(The Center Square) – Wisconsin is part of one of four lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s election executive order, despite the state being exempt from part of it.
Attorney General Josh Kaul joined 18 other Democratic attorneys general in suing the Trump Administration over the president’s order to require proof of U.S. citizenship, among other things, in federal elections.
“Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Election Assistance Commission shall take appropriate action to require, in its national mail voter registration form…documentary proof of United States citizenship, [and] a State or local official to record on the form the type of document that the applicant presented as documentary proof of United States citizenship.” the president wrote in his March 25 order.
A birth certificate is not listed in the order as something to establish proof of citizenship.
The AGs wrote in their lawsuit that the president’s executive order would “effectively preclude Plaintiff States from administering vote-by-mail systems that permit voters to make their choices by Election Day, upending processes that accommodate more voters, decrease obstacles, and increase voter participation.”
But not in Wisconsin.
A Waukesha County judge is blocking the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the federal voter registration form the president wants used.
Judge Michael Maxwell ruled in September 2023 that Wisconsin cannot use the form because it does not ask all of the questions required by state election registration laws. Specifically, the national form doesn’t ask about residency or a criminal history. Wisconsin law requires answers to both in order to vote. The form also asks for information that Wisconsin law does not require.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the suit back in 2022.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission stopped using the national form after the ruling and has attempted to revive its use.
Kaul did not say anything about the ruling against the registration for when he signed on to the lawsuit.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly again called for an increase in state spending on K-12 public schools in the next biennial budget.
Underly spoke to the state’s Joint Committee on Finance during a Wednesday public meeting in Kaukauna, a day after she was reelected to the post.
Underly is pushing for a 60% increase in the state special education reimbursement rate for school districts. That rate stopped being adjusted with inflation in 2009 and Underly said that led to a decade of inadequate funding for schools.
She also is pushing for universal free school meals, youth mental health support, education workforce spending and spending more on student health initiatives.
“An unprecedented number of our school districts have been forced to turn to referenda, asking their communities to raise property taxes just to compensate for the state’s underfunding,” Underly said. “On top of that, the Trump administration’s reckless cuts threaten the critical federal funding that Wisconsin schools depend on.”
Gov. Tony Evers’ budge proposal included a $3.4 billion increase to DPI over two years with $1.1 billion additional to local governments and tax relief, according to an analysis from Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Underly has pointed to the number of local school referendums on the ballot across the state as evidence that schools are not properly funded.
Underly’s office said that 58.4% of school referendums passed in Tuesday’s election, including 89 questions related to 81 school districts. Those included 53 questions related to one-time funding, 31 to approve issuing debt and five were for recurring spending.
Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, has said he believes increased spending has not and will not lead directly to improved student performance and that school referenda allow for local decision-making on school funding.
“These referendums keep the power and choice for how and when to spend tax dollars with people in local communities rather than creating a one size fits all approach,” Allen said in November in response to Underly’s budget proposal.

(The Center Square) – There is some good news in the latest report on Wisconsin’s healthcare workforce.
The Wisconsin Hospital Association released its 2025 Workforce Report recently, and it said hospitals across the state have closed their employment gap over the past few years.
“The health care workforce continues to stabilize,” the report noted. “But significant shortages remain – a status upgrade that could be reported this year as ‘serious, but stable.’”
The report says health care employment is up 8% since 2019, but there continue to be more open jobs than available workers.
“One in 10 hospital jobs posted remained unfilled,” the report notes. “Double digit vacancy rates remain in 6 of 18 professions.”
The Hospital Association says those vacancies will become more of a problem as Wisconsin’s population gets older, and in turn, relies on health services more.
“Aging creates the need not just for more health care, but a higher intensity of health care. Care that could be provided in an outpatient setting for younger people often requires a hospital stay or a greater number of diagnostic services or clinical interventions for older individuals,” the Hospital Association wrote. “The cost of this higher intensity care is often not recognized by payers or the algorithms or averages they utilize to approve care.”
Payers and payments are another huge worry for the WHA.
The report notes a growing gap between what it costs hospitals to prove care, and what the government or private insurers pay.
“In Wisconsin, government payers, Medicare and Medicaid, already account for close to two-thirds of hospital revenues and this will only increase as our population ages,” the report states, “In Wisconsin in 2023, Medicaid reimbursed hospitals 37% below their actual cost to provide care; Medicare was 26% short.”
The report doesn’t provide a dollar amount for that gap.
But the WHA does warn that if the gap is not closed there will be “pressure on the health care workforce, service availability and patient access” across the state.
The report ends with several recommendations for Wisconsin lawmakers including “support educational and occupational pathways, break down barriers, and to use technology for the benefit of patients and the health care workforce.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin joined a lawsuit to try to stop the loss of $225 million in federal money the state expected to get for mental and behavioral health services, substance abuse, public health and emergency medical services.
Gov. Tony Evers, a second-term Democrat, said the state will join a lawsuit to stop President Donald Trump’s administration from cutting the money previously approved by Congress to support public health infrastructure and health services following the pandemic.
Trump and Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk made the cuts as part of their ongoing push to trim the federal government and federal spending.
“President Trump and Elon Musk are recklessly trying to gut funding Wisconsin is depending on to help make our kids, families, and communities healthier and safer to help pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires,” Evers said in a statement. “These cuts will hurt Wisconsin’s ability to combat fentanyl and the opioid epidemic, help folks in mental health crisis, and respond to future public health emergencies. I won’t stand for it.”
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said it received notice of the end of six grants totaling more than $225 million.
The money was expected to be used for things like:
• The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
• 988 crisis county connection services.
• Local substance abuse prevention programs.
• Community health workers.
• Access to fentanyl test strip kits.
• Peer-run respites and recovery centers.
• Local public health departments and efforts to improve information infrastructure.
• Efforts to strengthen local EMS responses to local public health crises.
• Public health laboratories.
• Wisconsin Immunization Registry.
• Regional crisis stabilization facilities.
“By yanking funding Congress already approved, it’s clear President Trump and Elon Musk want to obliterate our constitutional checks and balances to give themselves sole, unchecked power to make decisions – and Republicans in Congress are doing nothing to stop them. It’s breathtaking,” Evers said. “The Trump administration every day is threatening Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and critical programs Wisconsin’s families, farmers, seniors, and veterans depend on every day.”

(The Center Square) – One of the two Republicans in charge of writing Wisconsin’s next state budget says it will be a while before there’s anything to take back to voters or the governor.
Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, told reporters at the Joint Committee on Finance’s first public budget hearing of the year in Kaukauna that it will be weeks before lawmakers make any real decisions on a new state spending plan.
“We’re just starting the budget process. We haven’t gotten anything real substantive, obviously, and won’t probably for another month and a half,” Marklein explained. “There’s a state supreme court decision out there that I think we need to get that resolved…before we’re going to make any huge budget decisions at any agency.”
Marklein said earlier in the week that the Joint Committee on Finance is waiting on the final revenue projections from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which aren’t due until mid-May, to make those budget decisions.
Marklein and other top Republicans at the Capitol have also said they are waiting to see how cooperative Gov. Tony Evers will be this budget session.
There’s been talk about sending the governor a tax cut proposal first, to see if he will sign it or veto it.
“The budget is a compromise document,” Marklein said. “I mean the two houses, we compromise and talk about things all the time. So, I think there’s always an opportunity for a compromise. Whether it’s between the houses or with the governor’s office.”
Marklein, and JFC co-chair Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, have declared Evers’ budget dead on arrival.
Though on Wednesday, Born said there is support for one of the governor’s ideas.
“Like with any plan, there are some good things in it,” Born added. “One part of that is closing the Green Bay Correctional Center. There are some things that need to be worked on.”
Lawmakers are supposed to have a new budget to the governor by the end of June. Neither Born nor Markelin on Wednesday said if they’re on track with that timeline.

(The Center Square) – Elon Musk is viewed unfavorably by 60% of U.S. adults while his work with the Department of Government Efficiency is disapproved by 58%, according to a new poll from Marquette Law School.
The poll comes as Musk-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel lost to Susan Crawford on Tuesday night in an election that kept the state court with a liberal majority.
The poll showed President Donald Trump’s overall policies are more favorable than Musk with Trump’s job approval rate at 46% with 52% disapproving. Republicans support Trump’s policies with 87% support compared to 89% in January.
The survey asked questions to 1,021 adults nationwide between March 17-27.
The survey again showed that support for Trump’s tariffs were lower than overall support for his policies with 28% believing the tariffs will help the U.S. economy and 58% believing it will hurt the economy. Most adults, 58%, believe that Trump’s policies will increase inflation while 30% believe it will decrease inflation.
Sixty-five percent of adults believe the number of immigrants crossing the border has decreased since December and 68% of those polled favor deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Adults were evenly split on whether they favor ending diversity, equity and inclusion policies while 73% agree with making English the official language of the U.S.
Making Canada the 51st U.S. state was opposed by 75% of those polled while 37% say the U.S. is giving too much support to Ukraine and 33% say the country is giving too little to Ukraine.

(The Center Square) – Democrats across Wisconsin and beyond celebrated Susan Crawford’s victory over Brad Schimel to maintain an advantage for liberals on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Former President Barack Obama weighed in, congratulating Crawford as “a judge who believes in the rule of law and protecting our freedoms” as Crawford received 55% of the vote compared to 45% for Schimel in what shows on the ballot to be a nonpartisan race but had clear party lines amongst supporters.
Democrats took offense to the financial backing of Schimel by Elon Musk while individuals such as George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker donated to Crawford’s campaign in a race that included $107 million in overall spending, according to WisPolitics.
Schimel conceded the race and told supporters objecting at his Election Night party “You gotta accept the results. The numbers aren’t gonna turn around.”
Crawford told supporters that the campaign had been a “life-altering experience in so many ways.”
“Tonight, Wisconsinites stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price – our Courts are not for sale,” Crawford wrote on social media.
The election reportedly saw record turnout in some precincts, with seven Milwaukee-area precincts running out of ballots as the election commission sent couriers to sites with more ballots leading to voting delays before the 8 p.m. central time cutoff for voters to get in line.
“Democracy is alive and roaring in the Badger State,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler. “Tonight, Wisconsinites turned out at record levels to deliver a resounding, well-earned Supreme Court victory for a candidate who represents our state’s highest ideals. Wisconsin Democrats enthusiastically congratulate Justice-elect Susan Crawford and look forward to a 10-year term of jurisprudence marked by integrity, impartiality, and common sense.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly won another term Tuesday as she held off a challenge from Republican Brittany Kinser in the race to lead Wisconsin’s K-12 education department.
Underly held 52.9% of the statewide vote compared to 47.1% for Kinser as of 4 a.m. central time Wednesday.
“This victory belongs to all of us who believe in the power of public education,” Underly said in a statement. “It’s a testament to our shared commitment to ensuring that every child in Wisconsin has access to a high-quality education, regardless of their zip code. Together, we’ve championed the belief that public dollars should fund public schools, and tonight, that belief has been reaffirmed.”
Kinser conceded the race but said she is committed to continue working to have 95% of Wisconsin students read proficiently. Kinser is the former head of Milwaukee-based City Forward Collective, a school choice advocacy group.
“While this is not the outcome I had hoped for, I hope that my candidacy has inspired conversations about the importance of restoring high standards and ensuring every child can read, write, and do math well, so they have the opportunity to go to college, secure a meaningful job, or master a trade,” Kinser said. “We know that our children meet expectations when standards are set high.”
The race saw less spending and fanfare than the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, where Judge Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel, but the election results were similar in what was described by some as a spring election with record turnout.
“Jill is the champion that our kids need leading the Department of Public Instruction, bringing new ideas to the table to ensure the best educational outcomes for students across Wisconsin,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler. “She has stood up to partisan attacks on public education and bolstered our schools by helping to pass new bipartisan literacy legislation and raising standards to ensure our kids are set up for success.”
City Forward Collective said in a statement that it will continue with its mission despite the defeat of Kinser.
“Whether Wisconsin voters elected new leadership or re-elected Superintendent Jill Underly, our focus remains unchanged: returning to rigorous standards, empowering parents with accurate information and high-quality school choices, and advocating for bold, evidence-backed solutions that ensure every student is prepared for a career, for college, and a thriving life,” the group said.

(The Center Square) – Seven locations in Milwaukee ran out of ballots, causing voting delays on Election Day.
But any voter in line by 8 p.m. was allowed to vote in what Milwaukee Election Commission Spokesperson Melissa Howard called a “historic” election in terms of spring turnout on Tuesday.
Milwaukee expanded the use of ExpressVote machines and sent couriers with ballots to the polling locations that ran out of paper ballots.
Ballots running out has “never occurred here in the city” Howard told reporters on Tuesday.
The election included three key ballot items statewide headlined by the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, which Susan Crawford led with 57.6% of the vote compared to 42.4% for Brad Schimel with 47% of precincts reporting by 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
Vote counting was expected to continue into early Wednesday at central count locations in places such as Milwaukee County. Early votes could not begin to be counted until polls closed at 8 p.m.
Early results showed 61% of the first 41% of voters approved of adding a voter identification requirement to the Wisconsin constitution. Voter ID is already law and the ballot initiative would also add it to the state constitution.
The race for superintendent of the state’s Department of Public Instruction was also undetermined with incumbent Jill Underly holding 55% of the vote and challenger Brittany Kinser holding 45% with 43% of precincts reporting as of 9 p.m.
The Supreme Court race gained national intrigue as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump weighed in on the race with support for Schimel over the weeks before the election.