Author: Todd Richmond

Wisconsin Republicans emerged from the November 5 elections with their majority in the state Senate intact and poised to maintain their edge in the Assembly, despite new district boundaries that Democrats had hoped would give them a chance at finally making major inroads in both chambers. Voters also approved a GOP-authored constitutional amendment that bars foreign nationals from voting in Wisconsin. Here is a look at what was at stake for the Legislature and the Republican-authored constitutional amendment designed to ensure only U.S. citizens can vote in Wisconsin: WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE Republicans seized control of both the Assembly and the...

Exemptions that allow religious organizations to avoid paying Wisconsin’s unemployment tax do not apply to a Catholic charitable organization because its on-the-ground operations are not primarily religious, a divided state Supreme Court ruled in March. The outcome of the case, which drew attention and concern from religious groups around the country, raises the bar for all religions to show that their charity arms deserve such exemptions in the state. The Catholic organization’s attorneys immediately promised to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. If that court agrees to hear the case, any ruling could have broad national implications. The...

Lake sturgeon do not need Endangered Species Act protections, federal wildlife officials announced in April, saying that stocking programs have helped the prehistoric fish return to areas where they had vanished. The decision ends the Arizona-based Center of Biological Diversity’s petition filed in May 2018 asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list lake sturgeon as endangered or threatened. Such listings would make harvesting the fish illegal, but without them, popular sturgeon harvest seasons in states such as Wisconsin and Michigan can continue. The center argued that overharvesting and deteriorating habitat have “severely depleted” the species. Dams block...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on July 5 that officials can place ballot drop boxes around their communities in this fall’s elections, overturning its own ruling two years ago limiting their use in the presidential swing state. The court limited the use of drop boxes in July 2022, ruling then that they could be placed only in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person. Conservatives controlled the court at that time, but Janet Protasiewicz’s election victory in April 2023 flipped the court to liberal control. Seeing an opening, Priorities...