(The Center Square) – Wisconsin state Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, announced Monday he will be running for reelection in the 17th Senate District.
Marklein is a co-chair of the state’s Joint Finance Committee and his announcement comes after a flurry of Republicans announced that they would not run again, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu.
“I am running again to keep investing in our shared priorities, protect Wisconsin’s checkbook, continue working across the aisle to solve problems, and move Wisconsin forward,” Marklein said in a statement.
Others who won’t be running include Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, Sen, Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, and Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine.
The State Senate Democratic Committee pointed to the recent state Supreme Court race, when Judge Chris Taylor won all of the counties in Marklein’s district.
“Sen. Marklein talks about investments in our schools, investments in hospitals, in our healthcare system — ignoring the fact that while he’s been in office, schools in his district have closed their doors, hospitals in his district have closed their doors, and health care costs have skyrocketed,” State Senate Democratic Committee Communications Director Will Karcz said in a statement. “Sen. Marklein sat back and did nothing as veterans’ housing facilities in Eau Claire and Green Bay closed their doors. When he could have acted.
“The people of Wisconsin’s 17th Senate district deserve better than the failed leadership Howard has brought to Madison. This November, they will reject the failures of Howard Marklein and elect Jenna Jacobson as the new State Senator in Southwestern Wisconsin.”
Marklein pointed to the nearly 20 bills he authored that have been signed into law and nearly 100 that he co-authored.
“We have made a lot of progress, but there is more work to do. I am running again to keep investing in our shared priorities, protect Wisconsin’s checkbook, continue working across the aisle to solve problems, and move Wisconsin forward,” Marklein said.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency will hold an informal hearing Wednesday related to open records and open meetings for the Department of Public Instruction’s Forward Exam.
DPI has come under fire for not complying with public records requests from Dairyland Sentinel related to its 2024 standard-setting conference in the Wisconsin Dells while the Institute for Reforming Government has questioned why the meetings were not noticed with an agenda as General Counsel Jake Curtis told The Center Square that he believes the meeting fits under the definition of a state Ad Hoc Committee.
Conference attendees signed non-disclosure agreements through Data Recognition Corp., which currently has a 10 year, $80 million contract with the state to conduct the Forward Exam. DPI paid Data Recognition Corp. $8 million on resetting its standards on the Forward Exam and operating the test in 2023-24.
Curtis and DPI State Superintendent Jill Underly are scheduled to speak at the hearing.
DPI spokesperson Chris Bucher told The Center Square that “standard setting and assessment item review is a ‘routine’ part of this process.”
Bucher was previously quoted as saying that the Wisconsin Dells location was aimed at supporting Wisconsin tourism and stating the Wisconsin Dells meeting was a “common approach.”
But a Center Square investigation showed that hosting standard-setting meetings outside the state capital city, where the department is located, is unique to Wisconsin and not done in other states, adding expenses for DPI staff to stay and attend the meetings along with bringing in computers, hotspots and technology to use at the meeting.
Curtis told The Center Square that, while the conference spending raised eyebrows and drew headlines, he believes the 88-member standards-setting group filled with school employees and leaders fits the exact definition of an Ad Hoc Committee and that meetings of that committee should be public and not subject to the non-disclosure agreements signed by conference attendees.
“In Wisconsin, we have very robust open meetings laws, public records laws and we have a strong sunshine set of laws in Wisconsin,” Curtis told The Center Square. “What the Department of Public Instruction did here was pretty obvious, just did not want the scrutiny from the public. And that’s frankly why it’s such a problem for DPI.”

(The Center Square) – University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletics Director Chris McIntosh is leaving the school less than a week after a name, image and likeness bill was signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers that will send $15 million annually to the athletic department along with creating a broad public records exemption for any spending or revenue.
McIntosh will join the Big Ten Conference office May 1 as the deputy commissioner for strategy, the conference announced onMonday.
McIntosh pushed the bill as necessary to save women’s and Olympic sports at the university. While lawmakers said that 32 states had NIL state laws in place, no other public university has a sweeping exemption to public records like the Wisconsin law and no other state has passed a bill that would send $15 million of general taxpayer money annually a public university related to NIL.
“In the event that this legislation is not passed, we will be forced to reconcile our revenues with our liabilities, like we always have,” McIntosh told a Senate committee. “And that will come through a series of painful reductions, further emphasis on increasing our revenues.
“And, what I fear is, that through those reductions in support of our sport programs, all of our sport programs, all 23 of our sport programs, we’ll be left in a situation in which it will be difficult to say the least, for us to be competitive in the sports that generate in excess of 80% of the revenues. And it will also be difficult to be competitive.”
Part of the argument from McIntosh and lawmakers supporting the bill came from a report from a 2022 marketing report from eConsult Solutions that claimed each UW-Madison football game brings $19 million of economic impact to Dane County.
A later report from UW-Madison’s CROWE Center for Research said that continued losing by the football program could cost the athletic department $20 million in profit, but that report also cited and relied upon the numbers from eConsult Solutions.
The type of hired marketing reports that eConsult Solutions provides are consistently rejected by sports economists who point out the flaws in the math used and how they do not factor in items such as diverted spending, crowding out effects and the costs related to large events and facilities.
Sports teams and athletic programs then use those marketing reports to justify public spending, the UW-Madison athletics officials are doing with AB 1034, which does not have a fiscal estimate attached yet.
UW-Madison athletics operated with a $4.3 million surplus in its most recent annual NCAA financial report covering the financial year that ended in June 2025.
Athletic department officials told the Assembly Committee on State Affairs on Wednesday that football is responsible for 80% of the athletic department’s revenue. That was $113.6 million last fiscal year, according to the NCAA report, which showed the football program brought in $72 million in excess during the year.

(The Center Square) – A new report says there are some lingering questions about how Milwaukee County communities figure out their property taxes.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum is out with a new study on how Milwaukee County’s local tax assessment process helps and hurts.
“In Milwaukee County alone, there are 10 cities and nine villages, each of which are responsible for assessing property values each year and transmitting them to the state Department of Revenue. These 19 municipalities – ranging from the city of Milwaukee to smaller, quieter communities such as the village of River Hills – use a mix of in-house assessors and contract firms to separately determine property values,” the report states. “Though this approach maximizes local control, it also limits economies of scale, leads to quite different approaches among neighboring communities, and may at times affect the accuracy and uniformity of assessments.”
One of the biggest concerns is that the local control model leads to differences between neighboring communities.
The report said allowing each community to handle its own taxes, and save money, is not always a good thing.
“In our survey, the leaders of eight municipalities, or almost
half, said their annual costs of conducting assessments totaled amounts that worked out to less than $15 per parcel. Two communities – Hales Corners and Cudahy – reported costs that amount to less than $10 per parcel, a strikingly low cost,” the Policy Forum wrote. “Perhaps not surprisingly, assessors and other experts said that this low-cost approach can affect quality. The current system can lead to out-of-date or inaccurate property information and involve inadequate or even in some cases improper methods of valuing property.”
The report noted that one community is currently suing the assessor it hired to calculate property taxes.
Wisconsin law allows local communities to handle their own tax assessments, so it’s not just a Milwaukee County issue. And the report said other communities could be dealing with the same issues as Milwaukee County communities.
The Policy Forum report doesn’t make any recommendations, but it does offer a look at an “option.”
“The biggest change would involve municipalities voluntarily partnering with one another to form a new commission that would hire its own assessment staff to value properties. This approach could improve the accuracy and uniformity of assessments but could involve a substantial increase in costs for nearly all of the 16 municipalities that currently use a contract assessor. A similar tradeoff would result from potential partnerships between two or three municipalities to start handling their assessment in-house,” the report added.
Read the full report here.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of New Richmond Parents for Good Schools over the school district’s policy on gender identity and the use of bathrooms at the school.
“The policy has resulted in at least one male being frequently present in the girls’ bathrooms with girls, causing anxiety, stress, and an invasion of personal privacy for the girls,” WILL wrote in a description of the lawsuit.
WILL argues that Title IX states that schools can provide separate locker rooms, toilets and shower facilities on the basis of sex.
The lawsuit is looking for a declaration that New Richmond’s policy violates the 14th Amendment, which prohibits sex discrimination, and an injunction against the New Richmond school district from allowing anyone besides females from entering the female facilities and anyone besides a male from entering boys facilities.
“Girls should feel safe at school and their privacy should be respected,” WILL Deputy Counsel Cory Brewer said in a statement. “New Richmond schools left parents and young girls no choice but to go to court and sue to end this ridiculous policy allowing biological boys into the girls’ bathroom. WILL is proud to represent this association of parents and students to bring an end to this destructive and dangerous policy.”
New Richmond Junior Ella Frei is a WILL client who has been outspoken against the district’s policy.
“Protecting girls by not allowing boys in the girls’ bathroom shouldn’t be controversial – it should be common sense,” Frei said in a statement. “We are not going to abandon our identity as girls or ignore the real privacy concerns the school district has forced on us.”

(The Center Square) – The list of Wisconsin lawmakers who are not running again continues to grow.
Two more Republicans recently announced plans to step away from the Wisconsin Capitol.
State Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, called it quits.
“Serving as your Assembly Representative has been more rewarding than I could have imagined,” O’Connor said. “While I look forward to spending more time with my family and pursuing personal interests, I remain committed to completing my term through the end of the year and focusing on the work I was elected to do,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor served just two terms.
Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, announced his retirement after 12 years in the Assembly.
“While I am stepping away from office, I still care deeply about the future of Wisconsin,” Brooks said. “Strong leadership in Madison matters, and it is important that we continue to elect people who understand our communities and are willing to stand up for them,” Brooks said.
Brooks and O’Conner join other Republicans like Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, and Sen, Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, in retiring this year.
In all, nine state lawmakers have announced that they will not run again in November.
Some of the retirements, like in Vos and LeMahieu’s districts, will likely not end with a Democrat replacing a Republican. But that’s the case for every retiring Republican.
Hutton’s decision not to run has touched off what could be the most intense race in the state legislature this year.
Pewaukee doctor Mike Roberts is running against Democratic state Rep. Robyn Vinning, D-Wauwatosa.
Roberts has said his race is the key for Republicans to hold the Senate majority.
There will also be a crucial race in Racine.
Longtime Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, last month announced that he won’t run for re-election. He said he is stepping away from the Capitol to spend more time with his family.
Democrats partially redraw Wanggaard’s district in 2022 and see his seat as a possible pick-up.
Candidates for state legislative seats can begin to gather signatures in their races next week.

(The Center Square) – No committee vote was taken Thursday as two of the 10 University of Wisconsin System Regents appeared before the committee for confirmation of their nominations to the board in the days following the board’s decision to fire UW President Jay Rothman.
The Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges chose not to vote on the nominations on Thursday with Sen. Rob Hutton, R–Brookfield, saying the committee will evaluate the testimony from Regents Amy Bogost Blumenfeld and Tim Nixon on Tuesday and seek more information from the UW System before taking further action.
“I was dismayed that they were unable to provide any documentation whatsoever – not so much as a meeting note – on the performance reviews that they repeatedly cited as leading to Rothman’s termination,” Hutton said in a statement. “Even the smallest of private businesses must keep extensive documentation on similar personnel matters. I was also disappointed that the remaining 8 nominees whose nominations were to be considered were not in attendance.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Tony Evers issued a statement as the committee began its work assuming a vote would be taken, saying the committee vote is “largely symbolic and will have no impact on the confirmation of Gov. Evers’ UW Board of Regents appointees.”
“If Republicans are going to use this as a pretext to justify firing people just because they were appointed by a Democratic governor, that would be a mistake,” Evers said in a statement. “It would also seriously jeopardize our continued bipartisan work this session on behalf of the people of our state.
“It’s pretty simple: I trust that the Regents are doing what is best for students, faculty, staff, and our UW System—lawmakers should, too.”
Meanwhile, the committee felt many of its questions on the firing remained unanswered.
“In all my years in the legislature, I have only known the Board of Regents to be guardians of the status quo, so I have my doubts that the Regents have been stonewalled in a desire to make significant reforms,” Hutton said. “I look forward to receiving specifics about the comprehensive reforms they sought that President Rothman allegedly held back.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill Thursday that will legalize online sports wagering in the state.
Evers will now negotiate compacts with Wisconsin’s 11 tribes to send revenue from gaming from the tribes to the state. Those compacts must be approved by the federal government.
Evers framed the bill signing as “the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one” and vowed to come up with agreements that benefit all of the state’s tribes.
“I have heard from each of the 11 affected Tribes that this bill offers an opportunity for their governments and for their people to improve the quality of life, health, and stability of their communities,” Evers wrote in a statement. “As governor, I am responsible for ensuring the state of Wisconsin upholds Tribal treaty rights and appropriately respects Tribal sovereignty in Wisconsin.
“Most importantly, this means respecting every Tribal Nation’s right to do what is best for its people. I do so today as I always promised I would, but I am not without reservations about signing this bill.”
The proposal changes the state’s definition of “bet” to allow the state’s tribes to offer mobile sports wagering if the bettor is in Wisconsin and the sportsbook servers are on tribal land, an amendment to current compacts allowing for casino gambling and sports wagering on tribal lands despite the state’s ban on betting.
The law would allow for a similar sports wagering model as Florida, where the state’s sportsbook operators have servers on federally recognized tribal lands while users can be in the state of Wisconsin.
“This is an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of past compact amendments that left some Tribes and their members in poverty while only lifting up a few,” Evers wrote. “It is further my expectation that we look beyond mere dollar signs and economics and insist these decisions also be guided by respect, humility, compassion and solidarity.”
The law received opposition from large national sports wagering companies like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics and Bet365 through the Sports Betting Alliance because those groups believe the agreement will keep them out of Wisconsin sports wagering in favor of the tribes and partnering with the tribes would result in deals that would not cover the large sportsbook’s expenses.
“Wisconsin voters definitely want to have a say in this policy and they haven’t gotten that opportunity,” SBA President/CEO Joe Maloney said previously.
Maloney said the law would create a monopoly rather than a competitive market between sportsbooks that would give users the best options.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has said it believes the sports wagering bill is unlawful and explained the reasoning, starting with a state law that the Legislature cannot pass a law to allow for gambling in the state and because the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act prevents creating a tribal gambling monopoly off reservation.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin mayor who moved his community’s ballot drop box will not face any criminal charges.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney recently announced he will not pursue charges against Wausau Mayor Doug Diny.
Toney said the lack of clarity in Wisconsin’s rules for ballot drop boxes played a role in his decision.
“The Election Commission correctly, I believe, determined that the drop box in question here did not fit the statutory definition of a ballot box,” Toney said. “And so that left us with determining whether or not there could be ballots inside it that we could look at it. And the clerk in Wausau knew or determined there were no ballots in it when it was ultimately removed.”
Diny made national headlines when he moved Wausau’s ballot drop box from the sidewalk in front of city hall into his office in September 2024.
Diny originally said he moved the box because he was “uncomfortable” with the idea of allowing people to drop off ballots in an unmanned, unmonitored box.
“This wasn’t intended to solely be a drop box for ballots,” Toney added. “It could take any correspondence related to city government. So, you could have letters to the mayor’s office, other city departments, and once it would have been unlocked, ballots [would have been] all co-mingled together.”
Toney asked other prosecutors in northeast Wisconsin to review the case along with him. They also decided against filing official charges.
Toney acknowledged that the decision will not be popular.
“There are some that wanted charges issued based on politics and others that did not want charges issued based on politics,” Toney explained. “However, the facts are the facts, and the law is the law, no matter how badly someone may wish for a result, our duty is to follow the facts, and the law, not politics or emotions. Partisan politics has no place in the justice system, and we will not in engage in lawfare.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a name, image and likeness bill for the University of Wisconsin that will send the athletic department $15 million annually for facility debt service and provide a wide-ranging public records exemption for any revenue or expenditure for the athletic department.
Evers’ partial veto removed the word “maintenance” from the bill so the $15 million annually from the state’s general fund can only be used for facility debt at any of the UW schools.
“I am partially vetoing this bill because I object to the potential confusion created by referring to ‘maintenance,’ and my partial veto will better reflect the intent that the funding alleviate existing debt service,” Evers wrote in his partial veto. “I also object to how this bill unnecessarily restricts the use of funds appropriated for athletic facilities within the University of Wisconsin System. I believe that greater flexibility is necessary to ensure this funding can be used effectively and allow the system to maximize the state’s investment.”
Evers chose not to alter a portion of the bill that the Wisconsin Newspaper Association warned lawmakers and the public about that could have a sweeping unintended impact that goes well beyond NIL records.
The bill would exempt records related to the “generation, deployment, or allocation of revenue generated by an intercollegiate athletic program.”
The NIL bill narrowly passed the Wisconsin Senate on a 17-16 vote.
UW-Madison Athletics Director Chris McIntosh said in committee that the $14.6 million in funding annually to the school’s athletic department for facilities debt is essentially for the athletic department to remain competitive and supporting 23 sports and 600-plus athletes. He said that women’s and Olympic sports were at stake related to the bill.
The Badgers’ football program accounted for 80% of the program’s revenue, equaling $113.6 million last fiscal year, according to the NCAA report, which showed the football program brought in $72 million in excess during the year.

(The Center Square) – The city of Port Washington approved a referendum Tuesday that would require future projects worth more than $10 million to be approved by taxpayers before being added to a tax increment district.
The initiative, in response to a large-scale AI data center in the city, passed with 2,710 votes of approval compared to 1,371 in opposition. More than 50% of the 8,257 registered Port Washington voters voted in the election.
The initiative came in response to an $8 billion data center project that is expected to receive more than $450 million in property tax breaks along with not paying state sales tax on everything from construction to the servers inside to electricity at the site, which is estimated to require as much electricity as the city of Los Angeles once fully operational.
“Tonight, democracy worked the way it’s supposed to,” said Great Lakes Neighbors Incorporated member Christine Le Jeune in a statement. “Over 1,000 residents signed the petition that put this measure on the ballot, and tonight Port Washington voters spoke with one clear voice. The people deserve a seat at the table when their tax dollars are on the line.”
Data centers have shown to be unpopular with voters as 69% of Wisconsin voters in a recent Marquette poll said that they believe that the cost of data centers outweigh the benefits.
Republican candidate for governor and Congressman Tom Tiffany vowed to “end subsidies for data centers in Wisconsin” if he becomes governor.
Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens has also been outspoken about the secrecy and impact of data centers, especially the Port Washington project and process. Berens testified in support of a bill to block non-disclosure agreements at data centers that did not pass the Legislature before session closed.
Le Jeune and two others from Great Lakes Neighbors United were removed from a public meeting on the Port Washington project in December by police when, after her allotted three minutes to speak in public comment, she shouted “shame” and “recall” as she headed to her seat.
Video from the meeting then showed a police officer approaching Le Jeune in the audience and asking her to leave.
Le Jeune would not leave and then a second officer approached and then began pulling on her arms to remove her from the meeting. Le Jeune and two others were then taken to the floor in the meeting room and handcuffed before being removed from the building.

(The Center Square) – Leaders at the University of Wisconsin will soon be asked, again, to explain why they fired the UW’s president.
University regents on Tuesday voted to fire UW President Jay Rothman. But they didn’t offer any reasons as to why.
“The Universities of Wisconsin must be led with a clear vision that both protects and strengthens our flagship, supports our comprehensive universities, and ensures we are meeting the evolving needs of our students, workforce and communities across all 72 counties,” Regents President Amy Bogost read in a statement to reporters.
Rothman said last week that he was told to resign or be fired. He chose not to resign.
His exit is not going over well with Republican lawmakers.
State Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, said regents owe Rothman and the people of Wisconsin an explanation.
“The Board of Regents once again appears to be distracted by politics and unable to concentrate on addressing the big picture challenges the UW System faces. Instead of focusing on major structural and curriculum reforms throughout the entire system, the Regents seem determined to stray into backroom maneuvering that further diminishes the reputation of the UW brand and undermines its long-term mission of preparing our students for an ever-changing marketplace,” Hutton said in a post on social media.
Hutton sits as the head of the State Senate’s Committee on Universities.
Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Hortonville, who heads the Assembly’s Committee on Colleges and Universities called for a formal hearing into the decision to fire Rothman.
“The Board owes Wisconsin taxpayers, students, and families a full explanation,” Murphy added. “They should provide specific reasons or stand down from this effort. This hearing will ensure accountability and transparency in our University of Wisconsin System.”
Murphy said a hearing date will be announced in the next few days.
Rothman took over as UW president in 2022 and oversaw both the closure of some of the UW’s two-year campuses, and a historic deal to get millions of dollars more to the university system.
UW Regents say they will now begin the search for a new university president.

(The Center Square) – Judge Chris Taylor won the Wisconsin Supreme Court race over conservative candidate Maria Lazar on Tuesday, increasing the amount of liberal justices on the court to a 5-2 advantage compared to conservatives with another conservative seat up for election next year.
Multiple media outlets called the race less than an hour after polls closed with Taylor holding a 61% to 38% advantage.
Taylor will serve a 10-year term.
The candidates were vying to replace conservative justice Rebecca Bradley for a 10-year term on the court. Both candidates are currently appellate court judges.
Conservative Annette Ziegler has announced that she will not run again in 2027.
Taylor is a former Democratic Party state representative who has also represented Planned Parenthood as a lawyer.

(The Center Square) – Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Gillett, wants Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction to continue an investigation into allegations of grooming and sexual assault at Oconto Falls School District even after one of those accused voluntarily surrendered his teaching license.
DPI has come under fire this year for allowing accused teachers to surrender a teaching license to avoid the scrutiny of a full investigation into misconduct, leading the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to order a full audit of the department’s investigation process that Wimberger recently said would be completed in the coming weeks.
Oconto Falls is currently facing a federal civil rights lawsuit over a series of sexual misconduct accusations over decades and how the school district has handled those accusations. David Heisel, one of the teachers accused of misconduct, surrendered his teaching license March 31, according to DPI’s investigation database.
“The highest responsibility of any education official is to ensure our children are safe at school, especially from predators disguising themselves as authority figures,” Wimberger said in a statement. “Ending the Heisel investigation early will not only betray the public’s trust, but deny the chance of restoring accountability for the victims who came forward.
“I am calling on DPI to continue investigating the Oconto Falls situation, even after David Heisel surrendered his license. These allegations deserve a full and proper examination so our community can transparently know what happened, when it happened, and who knew about the misconduct occurring in our schools.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would have ended the ability of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to raise fees for animal market licenses, animal dealer licenses, animal trucker licenses and animal transport vehicle registrations after the department had proposed large increases in those fees earlier this year.
DATCP had proposed increasing a livestock market fee from $420 to $7,430, trucker license fees from $60 to $370 and animal dealer fees from $220 to $670 last year before receiving significant pushback and later proposing smaller increases.
“I am also vetoing this bill because I believe the current process relating to rule promulgation and setting, increasing, or creating fees works, including ensuring adequate public input and accountability for agency decisions regarding fees,” Evers wrote in his veto message. “I am also vetoing this bill because it fails to establish a reasonable and sustainable funding plan for the department. It would not cover annual program costs, nor eliminate the current structural deficit in the programs, resulting in the appropriation operating in a negative cash balance.”
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Americans for Prosperity–Wisconsin collected public feedback, sending it to DATCP after the rules were proposed, and leading DATCP to later propose lower fees.
The fee increase proposal came after a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that blocked legislators from oversight on rulemaking with Evers telling agencies to bypass having rules heard in committee and instead simply enact them.
Bill sponsor Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, said in a statement that he was particularly upset with Evers stating the fee freeze was “enabling the Legislature to go right back to indefinitely obstructing the People’s Work.”
“I find it offensive that the governor would consider it the ‘people’s work’ to target those who work hard to survive in our ag industry,” Quinn said. “Governor Evers chose to back his unelected bureaucrats instead of looking out for the farmers in this state. Forcing his unchecked power against the will of the majority…looks like we have some new material for the next ‘No Kings’ protest.”
Republican lawmakers and Congressman Tom Tiffany’s War Room official campaign for governor account responded to The Center Square’s initial report on the DATCP bill veto questioning why Evers’ would want to put the large fee increases on Wisconsin farmers.
This is insane. Democrats want to raise fees on Wisconsin farmers and livestock barns by 1,700%.@saraforwi, @TheOtherMandela, and @FrancescaHongWI all support it. https://t.co/hZlzgJJNRe— Tiffany War Room (@TiffanyWarRoom) April 3, 2026
“Unelected bureaucrats in the Evers-Rodriguez Administration tried sneaking through a 1700% fee increase on Wisconsin farmers,” Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, wrote. “Republicans fought to end it, but today Evers VETOED that bill—doubling down on harmful fee hikes on our family farms.”
Unelected bureaucrats in the Evers-Rodriguez Administration tried sneaking through a 1700% fee increase on Wisconsin farmers. Republicans fought to end it, but today Evers VETOED that bill—doubling down on harmful fee hikes on our family farms. https://t.co/RmVXsDo1gk pic.twitter.com/QaNGTlQOBz— Rep. Amanda Nedweski (@RepNedweski32) April 3, 2026

(The Center Square) – Fewer people voted early in Wisconsin this year.
The latest numbers from the Wisconsin Elections Commission show a nearly 50% drop in early absentee voting in the state.
WEC’s numbers show that in Wisconsin’s early voting period, between March 24 and Sunday, 148,307 people cast an early, in-person ballot.
Last year, that number was more than 361,000 early, in-person votes.
Another 176,089 people cast their early vote by mail this year. That too, is down from last year, when the mail-in early vote total hit nearly 333,000 votes.
Some of the drop is being blamed on what some are calling a lower stakes Supreme Court race.
Last year’s race between Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford decided the ideological balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Last year’s race also became a national race and saw the involvement of Elon Musk.
The 2025 race, just like Wisconsin’s 2024 race, set spending records. Last year Schimel and Crawford saw more than $100 million spent on their race. It remains the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. The 2024 race was the previous record holder, with more than $50 million in total spending.
This year’s race between Judge Maria Lazar and Judge Chris Taylor will be a multi-million-dollar affair but won’t come anywhere close to the cost of the last races in the state.
While early voting numbers are down statewide, early votes are largely concentrated this year.
The Elections Commission said early votes from just three counties. Milwaukee, Dane and Waukesha account for 45% of all early votes cast this year. Those are also Wisconsin’s three largest counties.
The rest of the voters in the state will get to cast their ballots today. Polls in the state are open until 8 p.m.