(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s voter ID law has had no negative impact on voter turnout in the state since it was fully implemented, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
Voter turnout, in fact, has slightly increased since the law went into effect. Wisconsin voters will vote on making voter ID a constitutional amendment April 1.
Democrats in the state have argued the amendment will disenfranchise voters.
The state’s current law, however, has had no negative impact on minority groups voting or Dane and Milwaukee counties.
The report found that socioeconomic factors such as poverty rates and education levels have a larger impact on voter turnout than voter ID laws.
“By analyzing decades of election data both before and after Wisconsin implemented Voter ID, we found a general rise in voter turnout, rather than the widespread disenfranchisement that critics often suggest,” said WILL Research Director Will Flanders. “Any claims suggesting Voter ID is ‘voter suppression’ are merely political scare tactics aimed at undermining faith in Wisconsin’s elections. Furthermore, it’s worth exploring whether Voter ID can actually increase turnout by strengthening confidence in Wisconsin’s election system.”
The research cited several studies that backed its conclusion across the country, with data showing that states with voter ID laws don’t have significantly different turnout than those without the law.
It also cited a Wisconsin study after the 2016 election where 1.7% said they didn’t vote because they didn’t have adequate ID while 1.4% said they were told at the polls that their ID was not adequate.
“It is well known among political scientists that individuals have a tendency to lie to pollsters regarding whether they voted or not,” the report said. “One key explanation for this is what is known as social desirability bias. In general, people do not want to ‘look bad’ to pollsters. As such, they may lie to the pollster about things that are perceived as socially undesirable, such as refraining from voting.”
Instead, WILL’s report looked at aggregate data of turnout change in the state and in key counties such as Dane and Milwaukee.
The study found that voter turnout has increased by 1.5%, on average, in the state since the law was implemented.
“This is an interesting result,” the report said. “While it is likely too large of a leap to say voter ID has increased turnout due to the correlational nature of our analysis, it seems that there is no negative relationship.”

(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin bill could raise the penalties for those convicted of property theft in multiple cases.
The bill would allow for multiple property thefts that occur in a six-month period to be added together as one crime. Property and retail thefts are charged based upon the items stolen starting with a property theft Class A misdemeanor for items worth less than $2,500 and retail theft for less than $500 up to a Class F felony if the property theft is more than $100,000 or a Class G felony if the retail theft is more than $10,000.
“Led by organized gangs that resell stolen goods, these brazen criminals repeatedly victimize our neighborhoods and terrorize business owners,” said State Sen. André Jacque, R-New Franken, who is sponsoring the bill along with State Rep. William Penterman, R-Hustisford. “This mayhem leaves us with more violence in our communities, and higher retail prices in our stores.”
The bill also enables felony charges for those with prior misdemeanor convictions.
Assembly Bill 89 passed the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety and is headed to the calendar committee on Thursday.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/ab89
“These initiatives will help turn the tide against thieves traveling across state lines to engage in retail crime and other organized financial crimes, including identity theft and credit card fraud, choosing targets they think are more amenable to their activities,” Jacque said. “This bill is an important step to fighting back.”
The bill is being supported by lobbying from multiple retail and business groups, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Milwaukee Police Association.

(The Center Square) – It took less than five minutes for the candidates running for Wisconsin’s open Supreme Court seat to start accusing each other of having a political agenda.
Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Siusan Crawford faced off in their only debate Wednesday night ahead of next month’s election.
Schimel was the first to talk about politics and the high court. He said he’s running to stop progressive justices from abandoning the rule of law.
“The stakes are huge. I don’t know if they could be bigger. I’ve never been involved in anything where the stakes are bigger than this. If you told me five years ago the Wisconsin Supreme Court would be going through a political agenda, I would have said you’re crazy. They stay within some guardrails. But that’s not happening now,” Schimel. “I watched in 2023 how a candidate, who ended up winning on the Supreme Court, promised on the campaign trail how they would rule on cases that weren’t even filed yet.”
Crawford then immediately countered that Schimel is the one being political.
“He is paying good lip service to the principles of impartiality and open-mindedness, but throughout this campaign he has taken issues on cases pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, including cases like one involving an 1849 abortion law that if it were in effect would criminalize pretty much all abortions in Wisconsin,” Crawford said.
Schimel says lawmakers, not the court, should decide what Wisconsin’s abortion law should be.
The two went back-and- in the hour-long debate.
They talked about billionaire donors. Crawford got money from George Soros and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, while Elon Musk is spending big to support Schimel.
They also talked about each other’s past.
Schimel took issue with some of Crawford’s light sentences for criminals during her time as a judge in Dane County. But Crawford countered with questions about the backlog of rape kits during Schimel’s time as attorney general.
They also talked about recusing from possible future Supreme Court cases, and about whether they would hear a challenge to Act-10.
The debate ended largely where it started, with a politically tinged look at what the Wisconsin Supreme Court will do after Election Day.
“Important thing for voters to know is that the cases that come before The Supreme Court can involve a wide array of issues of great importance to Wisconsinites,” Crawford said.
“Unfortunately, since the majority on the court right now is running through a political agenda, what cases get filed and what cases get accepted by the Supreme Court is going to be impacted by who wins the election,” Schimel added.
Voters will make their decision in the race April 1.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford are in a dead heat with 47% of the potential vote heading into the April 1 election, according to a new poll.
Each candidate’s image is 45% favorable, according to OnMessage’s poll of 600 likely Wisconsin voters on March 9-10, conducted for the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
The candidates have a 7 p.m. Wednesday debate.
“Like many Wisconsin statewide elections, this race is very close and will come down to the wire,” shared WMC Vice President of Government Relations Scott Manley. “This is a winnable race for either candidate right now, and will simply boil down to whichever side does a better job of getting out their voters. It really cannot be overstated how much is on the line.”
The poll showed that 5% of voters are undecided.
Crawford reportedly raised $7.4 million and spent $4.2 million during the race, while Schimel has raised $4.9 million and spent $2.5 million through the end of February, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
That was along with 12 independent committees spending more than $11.5 million on the race.
There has been nearly $59 million spent on the race in total, breaking the previous record, according to WisPolitics.
The poll asked voters what the most important issue is in the supreme court race with 37% saying “fighting to uphold the rule of law,” 20% saying “reducing crime and keeping violent criminals off the streets” and 19% saying “ensuring that abortion is available and accessible in Wisconsin.”
The poll found that Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly has a 33% to 30% lead over challenger Brittany Kinser with 38% undecided in the race.
Underly had a 28% favorability rating compared to 25% unfavorable while Kinser was 23% favorable and 16% unfavorable.

(The Center Square) – This past weekend could be the last time people in Wisconsin could have to spring forward.
A pair of Republicans at the statehouse in Madison are proposing an end to Daylight Saving Time.
Rep. Nate Gustafson, R-Fox Crossing, and state Sen. Rachel Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, this week introduced legislation that “eliminates” the idea.
“Research shows the disruption caused by Daylight Saving Times transition can lead to increased risks, workplace injuries, and traffic accidents, as well as negative impacts on mental health and productivity,” the two wrote in their sponsorship memo.
Currently only Arizona and Hawaii don’t have Daylight Saving Time, but more than a dozen other states are considering it.
The National Conference of State Legislatures last year said 20 states have passed laws legislation or resolutions that would end their Daylight Saving Time if Congress ever allows it.
Gustafson and Cabral-Guevara told Wisconsin lawmakers Congress generally doesn’t allow for time change changes, but Wisconsin would be a good candidate.
“Federal law generally preempts states from deviating from standard time or eliminating daylight saving time, but federal law allows a state that lies entirely in one time zone, such as Wisconsin, to observe standard time instead of Daylight Savings Time as long as the observation is throughout the entire state,” the two added as a note from the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Gustafson and Cabral-Guevara said changing the clock is more than just losing an hour of sleep every spring.
“Anyone with children knows the weeks of the changes are some of the worst weeks of the year for kids,” they said in their note. “By ending twice a year time changes, this bill aims to promote public health, safety, and economic stability.”
One of the unique changes that would have to follow with Gustafson and Cabral-Guevara’s plan would be a partial rewrite of Wisconsin’s liquor license law. Currently that law has a closing time exemption for Daylight Saving Time. That exemption would be erased if the legislation ever becomes law.

(The Center Square) – Tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump will have a negative impact on Wisconsin consumers, according to a new report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Research on the Wisconsin economy.
The proposed tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico involve Wisconsin’s top three trading partners involving about half of the state’s imports and exports, according to the report.
“With tariff hikes, Wisconsin households and firms face higher prices and production costs related to imports, while the state government does not benefit directly from increased customs duties,” the report says.
The state imports most of its live animals and fertilizers from Canada while nearly all of the state’s exported beverages, spirits and vinegar go to Canada. Tariffs against the countries make it likely that those countries will begin retaliatory tariffs, the report states.
“The burden of tariff hikes has fallen almost entirely on domestic consumers and importers, with little effect on prices charged by foreign exporters,” the report said, basing the conclusion on evidence from Trump’s first term.
The tariffs led to $34.3 billion in customs duties to the federal government while the resulting losses to U.S. consumers and firms that buy imports were larger at $51 billion with an aggregate loss of $7.2 billion.
“The import and retaliatory tariffs caused large declines in both U.S. imports and exports, substantial increases in the prices of intermediates and final goods, and dramatic changes in the supply chain,” the report said.
Wisconsin imports more now than before with $38.9 billion in imports in 2024 compared to $27.7 billion in 2017, meaning there could be a larger impact on Wisconsin consumers.
Some of the largest categories of products imported to Wisconsin are nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, electronics, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, optic and photo devices, medical equipment, plastics, furnishings and more.

(The Center Square) – Democrat Rebecca Cooke announce Tuesday she intends to run against U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Third Congressional, in 2026.
Van Orden defeated Cooke with 51.4% of the vote in the western Wisconsin district by a nearly 11,200 vote margin. The district includes La Crosse and Eau Claire.
“Last November, we won the trust of voters across the party spectrum and nearly sent a farm kid to Washington,” Cooke said while announcing she would run. “We need more working class voices like ours who will fight like hell to build back the middle class.”
Van Orden was a Navy SEAL and senior chief petty officer during his 26 years of service and recently received the 2025 Congressional award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars for his advocacy for veterans.
“Two-time loser Rebecca Cooke is making a third attempt at running for Congress after losing to Derrick Van Orden. 2026 will be no different — Western Wisconsin voters will reject two-faced Cooke’s radical far-left views,” Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said in a statement.
The National Republican Congressional Committee noted several stories about Cooke showing that she did political work before she ran for Congress, saying she claims to be a political outsider but is not.
“Certified loser Rebecca Cooke was already rejected by Wisconsinites twice and will lose again in 2026,” NRCC Spokesman Zach Bannon. “Voters are well aware that she is nothing more than a sleazy political activist who remains out-of-touch with Western Wisconsin.”

(The Center Square) – Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday he would suspend the province’s 25% tariff on U.S.-bound electricity after getting a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and hours after President Donald Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canada.
Ford previously said Tuesday he wouldn’t budge on the electricity surtax until Trump dropped his tariff threats. Hours later, he changed course after scheduling a meeting Thursday with Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
“I’m not out to hurt the American people,” Ford told reporters in Toronto. “Sometimes you have to play your cards, and this is one of the cards we played, and hopefully we’re going to have a very good constructive conversation.”
Ford reversed course hours after Trump said that he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in response to the 25% tariffs Ontario put on electricity going to the U.S. Trump said the tariffs would cripple Canada’s auto industry.
Trump’s proposed tariffs, of up to 50%, come amid an ongoing trade spat with Canada. On Monday, the Canadian province of Ontario announced it was going ahead with a 25% retaliatory tariff on electricity exports to the United States expected to affect 1.5 million homes and businesses in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Ford estimated the tariffs would mean an additional $69 monthly charge for consumers in the three states.
Trump has promised that his tariffs would shift the tax burden away from Americans and onto foreign countries, but tariffs are generally paid by the people who import the products. Those importers then have a choice: They can either absorb the loss or pass it on to consumers through higher prices. He also promised tariffs would make America “rich as hell.” And he’s used tariffs as a negotiating tactic to tighten border security.
Trump granted temporary tariff relief to Canada and Mexico last week by exempting goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement from tariffs until April 2.
On April 2, Trump plans to announce broader reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods or keep U.S. goods out of their markets through other methods.

(The Center Square) – Voters in Wisconsin are getting differing messages when it comes to crime in the state’s race for the Supreme Court.
Current Attorney General Josh Kaul held a call with reporters across Wisconsin earlier this week, saying Judge Brad Schimel was taking too long to test Wisconsin’s backlog of rape kits back in 2015.
“Brad Schimmel failed to respond with urgency,” Kaul said. “His administration tested just nine of the thousands of backlog kits in his first two years in office.”
Kaul said he wanted to “set the record straight” before Wednesday’s debate between Schimel and Judge Susan Crawford.
Schimel said several times that his office took its time, got a grant to pay for the work, then tested 4,000 kits. Schimel said is “every single kit that needed to be tested” was tested.
Kaul’s call came as the latest in the back-and-forth over the two judges’ records on crime and crime victims.
Schimel’s campaign on Monday launched a new ad featuring a victim of crime.
The ad, called, “Tell Me,” recounts a story from a woman named Laurie, whose sister was murdered.
“When my sister was murdered 15 years ago, Brad Schimel kept his promise to us. He told us he was gonna get us justice, and he did,” the ad states. “When I see these commercials attacking him, I have a lot to say about that, because Brad would kneel next to my mom and hold her hands. And you’re gonna tell me that’s a person that doesn’t care about victims?”
Crime, and the judges’ past rulings from the bench, has become one of the major issues in the race for the high court.
Schimel has spent weeks hammering on Crawford for a list of cases that he says shows she is soft on crime.
Crawford’s campaign, meanwhile, put out a call for “common sense” on Tuesday.
Schimel and Crawford will answer questions at the same time, on the same stage at a debate played host to by Channel 12 in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in response to the 25% tariffs Ontario put on electricity going to the U.S.
Trump’s tariffs, of up to 50%, come amid an ongoing trade spat with Canada. On Monday, the Canadian province of Ontario announced it was going ahead with a 25% retaliatory tariff on electricity exports to the United States expected to affect 1.5 million homes and businesses in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Ontario Premier Doug Ford estimated the tariffs would mean an additional $69 monthly charge for consumers in the three states.
Trump called Ford’s move an “abusive threat.”
“Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on ‘Electricity’ coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th.”
Trump also said he planned to declare a national emergency in the three states.
“I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area,” he said on Truth Social. “This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada.”
Trump further lashed out at Canada, promising to shut down its auto industry.
“If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” the president wrote. “Those cars can easily be made in the USA! Also, Canada pays very little for National Security, relying on the United States for military protection.”
Trump also suggested again that Canada become the 51st American state.
“We are subsidizing Canada to the tune of more than 200 Billion Dollars a year. WHY??? This cannot continue. The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians’ taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever – And Canada will be a big part of that. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World – And your brilliant anthem, ‘O Canada,’ will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!”
Trump’s trade policies have battered U.S. markets, leading to sharp declines across all three U.S. indexes on Monday. Stocks continued to slump Tuesday after Trump’s latest move.
Trump has promised that his tariffs would shift the tax burden away from Americans and onto foreign countries, but tariffs are generally paid by the people who import the products. Those importers then have a choice: They can either absorb the loss or pass it on to consumers through higher prices. He also promised tariffs would make America “rich as hell.” And he’s used tariffs as a negotiating tactic to tighten border security.
Trump granted temporary tariff relief to Canada and Mexico last week by exempting goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement from tariffs until April 2.
On April 2, Trump plans to announce broader reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods or keep U.S. goods out of their markets through other methods.

(The Center Square) – Baraboo High softball player Macy Weigel will be allowed to compete in softball for the school after a Sauk County Circuit judge granted a temporary injunction blocking the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s ruling that Weigel was ineligible.
Weigel had attended Community Christian School, which does not offer athletics, for her first two years of high school before transferring to Baraboo, the district where her family has resided.
The Weigels say the transfer was necessary due to financial constraints after Weigel’s younger sibling was diagnosed with a deadly and rare blood condition and her mother left her career as a full-time teacher to care for the sibling.
“I am excited for my daughter to get on the field with her friends and enjoy her junior year playing softball,” said Emily Weigel, Macy’s mother. “She is so grateful for this opportunity.”
The WIAA had ruled that Weigel would be ineligible to compete in athletics during her junior year, after Weigel had applied for a waiver, leading to a lawsuit from the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty on behalf of Weigel.
Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Screnock ruled that Weigel was likely to succeed on the merits of her case and granted a temporary injunction to allow her to compete.
“The record reflects that the WIAA administrative staff considered rule mitigation in its initial denial and concluded that approving the Baraboo School District’s waiver request ‘would open the door to any transfer becoming allowed,’ Screnock wrote in his ruling. “That is patently absurd.”
Macy has competed in a recreational softball league previously, making her ineligible for an automatic waiver for those who have not competed in a sports before.
The lawsuit challenged WIAA’s authority to exercise authority over public schools in the state because there is no statute or constitutional provision giving that authority to the WIAA over the state’s public schools, which are all WIAA members and make up 80% of WIAA membership.
“The WIAA made an arbitrary decision to exclude a student athlete from a school-sponsored and taxpayer-funded co-curricular activity,” said WILL Associate Counsel Skylar Croy. “Today, that injustice has been rectified for now.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ $4.1 biennial billion capital budget includes recommendations for $325 million toward a plan to realign the state’s correctional institutions, including closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution in 2029 and rehabilitating the Waupun Correctional Institution.
The proposal also includes $1.6 billion in capital improvement projects across the University of Wisconsin system.
Republican leaders in the Wisconsin Legislature have called Evers’ budget proposal a “financial disaster” while Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam estimated that it includes $3 billion in tax increases.
The proposal would spend down $4 billion of the state’s expected $4.3 billion surplus if it is enacted after having more than a $7 billion surplus last budget season, according to Wisconsin Policy Forum.
“These investments are critical to not only address our state’s aging infrastructure but build for our state’s future, whether it’s at our UW System, supporting our veterans, protecting our valuable natural resources, or modernizing our correctional institutions to improve community safety across our state,” Evers said.
The spending includes demolishing and replacing the Mosse Humanities Building at UW-Madison, completing the Prairie Springs Science Center at UW-La Crosse and changing former hospital buildings into a Health Sciences hub at UW-Milwaukee.
The proposal includes a $137.5 million allocation for the renovation of UW-Oshkosh’s Polk Learning Commons.
“UW-Oshkosh graduates are more likely to stay and work in our region, which means investing in UW-Oshkosh is an investment in the Fox Valley workforce. This project ensures that UW-Oshkosh remains an attractive option for prospective students,” said State Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim, who met with Governor Evers to discuss the importance of the project for the Fox Valley.
The spending proposal also includes $137 million in essential upgrades to Wisconsin veterans homes and a future upgrade and expansion of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
Another proposal involves $195 million for health services facilities statewide, including renovating the food service building at Central Wisconsin Center and upgrading utility infrastructure at the Mendota and Winnebago Mental Health Institutions.
Evers said that Republican leadership has blocked prior proposals, leading to a $13 billion backlog in state infrastructure needs, with $3.4 billion in critical high-priority needs.
“We can’t afford to kick the can down the road on key infrastructure projects across our state, most especially as the cost of building materials may only get more expensive with each day of delay due to potential tariff taxes and trade wars,” Evers said. “We must take the important steps necessary to invest in building a 21st-century infrastructure, workforce, and economy, and I am hopeful that these recommendations will receive bipartisan support to get these projects done that communities across our state are depending on.”
Evers proposed spending $1.2 billion in the state’s All Agency program to fund small to mid-sized maintenance and repair projects across all state agencies.
In addition, he proposed funding $406 million in the Minor Facilities Renewal programs for the Department of Corrections, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, including almost $230 million for the UW System.