While public schools in Wisconsin fight for funding, 222 new private schools registered with the Department of Public Instruction to participate in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. Students participating in the program use taxpayer subsidies to attend participating private schools.
“Public assistance should be more like a trampoline and less like a hammock,” Gov. Scott Walker announced to roaring applause at his State of the State address, introducing a package of new reforms to the welfare system. These reforms would add a series of stricter requirements for Wisconsinites to qualify for welfare and public support, with the goal of easing people off of government dependency and into the mainstream economy. But these policies have more than administrative importance, as they also suggest a unique understanding of what poverty is like, and what sorts of values are assigned to different people grappling with it. To Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who testified in support of the reform proposals, any good welfare system is one that “promotes accountability, encourages personal responsibility, prevents fraud and abuse,” and “opens the doors of opportunity for people who can work.” Debates within social policy often wrestle with questions of who is considered worthy of help. “Deservingness has historically been tied to ability and willingness to work,” said Marcy Carlson, a professor in the UW-Madison Department of Sociology and researcher at the Institute for Research on Poverty.
After losing their legislators to gubernatorial appointments, two districts will be without representation until November, as Gov. Scott Walker announced he will not call special elections to replace their legislators.
A text-in suicide prevention hotline could receive a state grant to stay open if a new bipartisan bill passes.
The Koch Brothers will put influential fundraising network to use in Wisconsin’s several vital elections.
Foster children could attend state colleges and universities without paying tuition if a group of bipartisan supporters gets their way.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., urged the president to push for further a bipartisan infrastructure bill emphasizing American jobs and manufacturing.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore has urged federal officials to investigate the state’s management of children’s lead poisoning after a scandal within Milwaukee’s health department.
Gov. Scott Walker’s new child tax credit plan is being met with skepticism by some of his closest supporters.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates have a different view of Gov. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin than the picture the governor painted in Wednesday’s State of the State address.
Gov. Scott Walker announced a new proposal Wednesday to inject $50 million per year into rural economic development projects. The announcement came hours before the governor’s State of the State speech.
Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald pushed the state Senate to oust leaders of the ethics and elections agencies, while some officials deny they have the right to do so.
Gov. Scott Walker outlined his legislative accomplishments and unveiled a new and surprising agenda in his State of the State address Wednesday.
Democratic lawmakers hope to recreate net neutrality in Wisconsin through a package of internet regulation bills.
Though a longtime opponent of Obamacare, Gov. Scott Walker is pushing a plan to prop up the program’s state marketplace following the removal of a key funding mechanism under the recently approved GOP tax plan.
Lawmakers want to revive a program to hire students to clean up and care for the state’s natural resources, while helping them manage tuition and debt.
As heat waves and cold fronts alike bombard the region, Midwest average temperatures are far below normal for the season.
After failing to reach an agreement on a spending plan, the Senate has triggered a closure of the federal government.
Democrat Patty Schachtner defeated Republican Adam Jarchow in a special election upset, denting the Republican majority heading into the 2018 midterms.
Mayor Paul Soglin plans to officially announce his candidacy for governor next week, entering a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls.
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