The Capitol Report

Lobbying efforts took a big hit last session as the COVID-19 pandemic raged, but a WisPolitics.com review found that, in many ways, the influence industry is still alive and well.

Wisconsin lawmakers in 2020 claimed per diems totaling $555,149, about 70 percent of what they took home in the previous election year, as the COVID-19 pandemic cut into activity at the Capitol, a WisPolitics.com review found.

Legislative Democrats, with the help of the Democratic Party’s robust fundraising, outspent their GOP counterparts in Wisconsin by more than $6.1 million ahead of the November election.

Wisconsin Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of a conservative-backed proposal to create a process for the state Supreme Court to handle redistricting cases.

Wisconsin state schools superintendent candidates are arguing for a more equitable school system, more funding and less focus on standardized testing. But the seven candidates vying for the state’s top education job differ on how to achieve those goals.

Gov. Tony Evers says his two-year budget plan due to be delivered in mid-February will again propose accepting federal money to expand the Medicaid program.

Wisconsin Supreme Court justices are considering the legality of an Evers administration order to limit indoor capacity even though it has expired and was shot down by a state appeals court.

With lawmakers retiring, resigning or losing reelection, the Wisconsin State Assembly will see 16 new members while eight new members will serve in the state Senate in the coming two-year session that starts in January.

Despite winning a narrow plurality in Wisconsin a month ago, Joe Biden won just 37 Assembly districts and 11 in the Senate, according to a WisPolitics.com analysis of certified returns.

Paul Ryan in late November, speaking out against President Trump, said the “legal challenges to the outcome and the attacks on our voting system really need to stop.”