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Category: State news

Smith: Legislators propose UW study on effects of wake surfing on Wisconsin lakes

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With a pro-boating industry bill apparently dead in the Legislature and after a more lake-protective proposal failed to muster support among the Republican caucus, the prospect is dim for any new, statewide wake surfing law to take effect this year in Wisconsin.

But a measure to bolster the science of the impacts of wake-enhanced boating could garner more favor. A proposal announced Tuesday by Republicans would task the University of Wisconsin System with conducting a study on the effects of wake boating.

Wisconsin high school students ranked in top 5% of class guaranteed UW-Madison spot under new law

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If you’re a Wisconsin high school student ranked in the top 5% of your class, you’re now guaranteed a seat at the University of Wisconsin-Madison if you want it.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed the Republican-authored bill into law Tuesday. It was part of a broader deal the UW System struck with the GOP-controlled Legislature about diversity programming, pay raises and building projects.

Deceptive AI campaign ads could target Wisconsin. Lawmakers have a plan to fight them.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“There has not been a line in terms of what modifications are okay,” said Dietram Scheufele, who studies misinformation and social media at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Public opinion about what’s acceptable in altering content has changed, such as editing photos of ourselves on Instagram or LinkedIn, he said.

“If some deepfake comes out of Biden falling down repeatedly right before the election in key states, and it all turns out to be fake five days later, that’s completely irrelevant,” Scheufele said. “We don’t have video-assisted review like we have in in football, which means the game will have ended and the result will stand.”

A game-changing moment for Wisconsin Democrats. New maps put legislative majorities within reach

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Michigan and Minnesota — two Midwestern states where Democrats took control in 2022 for the first time in many years — could serve as examples of what Wisconsin Democrats would do with a legislative majority, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the university’s Elections Research Center.

Democrats in those states have “eagerly legislated in new directions on issues such as criminal justice and environmental protection,” Burden said. Given the chance, Wisconsin Democrats would likely pursue a variety of policy changes unavailable to them under GOP control, he said.

Wisconsin weighs anti-obesity drug coverage for state workers

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Wisconsin State Journal

Dr. Samantha Pabich, a UW Health endocrinologist who treats many patients with obesity, said the newer drugs can help obese people lose a higher percentage of their body weight than older drugs. That can help control diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, pain and other conditions, and prevent the need for treatments such as home oxygen therapy and liver transplants, she said.

Wisconsin Assembly to vote on divisive power competition bill, limits to DEI initiatives

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Wisconsin State Journal

The proposed constitutional amendment before the Assembly on Thursday is the latest step in Wisconsin Republicans’ fight against government-run diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Republican lawmakers last year struck a deal requiring the Universities of Wisconsin to restructure their DEI programs, and GOP legislative leaders have said they plan to scrutinize similar programs in state agencies.

Wisconsin lawmakers to vote on constitutional amendment to limit diversity efforts

Posted on
The Associated Press

The proposal up for a vote Thursday would prohibit state and local governments, including the Universities of Wisconsin and local school districts, from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to anybody on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. It requires hiring decisions to be based on “merit, fairness and equality,” a term conservatives have used as a counter to DEI.

Wisconsin on track to have warmest winter ever recorded

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Steve Vavrus, a senior scientist at UW-Madison and the state’s climatologist, said the weather is already causing economic impact, especially on the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin.

“They depend on snow and ice for skiing and skating and ice fishing and so forth,” Vavrus said.  “There’s been closed snowmobile trails. There’s been winter festivals that have been canceled, unsafe ice conditions for fishing and so on.”

Experts believe negligence contributed to a baby’s death. Wisconsin laws don’t make it worth it for anyone to take the case.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin’s medical malpractice laws include: $250,000 cap in malpractice lawsuits involving doctors employed by the state, a category that includes the more than 1,670 faculty physicians employed by UW–Madison. The cap applies even if a doctor’s negligence results in a lifetime injury that will require millions of dollars of future treatment.

Wisconsin lost 10% of farms, 30% of dairies in 5 years, U.S. agriculture census shows

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Slightly more Wisconsin farmers reported taking steps to protect soil and water quality in 2022. They planted nearly 754,000 acres of cover crops — plants that protect the soil and keep it in place during the offseason — about a 23% increase from 2017. The number of acres that were not tilled also increased, from about 2.2 million in 2017 to about 2.4 million in 2022. No-till practices reduce soil disturbance.

Those acres are still just a small portion of Wisconsin’s total farmed acres. “I would have hoped to see that pick up a bit faster,” said Erin Silva, a professor of organic and sustainable agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Madison-Milwaukee tech hub gets near-unanimous support in Legislature

Posted on
The Capital Times

Other members of Wisconsin’s tech hub consortium include businesses (GE HealthCare, Accuray, Exact Sciences, Plexus and Rockwell Automation), colleges and universities (Madison Area Technical College, Milwaukee Area Technical College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the Universities of Wisconsin), economic development agencies (Milwaukee7, Madison Region Economic Partnership and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation) and workforce training organizations (Employ Milwaukee and WRTP | BIG STEP).

The Wisconsin I know never gives up on its kids. Life prison sentences do that.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In fact, my great-grandfather’s tenacity for Wisconsin’s youth inspired his daughter, my grandmother, to help set up a research center and scholarship program at UW-Madison to focus on neuroscientific research regarding child development and well-being. The center, named after my great-grandfather Willis Jones, recognizes that “adolescence is a period when the brain is more sensitive” and prepares young people in leadership, including in conflict resolution.

Democratic proposal would prohibit firearms on Wisconsin college campuses

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Wisconsin Public Radio

State Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and state Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, were approached by a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors and asked to strengthen campus firearm laws.

Jack O’Meara represents the Public Representation Organization of the Faculty Senate, or PROFS,  a nonprofit advocacy organization of UW-Madison faculty. He said there was increased concern after the Feb. 13, 2023, mass shooting at Michigan State University. In that incident, three students were killed and five others were injured when a gunman entered a building on the East Lansing campus.

Confused by Wisconsin redistricting terms? Here’s what they mean.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talked to Marquette University research fellow John Johnson and University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden about what common redistricting concepts mean and how they apply to the case.

“Wards are usually viewed as the building blocks of districts, so that gets done first,” Burden said. Because there are only 72 counties, “some of them are going to have to be sliced in order to make districts. Especially the more populous ones, like Dane, Milwaukee and Brown are going to have multiple districts in them.”

Cheapest car insurance in Wisconsin

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WalletHub

“I do not think this is about fairness – premiums are set based on accident rates and risks associated with different demographic groups and would be higher if the groups are involved in higher rates of accidents or other damages,” said Nancy Wong, Kohl’s Chair in Retail Innovation, Professor of Consumer Science, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Democrats propose ways of bolstering local news

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Wisconsin Examiner

The journalism fellowship program would be administered by the University of Wisconsin System. Under the program, a panel of UW journalism professors and industry experts would choose 25 fellows to match to participating newsrooms for a one-year fellowship.

Participants, who would be required to hold a two- or four-year degree in journalism, media, communications or a similar program, would receive a $40,000 salary.

Gov. Evers releases UW faculty, staff pay raises after nearly 6 month delay

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Badger Herald

Vos said in October the raises would not be approved until the UW System made concessions on it’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to The Badger Herald. The Board of Regents voted to accept a deal in December exchanging pay raises and other funding for the “reimagining” of certain DEI positions, according to The Badger Herald’s previous coverage of the deal.

What is Wisconsin’s minimum wage, and why hasn’t it changed when other states’ minimum wages have?

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Low-wage workers have found it especially hard to afford higher housing costs, even before a spike in prices in 2022, explained Laura Dresser, associate director of the High Road Strategy Center (formerly COWS, a left-leaning think tank) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dresser’s research has found that increasing the minimum wage to $15 over the next five years would increase wages for one in seven workers in Wisconsin. That includes one of every four Black and Hispanic workers.

Wisconsin’s video game industry could get a boost with tax credit

Posted on
The Capital Times

The bill also has backing from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where around 365 students are currently enrolled in video game development programs. While 60% of that university’s graduates stay in Wisconsin, less than 20% of the video game program graduates stay, according to testimony from professor Andrew Williams, who has taught game design classes at UW-Stout and worked as an art director in the video game industry.

Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to take up Gov. Evers’s lawsuit against GOP lawmakers

Posted on
Associated Press

One of the legislative vetoes blocked conservation projects selected by the Department of Natural Resources. Evers also challenged a veto that blocked already approved pay raises for 35,000 University of Wisconsin system employees, but after he filed the lawsuit, Republicans and the university system reached an agreement approving raises if the school cuts back on diversity initiatives.

Wisconsin news media would be boosted by three new bills

Posted on
The Capital Times

The first bill would provide funding for a fellowship program to place 25 journalists in participating local newsrooms across the state. The fellows would be selected by a committee of University of Wisconsin journalism professors and news industry experts, the bill sponsors said. The bill would provide funding for each fellow to receive a $40,000 salary for one year.

GOP’s latest proposal to eliminate DEI receives public hearing

Posted on
Wisconsin Examiner

A proposed constitutional amendment limiting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts throughout Wisconsin received a public hearing on Tuesday.

The amendment — AJR 109 — would prohibit governmental entities, including the UW System, technical colleges and governmental offices and agencies, from discriminating against or granting “preferential treatment” to people and groups on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting or public administration.

Why Wisconsin judges are increasingly involved in elections

Posted on
Wisconsin Watch

In 2022, there were at least 13 lawsuits filed related to election administration, according to a tally from the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative.

Questions of election administration landing in court isn’t a new phenomenon, said Derek Clinger, a senior staff attorney with the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative. But there’s been an uptick in such cases since the 2000 presidential election, when a razor-thin margin in Florida “brought attention to the actual defects in how we run our elections.” The U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore halted a Florida recount because of time constraints, effectively awarding the presidency to George W. Bush.

Wisconsin’s budget surplus is shrinking but still large

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

This estimate from the bureau included spending that has passed since June, as well as bills currently working their way through the legislature. That includes $423 million for building projects on University of Wisconsin system campuses and other items.

Republican leaders said the new estimates show there is still enough of a surplus to deliver more tax cuts.

Wisconsin residents are pushing for a ‘home lake’ rule for wake boats to limit movement of invasive species

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

He also noted state history: a petition by state residents helped lead to a ban of the pesticide DDT. The petition, filed in 1968 with the DNR, requested a “declaratory ruling on whether DDT was an environmental pollutant” within state statutes, according to a University of Wisconsin law review article.

Tuition reciprocity changes, workforce plan would add millions to UW system’s coffers

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Millions in revenue and state aid dollars could bolster the Universities of Wisconsin’s budget as soon as February, if lawmakers take up two provisions of the deal struck between UW system officials and Republican legislative leadership that gave UW system about $800 million in exchange for changes to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Florida board bans use of state and federal funds on DEI programs at state universities

Posted on
CNN

More than a dozen state legislatures have introduced or passed bills reining in DEI programs in colleges and universities, claiming the offices eat up valuable financial resources with little impact. Last month, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted to cut back diversity initiatives in exchange for state funding in a deal with GOP lawmakers.