(The Center Square) – Wisconsin saw the June unemployment rate go down in 24 of the state’s largest 35 cities over the month while the rates lowered in 63 counties and stayed the same in eight more, according to new numbers from the state’s Department of Workforce Development.
Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went down to 3.2% in June, less than the 4.1% national rate.
Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate went down to 65.1% in June while the national rate decreased slightly to 62.3%.
Wisconsin saw 10 of its largest metropolitan areas show unemployment decreases while three of those areas remained the same. Twelve of the metropolitan areas saw unemployment decreases over the year while the rate in Sheboygan remained the same.
Menominee, meanwhile, was the only county that saw a month over month increase in unemployment rate while the rate increased in just four counties year over year.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin state legislators have started circulating a bill to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto.
Evers’ veto in July 2023, which turned a temporary $325 per student K-12 funding increase – originally slated for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years – into a permanent increase through the year 2425, was recently upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April, The Center Square previously reported.
However, the court’s ruling suggested lawmakers could still draft legislation as a recourse to the governor’s partial veto, and Republicans are seeking to do just that.
“The pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock 402 years before this veto. It is hard to justify locking in a funding increase for just as long into the future,” the bill’s four co-authors said in a cosponsorship memo circulating at the state Capitol, WPR reported.
The bill would effectively reverse Evers’ 400-year veto, eliminating the $325 per pupil adjustment in the school district revenue limit formula beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
“One man locked in a tax-raising mechanism that no one voted for and no one approved,” the cosponsorship memo reads. “Evers’ move bypassed both the elected Legislature and the hard-working people who pay the bills.”
However, if the bill passes both chambers of the Legislature, it would ironically require Evers to not veto it in order to become law.
While the Senate had voted to override Evers’ original veto in September 2023, the Assembly never held a vote on the override, so the effort failed and the veto stood.
Will Flanders, the research director at Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, previously wrote, “The Governor is not a king, even if the state Supreme Court says he is. Given this increase, the legislature should fight hard against any further increases for public schools that are now set up for a boondoggle.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin has seen 23 fatal off-road UTV or ATV accidents so far this year.
Most of those who died in the crashes were not wearing either a helmet or seatbelt with the results of whether the crashes involved alcohol pending in many of the cases.
Wisconsin law requires all riders under the age of 18 to wear a helmet and both parents and mentors are encouraged by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to provide a positive example with both helmet and seatbelt use.
The DNR said that the number of youths using ATVs and UTVs continues to grow each year.
“We want every ride to be a safe one,” Lt. Jacob Holsclaw, Wisconsin DNR off-highway vehicle administrator, said in a statement. “Most ATV and UTV crashes involving youth are preventable with basic safety steps and education.”
The deaths ranged from a 6-year-old who died in a UTV rollover on July 10 to a 97-year-old who died in a crash with a motor vehicle on April 14.
The 6-year-old died while driving in South Lancaster with a 65-gallon water tank strapped to the UTV on the way to feed livestock when the machine rolled over while making a 90-degree turn and pinned the operator, the DNR said.
A 10-year-old UTV driver died in Hillsboro on July 2 while “drifting” on a UTV in a farm driveway and the UTV rolled over and pinned the driver.
Another 10-year-old died on May 19 in Dayton when the driver and a passenger were riding on a small UTV and an abrupt turn caused the UTV to tip onto the driver.
ATV safety certification is required for drivers once they turn 12 for anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1988. Drivers under 16 must operate age-appropriate vehicles.

(The Center Square)– A Milwaukee state representative wants privacy after police say someone tried to break into her home.
The Capitol Police say they are looking for the man captured on a doorbell camera as he was trying to enter state Rep. Priscilla Prado’s home late Monday night.
He didn’t get in, but police say he walked around her home for a while after trying the door. Prado hasn’t said much about the incident, but she did ask for privacy.
“Late last night, a disturbance occurred at my residence. Authorities have been notified and are actively investigating this situation. I am grateful that no one was injured,” Prado said in a statement. “This has been a deeply unsettling experience, and I appreciate the influx of concern. I respectfully ask for privacy and patience as law enforcement continues its work.”
The Capitol Police say the man appears to be in his 40s or 50s, about 6 feet tall and around 200 pounds. His pictures are online. Investigators are asking anyone who may know anything about the man to please reach out.
The incident comes a little more than a month after a gunman killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and wounded a second lawmaker during a pair of shootings.
Those shootings prompted questions about security of Wisconsin state lawmakers, but legislative leaders said it was too soon to talk about changes in security at the Capitol and beyond.
Prado is a first-year Democratic state representative from Milwaukee’s south side. She won a special election to replace former Rep. Marisabel Cabrera, when Cabrera was elected as a judge.

(The Center Square) – While President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has is at 45%, most U.S. adults disapprove of specific issues like the tariffs, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and the Israel-Iran war, according to a new poll.
The majority of those responding – 55% – disapprove of the job Trump is doing, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll that surveyed 1,005 adults nationwide between July 7-16, 2025, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.
In a similar May MLS poll, Trump’s job approval was 46% with disapproval at 54%.
“Republicans and Trump voters continue to express strong approval (86%), while Democrats are almost uniformly negative (93%),” the poll found. “Independents are substantially more negative than positive (62% disapprove), although approval rose in July with this group.”
The survey also included results on several key issues of the current administration, including deportation, tariffs, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and the Israel-Iran war.
The poll found that deportation in general is favored by 93% of Republicans, while 59% of Independents and 78% of Democrats oppose it.
However, deportation of immigrants who are long-time residents, with jobs and no criminal record, was found to receive more disapproval, with only 69% of Republicans approving but 67% of Independents and 88% of Democrats disapproving.
Among all adults surveyed, 28% responded saying tariffs help the U.S. economy, while 59% said tariffs hurt the economy and 12% said they don’t make much difference.
The split was also mainly partisan, with 58% of Republicans saying tariffs help the economy, but 60% of Independents and 91% of Democrats saying they hurt the economy. Only 14% of Republicans, 28% of Independents and 5% of Democrats said tariffs don’t make much difference.
Also, 65% of Independents and 94% of Democrats disapproved of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” while 79% of Republicans support the law.
Across the board, the only issue where respondents gave Trump a net positive job approval was border security, with 54% approving and 46% disapproving.
However, all other issues surveyed received a net negative job approval from respondents, including immigration (53% disapproval), the Israel-Iran war (56% disapproval), the economy (57% disapproval), foreign policy (57% disapproval), inflation/cost of living (65% disapproval) and tariffs (65% disapproval).
When asked what the most important issue is to them, 34% of all respondents chose inflation and the cost of living, while 16% chose the economy and 14% said Medicare and Social Security.

(The Center Square) – Lawmakers in Wisconsin are looking to clarify the
rules for off-road vehicles that are registered in other states.
The Assembly’s Transportation Committee on Tuesday held a hearing on a plan, AB 221, that would treat all out of state ATVs and UTVs the same as those that are registered in the state.
“Unfortunately, out-of-state companies are encouraging Wisconsin residents to exploit a loophole, registering their recreational vehicles as commercial vehicles in South Dakota and Montana, and avoid Wisconsin’s rules,” Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, said. “These reclassifications are misleading and undermine our registration system, local control, and public safety.”
Mursau said courts have already “rejected this scheme” in individual cases, but he said the law remains “unclear.”
This bill closes the loophole ensuring that only vehicles meeting Wisconsin definition of ATV/UTV can operate on our public trails and routes,” he added.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over those ATV/UTV routes said allowing out of state registrations also saps some of the money that Wisconsin uses to maintain its off-road trails and paths.
“When owners circumvent Wisconsin registration and trail pass regulations, and register their machines in other states, it does divert funds from our ATV and UTV program,” DNR Law Enforcement Policy Officer Matthew Wehn told lawmakers.
Registering ATVs and UTVs in other states can also lead drivers to take them out on regular roads. Wehn and lawmakers said that’s dangerous in Wisconsin.
“Allowing operation by ATVs or UTVs as a motor vehicle does blur the line between motor vehicles and ATVs and UTVs, it creates confusion for the public law enforcement motor vehicle operators,” Wehn added.
While the plan was before lawmakers on Tuesday, it will likely be months before it gets a vote in either the Assembly or the State Senate.

(The Center Square) – A proposed bill seeking to address Wisconsin’s school bus driver shortage could soon be moving through the state Legislature.
If signed into law, the legislation would change how often bus drivers more than 70 years old would need to take their commercial driver’s license tests, from every two years to every four years.
According to bill co-author Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, almost a quarter of school bus drivers are 65 years or older.
“The lack of school bus drivers is causing significant harm to our communities,” Sortwell said in a statement. “Wisconsin has lost about 20% (more than 3,000) of its school bus drivers in the last two decades. Less drivers can cause several problems for schools, such as delay or cancellation of classes, compromised safety from overcrowded buses, and parental uncertainty, which can affect their travel to employment.”
Sortwell said mandatory CDL tests every two years and the current medical review process are an “overregulation” that his legislation seeks to eliminate.
An “S” endorsement on a CDL signifies that the holder is authorized to operate a school bus and has completed the necessary training and qualifications to safely transport students.
Under the bill, if a driver’s “S” endorsement is canceled for medical reasons that require review board approval, the endorsement could be automatically reinstated if a licensed health care provider certifies that the driver is fit.
The endorsement would remain valid unless the medical review board later rules otherwise.
Furthermore, the bill would expand the pool of health care providers that can serve on the medical review board by allowing physician assistants and advanced practice nurses.
Current law requires medical review boards to consist only of licensed physicians or optometrists, to be appointed by the state secretary of transportation.
According to a February report by Wisconsin Policy Forum, while statewide school enrollment has decreased for years, the number of licensed school bus drivers has seen a steeper decline.
The number of public and private school students in Wisconsin per licensed school bus driver was about 59.5 in 2007 but rose to 68.5 in 2022, the report found.
Sortwell’s bill is seeking co-sponsors until Aug. 4, after which the legislation is expected to be formally introduced.

(The Center Square) – A pair of Wisconsin Democrats are filing legislation to limit how much legislative leaders can spend on private attorneys without approval.
The bill would require a vote of the full Assembly and Senate before leadership can enter into contracts with private attorneys.
Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner, D–Green Bay, and Sen. Chris Larson, D–Milwaukee, cited a report from the Milwaukee Journal-Sential that said the Legislature has spent more than $26 million on private attorneys since 2017.
“This is about restoring trust and transparency,” Rep. Rivera-Wagner said in a statement. “Right now, Majority Leaders in the Assembly and Senate—can spend unlimited public dollars on private law firms without input from the rest of us or the people we represent. That’s not how democracy should work.”
The lawmakers say that the bulk of that spending happened after Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, both Democrats, were elected after legislative leaders passed laws to give themselves the authority to retain outside legal counsel.
“This is a perfect example of actual waste, fraud, and abuse that I’d like to root out of our government,” Larson wrote on social media.
Rivera-Wagner said that $5 million has been spent in the last year alone on what he categorized as politically motivated cases including an ethics investigation into former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman and redistricting legislation.
“These are resources that could have gone toward helping keep shelters for homeless veterans open or funding classrooms and mental health services across Wisconsin,” Rivera-Wagner said.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court showed its progressive majority but did not do it with reckless abandon, according to a new session review from the Institute for Reforming Government.
The court overturned the state’s 1849 abortion ban, allowed for Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding partial veto and blocked much of the administrative review power that the Wisconsin Legislature previously held.
But the court also turned back an attempt to overturn the state’s congressional maps, blocked Planned Parenthood from attempting to establish a right to abortion and another Evers attempt at expanded veto power.
“The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 2024-2025 term showed that the new majority is the most progressive majority the court has seen since 2008,” IRG General Counsel Jake Curtis said. “But unlike the politically reckless 2008 progressive majority, the current majority is delivering wins in a more controlled manner. Time will tell if this majority’s political calculations will help them retain power while issuing the most progressive decisions Wisconsin has seen in well over a decade.”
IRG said that it was clear the abortion ruling received the most attention but the ruling about administrative rules is also highly impactful as polling has showed the public would prefer to have elected officials make important decisions instead of those who are unelected and part of state bureaucracy.
“In terms of delegating authority to state agencies, they are going to have to be a little more careful,” Curtis said.
He noted that a ruling for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which allows for broad DNR authority to enforce contamination rules, could place a burden on the regulated community without requiring the DNR to prove and show what chemicals it believes are involved.

(The Center Square) – As Wisconsin’s education spending lags behind the national average, school boards may soon begin proposing higher property taxes to fill the gaps, according to a new report.
The report by Wisconsin Policy Forum finds that Wisconsin spent $14,882 per pupil on public elementary and secondary education in the 2023 fiscal year, the most recent year for which U.S. Census Bureau data are available.
This was 9.9% less than the national average of $16,526 per pupil.
“While the amount of spending on preK-12 is not the only factor that enables schools to provide a quality education, it plays a key role,” the report finds. “Our analysis makes clear that Wisconsin’s national rank on education spending continues to decline.”
State-imposed caps on school district revenues from the 2021-23 budget caused Wisconsin’s inflation-adjusted per pupil spending to decline 0.8% from 2020 to 2023, even as it rose nationally.
Despite having been ranked 11th in the nation for per pupil education spending in 2002, Wisconsin ranked 26th among the 50 states in 2023, spending about 3.3% of personal income on education, compared to about 3.5% nationally.
The report notes that state tax cuts and general enrollment declines may have played a part in the downward trend.
Despite state lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers recently agreeing to a $1.4 billion increase in K-12 school funding, the report says it may not be enough.
Other factors, such as the slowing of referendum voter approval rates, the U.S. Department of Education freezing $72.6 million of federal funds for Wisconsin schools, and the state budget’s lack of general aids for school districts will make school boards have to weigh the possibility of increasing property taxes to make ends meet.
“While increasing revenue limits provides districts a pathway to bolster their funding, it will need to come through increasing local property taxes rather than additional state general aid,” the report says. “Some areas of the state may be willing and able to pay more property taxes to support their schools, while others may lack that willingness or may struggle financially to do so.”
“It should also be noted that school boards will have to decide whether to increase property taxes – the tax base for which is primarily residential property – at a time when more people are struggling to afford the cost of housing,” the report concludes.
A June poll by Marquette University Law School reported that a majority of Wisconsin voters (57%) said they would prioritize reduced property taxes over K-12 public school spending increases, while 43% said they would not.
However, the majority opinion flipped when the question was framed around the K-12 schools in a voter’s own local community, with 52% saying they would approve a referendum to increase taxes for their local schools and 46% opposing it.

(The Center Square) – Union leaders representing Milwaukee’s bus drivers are heading back to the bargaining table to negotiate for a new contract with the county’s transit system today.
The negotiations are set to continue despite 91% of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 members voting against MCTS’ most recent proposal Friday, which would have offered drivers a one-year contract, according to union vice president Michael Brown.
Rather, union members are seeking the standard three-year contract offer and higher pay raises, as well as stronger bus fare enforcement.
“We’ll go back to the table and try to talk and see if they want to talk, you know, and then, if not, then we make other arrangements,” Brown told Urban Milwaukee. “So we’ll try to go back for a full three-year contract.”
While negotiations have been underway since January, MCTS has recently cited its $10.9 million budget deficit as a constraint on what it can offer, stating that “excessive” overtime is a major factor in the deficit.
However, Brown rejected that notion, saying, “They want to attack all the overtime for all operators, for all the hours that they work, and we weren’t gonna allow that.”
ATU has been asking for stronger enforcement and security around bus fares, as fare evasions have contributed to nearly $4 million annually in lost revenues that have directly contributed to the deficit, according to MCTS.
Although MCTS is planning to cut a total of 20,000 bus service hours by August 24, Milwaukee County’s board of supervisors has signaled its desire to plug revenue leaks before resorting to cutting bus service hours.
MCTS said in a statement that they are open to resuming talks with ATU to avoid a strike.
“We’re disappointed that a contract has not been reached, but we respect the rights of our employees,” MCTS said. “Our goal hasn’t changed – we want a fair, sustainable agreement for our bus operators, mechanics, and cleaners/tankers that allows us to keep MCTS running smoothly for the riders who depend on us.”
Previously, 98% of union members voted to authorize a strike that could occur anytime until the current contract ends July 31. This means leaders could legally strike at any time as soon as August.
The last strike ATU members went on lasted for three days in 2015, stopping about 150,000 daily rides.

(The Center Square) – Bill Berrien says he’s got a shot at getting President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the race for Wisconsin governor.
Berrien was a guest on UpFront over the weekend and said despite his past criticisms of Trump, and his support for Nikki Haley in the last presidential race, he thinks he has a “great chance” of getting Trump’s support.
Berrian said he’s had conversations with “various members of [Trump’s] orbits” and said he is keeping the Trump team up to date, updated on where we’re going.”
Berrien is focusing on his career as a businessman, and his hope to strengthen Wisconsin’s manufacturing economy.
“I had the vision for making Wisconsin literally ground zero for the industrialization that he’s trying to leave in the country,” Berrien said. “We’ve got a 125-year-old manufacturing ecosystem. We have a highly trained, highly trainable workforce. You have the tariffs that are incentivizing businesses to consider investing in the country. And now you have the One
Big, Beautiful Bill Act that, it’s like a Black Friday sale, a factory expansion, no coupons required, between all the business incentives in manufacturing.”
Berrien also leaned on some of Trump’s themes in his campaign launch video.
But Berrien was a Nikki Haley backer in the 2024 election. He was vocal in both his support of Haley, and his criticism of Trump.
Berrien tried to walk that line over the weekend.
“To sort of set the record straight, since 2016, my wife and I have supported Donald Trump in every election — 2016, 2020, 2024,” Berrien said. “Voted for him and financially supported.”
Berrien is running against Washington County executive Josh Schoemann, though everyone expects at least one other Republican to jump into the 2026 race.
It remains to be seen which Democrat will be in the race. Gov. Tony Evers has not said whether he will run again next year.

(The Center Square) – Cities that host the NFL Draft have seen small increases in hotel revenue in recent years but those gains are far smaller than what is claimed by teams, the National Football League and the marketing and tourism departments in local government have claimed.
The first three cities to host the draft after it left New York saw insignificant changes in hotel stays during the event while host cities since 2019 have seen between $4 million and $6 million in hotel revenue increases due to the event, according to a new paper provided to The Center Square from economist E. Frank Stephenson from Georgia’s Berry College.
Green Bay hosted the event in 2025 while Pittsburgh will host in 2026 and Washington, D.C. in 2027. All three claimed that large economic impacts would occur when hosting the event.
“The net gain in room rentals in the 2019-2024 host cities varies greatly from a decrease of nearly 20,000 room nights in Las Vegas to an increase of about 9,000 room nights in Nashville, but in all cases is a small fraction of the claimed number of people attending draft-related events,” Stephenson wrote. “Thus, the overwhelming majority of visitors are local residents or day-trippers and much of their spending is likely redirected from other local entertainment or dining options rather than being economic gains for the host cities.”
Stephenson wrote the paper hoping to shed light on annual claims by entities involved of large economic impacts related to hosting the event, used to justify spending on the event.
The paper comes as Experience Greater Green Bay and the Green Bay Packers claimed last week that there was an economic impact of $73 million in Brown County and nearly $105 million statewide.
Green Bay relied on surveys from marketing firm Sportsimpacts, which claimed that 50% of those attending the draft were from Brown County or day-trippers while 31% of attendees were from outside Wisconsin and 24% paid for overnight lodging with 29% staying in Brown County and 21% in Outagamie County.
Stephenson’s hotel data analysis ran through 2024, when Detroit hosted the draft. But the data consistently showed smaller impacts despite claims that hosting the draft had more than a $200 million impact on the Detroit area.
Wisconsin leaders claimed the event would have an economic impact of $94 million in the state and $20 million in the Green Bay area when attempting to divert public funding to the event.
“Every year these bogus economic claims about the NFL draft come out,” economist J.C. Bradbury wrote about the Green Bay tourism estimates heading into the event. “Economists haven’t studied it directly because it makes no sense. But we really could use an actual serious study to counteract this BS PR.”
The Las Vegas decrease in hotel stays for the draft are similar to when the city hosted the Super Bowl and Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, when it saw an increase in hotel rates but not occupancy.
Kansas City saw an increase in hotel rates and stays for the night before the draft and first two nights of the draft but then saw drops in hotel stays the third night of the draft and the night after that, what economists call the hangover effect of deterring regular guests after a large event.
“The cumulative effects … indicate a net gain of 4,416 room rentals and $4.98 million in hotel revenue,” Stephenson wrote. “While the effects in Kansas City are relatively large compared to all other host cities except Nashville, they do not support claims of a $60 million increase in lodging spending.
“As for other events, the Kansas City Chiefs increase room rentals by about 8,900 rooms and hotel revenue by $1.9 million per home game.”
The Detroit draft, meanwhile, led to a net increase of 2,800 room nights and approximately $5 million in additional hotel revenue compared to an increase of about 900 room nights and $450,000 in hotel revenue for each home Detroit Lions game.
“While a few host cities—Nashville, Kansas City, and Detroit—experience positive hotel occupancy effects, they are far short of claims about the event’s economic impact,” Stephenson wrote. “Moreover, even the modest positive hotel occupancy increases found in some cities are subject to leakages and may not benefit the host city’s economic conditions.”