Monthly Archives: November, 2023

(The Center Square) – The effort to end school choice in Wisconsin through the state’s supreme court has failed to convince Gov. Tony Evers.

The Evers Administration late Friday submitted a brief with the high court, explaining there is no emergency basis for the Supreme Court to take the case.

“This response does not address the ultimate merits of Petitioners’ claims, but simply explains why they are more appropriately adjudicated in the circuit court,” the court filing from Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld stated.

Progressive activist and often-candidate Kirk Bangstad filed the lawsuit last month, claiming school choice and Wisconsin’s voucher programs are both unconstitutional and hurt traditional public schools by sending money to private schools.

Bangstad said both programs need to be shut down “before the next school year.”

The Evers’ Administration filing says nothing in Bangstad’s lawsuit makes that case.

“While the topic of educating Wisconsin’s children is obviously one of great public importance, the Petition does not meet the other criteria for an original action,” the brief added.

Evers’ team wasn’t the only one to file with the court in the school choice case last week.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos also filed a brief with the court.

He too said there is no emergency, and no need for the new to fast track Bangstad’s lawsuit.

“Petitioners bring this Petition For Original Action, asking this Court to strike down Wisconsin’s school choice regime. But no exigent circumstances justify allowing Petitioners to skip the ordinary litigation process to bring their claims, which all involve complex factual disputes that are not appropriate in the original action context,” Vos’ brief stated.

Vos’ filing, too, says Bangstad has failed to make a solid case as to why school choice must be reversed immediately.

“The Petition points to no breaking developments of fact or law that create any exigency with the programs now – let alone one that requires resolution by June 2024, as Petitioners request,” the brief added.

While Bangstad has publicly said he wants the cases handled as quickly as possible in order to protect school children, he said in a fundraising email earlier this month the next Supreme Court election is actually driving the case.

“We need the Supreme Court to take this case up NOW [because] there’s a real possibility that the uncorrupted Supreme Court majority that we worked so hard achieve by electing Janet Protasiewicz last April won’t be around in 2025 after the next Supreme Court election takes place,” Bangstad wrote in his email. “If we take this case slowly, it might not make it to the Supreme Court until 2025, and there’s a 50% chance (like every election in our swing state) that the court will become corrupted again and fall back into the pockets of Betsy Devos’ school choice lobby.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has not yet said if it will take Bangstad’s case or send it to a lower court first.

(The Center Square) – Litigation of school choice and school vouchers in Wisconsin Supreme Court should end, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce said on Wednesday.

The state's largest business group filed an amicus brief with the court. It asks justices to reject the lawsuit that seeks to end school choice and school vouchers.

“Since its founding in 1911, WMC has been dedicated to making Wisconsin the most competitive state in the nation in which to conduct business,” the brief states. “WMC and its members have a strong interest in this case. Many employers in Wisconsin, along with the public, support school choice. If the Petitioners get the relief they are seeking, the result will harm students, their families, teachers, and businesses and consumers who rely on a skilled workforce.”

The group says thousands of families across the state will be “devastated” if school choice comes to an end.

“If the it prevails in this case, the negative impacts for the students currently using these choice and charter programs – and for our state as a whole – would be far reaching and long term,” the filing says. “Striking down these voucher programs would throw our state’s educational system into chaos.”

The Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce says any challenge should first go to a local court.

The filing sauys petitioners waited five to 10 years to file, and says the lawsuit "does not involve an exigent situation that cannot await litigation in the circuit court."

Kirk Bagnstad filed the lawsuit. He says school choice hurts traditional public schools and is unconstitutional.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, earlier this week, asked to join the case on behalf of choice parents across the state.

(The Center Square) – A legal challenge to Wisconsin’s new rules for wedding barns may already be in the works.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty told The Center Square it is in the process of talking to wedding barn owners across the state about the next steps after it says the Wisconsin Legislature essentially voted to put them out of business.

Lawmakers at the Capitol voted on a sweeping overhaul of Wisconsin’s liquor laws. In addition to making changes for breweries, wineries, distributors and small shops, the overhaul includes new regulations for wedding barns.

“Barns can still host events, but those events can no longer involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages unless the barn owner does one of two things – either obtain a liquor license, essentially become a tavern, or obtain a ‘no sale event venue permit’ from the state. If they get that permit, they can only have six events per year where alcoholic beverages are served, and no more than one per month, and they can only allow the consumption of beer, not liquor,” Dan Lennington, with WILL, said.

Lennington said those two choices will essentially push most wedding barns out of business.

“Since most barn owners do not want to be in the tavern business, and by local ordinance probably could not be in that business regardless, the bill effectively regulates them out of existence,” Lennington said. “Venues won’t be able to operate on six beer-only events, over a six-month period. It severely limits their customer base.”

Wisconsin’s powerful Tavern League has been pushing lawmakers for years to change the rules for wedding barns, which had always been BYO.

The Tavern League says the new rules for wedding barns are about safety and fairness.

Lennington said the new rules are anti-free market and protectionist.

“This is absolutely a de facto block on wedding barns. Opponents of barns have been trying for years to essentially regulate them out of existence, and that is exactly what this legislation does by giving barn owners an impossible choice,” Lennington said. “These event venues do not sell alcohol, do not make any money off alcohol, and do not want to be in the business of selling and making money off alcohol.”

In addition to the wedding barn changes, the new liquor law rewrite also creates a new division inside the state’s Department of Revenue that will be responsible for overseeing and enforcing Wisconsin’s liquor laws.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., blasted Democrats Thursday for blocking his motion to deport terrorist sympathizers in the U.S. on visas.

Rubio has led this effort to "revoke visas and initiate deportation proceedings for any foreign national who has endorsed or espoused terrorist activities of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or any another foreign terrorist organization."

The same motion was also blocked last month. Rubio put it forward again this week, and pointed out that pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday night stormed a House office building and the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

Leading House Democrats were inside the headquarters and had to be evacuated, and six officers were reportedly injured.

Rubio’s motion came as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Rubio pointed out that current federal law prohibits terrorist supporters from entering the U.S. The issue has become highly controversial with some Democrats blasting Israel for its military response targeting Hamas in Gaza, which has led to the deaths of civilians.

"A visa is not a constitutional right. It is a temporary permission for foreign nationals to visit our country," Rubio said in a statement. "Supporting terrorism, as defined by U.S. law, disqualifies individuals from having a visa. It makes no sense to protect foreign nationals who support terrorism, but that is exactly what the Senate just voted to do."

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Wednesday suggested the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate a Democratic Party-affiliated group reportedly linked to funding of Palestinian terrorism.

“If the Senate Judiciary Committee is going to hand out subpoenas, let’s start with this Democrat dark-money group that has poured $1 million into a Palestinian terror-tied charity,” Hawley posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The post linked to a Washington Examiner story that details a network of left-leaning groups that steered funding towards a progressive charity with ties to a terror group.

Hawley was expressing frustration with the committee as Democrats last week wanted to subpoena Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow to review their alleged financial assistance for Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

The Examiner reported two tax-exempt organizations, New Venture Fund and Windward Fund, in October stopped providing grants to the Alliance for Global Justice, based in Arizona. In September, the Examiner reported the Alliance for Global Justice switched payment processing companies after pressure from a coalition of 11 pro-Israel groups linked it to Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a French member of an Israeli-designated terror coalition, Samidoun. The French group is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group.

The Examiner's Wednesday report revealed new financial disclosures. The New Venture Fund directed $501,500 in 2022 to the Alliance for Global Justice, and Windward Fund granted it $525,000, both for environmental programs.

The Alliance for Global Justice made $2.5 million in grants, according to its 2021 IRS Form 990, a required return for nonprofit organizations. It reported three cash grants totaling $27,657 to the Middle East and North Africa on the return. It reported $10.6 million in total revenue in 2021, down from $56.4 million the previous year.

The Alliance’s website states its “four areas of struggle” are economic justice, opposing U.S. militarism, real democracy and ecological integrity.

The 2021 IRS Form 990 report filed by the Windward Fund stated a $225,000 cash grant was made to the Alliance for Global Justice for environmental programs; the New Venture Fund’s 2021 Form 990 reported a $38,000 cash grant was made to the organization for environmental programs.

Arabella Advisors, based in Washington, D.C., is listed as the organization possessing the books and records for both the Windward Fund and the New Venture Fund, according to IRS documents.

Windward’s total revenue grew to $274 million in 2021, compared to $159 million the previous year; New Venture had $964 million in 2021 compared to $975 million the previous year.

Arabella Advisors was listed in the New Venture Fund's IRS return as an independent contractor and paid $29.7 million in 2021; Arabella also was listed by the Windward Fund as an independent contract and received $4.2 million.

(The Center Square) – Despite test scores that show nearly 60% of students in Wisconsin schools cannot read or do math at grade level, more than 90% of school districts in the state meet the state’s expectations.

The Department of Public Instruction recently released its school and school district report cards.

“Statewide, achievement improved from 2021-22 to 2022-23, though for many schools and districts, 2022-23 achievement performance is lower than pre-pandemic levels,” DPI said in a statement. “Report card achievement scores, overall scores and ratings may have decreased despite upward trending achievement performance.”

Of the 378 public school districts in the state that received a report card this year, 357 met or exceeded expectations.

Quinton Klabon with the Institute for Reforming Government questioned that.

He told The Center Square some schools met expectations while having 12% of their students able to do math at grade level.

“What is a 3-star school district? It's Green Bay, apparently, where hundreds fell below grade level since the pandemic and only one-quarter of students are college-ready. It's Milwaukee, surprisingly, where a tiny recovery allowed it to be rated ‘meets expectations.’ Whose expectations are met with 16% and 12% reading and math proficiencies?” Klabon added.

Will Flanders with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also questioned the expectations from DPI.

“Despite proficiency of 17% in reading and 11% in math, MPS is rated as ‘meets expectations’ on the state report card,” Flanders said. “The soft bigotry of low expectations has never been more true.”

Klabon said the school report cards look worse when you factor in Wisconsin’s worst-in-the-nation racial learning gap.

“Wisconsin has the most shameful racial achievement gap in the country,” Klabon said. “Even with grade inflation, 53% of predominantly Black schools are 1 or 2 stars. Thirty-one percent of predominantly Hispanic schools are, and rural schools serving Indigenous kids also struggle. We need to expect more from the adults in charge: go all in on this summer's statewide reading reforms, fund choice schools fairly and hold higher expectations on the state report cards so parents can make good decisions for their family.”

Klabon did say the local report cards show the need for, and the success of, school choice – particularly in Milwaukee.

“Seventeen of the top 20 schools in Milwaukee are choice schools,” Klabon added. “Every student deserves a 5-star school. School choice is essential to making that happen.”

Voters trust former President Donald Trump more than President Joe Biden on the economy, immigration, national security, foreign affairs and crime.

Biden, however, is more trusted on health care, climate change, education and abortion.

Those findings come from The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights.

The poll of 2,605 voters includes 1,035 Republicans, 1,074 Democrats, and 496 true Independents, and is among the most comprehensive in the country.

On the economy/jobs, a majority of voters say Trump would do a better job than Biden, 54% to 37%. Voters also say Trump would outperform Biden, 53% to 36%, on immigration; 51% to 39% on national security; 50% to 38% on crime/violence; and 48% to 41% on foreign affairs.

Voters think Biden is better than Trump on education, 45% to 42; health care, 46% to 42%; abortion, 46% to 38%; race relations, 46% to 38%; and climate change, 48% to 36%.

Notably, the issues Trump performs better on are also the issues most important to American voters according to the same polling, with the possible exception of abortion. During last week's elections, Ohio voters easily passed an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution, and Kentucky voters re-elected Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in the largely red state in part because of his support for abortion rights.

According to a question asked of all likely voters regardless of political affiliation, inflation and price increases are their top concern, with 48% naming it as one of the top three issues facing the country. Illegal immigration came in second with 33% of those surveyed saying the same. Crime and violence came in third with 28% naming it as one of their top three issues.

"Trump, at the moment, seems to have a stronger portfolio of issue positions than Biden," David Byler, chief of research at Noble Predictive Insights, told The Center Square. "On the issues people care about the most – such as the economy and immigration – Trump wins more often than Biden."

The economy and jobs followed crime and violence with 24% of respondents naming them as a top issue, followed by climate change at 22% and the national debt and government spending at 21%. Only 19% chose health care access as a top issue, and 19% also chose abortion.

"Abortion is a good issue for Democrats, and it's obviously helped them in elections since the overturning of Roe [v. Wade]," Byler said. "But I'm not sure exactly how abortion plays out with Trump on the ticket. Trump has oscillated between hard right and somewhat less conservative stances on abortion – and in a general election, he might be able to stake out a more popular position than the average Republican would."

Trump, who continues to dominate his opponents in the GOP primary field, notably criticized Republican rival and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing into law a state ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, calling it a "terrible mistake."

Overall, though, likely voters slightly prefer Biden to Trump, according to the poll. The poll also asked voters about a hypothetical general election faceoff with Biden. In that faceoff, voters sided with Biden over Trump, 48% to 44%.

DeSantis and former Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley did better in hypothetical one-on-one matchups with Biden. DeSantis bested Biden with 47% support compared to Biden’s 44%, and Haley beats Biden with 44% compared to Biden’s 41%.

(The Center Square) – It looks like taxpayers in Wisconsin will continue to pay for the Brewers’ baseball stadium.

The Wisconsin Senate on Thursday morning approved the plan to spend about $500 million on future renovations and maintenance at American Family Field.

To make it happen, the Republican sponsor of the plan had to work a few changes.

"This is a good deal for baseball fans, a good deal for taxpayers, a good deal for the state of Wisconsin,” Sen Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, said.

The new proposal will give Gov. Tony Evers and Milwaukee’s elected leaders extra spots on the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District board. The district owns the stadium, and the board makes decisions on how the stadium’s money will be spent.

Feyen also agreed to gradually raise a non-Brewer game ticket tax from $2 next year to $4 by 2042.

It took Democratic votes to get the ballpark package through the Senate. Eleven Republicans voted against the plan. That’s half the Republican caucus in the Senate. Eight Democrats voted for it.

Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, was among them.

"We’re investing long-term in a state asset and ensuring that state taxpayers are coming out ahead," Agard said during the debate. "We’re working across the aisle, with partners inside and outside of the Capitol, with local governments, to ensure that a foundational, iconic part of Wisconsin remains in Milwaukee."

Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, who has criticized the package from the beginning, continued his criticism on Tuesday.

This vote is not a question of whether you are a fan of the Brewers or not, it’s a question of whether we are going to give a massive subsidy to a centimillionaire who lives in California who, frankly, has not invested as much in the team as, as a Brewers fan, I hope that he would," Larson said.

Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger said the agreement will keep Brewer baseball in Milwaukee til 2050.

“This vote by a bipartisan majority of the state Senate is a historic moment, not only allowing the Stadium District to meet its obligations to maintain the ballpark but paving the way for the Brewers to remain in Wisconsin for the next generation," Schlesinger said after the vote.

The Wisconsin Assembly has to sign-off on the changes made in the Senate, then the ballpark package will head to Evers’ desk. He is expected to sign it.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to send a laundry list of mental health proposals to Gov. Tony Evers.

The Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday queued up plans that would do everything from allow out of state mental health providers to work in Wisconsin, to set-up a pilot program for first responders’ mental health needs, to expand mental health training for police officers, who Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, said have become de-facto mental health professionals.

“Typically, a call goes into the police when an individual is acting up in a community. The police respond and they try to diffuse the situation, depending on how violent the individual is. Often times these situations escalate, and the individual is arrested, put in the back of a squad, and taken-off either to jail or a mental health facility,” Donovan said.

His plan would create a pilot program in both rural Wisconsin and the state’s larger cities that would pay, train, and equip police officers to better handle mental health calls.

“[We will] also provide them with iPads so that they will have access to mental health professionals, 24/7, right on the spot when they arrive on the scene,” Donovan added.

Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, has a plan that would help police officers, firefighters, and other first responders for their mental health needs.

“The average citizen encounters like one or two traumatic incidents in their lifetime, whereas these emergency personnel experience hundreds of them over the course of their careers,” Kitchens said. “They show up at these events where everyone else is falling apart and they're expected to be stoic and in control.”

Kitchens says he wants to help break the mindset that first responders are weak or less than by seeking mental health help.

“There's a pervasive culture often in these agencies where it's looked on as a weakness if they express their feelings,” Kitchens said. “Sort of that John Wayne syndrome.”

Kitchens’ plan would set standards for mental health treatment policies at police and fire departments across the state.

Rep. Clint Moses, R-Menomonie, has a plan to open-up telemedicine in Wisconsin.

“This is a big deal, especially for those of us that live near bordering states or metropolitan areas. like I live near Minneapolis-St. Paul,” Moses said. “it's a big deal for my constituents and it ensures that you can get Mental Health Care regardless of what corner of Wisconsin you do live in.”

(The Center Square) – The legal fight over school choice in Wisconsin could be growing.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty asked to join the Supreme Court case that would end the state’s choice programs.

“On behalf of our clients and about 65,000 students who benefit from Wisconsin’s choice programs, WILL stands ready to defend the rule of law and the educational freedoms afforded to students and families alike,” WILL President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg said in a statement.

Progressive activist and frequent candidate Kirk Bangstad filed a lawsuit last month that says Wisconsin’s four taxpayer-funded school voucher programs are unconstitutional.

Bangstad is asking the liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court to strike down those programs and send the money that choice students receive back to the state’s public schools.

WILL’s argument is the lawsuit is too broad, wrong and asks the court to end “settled law.”

“[Bangstad’s] arguments are factually incorrect and that granting their arguments would lead to vast unintended consequences. The factual inaccuracies, incorrect conclusions, and breathtakingly broad relief requested by the petitioners makes bringing these issues directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court not only impractical, but completely inappropriate,” WILL wrote.

WILL, in their motion to intervene in the case, argues that striking down school choice in the state will hurt thousands of minority students.

“Over 85% of all choice-program students within the schools WILL is representing are non-white, based on state data. Many of the students are from low- or middle-income families,” WILL said Monday.

Esenberg said WILL is representing 22 families who have children enrolled in one of the state’s school choice programs or a voucher school.

If the court denies WILL’s attempt to join the case, they are asking that the court allow the families to continue forward.

Bangstad’s lawsuit says school choice discriminates against poor families because it strips money from traditional public schools.

Wisconsin’s State Superintendent of Schools agrees.

“Wisconsin needs to fulfill its responsibility to effectively, equitably, and robustly fund our public education system. I welcome any opportunity to move Wisconsin in that direction,” Superintendent Jill Underly said last month. “Public education is a constitutional right. It says it right there in Article X, Section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution. And as a right guaranteed to our children, and as an opportunity for our state to put our money where our priorities should be.”

A report released Monday by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee says the influx of migrants across the country's southern border could cost taxpayers $451 billion.

The fourth report released by the committee says that the tab includes housing, education, property damage done by migrants, law enforcement and health care costs.

A report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services showed that "emergency services for undocumented aliens" added up to $7 billion in fiscal 2021 and $5.4 billion in fiscal 2022, with migrants receiving at least $8 billion in improper Medicaid payouts (10% of the nation's total of $80 billion).

Migrants are also putting a strain on the nation's criminal justice infrastructure, with the cost adding up to $8.95 billion in fiscal 2022.

"It is unconscionable for Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden to force the American people to pick up the tab for the crisis their border policies created," Committee Mark Chairman Green, R-Tennessee, said in a news release. "Communities across this country, from the smallest border town to our largest city, are dealing with depleted emergency resources, public housing crises, overwhelmed public-school systems, damaged or destroyed property, and overwhelming law enforcement costs — burdens these hardworking taxpayers were never prepared for, and should not be forced to pay.

"Today’s report outlines the devastating costs of refusing to enforce our nation’s laws and reaffirms the Homeland majority’s urgent demand for Biden and Mayorkas to end the failed policies that are threatening to bankrupt our cities and states."

The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that in the 2021-2022 school year, 5.1 million public school students (6.5% of the total) were the children of migrants. Most of them (3.8 million) qualify as limited English proficiency students, costing taxpayers $59 billion, while those not classified as LEP learners costing taxpayers $16.9 billion.

(The Center Square) – The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly says he is encouraged by the University of Wisconsin’s plan to focus on in-demand degrees, but it's not enough to move him off his block of the university's pay raises.

Speaker Robin Vos told reporters at the Capitol that without an agreement to pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion spending there won’t be any movement on raises for university workers.

“Hopefully, once we're able to conclude some kind of a deal on changing how we deal with diversity, equity, inclusion will be able to have that come up,” Vos said. “We have the engineering building, and we have the pay raises. They're all kind of part of one big package. So, my hope is that that is just one of many that can happen once we have an agreement.”

Republican lawmakers put a hold on those raises last month.

That came after Vos ordered a $32 million cut to the university’s budget over DEI. Vos says the school spends about $32 million a year on nearly 200 DEI administrators.

“Just since 2017, almost 1,700 new positions have been created at the university, very few of which are actually focusing on students or teaching,” Vos explained. “So, the goal would be to try to make sure they go back and have a focus on educating students, not indoctrinating and really focusing on having more kids get access to faculty as opposed to just people who are telling them what to think and how to act.”

The university last week announced plans to spend $32 million on in-demand degrees like engineering, math and science.

“This plan is exactly what the Legislature is looking for – a concentrated emphasis on adding more graduates to the workforce in key areas,” University President Jay Rothman said. “I would hope everyone would agree that this is in the best interest of the state of Wisconsin.”

Vos has said he continues to talk with university leaders and says he is optimistic about finding an agreement.

The battle over DEI funding at the university is growing in the meantime.

Vos has said he won't talk about a new UW Madison engineering building until there’s agreement on DEI.

Gov. Tony Evers sued Vos and the Republican-controlled legislature for blocking those pay raises because of the DEI spat. The governor has asked the state supreme Court to take up the case.