(The Center Square) – Women in Wisconsin are a step closer to having a new choice for birth control.
The State Assembly approved a plan to allow pharmacists in the state to prescribe the pill or a birth control patch. Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, sponsored the plan.
“Birth control is 99.9% effective when it is used according to directions, and regularly,” Kitchens explained. “The lack of access is the biggest reason that it sometimes fails. Women will leave home for a couple of days and forget about it, or they can’t make it to an appointment with their doctor. And this bill is going to help with all of that.”
Some pro-life Republicans voted against the legislation, claiming they have concerns about women being able to get birth control without speaking to a doctor first.
Kitchens, however, said his proposal is pro-life and pro-family.
“Along with drug addiction, unplanned pregnancy is the number one contributor to generational poverty,” Kitchens added. “Forty percent of unplanned pregnancies are aborted. The abortion rate is about a third of what it was in 1990, in Wisconsin and across the country, and the primary reason for that is increased access and education about birth control.”
Democratic lawmakers said it’s about time Wisconsin expands access to birth control in the state.
The plan passed the Assembly on an 87-10 vote, with both Republican and Democratic votes.
And Republicans may need Democratic votes in the Senate as well.
Kitchens wouldn’t say if he has enough Republican support in the upper chamber to pass the plan.
The Assembly has approved the same, or similar legislation, twice before but it never made it past the Senate.
Kitchens said he’s hopeful this time is different.

(The Center Square) – The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and several environmental groups spent two days testifying about the potential harm of a Line 5 reroute project to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Enbridge applied for permits and proposed to reroute the line in 2020 by replacing 20 miles of existing pipeline – including the 12 miles currently within the reservation – with a 41-mile-long stretch of pipe around the reservation in northern Wisconsin.
Line 5 transports 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario for 645 miles through a 30-inch diameter pipe.
The Band is both concerned about water contamination on the reservation, in Lake Superior and in the wetlands that serve as the Band’s wild rice beds and as a critical migratory bird habitat.
“The Line 5 pipeline is a daily threat to our clean rivers and lakes, our fish, and our wild rice,” Bad River Band Chairman Robert Blanchard said in a statement. “If Enbridge is allowed to move this nightmare upstream to get around our borders, it will only endanger more of our homeland. Our drinking water, our way of life, and our very future hang in the balance. During the hearing, our message to Enbridge and to the US Army Corps was consistent and clear: Issuing this permit will violate our water quality standards.”
Enbridge told The Center Square that it has received five years of public review and input, making it the most-studied pipeline project in Wisconsin history.
“We’re confident construction impacts from the project are temporary, will have no measurable impacts on water quality, and will not exceed the Bad River Band’s water quality standards,” Enbridge told The Center Square through a spokesperson.
The band and the environmental experts testified that hundreds of downstream wetlands and streams would be polluted by trenching, drilling and backfilling for the reroute.
They also believe that the water quality will decline in the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, where the band harvests wild rice. The Band also pointed to how Enbridge spilled more than 69,000 gallons of crude oil in Oakland, located in Jefferson County east of Cambridge, from Line 6 due to a failed gasket flange. The spill was initially reported as a two-gallon spill but further investigation found that it was a much larger spill.
“An oil spill along Line 5 is just a matter of time,” Senior Attorney Stefanie Tsosie of Earthjustice said in a statement. “Enbridge is notorious across the region for its oil spills and aquifer breaches. In fact, one of the largest oil spills in Wisconsin’s history was caused by an Enbridge pipeline several months ago. This week’s hearing covered only a small number of the many good reasons why this project should be denied.”
Hearings will continue on Aug. 12 at Northwood Technical College in Ashland, where the public can testify related to permits from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
There will be a trial-like hearing in Room S149 at the Hill Farms State Office Building in Madison from Sept. 3-12 where environmental groups will present a case against the WDNR permits.

(The Center Square) – A bill adding a pair of film tax credits in Wisconsin worth up to $10 million while also creating a film office with three full-time employees passed Wisconsin’s Senate Assembly Committee on Ways and Means and could now head to the full Assembly.
The bill would start film tax credits again in Wisconsin after they were previously halted in 2013. Wisconsin is one of four states currently without film tax credits.
The 30% tax credit would apply to income paid to Wisconsin residents up to $250,000 apiece, transferable credits for film-related expenses in the state and credits for acquiring or improving property that wasn’t owned before Dec. 31, 2025.
The bill would cost $199,300 in financial year 2027 and $254,000 the next year to fund three full-time employees in a film office.
The tax credit is co-sponsored by Rep. Dave Armstrong, R-Rice Lake, whose full-time job is the Economic Development Director in Barron County.
Film credits like those larger credits used in Georgia were supported by Armstrong but have been panned by economists as a tax cost that isn’t worth it for taxpayers.
Economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University extensively studied Georgia’s larger film credit program, writing in a peer-reviewed paper that the state spent $230 per household on foregone tax revenue because of the initiative, which has cost taxpayers the equivalent of $110,000 per full-time job in the industry without bringing the promised benefits from the program.
The Wisconsin bill received support from the committee but Rep. Nate Gustafson, R-Fox Crossing, said that he is not a “huge fan” of the bill despite voting for it.
“This bill is not quite fully ready for showtime but I think we have enough to have a bigger conversation with our colleagues,” Gustafson said.

(The Center Square) – Care for people in rural Wisconsin suffering from long-term or serious illness could soon be on the way.
If bill aimed at establishing a taxpayer-funded advisory council for specialized health care combating life-threatening illnesses gets through the state Senate, access in rural communities could be improved.
Assembly Bill 23, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in a 96-1 vote, would establish the Palliative Care Council to consult with and advise the Department of Health Services on expanding access to palliative care services.
According to the Wisconsin Hospice and Palliative Care Association, palliative care is specialized, integrated medical care for people with serious life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, congestive heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The treatment focuses on providing patients and families with relief from symptoms, pain and stress.
“Palliative care is not limited to any age or prognosis, but instead focuses on helping anyone with a serious or chronic illness by providing tailored support to improve quality of life,” Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, said in a statement. “This type of treatment should be available to any patient or family that wishes access to it. However, many are unable to benefit due to limited access and awareness of palliative care. That is what this legislation aims to address.”
The bill requires Palliative Care Council members include a statewide group of medical and clinical professionals specialized in palliative care, as well as patients and their relatives. Additionally, the DHS must establish a statewide palliative care information and education program to make comprehensive and accurate information available to consumers, professionals, and the general public.
The council would help expand care to Wisconsin hospitals and communities that do not yet have access to it, according to WiHPCA board chair Lynne Sexten.
“Access to palliative care varies widely across our state,” Sexten said. “In particular, over half of rural hospitals do not provide any type of palliative care specialists. Home and clinic-based palliative care is also available in Wisconsin, but it is extremely limited.”
Because this care is meant for the sickest and most vulnerable patients and their families, palliative care specialists could include physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and any other care specialists working alongside a patient’s doctor to provide support, according to WiHPCA.
While the council may consult or advise the DHS on palliative care, it may not recommend physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, medical aid in dying, or any other act that would lead to a deliberate end of life other than an advance directive withdrawing healthcare or an attorney for healthcare permitting the natural process of dying.

(The Center Square) – A federal grand jury indicted a Wisconsin judge Tuesday, the charges being helping shield a person illegally in the country from federal immigration officials at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
Federal prosecutors charged Judge Hannah Dugan with obstruction of a federal proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent discovery or arrest.
The obstruction charge could result in up to a $100,000 fine and a year in prison, while the second concealment charge can result in up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Dugan’s defense team released a statement saying the judge maintains her innocence and looks forward to proving it in court, according to published reports.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Lindsay Schloemer wrote in the complaint against Dugan that law enforcement often makes arrests at the courthouse because “not only the fact that law enforcement knows the location at which the wanted individual should be located but also the fact that the wanted individual would have entered through a security checkpoint and thus unarmed, minimizing the risk of injury to law enforcement, the public, and the wanted individual.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan, saying it was in the public interest to temporarily relieve her of duties.
Dugan is accused of concealing Eduardo Flores Ruiz, who was previously deported and came back to the U.S., where he was facing charges in Milwaukee of domestic battery and abuse.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says that budget discussions are “on pause” until Republican leadership hears back from Gov. Tony Evers about an in-person meeting to discuss a tax cut plan and budget priorities.
Vos said Evers is “refusing to meet with us in person.”
“That makes no sense to me,” Vos added.
Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said that there is still plenty of time to complete the process but that process needs to begin now.
“In order for the budget process to move forward, we need to get the players in the room to be able to talk about the best way we can move forward and tax cuts are an important part of that,” Born said before Tuesday’s Assembly session. “So as soon as the governor agrees to meet with the leadership that’s been asking for that meeting, the better and then we can stay on schedule.”
Vos said that staff has had discussions and the time for speaking on general terms is over.
“We need to actually start making decisions,” Vos said. “We don’t want to start allocating resources to our priorities until we know how much we have to allocate.”
The discussion was a continuation of what Republican leadership said this weekend.
Vos said that the original plan was to pass a standalone tax cut bill in the Legislature, but Evers asked that any tax cut be included in the budget instead.
“So we listened to him and we took him at his word that he was serious about wanting to meet with us,” Vos said. “So I think that is still our preferred option to be able to get an agreed upon tax cut so that we know we have X dollars to invest in schools and health care and all the other things that are important.”
Vos added that it’s important to know how much money is available before deciding spending in the budget.
“It’s pretty hard for us to move forward until we have a general framework,” he said.

(The Center Square) – There is a new face for tax reform in Wisconsin this week.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar, is reportedly “intrigued” by a trade to the Dallas Mavericks because Texas doesn’t have a state income tax.
Chris Reader, executive vice president at the Institute for Reforming Government, said Giannis is not the only one in the state who would like to keep more of their salary.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Giannis is doing the math like thousands of employers, families, retirees, young people, and entrepreneurs do every year as they move to states with zero income taxes,” Reader told The Center Square.
Giannis is set to make $54 million next season. He pays Wisconsin’s highest income tax, 7.65%. That means his Wisconsin tax bill would be more than $4 million before any deductions or credits.
Reader said millionaires aren’t the only ones who would benefit from tax reform in the state.
“Tax reform isn’t about helping the rich, it benefits regular Wisconsin families. According to a recentstudy, a household earning $61,105 will see a savings of $2,796 when the income tax is eliminated, helping the middle class save more of their own money,” Reader added.
Reader and IRG have pitched a plan to eliminate Wisconsin’s state income tax before, but the idea has failed to gain any real traction at the statehouse.
“If Wisconsin wants tax reform, we will need politicians to prioritize looking for ways to give money back to taxpayers instead of spending it,” Reader said.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has proposed raising income taxes on top earners in the state. He pitched a plan to increase the top tax bracket up to 9.8% for couples making more than $1 million, or individuals making more than $500,000.
Reader said Wisconsin needs to go the exact opposite way.
“If a zero income tax state can pull Giannis to Texas, imagine what a difference no income state income tax could make for a young family, job-seeker, entrepreneur, or retiree deciding where to build a life or a business,” Reader added. “Eliminating Wisconsin’s income tax would help retain and attract the best and brightest. States with no income tax are winning the competition for talent.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin employers could soon get a boost if a plan to use taxpayer money to develop workforce and literacy skills moves forward.
Senate Bill 240 and Assembly Bill 235 would require the Department of Workforce Development to establish grants for eligible nonprofit organizations to use to teach workforce readiness, basic literacy skills and digital literacy.
Groups could also use the money toward preparation and testing for the GED and HSED, literacy programs related to the workforce and other professional services and supplies to directly support adult literacy services.
“Wisconsin has thousands of jobs to fill and a number of willing workers who need basic literacy skills to unlock their future careers,” Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, said in a statement. “This bill tackles one of the biggest employment barriers head-on by investing in teaching reading and other foundational skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce.”
To be eligible for the grant, an organization must be a nonprofit in Wisconsin and provide adult literacy services or at least support community-based literacy programs in more than half of the state’s 72 counties.
The bills were referred to the Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development.

(The Center Square) – A little less than 10% of Wisconsin school districts have no restrictions on cell phone use while 43.4% only allow their use in high school and middle school common areas, according to a new report from Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The state’s smaller school districts often have stricter cell phone rules than large districts, the analysis showed.
https://wispolicyforum.org/research/wisconsin-could-join-call-for-change-on-cell-phones-in-schools/
The Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill in February that would ban cell phones during instructional time in all Wisconsin public schools but Assembly Bill 2 has not yet been taken up by the Senate.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/ab2
Currently, 26.2% of Wisconsin school districts said their policies permit phones only in high school common areas while 20.7% of districts or schools have a full cell phone ban.
There are 19 states that had statewide cellphone bans or restrictions that were in place as of April 30, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Legislation has been introduced related to statewide rules in 16 more states.
“While surveys show – and our interviews with school officials suggest – that cell phone restrictions in schools are popular, not all students and parents are on board,” the report concludes. “Districts and state lawmakers would be well-advised to better understand these objections as they craft new cell phone policies or tweak existing ones.”
A Pew Research study showed that 68% of U.S. adults would support a cell phone ban during class for middle and high school students.
The survey additional showed that just 45% of those ages 18 to 29 support a cell phone ban during class while 67% of those 30-49 support a classroom ban and 80% of those 50 and older support the ban.
“Limiting the use of students’ cell phones in schools may seem like an easy decision to some, but it marks just the start of a journey toward a larger goal,” the report says. “In our digital age, Wisconsin students must move into adulthood with the skills needed to command both their attention spans and their use of digital technology.”