WPR Politics

Attention dear listeners, we have an announcement: The WPR Politics Podcast is taking a quick winter break!!

Do you remember 2021? That's OK, neither do we! But that just means it's time to take a look back at the year that was in Wisconsin state politics news on another episode of everyone's favorite fake podcast game show! Let's play!!!

The Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority issued a ruling this week laying out how they'll handle the political map-drawing process in the state: basically change things from the existing, GOP-slanted maps as little as possible. And how better to make sense of the news? Soft rock piano!

A new bipartisan bill sparked fresh discussion about marijuana policy in Wisconsin this week. It would standardize penalties for marijuana possession across the state, and while it would mellow out restrictions in many areas, some communities that have lax rules aren't feeling the vibe. Plus, can it actually pass, or will it go up in smoke as so many week bills before it?

Our very own Shawn Johnson has been away on a journey for many weeks, but today is the day he returns, and with news of Wisconsin redistricting no less. Just in time for GOP lawmakers' passage of their political maps. So sit back and let yourself be regaled!

It is just over 12 months until election day 2022 in Wisconsin, and that means it's high time for a podcast breakdown of the major races to keep an eye on over the next year — you've got your governor's race, the U.S. Senate, the 3rd Congressional District — so much excitement it's going to be hard to stay calm. But we are going to make it through this year if it kills us!

Deep in the bowels of the Capitol square, shrouded in mystery, you'll find the LAB. What goes on there, nobody's quite sure. But for months, day and night, something has been growing, bit by bit, taking on a life of its own. And now it's in the light of day — a massive, incomprehensible entity that's already started to spawn!! It has long, nonpartisan tentacles wrapped around the core parts of state government. It is … the Legislative Audit Bureau 2020 elections administration report !!!!!!!!

No tiny tweets or scrawny stories here! This week we have literally all the information there is on crane hunting, school transfers, election investigations, you name it! Hours and hours of state Capitol news on this special extended cut!

Yeah, it's October 2021, but somehow November 2020 is front-page political news in Wisconsin this week. It's like a wise man once said: "Time is a flat circle. Yes it is, yes it is."

The wheels are turning on Wisconsin's once-a-decade legislative redistricting process and everyone has mapmaking fever — Republicans in the state Legislature, the governor and his fellow Democrats, and eventually probably the courts. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

It has been a refreshing few weeks off for summer vacation, but the seasons are changing it's time to get back to work! That's right, fall is in the air and as the leaves start to drop, so will crisp new episodes of the WPR Politics Podcast. There is so much news to dig back into, so dust off that podcast app and get ready!

Attention dear listeners, we have an announcement: The WPR Politics Podcast is going on summer vacation!!

We were preparing for this for weeks. Training day and night. Running through all the eventualities. Time to cover Gov. Tony Evers' action on the two-year state budget. Partial vetoes? One big veto? You name it. So what happened? Strap in and listen to find out!

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature has been passing a lot of bills lately that raise the prospect of gubernatorial vetoes. For some of the legislation it seems likely, for others it's harder to tell. We could use our experience as political reporters to tell listeners what seems likely … or we could invent a fake supercomputer to do the work instead.

Long week in the Legislature — Joint Finance wrapped up their work on the state budget, Republicans introduced a massive tax cut proposal, and Laurel didn't get much sleep. So how about some terrible parody karaoke to bring it all together?

What happens when you run a state like, say, Wisconsin, and all of a sudden you find out that your state has more money coming in than you expected? Like a lot more money? Billions of dollars more money? Well, you fight about it of course!

Alright class, settle down. If you'll open your budget papers, today we're talking about state and federal funding for Wisconsin's K-12 schools and the UW System. Now who knows how the ed funding plan from the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature compares to the governor's spending proposal? Anyone? How about the surprise this week involving the UW System tuition freeze? Did nobody do the reading?

Another week in Wisconsin's divided state government and it seems like we've seen this one before — Both Democrats and Republicans push big ideas that they know they other side won't buy. But maybe that's part of the point.

It's that time in point in the Wisconsin legislative session where things are humming along — bills are being considered, votes are being taken — pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. But wait just a darn minute, because even run-of-the-mill lawmaking can be pretty important, or at least interesting. Election changes, police reform bills, singing at the ball game. Yeah, it was all there this week.

It's that time in the biennium when the budgetary blocks are being stacked. The governor has made his spending proposal, lawmakers have held public hearings on the issues, and this week the Legislature's budget committee took their first vote. But there was no balancing act to be seen. Republicans sent pieces flying.

There were plenty of important Wisconsin politics stories this week but they were wandering all over the news pasture like a herd of calves. So it's time to hop in the saddle and rope 'em up. That's right, it's time for a good ol' news roundup show. Heeyah!!

With divided government at the Wisconsin Capitol there's never a shortage of feuding going on, but this week especially, a pile of federal money coming the state's way has Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Legislature's GOP majority jostling over control of how to spend it. So to help sort through all of the dueling proposals, it's time for a poorly executed game show parody!

After arguments way back in November, the Wisconsin Supreme Court finally issued a ruling this week, deciding that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers overstepped his authority in declaring multiple states of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic without input from the GOP-controlled state Legislature. In practical terms, the ruling voids the governor's statewide mask mandate, among other things. In nerdy politics podcast terms, it means we have a written decision full of judicial hot fire to parse and analyze.

What happens when John is out and the list of bills that passed the Legislature is long? Laurel and Shawn talk about all of them, that's what. From administrative rules to "cocktails to go" to the latest on Wisconsin's capital budget, this week's episode has it all and in no particular order. Because freedom.

This week marks one year since the last episode of the WPR Politics Podcast that we all recorded together in the same room — and what a year it has been. So, in an endeavor of profound self reflection, we went back and listened to that episode to see what few things we knew back then about the COVID-19 pandemic, and all the ways it would come to affect Wisconsin politics that we had no clue about at the time.

It's a bit unusual for us to devote an entire episode to a single Wisconsin politician, but lately, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has been in the news — a lot. He's been amplifying refuted claims about election fraud; he's been downplaying the severity of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and questioning who was involved; and he's been a ringleader in trying to slow President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief bill. Is he just doing it to do it? Or does it tell us something about his future political plans?

With the way the world is moving these days, you could be forgiven for totally forgetting all those Wisconsin election challenges brought by former President Donald Trump and his supporters after his loss in November 2020. But state GOP lawmakers remember, and this week they introduced a huge slate of election bills, many of which would make changes directly related to issues raised in those lawsuits.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers released his second biennial state budget proposal this week. Chances are if you're a Democrat, you thought his last budget rocked super hard. Two years later, the governor is playing a similar song, but you could say everything is just turned up one more notch.

It's been 10 years this week since former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker introduced sweeping legislation gutting the state's once-strong public-sector unions, leading to giant protests and epic political drama. Whether you remember Act 10 like it was yesterday, or you weren't around yet like two-thirds of the WPRPP team, gather round. It's storytime.

Sometimes state government is orderly; sometimes it's a mix of like ping pong, pin the tail on the donkey, Jenga, Mouse Trap and Twister. And nobody seems to be winning. This week the Legislature's COVID-19 response bill collided with Republicans' attempts to repeal the governor's statewide mask mandate — and let's just say some wackiness ensued.

It's finally (probably) safe to say that the election cycle is now behind us, and for a state politics podcast, that means shifting focus back to the business of governing. So what's dominating things at the state Capitol as a new session gets underway? Yeah, it's still COVID-19 — policy addressing it and partisan politics surrounding it.

There were some relatively normal political things that happened this week. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers gave his annual State of the State address. Republicans gave a response. State senators passed a bill. But speech was remote, the response was in person, the Democratic governor sided with some Republicans on the bill and against others, and that's not even to mention that, in Washington, the president of the United States was impeached — again. So yeah, totally normal.

It's a new year, and a new legislative session here in Wisconsin. And normally we'd probably do a look-ahead, talking about new members being sworn in, new proposals, the upcoming budget process, maybe this week’s COVID-19 legislation. But the events in Washington this week really overshadowed any of that. And even though it's a story with nationwide significance, there's plenty to talk about as far as how Wisconsin's political leaders were involved and how they responded to it.

Is it early? Is it late? Who knows? It's a patented WPR Politics Podcast step-by-step guide through all of the election lawsuits — state and federal — that were decided in Wisconsin in the last week or so, not to mention a legislative hearing and a formal meeting of electors!

Well, last week we kinda failed. We waited all day on Friday to record an episode, but news kept breaking, and breaking, and breaking. So here we are, on a MONDAY, ready to fill you in on all of the election lawsuit drama and coronavirus-related legislative machinations we missed.

Just when you thought it was safe to take a stroll outside in the post-election news world — RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE — Oh no! It's a presidential recount! And a new COVID-19 emergency order! And lawsuits! AAAAHHHHH!!!!

Depending on when you listen to this episode, you may or may not know who the next president will be. But there is still a ton of Wisconsin election news to talk about. The presidential race was very tight, but this time President Donald Trump lost the state to his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden — but it still looks like we're headed toward a recount. There were also plenty of down-ballot races for Congress and the state Legislature that tell a story about where Wisconsin voters are. And polling, well, it had problems again.

This is it. The moment we've been waiting for. It's time to put on your costume and gorge yourself on candy because it's the last episode of the podcast before the November 2020 election and we have a lot to cover.

With Shawn away for the day, that means it's time to par-tay — election style that is! We'll break out the democracy snacks, pump up the jams and talk about early voting, polling and the presidential campaigns in Wisconsin during the waning days of the race.

Wisconsin has lawsuits about COVID-19. And lawsuits about voting. Oh, and there's a presidential election in like two weeks and we're still a swing state.

Over the course of this year, we've found ourselves repeating some variation on the sentiment: "Oh man, 2020! What? There is so much news! This is the craziest week!" But maybe, just maybe, this week is actually the craziest week, as far as state and national politics are concerned. President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19; Wisconsin is seeing a record coronavirus outbreak with elected officials seemingly taking no new actions to curb it; and on top of everything, there is an ongoing flurry of legal action about how the state will conduct next month's election.

There is so much news that happened this week — federal election rulings, a new COVID-19 emergency declaration, more presidential campaign visits to Wisconsin than you can shake a stick at and so much more — you can't rely on just Twitter notifications or the radio. No, what you need to keep up is some sort of speedy, metaphorical vehicle!

You know that friend, the one who always seems to have some issue going on? Some sort of drama? Well if states were people, it kinda seems like Wisconsin would be that friend this election year. Other states just decide who's going to be on their presidential ballots and print them. Simple. But in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court is considering a last-minute change that could mean millions of ballots have to be reprinted and deadlines could be missed. And other states seem to sorta know which presidential candidate they'll go for. But a fresh poll shows Wisconsin is still a real tossup. So dramatic.

The events in Kenosha continued to drive political news this week, with both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden visiting the city that has been rocked by a police shooting, protests, destruction and killings. We were certainly expecting Wisconsin to get plenty of attention during the 2020 election cycle, but we didn't think it would look like this.

This has been a hard week for Wisconsin — Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha police officer; Protesters took to the streets to express outrage; Some set fires and destroyed buildings; Police used tear gas, pepper spray and military vehicles; And an armed teen shot three protesters, killing two of them. And the crisis did nothing to bridge deep divisions among elected officials, spurring emotional responses, harsh criticism and intense debate about race, law enforcement and policy. Hopefully the WPR Politics Podcast team can help you make sense of it. In case you missed the headlines: Protesters Mobilize In Kenosha, Demanding Accountability In Jacob Blake Shooting Evers Calls For Special Session To Focus On Police Accountability In Wake Of Kenosha Shooting Evers Declares State Of Emergency Following Kenosha Police Shooting, Protests 2 Killed, 1 Injured In Shooting During Protests In Kenosha 'I Just Killed Somebody': Wisconsin Files Charges Against Illinois Teen In Kenosha Shooting That Killed 2 Evers Defends Protest Response, Tells Gunmen To Stay Away From Kenosha Wisconsin Senate Will 'Gavel In' But Won't Vote On Evers' Special Session Monday

This was the week of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee — that wasn't really in Milwaukee. At one point we were expecting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be here. Instead, Donald Trump and Mike Pence were. Wisconsin Democrats said some ... things. And the state's elections officials parsed the very nature of time itself, to the disappointment of rapper Kanye West.

Well there was some big political news this week about someone making a much discussed selection — but it really doesn't a Wisconsin angle, so instead we've put together our own short list of news stories, and we're going to make some equally momentous selections from said list to talk about.

2020 has a way of warping one's perspective of the news. This week there were stories that years or even months ago would have felt unimaginable — a rap superstar filed to be on Wisconsin's presidential ballot; the much-hyped DNC in Milwaukee that was supposed to woo Wisconsin voters won't even feature the party's candidate; and a federal judge who mad headlines ruling in Wisconsin's last election gave signs he might rule similarly for November — but now one is just left feeling like ¯_(ツ)_/¯

This week Gov. Tony Evers issued a statewide mask mandate to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But the timing of the order also has some political dimensions. There was a swift show of opposition from Republican state lawmakers, who could take action to reverse the order, and there is also the strong likelihood of a court challenge. Also, musical robots.

In an alternate non-COVID world, the 2020 Olympics were supposed to start this week. But while we won't get to marvel at the pure athletic spectacle of disciplines like handball, sport climbing or artistic swimming, there's plenty of action going on in Wisconsin political news. The White House announced federal law enforcement agents are vaulting into Milwaukee, there's still plenty of wrestling going on over the state government's response to the coronavirus and the governor's administration is swinging a sabre at the state budget.

Using fear in political campaigns is certainly nothing new, but against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic, not to mention a national reckoning over systemic racial inequity, it feels like political fear is front and center in 2020, up and down the ballot. You have Republicans on the state and federal levels raising the specters of anarchy and socialism if they aren't kept in power, while Democrats are using the prospects of another term of the Trump administration and a veto-proof GOP majority in the Wisconsin state Legislature to energize voters and raise money. It's enough to get the heart racing, that's for sure!