Monthly Archives: October, 2023

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order requiring that Artificial Intelligence technology advance “equity and civil rights.”

Biden signed the order this week, putting more regulatory guidance in place for A.I., a rapidly developing technology that some experts warn could be used for harm for everyday Americans.

Biden took it a step further, though, saying that A.I. “must be consistent with my Administration’s dedication to advancing equity and civil rights.”

“My Administration cannot — and will not — tolerate the use of AI to disadvantage those who are already too often denied equal opportunity and justice,” the order says.

Biden administration officials, including the Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council, have also been tasked with finding “accelerated hiring pathways” for the right people on this issue, as defined by the administration.

The order also seeks to "address algorithmic discrimination" in part by increasing “coordination between the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and Federal civil rights offices.”

The order makes clear that while tech leaders navigate the ethics of A.I. in the beginning of its development, the federal government is pushing to have equity and progressive racial politics included in the regulatory discussion.

Nine U.S. governors are asking the National Collegiate Athletics Association to rewrite its policy on transgender participation in sports, saying it is unfair to female athletes.

The NCAA updated a 2010 policy last year that requires transgender females to show they have undergone a year of testosterone suppression treatment. Testosterone levels are also checked before competitions.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and eight other governors cited University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines as an example of why the policy is unfair.

Gaines tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas for the top trophy at the NCAA Division I national championship in 2022. The NCAA gave Thomas the first-place trophy.

"The decade of hard work and the countless hours spent in the pool were suddenly wasted," the governors said in a letter to the NCAA. "Riley's lifetime of achievement was ripped away from her by someone who shouldn't have even been in the race – all for a photo op."

The governors said the NCAA has an opportunity to "create a fair environment for women's sports.

"But if you continue the NCAA's misguided policies, stories like Riley Gaines' will only become more common," they said. "Policies that allow men and women to compete against one another validate an average male athlete stealing the recognition from a truly remarkable female athlete."

Noem spearheaded a bill during the 2022 legislative session that requires South Dakota students to compete in sports based on their sex at birth. Twenty-two other states passed similar laws, according to ESPN.

The governors said they intervened because the federal government has not.

"As governors of our states, it is our responsibility to care for our constituents, and we are doing all we can to protect the fairness of athletics in our states," the governors said in the letter. "Now, it is time for the NCAA to do the same and make the best decision for all of your athletes."

The governors also quoted a study that said biological males have an advantage over females.

"Science proves that it is fundamentally unfair for a biological male to compete against a biological female – that does not change when someone declares themselves as being of a different gender," they said. "The National Institutes for Health found that there is on average a 10% difference between the top performing males and females in athletic competition. In high-level athletic competition, a 10% difference is massive – and can even be insurmountable."

A majority of respondents to a poll by The Center Square said they oppose biological males competing in female sports. Fifty-two percent of the 2,500 questioned said they strongly opposed, while 15% said they somewhat supported the issue.

Leaders of the Oakland Education Association in Oakland, California, called on school leaders to stand in solidarity with Palestinians and called for a ceasefire as tensions between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel continue to increase.

The union’s leadership shared curriculum resources it encouraged educators to employ in their classrooms, which accuse Israel of carrying out genocide and ethnic cleansing, something a Jewish parent said is concerning for her family as antisemitism is on the rise.

Megan Bacigalupi, a Jewish parent of students who attend schools in the Oakland Unified School District, said the union leaders’ statement is concerning given the increase in antisemitic incidents nationwide and in the area, including graffiti and the removal of hostage posters for Israelis taken to Gaza.

“We, the members of OEA, express our unequivocal support for Palestinian liberation and self-determination. We condemn the genocidal and apartheid state of Israel,” the now-deleted post on Instagram read, according to a screenshot of the post taken by Bacigalupi.

Bacigalupi, co-founder of California Parent Power, called the post antisemitic and said its position was not welcoming to the Jewish students or teachers in the district. She said it’s especially concerning, given the broader context of increasing antisemitism.

“Within our own community, we’ve seen these instances of antisemitism,” Bacigalupi told Chalkboard in an interview. “To then see the teachers union issue a statement which says really inflammatory things against Jewish people and particularly Jewish people in Israel, it was scary for me to see given the context we’re living in the world right now for Jews.”

The union that represents almost 3,000 educators and school staff said in a Facebook post Friday that its members “unequivocally condemn the 75-year-long illegal military occupation of Palestine.”

“The Israeli government created an apartheid state, and the Israeli government leaders have espoused genocidal rhetoric and policies against the people of Palestine,” the statement reads. “Our conscience demands that we say clearly that OEA calls for a ceasefire and an end to the occupation of Palestine.”

Israel’s statehood was announced 75 years ago, in May of 1948. The White House said last week that a ceasefire in the region would only benefit Hamas, which is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a terrorist organization.

The union’s leadership said educators have “the academic freedom” to teach about Palestine based on its contract with the school district “and the responsibility to teach young people about the realities of the world we live in.”

The statement encouraged teachers to use resources compiled by OEA educators in Google Drive and that the union would back teachers who face disciplinary actions. Some of those resources describe a “genocide” committed by Israel and ask students to consider how Palestinians’ “human rights are being infringed upon.”

A resource sheet in Google Drive says educators can take action by calling Congress to “stop the genocide” and “write a letter to Congress for an immediate ceasefire.” A “Free Palestine” slideshow from the union’s leaders said, “The US helps fund Israel’s Genocide.”

“If you haven’t spent time educating yourself on the 75-year ongoing ethnic cleansing in Palestine, please don’t teach this and educate yourself first, then learn to teach this,” the slideshow said. It did not mention the Oct. 7 terrorist attack carried out against Israel.

“It’s really troubling,” Bacigalupi said. “If you are teaching about this, you have to be accurate and allow them to be critical thinkers and not persuaded by false or misinformation.”

The OEA statement also recommends teachers utilize TeachPalestine.org, which it calls a “great resource for classroom materials.”

A document linked prominently on that website called “Gaza on the Eighth Day of Israeli Aggression” supposedly “tells the story of the destruction of Gaza and the loss of life through numbers and statistics.” That document calls dead Palestinians “martyrs.”

TeachPalestine.org also links to a website called the Middle East Monitor as a purported source for news and updates on the conflict. The director of the publication, Daud Abdullah, was condemned in 2009 for signing a public statement of support for Hamas militarism while he served on the Muslim Council of Britain, according to The Guardian.

Another website listed as a resource by Teach Palestine, Jadaliyya, published a piece about the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that praised terrorist organizations’ “resourcefulness.”

“That Hamas and Islamic Jihad were under these circumstances able to plan and prepare an operation of such scale, scope, and sophistication, a process that will have consumed many months at the least, and will have required extensive communications among leaders, cadres, and operatives, is an astonishing achievement and testament to the legendary resourcefulness of Gaza’s Palestinians,” wrote Mouin Rabbani, a Dutch-Palestinian researcher.

When Hamas terrorists entered Israel on Oct. 7, they killed over 1,400 civilians and took hundreds of hostages back to Gaza. Israel has retaliated with air strikes, which a Hamas-run health agency reportedly says has resulted in over 8,000 casualties.

The Oakland Education Association called on school leaders to allow students to protest and to take a stand to support peace and the Palestinian people.

The union also said it would participate in an event on Saturday called the International Day of Solidarity: Free Palestine Bay Area. The Oakland Education Association is listed on an event posting.

The event calls for “no more U.S. aid to Israel,” “lift the siege on Gaza,” and that “the people demand a ceasefire.”

Students have walked out of class in a number of California districts in solidarity with Palestinians, which has led to Jewish parents asking administrators to keep San Francisco students safe.

Within one week of Texas suing the Biden administration over Border Patrol agents cutting concertina wire barriers on Texas soil, a federal judge granted Texas’ request and issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the federal government from cutting the fencing.

In response to the ruling, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement on social media saying the judge ordering the Biden administration to stop cutting razor wire along the Texas-Mexico border was “another win for Texas and our historic border mission. [President Joe] Biden created this crisis and has tried to block us at every turn. Attorney General [Ken] Paxton and I are pushing back.”

According to the 11-page ruling, “the temporary restraining order shall last until it expires on November 13, 2023, at 9:30 a.m., unless a further order of this Court extends the time.”

Texas and the Texas Public Policy Foundation sued the Biden administration Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas Del Rio Division. However, “In response to our lawsuit,” the Department of Homeland Security “has doubled down using a forklift tractor to dismantle the Texas razor wire barrier allowing 310 people to enter illegally,” TPPF General Counsel Robert Henneke said in a social media post, including a picture of a federal agent using a forklift to remove the wire.

🔥🚨 UPDATE: In response to our lawsuit, #BidenAdministration @DHSgov has doubled down using a forklift tractor to dismantle the #Texas razor wire barrier allowing 310 people to enter illegally. @TXAG & @TPPF have filed an immediate TRO motion seeking emergency relief from the… https://t.co/LntiboMpP8 pic.twitter.com/iJXzYogjhx— Robert Henneke (@robhenneke) October 27, 2023

In response, on Friday, Texas and TPPF filed an immediate Temporary Restraining Order motion seeking emergency relief from the court after “federal agents escalated their destruction of Texas’s barrier” and the federal government “renewed [its] effort to destroy Texas’s barrier and assist aliens’ entry into the country ... just days after Texas filed its lawsuit.”

By Monday morning, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses granted their request and issued a temporary restraining order to last two weeks.

Moses defined “property” for the purpose of the order as “concertina wire that the Plaintiff installed at the United States- Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas prior to this order.”

The order states the Biden administration is “enjoined from: (1) removing the property from its present location for any reason other than to provide or obtain emergency medical aid, as noted above; (2) concealing the property in any way; (3) offering the property for sale, rent, or use to any person, business, or entity; (4) selling or otherwise transferring the property in whole or in part; (5) encumbering the property in any way; (6) scrapping the property; (7) disposing of the property in any way; (8) disassembling, degrading, tampering with, or transforming the property in any way for any reason other than to provide or obtain emergency medical as noted in this order; and (9) failing to take all steps necessary to protect the property against damage or loss of any kind.”

Texas and TPPF sued the Biden administration after Eagle Pass officials declared a state of emergency in response to thousands of foreign nationals illegally entering Texas from Mexico in a few days, creating a humanitarian and public health and safety crisis. In response, Abbott surged Operation Lone Star border security resources to block illegal entry, including expanding installation of concertina wire.

The Biden administration has ordered Border Patrol agents to cut Texas’ concertina wire along the Rio Grande River. In the Eagle Pass area, they first cut Texas’ wire on Sept. 20. Since then, “federal agents have developed and implemented a policy, pattern, or practice of destroying Texas’s concertina wire to encourage and assist thousands of aliens to illegally cross the Rio Grande and enter Texas,” Texas’ lawsuit alleges. Border Patrol agents also “attach ropes or cables from the back of pickup trucks to ease aliens’ ability to illegally climb up the riverbank into Texas, … regularly cut new openings in the wire fence, sometimes immediately after Texas officers have placed new wire to plug up gaps in fencing barriers.

“By cutting Texas’s concertina wire, the federal government has not only illegally destroyed property owned by the State of Texas; it has also disrupted the State’s border security efforts, leaving gaps in Texas’s border barriers and damaging Texas’s ability to effectively deter illegal entry into its territory.”

The Biden administration has sued Texas over its marine barriers and is prepared to challenge Texas on that case and this one all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Moses scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for Nov. 7, 2023. The hearing will address “the intersection of: the private property rights of the persons consenting to the placement of the concertina wire on their land, the Plaintiff’s right to assist private property owners and avoid costs to the Plaintiff; and the Defendants’ responsibilities over national security and border security, and its powers to effectuate its duties, up to and including the destruction of private or state property.”

This is the third OLS-related lawsuit filed in the last couple of months. The first two were filed against Texas after Abbott ordered the installation of marine barriers in the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass. Texas National Guardsmen and women have also installed thousands of miles of concertina wire and large shipping containers along the riverbank in Eagle Pass, El Paso, Brownsville and other heavily trafficked areas.

In other parts of the border, Texas is continuing to build its first border wall. The Texas legislature just passed a bill authorizing allocating another $1.5 billion to fund it and other border barrier construction.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s governor is criticizing Republican lawmakers for not following science and what he is calling an “antipathy” toward LGBTQ people.

The governor said in an interview with WisEeye he will veto the Republican-backed plan to ban sex change operations and hormone therapy for children in Wisconsin.

“I didn’t realize that the legislature had the ability to know more about that issue than the physicians that are with those kids,” Gov. Tony Evers said.

Both the Wisconsin Assembly and the State Senate this month passed legislation that would ban gender affirming care for minors.

Republicans said the idea is to give young people and their families time to “hit the pause button.”

“What this bill does is it grants minors the time for their minds to develop in order to make the right choice for them at the appropriate developmental age,” Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, said. “I want to make clear that this bill does not prohibit social transitioning and it does not affect adults. It allows minors the chance to hit the pause button before making a significant choice.”

Evers said the Republican focus on gender affirming care, and another plan that would ban trans athletes from girls sports in the state, has nothing to do with protecting kids.

“Let’s follow the science. The science is not what they’re talking about,” Evers said. “They're talking about more of an issue that is not science-based. It really has nothing to do with the medicine, it has to do with their LGBTQ apathy, frankly.”

Evers has promised to veto both the gender affirming care ban, and the ban on biological boys playing girls sports.

“So no, that won't go anywhere,” Evers said. “I continue to support the LGBTQ kids. They struggled mightily to begin with, and then to have this be the issue that the legislature feels that they have to weigh-in on. I think it's ridiculous. They aren't the experts, and the experts are saying ‘Let the parents and the kids work with us, and we'll figure it out.’”

(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol say students need free speech protections on University of Wisconsin campuses.

The Assembly Committee on Colleges and University held a public hearing on a pair of plans Republicans say will not only make sure the Universities of Wisconsin are respecting the First Amendment but will also open the campus to more students.

“The stark difference between Democrats’ confidence level in higher education, which is about 59% positive according to Gallup, and that of Republicans, which is only about 19% positive and Independents confidence which is measured at about 32% positive, is also reflected in the UW Free Speech Survey results shows the lack of intellectual diversity and tolerance for opposing viewpoints on UW campuses is directly affecting enrollment,” Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, told lawmakers.

She is shepherding one of the two plans, Assembly Bill 553, through the legislature.

Nedweski helped write the legislation after the UW Free Speech Survey last year and after a series of public hearings at UW campuses.

That survey showed half of UW students don’t speak their minds out of fear of being “canceled.”

“More than half of our students, 57%, reported wanting to express their views about a controversial topic in class but decided not to,” UW President Jay Rothman said on Twitter of the survey. “Some worried that other students would disagree with their views, or that the instructor would find their views offensive, or that they would get a lower grade.”

Nedweski said so far, the University of Wisconsin has resisted requests to protect and promote free speech.

She said lawmakers must now do something else.

“This is to put pressure on the universities,” Nedweski said.

Nedweski’s plan would include a requirement that would send prospective students a letter explaining that their UW campuses violated the new free speech policy.

Democrats at the Capitol don’t like that idea.

“So, we’re putting pressure on the Universities?” Rep. Alex Joers, D-Middleton said. “I don’t know how I would read that as a student, but they may say ‘Whoa, I don’t want to go to the University of Wisconsin.”

“Yes,” Nedweski said, “That’s the idea.”

(The Center Square) – The plan to spend $500 million in taxpayer money on the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium may look different once it gets through the Wisconsin Senate.

A Senate panel held a hearing on the stadium funding proposal Wednesday and immediately hit supporters with questions.

“It would seem to be rushed,” Sen Julian Braldey, R-Franklin, said at Wednesday’s hearing. “It was intentionally half-baked. And it was just dropped. I don’t think any of us planned to take this up this session.”

Bradley said he wants the Brewers to stay in Milwaukee, but he wants to get “the right deal” to make it happen.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said before the hearing that there are not enough Republican votes to get the ballpark package through the Senate.

“I think, ultimately, people are looking for maybe a little larger contribution from the Brewers and a little less contribution from the state,” LeMahieu said. “I know that the avenue that some of the members have looked for is a ticket tax.”

State Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, who has led the negotiations in the State Assembly said a Brewer ticket tax is a non-starter, but he said there is support for a ticket tax for concerts and other things.

“Keep in mind, it’s got to be a very small threshold,” Brooks explained. “Because we’re not talking huge, expensive events in some cases. We could be talking about a George Strait concert, which I paid over $1,000 per-ticket to go to, or we could be talking about $20 monster truck show.”

Brooks told senators he intentionally “half-baked” the proposal to allow the Senate to put its stamp on the ballpark funding deal.

Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, said there is a need for some urgency because of a possible collapse at the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District and a desire to settle the ballpark issue.

“Businesses want certainty,” Feyen added. “And if you’re running a Major League Baseball team, and there’s going to be no deal done, [they] need to know for their future. And so does the state, the city, and the county.”

Democrats, many of whom have never supported using taxpayer dollars for the Brewers’ ballpark, continued their opposition.

“If this were the university system, a government agency, or any other entity, lawmakers would be asking a lot more questions about their financial management before forking over half a billion dollars,” Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said. “Just because it's a team we like and they hired an army of lobbyists doesn't mean we need to shut off our brains. The Senate needs to slow the bill down and get to the bottom of the scam the Brewers are trying to pull on taxpayers.”

Both Brooks and Feyen reminded senators the state owns American Family Field, and without a deal, taxpayers in the state will continue to be on the hook for the ballpark with or without the Brewers.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., as speaker of the House, ending more than three weeks without a speaker and a string of chaotic meetings and votes on Capitol Hill.

Johnson received multiple standing ovations from his colleagues Wednesday before securing the speakership. The final vote was 220-209, with Democrats supporting Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look in our hearts and elect Mike Johnson as speaker of the people’s House,” Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said in a speech from the House floor ahead of the vote, calling Johnson “a man of deep faith,” and “a deeply respected Constitutional lawyer.”

“Mike is strong, tough and fair, and above all, Mike is kind,” Stefanik added.

Stefanik announced on Sunday nine candidates that were making a bid to be speaker, but that number was slowly whittled down as lawmakers dropped out.

“Today is the day we get this done,” Stefanik said in her Wednesday speech.

U.S> Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., gave a speech from the floor to nominate Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker and attack Republicans.

Jeffries blasted Republicans for “all of the infighting, all of the disarray just to end up where we were three weeks ago.”

Johnson pitched Republicans on an aggressive legislative agenda over the next few weeks. Under his leadership, the House will face a looming partial government shutdown deadline in the middle of November as well as ongoing calls to fund Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.

"We must govern well and expand our majority next year," Johnson said in a letter to his fellow Republicans over the weekend, asking for support in the speakership race.

President Joe Biden called on Congress last week for more than $100 billion to that end, as well as funding for Taiwan, the immigration issue and other priorities.

That proposal was met with immediate pushback from Republicans in the House and Senate. Some funding for Israel though, is likely to pass. More funding for Ukraine has become a divisive issue for Republicans, and it remains unclear how many more billions lawmakers will be willing to send to Ukraine.

Notably, U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, was running for speaker but later dropped out and told reporters he was supporting Johnson.

The chaotic three-week battle for a speaker began when U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., filed a motion to vacate former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. At that point, Majority Leader Steve Scalise won the nomination but quickly backed out after being unable to secure the needed votes. After that, House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, won the nomination but lost it days later after three failed votes on the House floor with 25 Republicans ultimately voting against him.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., was next to secure the nomination but almost immediately withdrew after failing to gain support.

Notably, former President Donald Trump campaigned against Emmer.

Before the vote Wednesday, Johnson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a picture of the American flag in the House Chamber, which has inscribed above it "In God We Trust."

In the busiest U.S. Customs and Border Protection sector along the U.S.-Canada border, agents apprehended more illegal border crossers entering the U.S. in fiscal 2023 than they had in the previous 11 years combined.

Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 6,700 foreign nationals from 76 countries attempting to enter the U.S. illegally from Canada. This represents a 550% increase in apprehensions from fiscal 2022, Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.

Despite having far fewer agents and resources than sectors along the southwest border, Swanton Sector agents have been “resolute and determined to hold the line across our 295 miles of border in northeastern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire,” he said.

The sector spans 295 miles of international boundary with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, of which 203 miles is on land. The remaining 92 miles of border fall primarily along the St. Lawrence River. The sector is the first international land boundary east of the Great Lakes.

The sector includes all of Vermont, six upstate New York counties and three New Hampshire counties.

According to preliminary data obtained from a Border Patrol agent, Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended at least 6,704 illegal foreign nationals and 3,745 gotaways. The data excludes Office of Field Operations data. When this data is included, the numbers are higher.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not publicly release gotaway data. The Center Square obtains it from a Border Patrol agent who provides it on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Gotaways is the official CBP term to define foreign nationals who illegally enter the U.S. and don’t turn back to Canada or Mexico. They illegally enter between ports of entry and seek to evade capture. Those in law enforcement have no idea how many there are in the U.S., who or where they are. According to data previously published by The Center Square, they total an estimated 1.7 million since January 2021.

The U.S.-Canada border is the longest international border in the world of 5,525 miles. Unlike the U.S.-Mexico border, there are no border walls or similar barriers separating the U.S. from Canada. Most of the northern U.S.-Canada border is demarcated by rivers, lakes, mountains, ravines and forests. In heavily trafficked areas, Border Patrol agents have erected concrete barricades and boulders to prevent human smuggling, which Garcia refers to as “impedance and denial measures.”

The barriers prevent vehicles from driving through but do not prevent foot traffic. Multimillion dollar high fences and surveillance equipment used by wealthy homeowners in the northeast and New England provide better protection from intruders than these structures do, officials have explained to The Center Square.

While many miles of the remote northern border remain unpatrolled due to a number of factors, at northern border ports of entry, CBP Office of Field Operations agents have consistently apprehended the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists in the U.S.

In fiscal 2023, OFO and Border Patrol agents apprehended a total of 736 KSTs nationwide – the greatest number apprehended in recorded U.S. history.

The significant majority of them – 66%, or 487– were apprehended at the northern border attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada.

By comparison, 249 known or suspected terrorists were apprehended at the southwest border in fiscal 2023.

The state of Texas and a free market policy group sued the Biden administration Tuesday in response to Border Patrol agents being directed to cut concertina wire fencing erected by state officers in Eagle Pass, Texas, to help secure the southern border.

The wire fencing was put up as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star.

The lawsuit was filed by the office of the Attorney General and the Texas Public Policy Foundation in U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas Del Rio Division. It names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, and Del Rio Sector Chief Juan Bernal as defendants.

It is the third OLS-related lawsuit filed in the last couple of months. The first two were filed against Texas after Abbott ordered the installation of marine barriers in the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass. Texas National Guardsmen and women have also installed thousands of miles of concertina wire and large shipping containers along the riverbank in Eagle Pass, El Paso, Brownsville and other heavily trafficked areas. In other parts of the border, Texas is continuing to build its first border wall.

Last month, Eagle Pass officials declared a state of emergency in response to a surge of thousands of people illegally entering within a few days. In response, Abbott surged additional OLS resources to block illegal entry, including expanding installation of concertina wire.

Border Patrol agents first cut the wire on Sept. 20 in a heavily trafficked area in Eagle Pass, which Texas Border Czar Mike Banks recorded on video. Abbott posted the video on social media saying, “Texas installed razor wire in Eagle Pass to stop illegal crossings. Today, the Biden Admin CUT that wire, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants. I immediately deployed more Texas National Guard to repel illegal crossings & install more razor wire.”

The lawsuit alleges that since "September 20, 2023, federal agents have developed and implemented a policy, pattern, or practice of destroying Texas’s concertina wire to encourage and assist thousands of aliens to illegally cross the Rio Grande and enter Texas.” They also “attach ropes or cables from the back of pickup trucks to ease aliens’ ability to illegally climb up the riverbank into Texas, … regularly cut new openings in the wire fence, sometimes immediately after Texas officers have placed new wire to plug up gaps in fencing barriers.

“By cutting Texas’s concertina wire, the federal government has not only illegally destroyed property owned by the State of Texas; it has also disrupted the State’s border security efforts, leaving gaps in Texas’s border barriers and damaging Texas’s ability to effectively deter illegal entry into its territory.”

The lawsuit lists instances when Border Patrol agents cut Texas’ concertina wire, each time “admitting an unknown number of aliens through the hole. … CBP has seized and damaged Texas’s concertina wire to escort aliens into Texas more than 20 times. On each of these occasions, CBP has entered onto state, municipal, or private land to destroy state property. Plaintiff has not placed concertina wire on any federal land near Eagle Pass.”

The lawsuit asks the court to block federal agents from destroying Texas property, the concertina wire, and to rule the federal government doesn’t have the statutory authority to destroy Texas’ property. It also alleges the administration is violating federal law including the Administrative Procedures Act.

Abbott has maintained that Texas has the sovereign authority to defend its border and prevent illegal entry into Texas. After the Fifth Circuit handed Texas a win in the federal marine barrier lawsuit, Abbott said Texas will “continue to utilize every strategy to secure the border, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers and installing strategic barriers. Our battle to defend Texas’ sovereign authority to protect lives from the chaos caused by President Biden’s open border policies has only begun. Texas is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation agrees. Its executive director and general counsel, Rob Henneke, told The Center Square, “Enough is enough. The Biden Administration has not only illegally destroyed property owned by Texas, it has also disrupted the State’s border-security efforts. Our lawsuit will stop Biden’s policy of damaging Texas’ ability to effectively deter illegal entry into our state.”

(The Center Square) – There is traditional support for and opposition against a series of constitutional amendments that deal with voting in Wisconsin.

The Joint Senate Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection and Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committees held a public hearing Tuesday on three amendments.

● Senate Joint Resolution 71 / Assembly Joint Resolution 76 sets the voting age at 18, and limits voting in Wisconsin to only US citizens.

● Senate Joint Resolution 73 / Assembly Joint Resolution 78 enshrines voter ID in the Wisconsin Constitution.

● Senate Joint Resolution 78 / Assembly Joint Resolution 77 prohibits the use of outside money from being used in state elections.

“Just three short years ago almost everyone in Wisconsin would have thought this was unimaginable, falling into the conspiracy range for anyone who dared to suggest that this is even remotely possible,” citizen Jerry Mullins told lawmakers. “Unfortunately with countless documented cases of massive election fraud that clearly affected the outcome of past elections, the voters will finally be given a voice in how they want the administration of their elections to be processed in 2024 and beyond without the interference of outside money and non-citizens of the United States.”

The voting age and private money plans have both passed through the legislature before, meaning they could go before voters November 2024 on the statewide ballot.

The voter ID proposal would have to pass through the legislature again.

Voter Katherine Bertelli, who has worked is a poll worker in the past, said the voter ID protections are especially needed to stop the new liberal majority Wisconsin Supreme Court from eliminating any voter ID requirements for future elections.

“We really need to make our elections secure,” she said.

But advocates, like Jamie Lynn Crofts with Wisconsin Voices, warned three proposed amendments would make it too hard for some people in the state to vote.

“It's already incredibly difficult to vote in Wisconsin,” Crofts told lawmakers. “Wisconsin used to be a model of how to make the voting process easy. In 1996 we were ranked fourth in the country, today we're ranked 47th.”

Wisconsin lawmakers approved a voter ID law in Wisconsin in 2011, but it didn’t take effect until 2015 when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

State Rep. Paul Tittl, R-Manitowoc, pushed back on Crofts’ claim, saying Wisconsin goes out of its way to allow people to vote.

“I think in Wisconsin we actually have a good voter ID program, because if you tell somebody that you can't afford your birth certificate guess what? You'll get it for free. If you tell him that you can't afford your ID, guess what? You get it for free,” Tittl said. “I don't know how much simpler you can get and how much less costly you can get, unless you get paid to actually do it. But I don't think we're going to do that.”

(The Center Square) – The plan to spend $500 million in taxpayer money on the Milwaukee Brewers’ ballpark is heading for its next vote, despite not being a done deal.

Brewer President of Business Operations Rick Schlessinger said there is talk of a ticket tax as part of the final deal, but nothing is certain, yet.

“While there have been ongoing discussions on a ticket tax tied to concerts and other non-baseball events hosted at the ballpark, we’ve yet to see a formalized proposal on what that could look like from the legislature,” Schlesinger told The Center Square. “The devil is always in the details, and as bipartisan momentum for a deal continues to grow in the legislature, we’ll continue to work with stakeholders on both sides of the aisle to review any and all proposals.”

The Wisconsin Senate has scheduled a vote on the ballpark package for Wednesday.

One thing is almost certain, however. Schlesinger said the Brewers do not support a tax on tickets for Brewer games.

“The simple fact is adding a ticket tax to baseball games conflicts with our goal of making games affordable to fans at all income levels,” Schlesinger said. “It’s important to remember that the Brewers are in the smallest market in Major League Baseball, and our business model relies very much on fan attendance. With thousands of seats priced regularly around $10.00 per game, adding a surcharge on top of that price is a regressive tax and would greatly hurt our most cost-conscious fans.”

Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, last week said he’d suggest a ticket tax be added to the proposal.

“I support a ticket tax or user fee for attendees of games/events at the stadium,” Carpenter said on social media.

He said a $3 ticket tax could raise as much as $7.5 million a year.

The stadium funding package would spend more than $400 million in state money, $135 million from Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, and another $100 million from the Brewers on repairs and upgrades at American Family Field.

In exchange for the public money, the Brewers would agree to stay in Milwaukee until 2050.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has suggested adding an entertainment district, known as The Beer District, to the funding package as well.

Schlesinger said the team is open to the idea but is leery about removing parking and tailgating for fans to build it.

“As a part of the bipartisan legislation voted on last week, the Brewers have committed to joining an exploratory committee that would evaluate the opportunities and challenges of developing the real estate around the ballpark,” Schlesinger said. “Our goal in these discussions is to explore all potential and realistic revenue opportunities from development while preserving the tailgating experience for our fans and respecting the needs of the neighboring communities. “

President Joe Biden requested more than $100 billion for a range of domestic and international issues, but that proposition has taken criticism and has little chance of moving forward unless the House of Representatives elects a speaker amenable to the idea.

Biden made the request in a speech Friday, asking for about $105 billion in funding. According to the White House, Biden’s request includes $61 billion for Ukraine in its war against Russia, $14 billion for U.S. immigration problems, and about $14 billion for Israel, which is locked in a war with the terrorist group, Hamas.

“In Israel, we must make sure that they have what they need to protect their people today and always,” Biden said in his address.

The request also includes $10 billion for humanitarian aid in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine and elsewhere as well as $2 billion for nations in the Indo-Pacific region, most notably Taiwan, which national security experts say could be invaded by China at any time.

That request came the same day that House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, lost his nomination to be speaker of the House, sending Republicans back to square one in their search for a leader and leaving the legislative chamber impotent for the foreseeable future.

Biden visited Israel last week to show his support for Israel’s “right to defend itself.” He has cautioned Israel against occupying Gaza, the small region where Hamas launched its attacks into Israel, reportedly killing more than 1,400 and taking dozens of hostages.

Democrats were quick to back Biden and his request.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., joined in on X as well to back Biden, saying “it’s our duty to support Ukraine and Israel as they fight to defend their democracies.”

House Republicans have been without a speaker for over two weeks after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., filed a motion to vacate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the spot. The Republicans most likely to replace McCarthy have failed for one reason or another since then, unable to secure the needed 217 votes.

On Sunday, nine new Republicans threw their hat in the ring to be speaker, but they all have less political clout, and likely less chance of successs, than the Republicans who already failed before them.

Without a speaker, Biden’s funding request cannot go anywhere, though it remains unclear if there is enough Republican support for more Ukraine funding to pass this spending request.

Meanwhile, lawmakers face another partial government shutdown deadline in the middle of November.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., backed Biden’s spending request and took a shot at Republicans for failing to select a speaker.

“In his Oval Office address, the President strongly reiterated America’s commitment to the people of Israel and the people of Ukraine as they defend their democracies. Congress must swiftly consider the President’s request for supplemental national security funding, including humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza,” Pelosi said in a statement. “It is long overdue for House Republicans to bring the House to order so we can honor this responsibility.”

Some Republicans were critical of the prioritization in Biden’s request.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on X that Israel should be the focus of the funding. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., released a statement calling Biden’s request “dead on arrival.”

“President Biden’s slush fund proposal is dead on arrival, just like his budgets,” Cotton said. “We will not spend, for example, $3.5 billion to address the ‘potential needs of Gazans,’ essentially functioning as a resupply line for Hamas terrorists.”

He went on to criticize other components of Biden’s request.

“We will also not spend $11.8 billion to fund the Ukrainian government’s own non-war spending, such as funding retirement pensions for Ukrainian government employees,” Cotton said. “Nor will we spend $4.7 billion for housing, transportation, and ‘services’ for illegal aliens in the United States rather than deporting them.”

Budget experts, meanwhile, have repeatedly raised the alarm about increased federal debt spending.

“Policymakers should also avoid turning an emergency supplemental bill into a grab-bag of new priorities,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "Emergency funding should be for provisions that are temporary, necessary, sudden, urgent, and unforeseen. Policies that don’t meet these criteria should be considered through the regular process and subject to normal budget rules."

MacGuineas was critical of the ongoing federal spending in her reaction to Biden’s speech. The CRFB has pointed out that the trust funds for Medicare, Social Security and highways are facing insolvency and that interest on the national debt is on pace to be the biggest expense for the federal government.

“Ultimately, failing to address our high and rising debt will leave us far less capable of responding to new emergencies while presenting growing economic and national security risks,” MacGuineas said. “As Congress works to enact emergency appropriations, they should also begin the process of reining in our unsustainably rising debt.”

Nearly 70% of Americans say that expanding educational choices for families will help improve education overall in the U.S., according to new polling.

A vast majority of Americans across all demographics support more choices, the poll conducted by YouGov for the yes. every kid. foundation found.

When asked, "If we make K-12 education more flexible for families, do you think this would improve or weaken our nation's overall education system?," 69% of respondents said it would either "stongly" improve (33%) or "somewhat" (36%) improve education.

“Americans believe more education options will improve our nation’s education system,” Matt Frendewey, vice president of the yes. every kid. foundation, said in a statement released with the polling data. “A child’s access to a great education should not be determined by their family’s income or where they live. By expanding opportunities for families to customize the education to meet their kids’ needs, we can improve education more broadly. We will continue to listen to Americans, while empowering families by removing barriers to learning.”

The support comes from all demographic groups, including parents of K-12 students (77%); Blacks (74%); lower income individuals (73%); Republicans (72%); Independents (70%); Democrats (69%); and Hispanics (69%).

A solid majority – 67% – also said they support ending requiring students to be assigned to their neighborhood public school; 63% support expanding access to Education Savings Accounts; and 66% support education tax credits.

"Too often, a family’s zip code determines the educational experience that their child has access to; but that standardized approach has exacerbated inequities. Americans are seeking change and new opportunities that help children to succeed," the foundation said.

"Americans overwhelmingly support having a say on how and where their child is educated. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63% support, 35% strongly support) – by a more than 3-to-1 margin – support ESAs, with only 19% opposed. Over half of those surveyed (55%), including 63% of parents, said that if access to ESAs were expanded, public education would be improved."

The poll was conducted from Sept. 20-25. According to a news release, YouGov "interviewed 1,209 people who were then matched down to a sample of 1,000 to produce the final dataset." The poll has a margin of error of 3.4%, according to YouGov.

Nearly 303,000 people illegally entered the U.S. through the southwest border in September, according to newly released U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and gotaway data first reported by The Center Square.

Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations agents apprehended 269,735 people last month and Border Patrol agents reported at least 33,203 known gotaways, bringing the total to 302,938.

Gotaways is the official CBP term used for foreign nationals who illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry, intentionally evade capture and don’t return to Mexico or Canada. CBP doesn’t publicly report gotaway data. The Center Square obtains preliminary data from a U.S. Border Patrol agent who provides it on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. It only includes Border Patrol data not OFO data.

The gotaway data is believed to be much higher than reported because it doesn’t include unknown and unrecorded gotaways. With the majority of agents no longer in the field, they are unable to detect how many are getting through. Agents have explained to The Center Square they have no idea how many gotaways there really are in the U.S., who or where they are.

The official CBP total of 269,735 apprehensions is the highest in recorded history.

It includes OFO data, which is why it is always higher than the preliminary data The Center Square obtains. OFO agents work at ports of entry. Border Patrol agents are tasked with primarily patrolling the border between ports of entry.

OFO agents also processed 43,000 people through the CBP One App. Since DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a new directive and the agency began scheduling appointments for illegal foreign nationals to use the phone app, nearly 278,000 “have successfully scheduled appointments to present at a port of entry” using the app from January to September of this year, according to CBP data.

The news comes as the Biden administration has yet to replace the former CBP Commissioner who was forced to resign for overall failures related to border security. Since then, the agency has been publishing monthly apprehension data late on Friday nights or early Saturday morning towards the middle or end of the month.

Troy Miller, a senior official performing the duties of CBP Commissioner, issued a statement Saturday along with the data, saying, "In response to high rates of encounters across the southwest border in September, CBP surged resources and personnel. We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela.”

CBP repatriated 130 Venezuelans in September, less than zero percent of the tens of thousands who entered the U.S. illegally, according to CBP data.

Since Miller has been releasing data over the past few months, the news releases exclude demographic data about those being apprehended. The data is available on the CBP website in different charts.

For example, the majority of encounters and apprehensions in September, as they were in nearly all previous months, are of single adults from all over the world, followed by individuals in family units, and unaccompanied minors.

Border Patrol and OFO agents apprehended 102,582 and 29,435 single adults in September, respectively, according to the data compiled by demographic.

However, in September, Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 103,027 individuals in a family unit, the most of any month in fiscal 2023. OFO agents apprehended 20,788 in the same category last month by comparison.

Border Patrol agents apprehended 13,154 unaccompanied single minors; OFO agents apprehended 617 unaccompanied single minors and 132 accompanied minors last month, according to the data.

Southwest land border encounters by component shows Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended the greatest number of people last month of 51,001. Three of the largest numbers were in Texas: Rio Grande Valley Sector apprehended 45,764; Del Rio Sector apprehended 45,688; El Paso Sector apprehended 38,148. Rounding out the top five with the most apprehensions was San Diego Sector’s 26,609.

At ports of entry along the southwest border, Laredo OFO and San Diego OFO agents apprehended 23,560 and 15,394, respectively.

U.S. House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., released bank records Friday that he says show a $200,000 direct payment to President Joe Biden, the latest and possibly most significant piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation into the Biden family and associates' business dealings and the president’s alleged role in them.

Biden has repeatedly denied benefiting from the overseas business dealings, which total well over $20 million in payments, according to IRS whistleblowers. He has not yet responded to this latest piece of evidence.

“A document that we’re releasing today raises new questions about how President Biden personally benefited from his family’s shady influence peddling of his name and their access to him,” Comer said in the announcement.

The document is a copy of a check apparently from James Biden, Joe Biden's brother, to the president. Comer said there is significant evidence that the Biden family and associates received millions of dollars in payments from an array of overseas entities, but whether that money ever made it to the president has been in question.

Comer said this check could show it did.

​​”In 2018, James Biden received $600,000 in loans from Americore – a financially distressed and failing rural hospital operator,” Comer said. “According to bankruptcy court documents, James Biden received these loans ‘based upon representations that his last name, Biden, could open doors and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.’”

Comer went on to say that money later went to James and Sara’s personal account.

“On March 1, 2018, Americore wired a $200,000 loan into James and Sara Biden’s personal bank account – not their business bank account,” Comer said. “And then on the very same day, James Biden wrote a $200,000 check from this same personal bank account to Joe Biden. James Biden wrote this check to Joe Biden as a ‘loan repayment,’” he added. “Americore – a distressed company – loaned money to James Biden who then sent it to Joe Biden.

“Even if this was a personal loan repayment, it’s still troubling that Joe Biden’s ability to be paid back by his brother depended on the success of his family’s shady financial dealings,” he added.

Now the committee is pressing for answers on the terms of this financial arrangement and if there were more like it.

“Does [Biden] have documents proving he lent such a large sum of money to his brother and what were the terms of such financial arrangement?” Comer said. “Did he have similar financial arrangements with other family members that led them to make similar large payments to him? Did he know that the same day James Biden wrote him a check for $200,000, James Biden had just received a loan for the exact same amount from business dealings with a company that was in financial distress and failing?”

As The Center Square previously reported, IRS whisteleblowers, previous bank records and FBI documents have been presented in recent months by the committee showing that the Biden family and associates received more than $20 million from entities in several countries, including China, Russia and Ukraine.

(The Center Square) – In September of 2020, then-Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett proposed cutting 120 police officers from about 1,800 budgeted positions in the 2021 budget.

Barrett proposed the cuts, in part, due to budget constraints amid a national and local clamor to divert resources from policing just four months after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police.

The tone had changed in 2023. Just a month ago, Mayor Cavalier Johnson gave a speech on his 2024 budget where he said, "I am not cutting police sworn strength."

Johnson even mentioned in his speech new forms of revenue the city could use to hire new police officers. Johnson mentioned an increase in sales taxes that had been approved that the city could tap for more police funding.

In July 2023, the city enacted a 2% tax on most sales in the city of Milwaukee and also mandated a certain level of funding and staffing for police and fire departments.

According to the state, cities must use shared revenue aid payments from the state to increase or maintain police and fire staffing.

The city of Milwaukee stated that within 10 years, it must increase Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) total sworn staffing to 1,725.

The city says the 2023 budget has 1,630 sworn police officers so it must add 95 sworn police officers.

The city said the new sales tax revenue will generate about $28 million to increase police and fire department staffing levels.

In 2020, the city budgeted for 1,956 law enforcement full-time positions, which does not include civilian police jobs. In 2021, that number had dropped to 1,839 budgeted law enforcement positions and then increased to 1,856 in 2022, according to city budget documents.

Police expenditures accounted for nearly half of city spending for what the budget calls "general city purposes" and includes all the other city departments such as the health department and fire department.

The city spent $290.6 million on the police department in 2022, or 48.6% of the $597.4 million in total city spending for "general city purposes". The city spent $305.2 million on the police department in 2020, according to city budget documents. The city has budgeted $305.1 million in 2024 for the police department.

The Greater Milwaukee Urban League and Milwaukee mayor's office did not respond to an email seeking comment. The Milwaukee Police Department media team referred questions to the city's budget office. Liberate MKE, an organization which advocates eventually abolishing the police department, didn't respond to questions about policing.

Violent crime in Milwaukee has remained at about the same levels over the past three years.

The city had 195 homicides in 2021 and 215 in 2022. Through Oct. 17, the city has had 141 homicides in 2023.

Rape, robbery aggravate result, burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft were all down in 2022 as compared to 2021, according to city crime data.

The Milwaukee Police Department is following a national trend that has seen a big drop in the number of arrests.

According to FBI data, Milwaukee police made 336,723 arrests in 2012 and that dropped to 188,069 in 2020 and then fell to 184,334 in 2022.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a free speech case involving the federal government and social media censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court, which granted certiorari on Friday, could be poised to issue a landmark decision in the case, known as Louisiana and Missouri vs. Biden et al., to define the federal government's ability to clamp down on speech from social media platforms.

"We are pleased to learn that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this case, giving us yet another opportunity to defend the people from this assault on our First Amendment rights," Solicitor General Liz Murrill said in a news release. "It brings us one step closer to reestablishing the protections guaranteed to us in the Constitution and under the First Amendment.

"We hope that the Supreme Court will agree that this gross abuse of power must stop and never happen again."

The May 2022 lawsuit was brought by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt over what the two prosecutors say is the Biden administration's censorship of conservative views on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty's order issued on July 4 prevents the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Census Bureau, FBI, U.S. Department of Justice and members of the president's executive office from having any discussions with social media companies about "encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech."

Doughty's order was appealed by the federal government to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the two states.

(The Center Square) –Republicans and Democrats each question the plan to change the state’s indefinitely confined voter rules at the Wisconsin Capitol.

Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Town of Delafield, presented her plan to tighten the state’s indefinitely confined voter law by defining what indefinitely confined means, requiring people apply for a separate indefinitely confined absentee ballot, clarifies a public health emergency does not allow people to claim indefinitely confined status and would ban people from voting indefinitely confined if they vote in person.

“Indefinitely confined means ‘I’m not leaving,’” Duchow told the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections.

Wisconsin law allows people to vote absentee as indefinitely confined voters if they cannot or have trouble physically making it to the polls.

Duchow says the rules need to be tightened because the indefinitely confined law also allows people to vote without showing an ID.

“This is a problem that cuts to the heart of whether Wisconsin will get fair transparent elections,” Duchow said.

Wisconsin saw a spike in indefinitely confined voters in the 2020 presidential election.

“The non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau, in their elections administration report, noted a sharp increase in the number of people using the loophole in the 2020 election,” Duchow said. “In the November 2020 election alone, the Audit Bureau found that up to 48,544 individuals never showed a photo ID.”

Duchow proposed a similar plan last year, but Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it.

Democrats pressed Duchow if the governor would veto this version as well.

“What changes have been made?” Rep. Clinton Anderson, D-Beloit, said.

“I’m having a hard time understanding your worry,” Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, said.

The Republican chairman of the committee, Rep. Scot Krug, R-Nekoosa, echoed the Democrats’ concerns.

“There are some ideas out there that, if we can bring them forward and have a discussion…and see what we can agree on,” Krug said. “Because what exists right now is not right. So, we have to find a way to get it a little bit better.”