May 28, 2015
A group of large insurance companies is backing the controversial changes to the state’s long-term care programs that GOP legislative leaders are proposing. The eight insurance companies in the group accounted for more than $149,000 in campaign contributions between January 2011 and Oct. 20, 2014, to Republican legislators.
May 27, 2015
A Milwaukee lawyer whose father leads a foundation that has poured millions of dollars into conservative causes nationwide has been appointed to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a possible 2016 presidential candidate.
May 26, 2015
GOP lawmakers have inserted a plan in the proposed 2015-17 state budget that would increase timber-cutting on thousands of acres of state forests at the request of papermaking and logging interests.
May 21, 2015
Wisconsin high school students would be required to pass a civics test in order to receive a diploma under a plan added to the proposed 2015-17 state budget by Republican legislators. The proposal is being pushed by an out-of-state special interest group whose leader was an early supporter of voucher and charter schools.
May 20, 2015
Pro-school voucher interests, which have spent an estimated $4.3 million on outside electioneering activities to support Republican legislative candidates, have scored another legislative victory to increase spending and sharply expand the statewide program.
May 19, 2015
A Canadian oil distributor that is responsible for hundreds of spills since 1999 is among several companies that will get an environmental award this week from Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC). The Department of Natural Resources, which enforces environmental laws, helped choose the award recipients.
May 18, 2015
The owner of a financially struggling Milwaukee construction company who received a $500,000 state loan after contributing $10,000 to Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s 2010 campaign, has contributed $24,500 to candidates for statewide office and the legislature since 2005.
Posted: May 14, 2015
Updated: May 18, 2015
Two prominent political figures, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, decried the poisonous effects of money in our political system last night.
May 14, 2015
Road builders, who have contributed more than $403,000 to current legislators over the past four years, are backing a legislative proposal that would allow counties and municipalities to create a new sales tax to pay for local street maintenance and repairs, a plan one critic calls buck-passing.
May 13, 2015
Tavern interests have thrown their support behind Republican legislative proposals that would prohibit communities from banning electronic cigarettes and other vapor smoking products in public places, like bars and restaurants.
May 12, 2015
A Republican lawmaker who runs a small business is sponsoring a proposal that would require the state to give small businesses a pass the first time an audit finds that they underpaid their taxes, and charge a lower interest rate on money owed to the state that is revealed in later audits.
May 11, 2015
Republican legislators are circulating a proposal that would prohibit a woman from having an abortion at 20 weeks or later in her pregnancy.
May 8, 2015
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) revised a state permit to allow a railroad, whose employees have given Republican Gov. Scott Walker more than $61,000 in campaign contributions, to expand its lines for controversial crude oil shipments through the city of La Crosse.
May 7, 2015
Dane County would be prohibited from making wastewater, sewage and other water quality decisions under a proposal inserted into the proposed 2015-17 state budget at the request of developers, according to a Republican lawmaker who sponsored the measure.
May 6, 2015
Republican Gov. Scott Walker plans on asking the federal government to delay the implementation of tougher state phosphorous pollution rules because he claims the requirements would be too costly for some Wisconsin industries and cities.
May 5, 2015
Big business and other powerful special interests support a legislative proposal that would require people who seek unemployment insurance benefits to submit to drug tests.
May 4, 2015
Campers who suffer injuries or property damage during their vacation or weekend getaway would have a more difficult time suing private campgrounds under bills introduced by GOP lawmakers and backed by the state’s most influential business group.
May 4, 2015
April 30, 2015
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 29, finally woke up to the corrupting role that money can play in our electoral system.
Posted: April 30, 2015
Updated: June 22, 2015
Madison – The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is launching a new feature on its website, www.wisdc.org. It’s called Influence Peddler of the Month, and it aims to shine a light on the power brokers who work behind the scenes in the Capitol, throwing their weight around and adversely affecting the general public.
April 29, 2015
Republican Gov. Scott Walker has received $7,900 in campaign contributions since the beginning of 2010 from executives of a Menomonee Falls company that plans on moving 93 jobs from Wisconsin to Mexico after it received about $369,000 in state tax breaks to create and retain jobs.
April 28, 2015
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, one of the largest dark money sponsors of negative electioneering activities in Wisconsin, is supporting a Republican proposal to reduce the amount of information candidates must disclose about special interest campaign contributions.
April 27, 2015
The politically powerful real estate and construction industries are backing a Republican legislative proposal that would prevent communities from imposing new occupational licenses, fees, and regulations on certain professions.
April 23, 2015
A Milwaukee business group that spent almost $200,000 to help elect Republican legislators is behind a plan to kill funding for a group that represents consumers before the state Public Service Commission.
April 22, 2015
Local governments in Wisconsin may be forced to buy property insurance on the private market after the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee agreed with Republican Gov. Scott Walker and decided to end a state fund that has sold them insurance since 1911.