Legislative Update: Remaining Floor Dates; State of the State Address
Date Thu, Jan. 13, 2022 - 11:26pm By Hamilton
Remaining Session Dates Each house of the Wisconsin Legislature is expected to meet once or twice monthly in January, February, and March, and then adjourn for the remainder of the year. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) has confirmed that the Senate plans to finish its work by March 10, the final day of the […]
Interim President Thompson Leaving UW System in March
Date Thu, Jan. 13, 2022 - 11:19pm By Hamilton
University of Wisconsin System Interim President Tommy Thompson has announced he will leave his post on March 18. In a January 7 letter to Board of Regents President Edmund Manydeeds, Thompson wrote that he is leaving so that the university system can prepare to onboard his successor. The UW System Board of Regents is looking […]
Senator Asks Legislative Leaders to Sue UW System, Seeking Legislative Oversight of COVID Rules
Date Thu, Sep. 9, 2021 - 12:57pm By Hamilton
The Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) held an executive session on August 3 to vote on the University of Wisconsin System’s COVID-19 policies. On a 6-4, party-line vote, the committee ordered the UW System to submit its COVID-19 protocols as an emergency rule within 30 days, arguing that measures such as […]
Legislative Update: Special Session and Veto Override Attempt End Without Changes
Date Fri, Aug. 13, 2021 - 11:15am By Hamilton
On July 27, the Wisconsin Assembly met in extraordinary session to vote on a veto override of Assembly Bill 336. The bill would have ended Wisconsin’s participation in federal programs to provide or supplement unemployment benefits. It also would have prohibited the state from waiving the work search requirements for unemployment benefits for any reason […]
Finance Committee Continues Building State Budget; Tax Cuts, Education Funding Are Highlights
Date Fri, Jun. 4, 2021 - 1:48pm By Hamilton
The Wisconsin Legislature remains focused on assembling a state budget for the 2021-2023 fiscal biennium. In his executive budget proposal, Governor Tony Evers (D) included a two-year operating budget of more than $90 billion and a long list of changes to various state laws and programs. Immediately following the governor’s budget address in February, legislative leaders indicated they would […]
Wisconsin Was Awarded Billions of Dollars in Federal Funds for Education and Transportation Under the CRRSA
Date Fri, Feb. 12, 2021 - 9:18am By Hamilton
Last month, we discussed a few aspects of the $900 billion COVID-19 response legislation passed by Congress in December of last year. The economic stimulus and COVID relief package, called the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA), was passed along with the 2021 federal budget to form a 5,600-page spending bill totaling roughly […]
DPI Releases Guidance on K-12 Reopening
Date Mon, Jun. 29, 2020 - 11:16am By Hamilton
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has released guidance for Wisconsin schools on reopening safely and successfully in the 2020-21 school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Evers has said his administration is leaving the decision whether or not to reopen schools up to local districts. The DPI guidance does not place any mandates […]
Study Committee on Investment and Use of School Trust Funds Meets
Date Tue, Aug. 21, 2018 - 8:47am By Hamilton
The Study Committee on the Investment and Use of the School Trust Funds met for the first time on Aug. 16, 2018. The committee, chaired by Rep. Terry Katsma (R-Oostburg) and Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), is tasked with reviewing the investment process and loan programs under the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL). The […]