WNA Member Content | Wisconsin Newspaper Association

Policy Forum identifies 5 keys to the next state budget

Mar. 15, 2023

As state lawmakers begin deliberations on Gov. Tony Evers’ proposal for the 2023-25 state budget, a record projected surplus of $8.8 billion hands them an historic opportunity to make generational progress on some of the state’s most pressing policy challenges.

In a new state budget brief released by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the statewide policy research organization identifies five keys it expects will be critical to the state’s future fiscal outlook, its economy, and the quality of life of its citizens.

state bar of wisconsin, legal rights, legal advice

Legal considerations before starting a small business

Mar. 14, 2023

As the U.S. economy transitions to slower growth, some entrepreneurial Wisconsinites who were laid off may decide to start their own business.

‘There’s no transparency’: Secretive ‘pocket veto’ scuttles Wisconsin projects

Mar. 13, 2023

The Joint Finance Committee has long allowed members to anonymously block projects, but some want to rein in its dubious practice of not holding hearings

Officially sick of winter

Mar. 12, 2023

Being Wisconsin born and raised on a farm, I can honestly say that I’ve dealt with much of the worst that winter can offer.

‘Election integrity’ proposals do not address most common voting infraction in Wisconsin

Mar. 9, 2023

Prosecutors charged just 192 people with election-related crimes since 2012, but more than half of the cases were related to felony probation status

Due to one-time nature of much of state surplus, budgetary prudence key

Mar. 8, 2023

With the largest surplus on record, state policymakers have an unprecedented opportunity in the 2023-25 budget to make once-in-a-generation progress on some of Wisconsin’s biggest challenges.

‘Opees’ honor and chastise

Mar. 8, 2023

For the 17th consecutive year, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council has named its annual Openness in Government Awards, or Opees, in honor of national Sunshine Week, March 12-18. Five winners and one loser were selected from among an uncommonly large number of nominations.

Honorees include a group of residents concerned about the impact of a local park redevelopment, a school board member who blew the whistle on his colleagues for being too secretive, and a longtime city official who has made a habit of accessibility.

The road signs of spring

Mar. 6, 2023

The classic harbingers of spring are the return of the robins, the maple sap run or the first blooms to sprout from the thawing earth.

This August's primary is spurring an unusual summer debate over two constitutional amendments backed by Republicans.

Evers’ building budget has a few twists

Mar. 1, 2023

After a gubernatorial election, the first job of the governor in the first year of the new term is unveiling the two-year state budget plan.

There’s something to be said for decency

Mar. 1, 2023

The 39th President of the United States was smiling on July 27, 1979.

Less than four months later – on Nov. 4, 1979 – the defining moment of Jimmy Carter’s presidency occurred, when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage.