Hamilton Political Tidbits – December 18, 2020

Political Tidbits - December 18, 2020
December 18, 2020
Wisconsin political news for clients and colleagues.
Ahhh, 2020. What more can we say that hasn’t been screamed in agony already. A tough, and for some, tragic year comes to an end, and while we are not out of the woods yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Instead of lamenting what we missed, we’ll use the turn of the calendar to look forward to what we’ll get to do again soon. Seeing R.J. in a bow tie perhaps. Hamilton’s team, which hasn’t all been together at once since March, has a new team member, Adam Jordahl, a talented addition who you’ll be hearing from soon. He replaces Paige Scobee who is now in law school at the University of Texas where we know she’ll be as impressive there as she was here.

As we like to do every year, we thank you for working with us. We truly appreciate the friendships and relationships that develop through our work together and value them even more after a year like 2020 where the stress level was much higher for everyone. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all. Here’s to hoping the shots on New Years Eve are followed closely by two other shots. 

See you (in person!) in 2021!  

In this edition of Hamilton Political Tidbits:


If you have any additional questions, please contact a member of the Hamilton Consulting team.
2020 in Words
To celebrate the end of this unprecedented year, we took all article titles from Hamilton’s 2020 Tidbits to find out what we wrote about the most – no surprise here on the number 1 word of 2020…
Wisconsin Legislature Not Convening before 2021
After almost nine months of waiting, incoming-Senate Majority leader Devin LeMahieu announced that the state Senate does not plan to reconvene in 2020. The Assembly concluded its legislative business for the 2019-20 legislative session. The Senate, however, did not conclude its business and due to COVID-19, delayed convening the last available session days (March 24-26).

PFAS, Climate Change and Rural Wisconsin Reports Released
Year-end brings the holiday season, winter weather and... task force/commission reports. This month, so far, the governor has announced the release of three different reports, each a result of a distinct multi-year effort: Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change, Blue Ribbon Commission on Rural Prosperity , and Wisconsin PFAS Action Council (WisPAC)

2021-22 Joint Finance Committee Membership Announced
The powerful budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) has new chairs on both the Senate and Assembly side for the first time in over a decade. 

Senate Committee Structure & Republican Membership Announced
On December 8, the incoming Senate Majority Leader, Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) announced the Senate committee structure and Senate Republican members. Democratic members are expected to be named in the coming weeks.

Meet the Freshman Assembly Representatives 
Last month, we introduced you to the incoming Senators for the 2021-23 legislative session. This month, we meet the 16 newest members of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Wisconsin Republicans still maintain a strong majority of the seats, 61-38, but did lose two seats in November. Overall, there are 10 new Democrats and six Republicans in the 2021-22 session freshman class. 

State Projected to End Current Biennium in the Black; Next Biennium in the Red
The Evers administration announced some okay news for the state’s fiscal situation. The state Department of Administration released updated estimates projecting the state will finish the current 2019-21 biennium with a gross balance of $1.2 billion. 

Judge Again Blocks Release of Business Names with COVID-19 Cases 
On Monday, November 30, a Waukesha judge extended the temporary restraining order prohibiting the state from releasing the names of businesses with more than 25 employees, who have had at least two workers test positive for COVID-19.

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