cutting taxes, protecting our police officers, and empowering parents to get involved in their children’s education.”