(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Senate Sergeant at Arms Timothy La Sage announced his office will be enacting “a series of enhanced security protocols” at the state capitol starting this week.
The increased security measures, in coordination with the Wisconsin Capitol Police, will include increased situational awareness practices, strengthened access control points and updated emergency response protocols, according to La Sage’s office.
“The safety of those who serve, work and visit the Capitol is my top priority,” La Sage said in a statement. “We remain vigilant and prepared. These enhancements are part of our ongoing commitment to security and public service.”
The security changes come after a shooter killed Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband and injured state Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and his wife on Saturday.
Minnesota police allegedly recovered the shooter’s writings, which included the names of 11 Democratic Wisconsin lawmakers, as first reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
While the report could not be verified by Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at the time of publication, Sen. Jamie Wall, D-Green Bay, acknowledged the existence of the hit list while confirming he is not on the list, as first reported by Fox 11 News.
“I know the names of a few people on it, but we’ve been very strongly advised by law enforcement not to talk about those people,” Wall said.
Wall added the people who are on the list know they’re on the list and are undergoing appropriate security measures.
La Sage, who was elected Senate Sergeant At Arms by the Senate on Friday, said specific capitol security details would not be disclosed publicly.
La Sage said Senate leadership would work closely with law enforcement to “assess risks and make necessary adjustments in real-time.”
While the public will still be able to visit the state capitol, they are encouraged to follow all posted signage and new security procedures, according to La Sage.
La Sage declined to respond for comment on how long new security measures would be in place and whether or not they would remain until the summer recess.
Assembly Sergeant at Arms Anne Byers told The Center Square that she is also working with Capitol Police to implement security measures for the Wisconsin Assembly, although her office has not made a public announcement regarding security changes.
Luke Wolff, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told The Center Square that Vos’ office has requested extra security presence for the Assembly floor session Wednesday.

(The Center Square) – Add Wisconsin to the list of states accepting a piece of the $7.4 billion opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma.
Attorney General Josh said the state is joining the attorneys general from all 50 states, as well as four US territories in accepting the settlement.
“There’s still a long way to go in the fight against the opioid epidemic,” Kaul said in a statement.
Kaul’s office said the settlement should bring more than $80 million back to Wisconsin over the next 15 years to help make state and local governments whole after years of dealing with opioids and their users.
Half of that money, Kaul’s office said, would come in the first three years of the settlement.
Kaul did not say how the money would be spent but past opioid dollars have gone toward treatment centers, anti-addiction efforts, and even Narcan machines across the state.
Kaul said adding the Purdue settlement, Wisconsin will or has already seen more than $860 million in opioid settlement dollars over the past decade.
The Purdue Pharma Settlement is not complete yet. Local governments across the country now have to agree to the settlement terms as well.
“This resolution would mean more resources for efforts to combat this,” Kaul added.
The settlement ends a wave of lawsuits that accused Purdue Pharma, and the company’s owners the Sackler family, of “fueling the largest drug crisis in the nation’s history,” according to Kaul’s office.
“Under the Sacklers’ ownership, Purdue made and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades” Kaul’s office said in a statement. “This settlement would end the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and their ability to sell opioids in the United States.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously against a law that requires the state’s attorney general to get approval of the Joint Finance Committee before reaching a settlement in many civil cases.
In late 2018, a new law was enacted that required legislative approval. That law came after Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul were elected but before they began their terms.
Kaul challenged the law, claiming civil enforcement actions and cases the Department of Justice bring for executive branch agencies are core executive functions, not subject to legislative approval.
The ruling is a reversal of a prior ruling from the state’s Court of Appeals.
“As this court has explained over a series of cases, the Legislature’s constitutional responsibilities consist in making the law,” the ruling states. “Enforcing the law is a task vested in the executive branch. …
“We hold that settling these two categories of cases is within the core powers of the executive branch, and the statutory requirement to obtain JFC’s approval prior to settling these cases violates the Wisconsin Constitution’s separation of powers.”

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture on behalf of a Wisconsin dairy farmer over programs it claims are discriminatory to farmers based on race and sex.
The lawsuit was filed by WILL on behalf of Adam Faust, a Wisconsin dairy farmer. WILL had warned the President Donald Trump administration in April that USDA was continuing to implement “President Joe Biden-era DEI programs.”
The lawsuit claims Faust, a double amputee who operates a 70-cow dairy farm near Chilton, Wisconsin is not eligible to benefit from USDA race-based programs because he is white.
“We warned USDA and the Trump Administration: the Biden-era discriminatory programs must go,” WILL deputy legal counsel Dan Lennington said in a statement. “We’ve been patient, but equality cannot wait. While President Trump has been perfectly clear that racial discrimination has no place in his Administration, USDA remains a notable hold out.”
The lawsuit comes after both WILL’s April 8 letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and a letter to USDA criticizing race and sex-based policies signed by six Wisconsin members of Congress.
WILL lists three programs where Faust argues he is particularly discriminated against.
The first is the Daily Margin Coverage Program, which aims to financially bridge the gap between milk prices and the cost of feed.
The lawsuit states, “Mr. Faust is charged an annual administrative fee ($100), but minority and female farmers are exempt.”
The second program is the Loan Guarantee Program, which guarantees a certain percentage of the loan against financial loss.
The lawsuit alleges Faust is eligible for a 90% loan guarantee, while minority and female farmers may receive up to a 95% loan guarantee.
The third program is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which is a “conservation program that helps farmers, ranchers and landowners integrate conservation into working lands,” according to USDA.
While EQIP is meant to help farmers cover the cost of projects like the new manure storage system Faust is working on with an engineering firm, the lawsuit alleges Faust is only eligible to receive a reimbursement totaling 75% of his costs, while “socially disadvantaged farmers” can receive a reimbursement of up to 90% of costs.
WILL argues both racial and sex-based classifications are unconstitutional and prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
“Farmers, like all other Americans, deserve to be assessed as individuals, not as statistics or as means toward achieving some quota, preference, or balancing based on race or sex,” the lawsuit says.
WILL says farmers like Faust will have to continue bearing the “burden of litigation” against the government in federal court unless USDA stops the discriminatory policies.
Faust previously won a 2021 victory against the Biden administration for race discrimination in the Farmer Loan Forgiveness Plan with the help of WILL.
WILL said Rollins should be leading the USDA to follow through with Trump’s recent executive orders to end race-based policies across the country.
“The USDA should honor the President’s promise to the American people to end racial discrimination in the federal government,” Faust said. “After being ignored by a federal agency that’s meant to support agriculture, I hope my lawsuit brings answers, accountability, and results from USDA.”
USDA did not immediately respond for comment at the time of publication.

(The Center Square) – Members of the Wisconsin Democratic Party elected Devin Remiker as chairman, positioning him to lead the party through the 2026 midterm elections.
The election comes after current chairman Ben Wikler, who has led the party since 2019, said he would not seek another term.
Remiker, the former party executive director, said he was “honored” to win the Democrats’ support and that he wants to figure out “how we can all work together to best support Democrats in every corner of this state.”
He defeated 3rd Congressional District party chairman and La Crosse County party co-chairman William Garcia and Milwaukee-area communications operative Joe Zepecki over two rounds of ranked-choice ballot voting.
The party convention, titled “WisDems Convention: The Road to 2026,” focused heavily on next year’s elections and particularly on winning a trifecta in Madison.
“We are just 18 months away from a trifecta and 18 months away from history,” Remiker said. “Let’s hit the gas and when we win, it won’t be an accident. It will be because we put in the work.”
Republicans have held a majority in both chambers of the Wisconsin State Legislature since the 2010 elections.
However, Democrats see a potential opening after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed new legislative maps into law in 2024.
The party’s choice to elect Remiker will help shape its strategy in the swing state next year as the governor’s seat, a state Supreme Court seat, the attorney general’s office, and several competitive congressional and state legislative seats hang in the balance.
Wikler voiced his support for Remiker to succeed him at the convention, crediting his political experience in the state.
“It was Devin who made the plan to fight back when Elon Musk came to town. It was Devin who figured out how to make it backfire,” Wikler said about the April state Supreme Court race which resulted in Susan Crawford beating Brad Schimel, whom Musk supported and campaigned for.
Wikler concluded, “Remiker is brilliant. He’s an organizer. He’s kind. He gets rural. He gets grassroots, and he knows how to fight in a moment when we need a fighter.”
One of the party’s major areas for improvements moving forward is its communication strategies, according to Remiker.
“The information age kind of divides people’s attention into different groups, into different buckets and niche interests,” Remiker said.
He added that the party needs to work on “connecting the dots about how politics impacts nearly everything in everyone’s lives.”
On the campaign trail, Remiker touted a “72 County Strategy” plan to focus on the party’s local and statewide development.
Remiker said the party should focus on key local races, unique to each county’s needs.
“There is one thing that we can do, and it is elect Democrats at all levels to send a message to Donald Trump and Republicans in this state that we will not stand for their divide and conquer politics any longer,” Remiker said during his speech. “We will win big.”
Remiker is set to officially become party chairman when Wikler leaves the role in July.
A spokesperson for the Wisconsin GOP did not immediately respond for comment at the time of publication.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Democrats are gearing up to elect their new state party chairman and other roles at this weekend’s convention in Wisconsin Dells.
Chairman Ben Wikler, in role since 2019, announced he wouldn’t seek another term after losing a bid for Democratic National Committee’s chairmanship in April.
Gunning for Wikler’s seat are former state party Executive Director Devin Remiker, 3rd Congressional District chairman and LaCrosse County party cochairman William Garcia, and Milwaukee-area communications operative Joe Zepecki.
The party’s choices this weekend will help shape their 2026 strategy in the swing state as they eye the governor’s seat, a state Supreme Court seat, the attorney general’s office, and several competitive congressional and state legislative seats.
“The great unfinished task is to win the legislative majorities and be able to deliver the chance in people’s lives that Democrats have been fighting for this entire time,” Wikler said in an interview with WisPolitics.
The chairman will be elected Sunday by way of ranked-choice ballot.
Notably, Remiker has received the most statewide endorsements, including from Wikler himself in a break from his former committed neutrality that bristled both Zepecki and Garcia.
“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is widely considered to be the strongest state party in our country,” Wikler said in a statement. “Devin has been a huge part of how we built that strength.”
Wikler especially touted Remiker’s focus on local strength.
“Devin knows rural,” Wikler said. “And he knows urban, suburban, and small towns. He knows, in other words, Wisconsin.”
Remiker, like Zepecki and Garcia, has been campaigning on a plan to focus on the party’s local and statewide development with his “72 County Strategy.”
If he wins, Remiker pledges to “zero in on critical races for councils, school boards and county boards” in a way that’s unique to every county’s party.
He has received endorsements from Senate Minority Leader Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton; Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine; and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis.
However, Zepecki criticized Wikler’s break from neutrality by endorsing Remiker in a Facebook video May 20.
“Two things can be true at the same time: Ben and his team have strengthened our party, and Democrats have a ton of work to do,” Zepecki said in the video. “Our brand is busted, our communications and messaging aren’t landing, and organizing and infrastructure is too top-down, one-size-fits-all.”
Zepecki promised the party that he would deliver on “new leadership and a fresh perspective.”
Since 2016, Zepecki has run his communications company and assisted in several campaigns across the country.
Numerous state lawmakers and former party chairwoman Linda Honold as well as several county party chairs have endorsed Zepecki.
Garcia’s “Grow, Persist, Resist” platform has been focused on providing resources and support for county parties as well as maintaining the national focus on Wisconsin politics.
In La Crosse, he helped flip the 96th Assembly seat, which had been held by Republicans for nearly 40 years.
“We were able to flip that through hard work,” Garcia said in a statement first reported by Wisconsin Examiner. “That was because of the strong infrastructure that we built at the county. What I want to do is replicate that all across the state.”
While he wants to make Wisconsin Democrats’ voices heard nationally, Garcia seeks to ensure that county parties have a “bigger seat at the table” when it comes to messaging and decision-making.
“County parties are the experts in what is happening in their own communities, and we need to be listening to them in ways we’re not right now about the best way to really reach out and talk to voters in those areas,” Garcia said.
Garcia has been endorsed by Democrats local to him, including La Crosse mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey and Rep. Tara Johnson, D-Town of Shelby.
Overall, Democrats are itching to win a trifecta in Madison with the governor’s seat, state Senate, and state Assembly in 2026.
“What we see right now in Wisconsin, I think, is a burgeoning blue wave that’s going to hit the state in 2026 with full force,” Wikler previously said.
While the new chairman would need to fill Wikler’s shoes quickly, especially given the record $200 million the party has raised under his leadership since 2019, Wikler said he doesn’t doubt the party will continue to work to “carry that trust forward” in future years.

(The Center Square) – Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany continues to say he’ll make a decision on running for governor later this summer, but he’s not wavering in his criticism of Gov. Tony Evers.
“I was elected by the people of the 7th Congressional District, they expect me to do my job for these two years,” Tiffany said in a radio interview Thursday. “And I intend to do that. But we need a new governor.”
Tiffany has said in the past that he may make an announcement by the end of the summer. He didn’t offer a time table during the radio interview.
Tiffany did have new criticism of Evers.
“When you look at somebody who encourages state employees to obstruct ICE,” he said referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “When you see a governor who cannot say ‘mother’ in his budget bill, who introduced a budget that is going to put us in deficit, where we’ll begin to look like Illinois and Minnesota. That’s a choice before the people of Wisconsin next year.”
There is only one declared candidate for governor in 2026.
Washington County Executive Josh Schoeman became the first Republican candidate when jumped into the race last month. Tiffany is on the short list for Republicans, as is businessman and veteran Bill Berrian.
Evers has not yet said if he intends to run for a third term.
The governor has said he will make that announcement after the state budget is complete.
If Evers does not run again, the Democratic short list includes Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, and Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Wisconsin voters have not reelected a governor to a third term since they reelected Tommy Thompson in 1994 and to a fourth term in 1998.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s top education official said Friday that the Joint Finance Committee’s budget changes fails Wisconsin students, educators and public schools.
The committee voted late Thursday evening to approve a $229 million investment in special education targeting mental health and sparsity aid, which is additional state funding provided to small, rural school districts that meet specific criteria based on enrollment and population density.
“The budget they approved raises your property taxes, doesn’t support students with disabilities and cuts youth mental health funding – all at a time when more kids than ever are struggling, and schools are stretched thin,” Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly said in a statement. “This isn’t ‘right-sizing.’ It’s irresponsible. It puts politics ahead of kids and disregards educators and public schools when they need support the most.”
Thursday’s finance committee meeting also included tax cuts for retirees and residents in the second income tax bracket expected to save Wisconsinites up to $1.3 billion.
Underly was comparing the Republican majority committee’s proposal to that of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a proposal that the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce recently said would be harmful to the state with increased taxes and state spending.
The group said that Evers’ budget proposal would increase spending by more than 20%.
“We’re entering this cycle with a $4 billion surplus, but Evers’ plan would leave us with a $4 billion deficit by the end of the 2027-29 budget,” WMC’s General Counsel and Director of Tax, Transportation & Legal Affairs, Evan Umpir said in a statement. “He proposed $3.3 billion in new taxes, including capping the Manufacturing & Ag Credit for manufacturers, and a new 9.8% millionaire tax bracket, modeled after Minnesota.”
Underly pointed to the school officials and parents who attended budget listening sessions and made calls or wrote letters asking for more funding for the state’s public schools, saying members of the committee did not listen.
“Our public schools desperately need and deserve funding that is flexible, spendable and predictable,” Underly said. “This budget fails to deliver on all three. Once again, those in power had an opportunity to do right by Wisconsin’s children – and once again, they turned their backs on them. Our kids, our teachers, and our communities deserve far better.”

(The Center Square) – St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran School won an appeal to receive $30,000 in scholarships through Wisconsin’s Special Needs Scholarship Program.
The Wisconsin Department of Instruction initially denied the school’s request for the school choice funding for three students but the scholarships were awarded after the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a legal appeal of the ruling.
“DPI’s previously held position jeopardized critical funding for St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran School and their ability to help students in need,” associate counsel Lauren Greuel of the institute said in a statement, “WILL continues to assist choice schools receive the support owed to them by the Wisconsin state law.”
The special needs scholarship program helps to fund 3,000 students with disabilities that attend private schools in the state.
“Our school followed all protocols and procedures to receive this funding,” said St. Paul’s Lutheran School Principal Jill M. George. “It’s why we were shocked to learn DPI was holding onto over $30,000 in special needs scholarship funding. Without WILL’s involvement, we would have no idea where to go next.”

(The Center Square) – Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee greenlit $1.3 billion in tax cuts to the Wisconsin biennial budget Thursday night.
The income tax cuts would primarily benefit retirees as well as deduct 1% of the income tax of married-joint filers making between $38,000 and $67,000.
Committee cochairman Mark Born, Republican senator from Beaver Dam, said the tax cuts are a way to give back to people who have contributed to Wisconsin’s economy and incentivize them to stay in the state rather than move to other states with more generous tax laws.
“While we’ve done all these things to make it a great place to live, work, and raise a family, so I also want to make it a great place for all those people who worked hard for that to happen, to stay and watch their grandkids grow up,” Born said. “That’s the kind of impact this stuff can have.”
Under the adopted motion, retirees who are at least 67 years old would benefit from a tax exclusion for the first $24,000 of retirement income, or $48,000 for married-joint filers where both spouses are at least 67 years old.
The tax cuts for retirees and residents in the second income tax bracket would save Wisconsinites up to $1.3 billion, according to the motion’s estimate.
Additionally, another Republican motion would raise the tax deduction for child adoption fees from $5,000 to $15,000.
Republicans also voted to adopt a $229 million investment in special education targeting mental health and sparsity aid, which is additional state funding provided to small, rural school districts that meet specific criteria based on enrollment and population density.
Some Democrats on the committee seemed begrudged that the investments Republicans adopted were much less than those proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
“This is woefully small in terms of investment, and the governor’s budget would have helped the parents, the kids, the educators,” said Rep. Tip McGuire, D-Kenosha.
However, Republicans said their motions were much more realistic than those proposed by Evers.
Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, said just because Republicans propose lesser investments than Democrats does not mean Republicans are “cutting” programs or investments.
“This is what I always find fascinating about Madison math,” Testin said. “Any decrease to a proposed increase is considered a ‘cut’ by some of our colleagues. That’s not what we’re doing.
“Any conversations that these are cuts is just unrealistic. These are critical investments.”
All of the Republican-backed motions passed 12–4 on party lines.

(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin bill would eliminate the option of schools passing recurring operation referendum and would limit the length of time for a nonrecurring operational funding referenda to four years.
The bill’s sponsor told the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Education that the goal was to have school districts prove how the funding is improving the outcomes for students and not allow increased funding over a longer period of time that isn’t regularly approved by taxpayers.
“With declining enrollment levels, I question the necessity of these operating referendum,” said. Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield. “By eliminating the recurring referenda and limiting the nonrecurring referenda, I hope to foster fiscal responsibility in Wisconsin school districts.”
Duchow pointed to Milwaukee’s $252 million recurring referendum in 2024 that passed by less than 2,000 votes and permanently increased the taxes levied for the district.
“I wish I could tell you Milwaukee was an outlier but it’s emblematic of the state of referendums across the state of Wisconsin,” Duchow said.
Duchow said that, since 2015, $870 million in recurring referenda have been passed across the state.
Duchow said that approving long-term referenda can lead to a situation where those that move into a district are paying taxes for a referenda they didn’t vote to approve for long into the future at a time when attendance across Wisconsin is declining and schools are closing.
There were 67,000 graduating seniors in Wisconsin schools this year while there are 52,000 students in first grade, Duchow said, meaning that schools will have 22% less students in years to come.
She said that she believed that means that the financial reality for school districts amid that declining enrollment will change rapidly, so having long-term referenda that doesn’t change with the lower enrollment does not make sense.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin receives less in federal funding per capita than the average state, receiving $14,678 per person in the most recently available numbers from 2022 compared to an average $16,606 in the country, according to a new report from Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The report says the group took on the topic with the proposal of federal funding cuts.
Wisconsin residents and businesses paid in $71 billion in federal taxes during the 2022 fiscal year with $37 billion in federal individual income taxes, $25.4 billion in payroll taxes funding social insurance programs such as Social Security, and $6.7 billion in corporate income taxes.
Meanwhile, the state’s residents, businesses, nonprofits and local governments received nearly $86.5 billion in federal funds, more than $15 billion above the amount contributed.
That balance of payments amounted to $2,679 per Wisconsin resident, less than the overall U.S. average of $2,889.
“Federal spending still has an enormous effect in both Wisconsin and every other state,” the report said. “Admittedly, this impact may not be immediately and outwardly visible in some communities, especially smaller ones where the federal government has relatively few buildings or staff present. Yet its size and sweep are vast.”
Federal spending in Wisconsin was equal to 23.7% of total personal income in the state, a figure that includes wages, salaries, interest, dividends and transfer receipts paid from government assistance programs.
The federal programs discussed seeing funding cuts that could directly impact Wisconsin residents include Social Security, Medicare and SNAP along with cuts to the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services said that the state could potentially lose $314 million in SNAP benefits.
Wisconsin’s director of Medicaid has said that more than 60,000 people will lose health care coverage in the state if a proposed reconciliation package is not changed.