(The Center Square) – Voters are going to get a chance to hear directly from the two judges who want to be Wisconsin’s next Supreme Court justice.
Both conservative Judge Brad Schimel and liberal Judge Susan Crawford on Thursday agreed to a debate. The two will answer questions on the same stage, at the same time.
Schimel’s campaign said the debate will be a chance for voters to see who is who.
“There are clear differences between the two candidates and voters deserve this opportunity to hear directly from each candidate. We look forward to highlighting those differences,” the campaign said.
Crawford’s campaign said pretty much the same thing.
“Voters deserve an opportunity to hear from both candidates, and on stage, they will hear directly from Judge Crawford about her experience protecting our communities, her commitment to common sense and impartiality, and her dedication to protecting the rights and freedoms of all Wisconsinites,” her campaign added.
But there are growing questions in some circles about Crawford’s “experience protecting our communities.”
There have been a series of recent reports about Crawford’s time on the bench in Madison and some of the sentences that she handed down.
Those include the 2019 case of Antonio Gentry, who was on trial for shooting a man in the head. Prosecutors recommended a total of 50 years in prison, but Crawford sentenced Gentry to 30 and gave him a chance to get out early on parole.
“I’m going to impose a sentence, I believe, that eventually will allow you to re-enter the community. You will be an older man at the time you re-enter the community when you are
on extended supervision,” Crawford said at the time.
There’s also the two cases involving Kevin Weston. He was charged in 2018 with the felony sexual assault of a child.
Weston could have been sentenced to up to 100 years in prison for the sexual assault of a two children under the age of 8. Crawford sentenced him to four years in prison.
Weston is now out of prison and is reportedly living just minutes from a school in New London, Wisconsin.
There’s also the 2022 case against Curtis O’Brien. Prosecutors charged him with the repeated sexual assault of a child, when the child was 5 years old.
Crawford, as a Dane County judge, allowed O’Brien out on a $500 signature bond. Eventually, O’Brian was sentenced to four years in prison, but was released in two.
Matt Batzel, the National Executive Director with American Majority, said the cases are the exact opposite of Crawford’s claims of “protecting our communities.”
Batzel said there’s clearly a pattern of Crawford being lenient on the bench.
“Susan Crawford is soft on crime. She has a pattern of going easy on violent criminals. Her record has made Wisconsin communities less safe. She doesn’t have the judgment necessary to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”
Crawford and Schimel will debate March 12 on WISN TV in Milwaukee. The debate will be shared statewide.

The Center Square) – Milwaukee voters have a favorable opinion of Gov. Tony Evers and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson but more are neutral or have never heard of Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly than favor her, according to a new poll.
Underly was thought of favorably by 23%, unfavorably by 21% while 28% were neutral and 28% had never heard of Underly in the poll from City Forward Collective, a a school choice organization.
The poll also showed that 46% have an unfavorable opinion of Milwaukee schools while 33% were favorable.
The poll surveyed 502 registered Milwaukee voters through Change Research between Feb 4 and 8.
Underly is facing a Feb. 18 primary challenge from Jeff Wright and Brittany Kinser. The top two candidates will be on the April 1 ballot.
“State Superintendent Jill Underly and DPI have missed the mark: lowering the bar to mask unacceptable outcomes for Milwaukee’s students and then repeatedly deceiving the public while abdicating responsibility and shifting blame,” City Forward Collective Executive Director Colleston Morgan said.
A pair of Republican legislators have filed a bill that would require DPI to reverse its moves to lower report card standards for Wisconsin schools.
The legislation would reset the K-12 school report card standards of 2019-20, makes grades 3-8 standards the same as those set by the National Assessment of Education Progress and would make the high school testing standards the same as those from 2021-22.

(The Center Square) – A group of Wisconsin lawmakers is bringing back right of first refusal legislation that was debated last year but did not pass the Senate.
The legislation would allow companies doing business in Wisconsin the chance to bid on work on the electric grid before any out of state companies can offer a price.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and State Rep. Kevin Petersen, R-Waupaca, are sponsoring the legislation they say is backed by a group of business groups and businesses including Kwik Trip, Wisconsin Counties Association, the Wisconsin Economic Development Association, the Wisconsin Electrical Cooperative Association, the Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin, public power company WPPI Energy, the state’s three major electricity transmission companies and all of the state’s investor-owned power generating companies.
The group, called Wisconsin for ROFR, says that the ratepayers would be projected to pay $1 billion in additional costs over the lifetime of projects that are currently scheduled.
“All of Wisconsin’s neighboring states have either adopted ROFR laws or are trying to implement them, and they are shifting more of their costs to Wisconsin ratepayers,” said Ellen Nowak, a vice president of American Transmission Company, a local grid builder and operator and member of the Wisconsin for ROFR Coalition. “Adopting ROFR in Wisconsin helps protect ratepayers from getting hit with a $1 billion bite at the same time other states shift more cost to us.”
State Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Stockbridge, voted against the bill last year, saying it would hurt working families by eliminating fair competition for work and thus leading to higher utility bills for businesses and families.

(The Center Square) – The president of the Universities of Wisconsin continues to stress the need for more money ahead of this year’s budget-writing session.
“I am encouraged by the support of Gov. [Tony] Evers,” President Jay Rothman said during an interview with WisEye. “I’ve had some productive conversations with legislators on both sides of the aisle. And we’re going to continue those conversations.”
Rothman is not saying if the conversations have changed the minds of the Republicans who will write the new state budget.
Republicans leaders at the Capitol, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, have said Rothman’s request for $855 million more in the new state budget is too much.
Rothman said the additional requests comes after 10 years of a tuition freeze and what he termed neglect.
“I have had continuing, good conversations with both the speaker and Sen. LeMahieu, and others,” Rothman said. “But I look at it from this standpoint – the University of Wisconsin over a decade-plus was, in my humble opinion, neglected in terms of funding. We had our tuition frozen for a decade. That has put us in a very difficult financial position. And all we’re trying to do with the $855 million ask is get us to the national median. Get Wisconsin to average. Under the circumstances, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable ask.”
Rothman also said that without the $855 million there will be cuts.
“I have said very publicly, if we get $855 million I will not recommend tuition increases for the two years of the biennium. We will not move to close any branch campuses that are otherwise slated for closure during that period of time,” Rothman added. “If we [do not], we’re going to have to look at some things that quite frankly, are painful for me to even think about, but are necessary. Because ultimately, I’m responsible for the financial viability and sustainability of our universities, and we’ll take the steps that are necessary to ensure that we do that. But that will impact accessibility and it will impact affordability in ways that I don’t think are in the best interest of our state.”
The total budget for the Universities of Wisconsin is nearly $8 billion. Nearly $1.5 billion of that comes from the state.
Under Rothman’s leadership, the UW System has raised tuition in each of the past two years.
The university is facing scrutiny about those tuition increases. Lawmakers are also likely to press Rothman about the recent revelation that UW-Madison has been spending 55% of its federal research dollars on non-research things like building upkeep and administrative costs.
Rothman has said taking a “meat cleaver” to the school’s research funding, however, is not the solution.

(The Center Square) – A newly released audit of Milwaukee schools calls for a new, clear leadership structure and changes across the board.
The audit was funded as part of a $5.5 million plan from Gov. Tony Evers after the school district failed to submit the required annual financial audit reports to the Department of Public Instruction. Evers’ office says that a separate instructional audit of the district is ongoing and the remaining $3 million from the audit funding will go toward implementing recommendations in the audit, conducted by MGT of America Consulting.
Evers also plans to propose an additional $5 million in funding toward changes recommended in the audit in his upcoming biennial budget proposal, set to be presented Feb. 18.
The audit was released a day after a poll from the City Forward Collective – a school choice organization – released a poll showing most people in Milwaukee are disappointed in the city’s public schools with 55% of people polled giving MPS a D or F grade.
The top goal from the audit was to create a coherent structure with clarity on roles and decision-making structure in the district’s central office while investing in human resources to help leadership and training while focusing on a few important strategic goals.
“Leadership instability, a culture resistant to change, high staff turnover, and ineffective systems and reporting protocols have hindered accountability and performance,” the audit said. “These challenges, coupled with outdated facilities and a history of financial mismanagement, have eroded public trust and disproportionately affected the District’s most vulnerable students.”
The second listed objective is to foster meaningful communication and collaboration across the district with the board and leadership working together and encouraging department leadership to drive strategy.
The third objective is to operate and fund strategically with investments in technological infrastructure and changing reporting and grievance policies along with onboarding to improve communication.
“This report also underscores the importance of the DPI’s ongoing efforts to support MPS in financial reporting, including the development of a Corrective Action Plan,” said DPI Superintendent Jill Underly. “These efforts are both realistic and essential for helping the district regain compliance and thrive.”

(The Center Square) – Milwaukee Public Schools are getting failing or near-failing grades from half in the city, according to a new poll.
The poll from the City Forward Collective – a school choice organization – on Wednesday reported that most people in the city are disappointed in the city’s public schools.
City Forward Collective’s CEO Colleston Morgan said 55% of people polled gave MPS a D or F grade.
“Milwaukee residents continue to send a clear and unmistakable message: they are deeply concerned about the continuing cascade of challenges at Milwaukee Public Schools,” Morgan said.
The same poll found that 11% of people in Milwaukee give the city’s schools an A or B grade.
Pollsters also say that 70% of people are paying at least some attention to MPS’ multiple scandals and that 64% of people “do not believe DPI has done enough to address the challenges at MPS, vs just 15% who believe they have.”
MPS has been dealing with a financial scandal since last summer. That’s when the DPI, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, informed parents that the school district was a year late with a required financial report and audit. The two reports have still not yet been turned- n.
Those missing reports have cost MPS nearly $60 million, and could cost as much as $81 million.
“[People] lost confidence in MPS and school board leadership – and they’re not buying Jill Underly & DPI’s shifting of blame and abdication of responsibility for holding MPS accountable,” Colleston said.
In addition to MPS’ financial scandal, the city’s school district has the worst racial learning gap in the entire. And last month’s National Report Card showed Milwaukee Public Schools had some of the worst reading and writing scores in the state.
The pollsters asked about those scores.
“Nearly 80% are very concerned about MPS’ failing NAEP scores, with just 9% of students proficient and Black students ranking worst in the nation,” the poll showed. “About three-quarters worry about declining academic outcomes, despite over $1 billion in new funding since 2020 and a 30% property tax hike.”
Polling was conducted by Change Research between Feb 4-8, using Dynamic Online Sampling to attain a representative sample. Polling included 502 respondents from registered voters in the city of Milwaukee; post-stratification was performed on age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and 2020 presidential preference. The margin of error for the full sample is 4.6%.

(The Center Square) – Five state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission are suing John Deere alleging the company unfairly blocks farmers from using independent repair shops for their equipment, thus making those repairs more expensive and less efficient than they would be in an open market.
Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona and Wisconsin filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Illinois.
The John Deere equipment requires a software tool that only licensed repair shops have to diagnose electronic issues with the equipment.
“By making this tool available only to Deere dealers, Deere forces farmers to turn to Deere dealers for critical repairs rather than complete the repairs themselves or choose an IRP that may be cheaper, closer, faster, or more trusted,” the lawsuit says.
The attorneys general argue the limited repair access have driven up the cost of repairs for farmers for years while slowing down the repair process at critical times like harvest.
John Deere is the largest manufacturer of large tractors and combine harvesters in the world, the lawsuit says.
“This case is seeking to make the market for farming equipment repairs more competitive,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. “When Wisconsin farmers need to get their farming equipment repaired, they should be able to get the repairs at a fair price, without unnecessary delay.”
John Deere says the lawsuit ignores progress the company has made on equipment self repair and the launch of its Equipment Mobile in 2023.
“The complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and procompetitive product design,” the company said in a statement. “John Deere will vigorously defend itself against this baseless lawsuit.”
Farmers have pushed for right-to-repair legislation across the country, with Colorado being the first to pass the law, which was signed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2023 and went into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
That law requires manufacturers to provide parts, manuals for diagnostics, maintenance and repairs, embedded software, firmware, tools and other resources to independent repair providers and the owners of the agricultural equipment for the purpose of diagnosing, repairing or maintaining the machinery.

(The Center Square) – Americans favor recognizing only male and female sexes and deporting immigrants in the country illegally but oppose pardoning all Jan. 6 defendants and renaming the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll.
The poll asked 1,018 adults about President Donald Trump’s policies between Jan. 28 and Feb. 5.
The majority of Republicans favored all of Trump’s policies while a majority of Democrats oppose all of the eight policies individuals were asked about.
The poll showed that 63% approved of recognizing only the two sexes while 60% approved of deporting illegal immigrants and expanding oil and gas production.
It showed 59% approve of declaring an emergency of the southern border with Mexico.
Policies opposed by a majority of voters include deporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally without a criminal record (57% oppose), taking back the Panama Canal (65% oppose), pardoning all Jan. 6 defendants (65% oppose) and renaming the Gulf of Mexico (71% oppose).
The poll also asked about tariffs, with 49% of Republicans believing they will help the U.S. economy and 80% of Democrats believing it will hurt the U.S.
“The public is somewhat skeptical of tariffs, with 24% who say tariffs will help the U.S. economy and 46% who say tariffs will hurt the economy,” a Marquette Law School summary said. “There is substantial uncertainty on this question, with 13% saying tariffs won’t have much effect and another 17% who say they don’t know.”
Those polled were also asked about TikTok with 60% saying it should be required to be sold and 40% saying it should remain available. Those in younger age categories were more against the required sale with 56% of those ages 18 to 29 saying the app should remain available and 78% of those 60 and older saying a sale should be required.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation will be spending $100 million on 55 projects to improve local rural roads that are used to transport agriculture and forestry products.
The funding is the second round of the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program, created during the 2023-25 biennial budget. The projects stretch over 36 Wisconsin counties.
The budget included a total of $150 million for ARIP projects with $50 million awarded in Round 1.
The projects with fix or improve aging roads and culverts critical to moving products.
The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association applauded the $77.8 million in investments that will impact dairy processors and farmers.
“These impactful investments in Wisconsin’s rural road infrastructure are felt not only in dairy processing plants, but throughout the communities they serve,” said WCMA Senior Director of Programs & Policy Rebekah Sweeney. “Our entire food supply chain depends on – and benefits from – programs like ARIP.”
The Cheese Makers named Agropur, Bel Brands, Burnett Dairy, Chalet Cheese Cooperative, Decatur Dairy, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Gilman Cheese, Integrity Cheese Packaging, K&K Cheese, LaGrander’s Hillside Dairy, Mullins Cheese, Pasture Pride Cheese, Renard’s Cheese, Revela Foods, Springside Cheese and Two Guernsey Girls Creamery as companies that would benefit from the road funding.
The ARIP funding pays for up to 90% of awarded projects with the largest awards being $4.8 million for County Highway J in Juneau County, $4.4 million for Town Hall Road located in Grover in Marinette County and $4 million for repairs to Gibson Drive in Little Black in Taylor County.
There were applications for 220 projects submitted for the grants with 74 repeat applications that did not receive Round 1 funding.
“The number of applications received clearly demonstrates the need for this program,” said WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. “ARIP funding is specifically targeted toward fixing roads and culverts in our rural communities. WisDOT is proud to support these improvements so our agricultural industries can safely and efficiently get products from point A to point B.”

(The Center Square) – A new report says one of the reforms of the Scott Walker-era has slowed the growth of regulations in Wisconsin for the past six years.
The conservative Institute for Reforming Government recently released a report on The REINS Act.
“While the REINS Act may not have reduced the overall number of regulations that have gone into effect post-REINS, it has certainly played
a critical role in identifying extremely costly regulations that failed to
adequately factor in costs to industry, local units of government, or
ratepayers,” the report states.
Wisconsin’s REINS Act became law in 2017 and is modeled after the federal act that requires legislative approval for major rules introduced by the executive branch.
In Wisconsin that means lawmakers have to sign off on any proposal from the governor that would cost more than $10 million or have a $10 million economic impact on businesses in the state.
“Gone are the days of implied or perceived authority,” the report notes. “Additionally, for each proposed rule, the act required agencies to submit a “statement of scope” to the governor for review and prepare an economic-impact analysis relating to specific businesses, business sectors, public-utility ratepayers, local governmental units, and the state’s economy as a whole.”
The IRG reports says the REINS Act slowed, but did not stop, Wisconsin’s regulatory growth.
“The average number of permanent rules approved during the Walker Administration were significantly lower than the previous Doyle Administration. In the first year of the Walker Administration, the number of permanent rules was reduced by almost 100,” the report’s authors wrote. “Outside of 2019, the permanent rules approved during the Evers Administration have at times been equal to or even below the Walker Administration average.”
The report also includes original 2017 testimonies from a pair of Republican lawmakers and four conservative or business groups. It also includes just one bit of testimony, from the Sierra Club, that criticizes the REINS Act.
“The bill, which has a federal counterpart, has therefore been predictedby many to grind the regulatory process to a halt,” the Sierra Club said at the time. “Ultimately, this will result in far fewer regulations, many of which may be sorely missed.”
IRG’s Jake Curtis said the overall success of Wisconsin’s regulation slow down, and the REINS Act itself, is something that other states should notice, and perhaps copy.
“Wisconsin’s REINS Act demonstrates the state’s commitment to administrative rulemaking reform, establishing us as a national leader,” Curtis said. “The federal government and other states should look to Wisconsin when considering their own reforms to the administrative state.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers called the Trump Administration’s attempts to cut funding for indirect costs for grants through the National Institutes of Health reckless and said it would be “devastating” to the University of Wisconsin System’s health research.
Wisconsin was part of 22 states that sued to block the funding cut and received a temporary block of that order Monday. A Feb. 21 hearing has been set in the case.
Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington join Wisconsin in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
“To think that the Trump Administration wants to gut funding to help find cures and treatments for things like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes – it’s unconscionable,” Evers said. “The University of Wisconsin System is a national and global leader in helping solve real problems for people here in Wisconsin and the world over, and ensuring UW System’s success is a critical part of ensuring Wisconsin’s future economic success.”
The debate surrounds an area of grant funding called indirect costs, which go toward items categorized as facilities and administration. The new policy would put a cap of 15% of grants being spent on those indirect costs.
NIH spent $35 billion in fiscal year 2023 on 50,000 grants to 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 medical school or research institutions with $26 billion going to direct research costs and $9 billion to indirect costs.
The average indirect cost rate has averaged between 27% and 28%. Johns Hopkins received 63.7% in indirect costs, NIH said. The University of Michigan receives 56% in indirect costs, it said.
“NIH is obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life,” the group said in its statement regarding the changes.
NIH compared its cap to those of private foundations funding research, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation allowing for a maximum indirect rate of 15%.
The costs support the university as a whole and are not related to specific grants, the lawsuit argued, and cutting those costs would “devastate critical public health research.”
The changes apply to grants that have already been awarded, which the lawsuit argues cannot be changed after they have been agreed upon.
“The effects of the Rate Change Notice will be immediate and devastating,” the lawsuit argues. “Medical schools, universities, research institutions, and other grant recipients across the country have already budgeted for (and incurred obligations based on) the specific indirect cost rates that had been negotiated and formalized with the federal government through the designated statutory and regulatory legal process. This agency action will result in layoffs, suspension of clinical trials, disruption of ongoing research programs, and laboratory closures.”
The University of Wisconsin said a change to a 15% cap would “significantly disrupt vital research activity and delay lifesaving discoveries and cures related to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and much more.”
It will also impact the ability of students from undergraduates to Ph.D. and medical students participating in research as the funding goes toward everything from utilities charges to building labs to infrastructure for new research, the university said.
“Drastic reduction to this funding will not only disrupt the day-to-day important work of the university but will ultimately harm the livelihoods of real people across Wisconsin and the country, harm the innovation economy and will make our nation less competitive,” the college said in a statement.