Brian Dake

Wisconsin Republicans are pursuing changes in state law to ban labeling food as meat, milk or dairy if they don’t contain those products.

A state Senate committee held a hearing Thursday on the proposals that bill sponsors argue is needed to protect Wisconsin’s agriculture and dairy industries from what they argue is misleading food labeling. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has pursued similar legislation at the federal level.

One bill would ban labeling a beverage as milk unless it comes from cows, goats and certain other animals. Another would prohibit selling a product as cream, yogurt or cheese unless it included dairy.

Those would only take effect if 10 other Midwest states approve similar bans by 2031.

A third would ban labeling or selling a product as meat, bacon or similar term unless it included the flesh of an animal. Eleven other states already have such a ban.

Governor Tony Evers announced 20 appointments to serve on the Task Force
on Retirement Security. The task force was created through Executive Order #45 and is tasked with addressing the growing crisis of retirement security in the state of Wisconsin. State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski will serve as the chair of the task force.

“After years of hard work, Wisconsinites deserve the opportunity to have financial security when it comes time to retire,” Treasurer Godlewski said. “Our work will be informed by the stories I’ve heard traveling around the state on the barriers people face when saving for retirement. I look forward to leading this task force in developing pragmatic solutions that will not only help hardworking Wisconsinites, but also our economy.”

Members of the Governor’s Task Force on Retirement Security will include:

• Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Chair

• Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm

• Department of Workforce Development Designee Pam McGillivray

• Office of the Governor, Kara Pennoyer, Deputy Chief of Staff

• State Senators Janis Ringhand & Kathy Bernier

• State Representative Evan Goyke & Cindi Duchow

• Michael Williamson, State of Wisconsin Investment Board

• Sara Chandler, State of Wisconsin Investment Board

• Michael Lauer, Service Employees International Union

• J. Michael Collins, UW-Madison Center for Financial Security

• Jennifer Wickman, Cooperative Network

• Lisa Lamkins, AARP Wisconsin

• Ron “Duff” Martin, Wisconsin Education Association Council

• Maiyoua Thao, City of Appleton Alderperson

• Guadalupe “Wally” Rendon, Educators Credit Union

• Brenda Gebhardt, Gebhardt Financial

• Dr. Eve Hall, Milwaukee Urban League

• Jim Blank, United Northeast Educations

The first meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on Retirement Security is scheduled for October 25.

Wisconsin workers without employer-funded family medical leave would be able to buy in to a state-run insurance program under a proposal reintroduced Tuesday by Democratic state lawmakers.

Under the plan, participating employees would pay income-based premiums to support the program and be eligible to receive paid leave under certain circumstances, including to care for a newborn child, adopted child or sick family member.  Premiums would be deducted from employees’ paychecks. There would be no cost to their employers.

The proposal would also expand the state’s current family medical leave law to allow individuals to take leave for more family members, including grandparents and siblings.

The measure, sponsored in the Assembly by Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Cross Plains, has been introduced twice previously. It has never received support from Republican lawmakers, who currently control both the state Assembly and Senate.

Opponents to similar plans in other states have expressed concerns with administrative costs for the state, as well as the effect of employee leave on businesses.

This month, President Donald Trump’s administration issued rules allowing Wisconsin and other states to test those who seek unemployment compensation if the only jobs they can do are in fields that routinely perform drug tests.

The state Department of Workforce Development oversees unemployment insurance in Wisconsin and will be responsible for the drug testing program.

Department spokesman Ben Jedd said Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration is waiting for more guidance from the federal Department of Labor before requiring drug tests.

Specifically, the Evers administration wants details on which types of applicants should have to undergo drug testing, he said.

Whether drug testing would be required for a narrow set of applicants, such as pilots, or a broad range of typical workers is unclear. Jedd offered no timeline for making that determination or starting the program.

Under the state’s plan, those who failed a drug test would have a chance to get state-funded drug rehabilitation. If they participated in rehab, they would receive their unemployment benefits. If they did not, they would lose their benefits. The state has budgeted $250,000 a year for drug testing and providing rehab.

A beginning teacher’s salary in Wisconsin averaged $38,181 for the 2017-2018 school year, the 25th highest rank among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to data analyzed by the National Education Association (NEA).

Nationwide, the average starting teacher’s salary last year stood at $39,249, the NEA reported. In inflation-adjusted dollars, starting teachers’ pay has dipped 2.9 percent over the past decade, according to the analysis.

In addition, more than six out of every 10 school districts nationwide offer starting teacher salaries that are under $40,000, the NEA said. And first-year teachers in 300 public school districts receive annual pay of below $30,000, according to the study.

Gov. Tony Evers, along with Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, today signed Executive Order #52, establishing the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change at the Urban Ecology Center’s Riverside Park location in Milwaukee.

“For too long we’ve been ignoring science, and frankly, we can’t afford to do it any longer. It’s time for us to deliver on the promise to our kids that we’re leaving them a better life and world than the one we inherited,” Gov. Evers said. “I am confident that this task force will find meaningful sustainable solutions to the climate crisis to carry our state into the future.”

The Task Force on Climate Change will advise and assist the governor in developing a strategy to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change for the benefit of all Wisconsin communities. Members of the task force will work closely with the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, created through Executive Order #38. The task force will report their findings and policy recommendations to Governor Evers by August 2020.

Governor Evers has appointed Lieutenant Governor Barnes to serve as chairman of the task force, who noted communities of color and low-income communities experience the first and worst consequences of climate change.

“All of Wisconsin can prosper in transitioning to a just and equitable clean economy,” Lt. Gov. Barnes said. “I’m eager to work alongside a number of brilliant and diverse individuals from across the state on this task force being created by Governor Evers, and I’m proud he’s given me the opportunity to lead it.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to take up a challenge brought by a conservative firm that aims to scale back the governor’s veto powers.

Filed over the summer on behalf of three Wisconsin taxpayers, the suit calls on the court to determine whether the governor may veto portions of a budget bill that are “essential, integral, and interdependent parts of those which were approved.”

Wisconsin governors hold the country’s most powerful partial veto authority on spending measures, but aren’t able to use the veto pen to create new words by striking out individual letters, and they can’t craft new sentences by combining parts of two or more lines in legislation. Both limitations were imposed after voters approved previous constitutional amendments to limit governors’ authority in that arena.

In an hour-long hearing Tuesday, the state Senate’s Government Oversight Committee heard arguments for and against a constitutional amendment that would curb the governor’s veto power.

Constitutional amendments must pass consecutive legislative sessions and then be approved by a statewide referendum before they are ratified.

Governor Evers used partial veto powers in July to rewrite the state budget and allocate $65 million more to public schools than was proposed in the budget.

Joint Resolution 59 is one of several attempts made by legislators to curb the governor’s veto power, Craig notes. If passed, it would create a new section (10 (1) (d)) of article V of the state constitution “prohibiting the governor from using the partial veto to increase state expenditures.”

JR 59 “would shield taxpayers from further unauthorized spending in the future,” Craig said.

Two Democrats on the committee, Sens. Fred Risser and Lena Taylor, spoke against the amendment, arguing it wasn’t necessary.

Federal dollars remained the second-largest source of states’ revenue in fiscal 2017, accounting for about $639 billion, or about a third of the $1.97 trillion collected by state governments. Tax collections are states’ leading revenue generator and reached $943 billion in fiscal 2017, or nearly half of state revenue.

According to new research from The Pew Charitable Trusts, 26.3% of the state’s budget came from federal dollars, ranking Wisconsin 45th among states in its ability to harness dollars from Uncle Sam.

Wisconsin has consistently ranked in the bottom half of states with regard to the share of federal dollars it receives, due in part to its middle ranking in household income compared to other states. The amount of federal spending in a given state depends on several factors, including demography, industry mix and presence of major universities.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed optimism Monday that the U.S. and China have a workable first-phase agreement that addresses some key elements of the trade war between the two nations.

“We made substantial progress last week in the negotiations,” Mnuchin said during an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We have a fundamental agreement that is subject to documentation.”