News of the Day

With Gov. Tony Evers seated in the chamber, Wisconsin Republican Senators on Tuesday voted against Brad Pfaff in his confirmation hearing to officially become the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. In a vote of 14 to 19, the Senate denied the DATCP secretary-designee after two hours of debate on the floor.

Throughout the hearing, Democrats blasted GOP colleagues saying Pfaff is among the state’s most qualified people to lead the agriculture department and that his only fault was disagreeing with Republican leadership last summer when he spoke up over funding mental health programs that were already approved in the state budget.

“Ag is in his DNA. The agricultural industry shaped his life and shaped his values,” said Sen. Jennifer Schilling. “Brad Pfaff is undeniably qualified for this job.”

Sen. Dave Hansen agreed, saying Pfaff spent his whole adult life helping farmers succeed.

“I think the people in that committee that day tells it all. They know he’s a smart and dedicated public servant for our rural community,” Hansen said. “Our industry is in crisis but it started a long time before Secretary-designee Pfaff took office. There is no evidence that he is disqualified from serving. This is all about our senators trying to score political points.”

But Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald fired back, saying there has been a number of missteps during Pfaff’s tenure at DATCP to cause some lawmakers to reconsider their support.

“I can continue to make the case that that this person deserves it or this person does not. But there’s a whole slew of things, such as the ATCP 51 policy that people can bring forth as a reason to deny this confirmation,” Fitzgerald said. “You have to be comfortable when confirming appointees… and there are a number of senators who do not feel comfortable.”

Tuesday’s vote means Pfaff is now dismissed from his duties at DATCP headquarters in Madison. Gov. Evers will now need to nominate a new person to lead the department.

President Trump on Monday began the yearlong process of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move in a statement.

“President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the Agreement,” Pompeo said. “The United States has reduced all types of emissions, even as we grow our economy and ensure our citizens’ access to affordable energy.”

The landmark 2015 agreement signed by former President Obama requires the U.S. to reduce emissions about 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The agreement allowed the U.S. to begin the process to withdraw on Monday and finalize the U.S. exit from the agreement on November 4, 2020.

On Friday, state and local officials and stakeholders, announced the launch of open enrollment for the health insurance market. Open enrollment runs from November 1 to December 15 for individuals purchasing health insurance on the individual market.

Wisconsin residents should visit GetCovered.WI.gov to learn about their health insurance options or they can receive free help signing up for health insurance by calling or texting 2-1-1 to get connected with a local enrollment expert.

“There are more insurance options today than in the last few years,” said Insurance Commissioner Afable. “We’re encouraging everyone who has  considered the marketplace in the past to take another look. You might find a better plan to fit your needs with different coverage options or even lower  rates.”

There are also more than 200,000 Wisconsin residents currently insured by high-quality plans through HealthCare.gov. Open enrollment is the opportunity for them to shop around to make sure they are getting the best coverage to meet their needs.

Wisconsin insurance rates for 2020 are 3.2 percent lower on a weighted average than 2019 rates and there are also more options for insurance plans on the individual market than in previous years.

Seventy-seven percent of Wisconsin small business owners are supportive of a retirement savings program that would help employees save for retirement at their jobs, according to a new poll released by AARP today. Nearly half of small business owners expressed concern about their employees having enough money saved for retirement.

“Wisconsinites are working as hard as ever, but many do not have a way to save for retirement out of their regular paycheck,” said Lisa Lamkins, Advocacy Director at AARP Wisconsin. “The results of this survey show that small business owners agree legislators should support a Wisconsin retirement savings option to help make businesses in the Badger state more competitive and to give more Wisconsin residents an easy way to save for their retirement.”
Among the survey’s other key findings:

• 70 percent of small business owners think that more should be done to encourage Wisconsin residents to save for retirement.

• 80 percent agree that retirement savings options help small businesses attract employees and stay competitive.

• 85 percent of respondents agree Wisconsin lawmakers should support a Wisconsin retirement savings option.

For more findings from the AARP poll, visit www.aarp.org/WIsmallbizsavings.

With the 2020 U.S. census only a few months away, government officials are rallying together to encourage Wisconsinites to fill out the proper paperwork. The deadline to respond to the U.S. Census Bureau’s survey is April 1.

Gov. Tony Evers joined Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Rep. David Crowley, D-Milwaukee, and U.S. Census Bureau regional director Marilyn Sanders on Monday at Journey House in Milwaukee to begin working on counting as many Milwaukee households as possible.

“At the end of the day the census is not just a head count,” Evers said. “It’s about visibility, voice and values.”

According to Evers, in 2010, Wisconsin had one of the highest census participation rates in the country. During Monday’s press conference, Evers signed an executive order creating Wisconsin’s Complete Count Committee to help make sure every Wisconsin resident is counted next year.

The Wisconsin Complete Count Committee will work to educate residents on the importance of the census and help reach hard-to-count communities such as low-income residents, people with disabilities, communities of color, communities with children under age 5, as well as reaching out to the department of corrections and parole officers.

The committee will also recommend and coordinate specific roles for state agencies to ensure an accurate and complete count in the 2020 census. The committee with also coordinate efforts and resources through the U.S. Census Bureau and other local complete count committees.

An accurate count of residents ensures continued federal support and fair elections in the future. Census data also impacts how much federal funding states get for education, Medicare, food stamps and transportation.

Property-tax rates have decreased in Wisconsin for a fifth straight year in 2019 following strong growth in property values coupled with modest increases in local property-tax levies.

These findings come from the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s new 2019 Property Values and Taxes Data Tool. This system provides data for all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties and 1,852 cities, villages and towns, most of it culled from the state Department of Revenue. It’s the latest in a series of databases from the Forum meant to provide Wisconsinites with facts about their state’s economy, schools and local governments.

The state saw its equalized property values grow by 5.7% in 2019. Meanwhile, gross property-tax levies for the 2019 tax year increased by 1.7% statewide. Because the growth in values exceeded the growth in levies, the statewide gross property-tax rate declined by 2.7% from $20.94 per $1,000 of value to $20.38.

In the seven counties in southeast Wisconsin — Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Waukesha and Washington — the region’s equalized property values increased by 5.6%, the largest annual increase in the past decade. Property-tax-levy collections increased by 0.9% for southeast Wisconsin, which was similar to the rate of growth seen in each of the past two years. As a result, the region’s tax rate declined for the fifth straight year, by 3.6%, reaching its lowest level since 2010.

Property values in Dane County increased by 7.6% in 2019, while the aggregate property-tax levy in the county increased by 2.7%. As a result, the aggregate property-tax rate there decreased by 3.9%.

Wisconsin Republicans are pursuing changes in state law to ban labeling food as meat, milk or dairy if they don’t contain those products.

A state Senate committee held a hearing Thursday on the proposals that bill sponsors argue is needed to protect Wisconsin’s agriculture and dairy industries from what they argue is misleading food labeling. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has pursued similar legislation at the federal level.

One bill would ban labeling a beverage as milk unless it comes from cows, goats and certain other animals. Another would prohibit selling a product as cream, yogurt or cheese unless it included dairy.

Those would only take effect if 10 other Midwest states approve similar bans by 2031.

A third would ban labeling or selling a product as meat, bacon or similar term unless it included the flesh of an animal. Eleven other states already have such a ban.

Governor Tony Evers announced 20 appointments to serve on the Task Force
on Retirement Security. The task force was created through Executive Order #45 and is tasked with addressing the growing crisis of retirement security in the state of Wisconsin. State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski will serve as the chair of the task force.

“After years of hard work, Wisconsinites deserve the opportunity to have financial security when it comes time to retire,” Treasurer Godlewski said. “Our work will be informed by the stories I’ve heard traveling around the state on the barriers people face when saving for retirement. I look forward to leading this task force in developing pragmatic solutions that will not only help hardworking Wisconsinites, but also our economy.”

Members of the Governor’s Task Force on Retirement Security will include:

• Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Chair

• Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm

• Department of Workforce Development Designee Pam McGillivray

• Office of the Governor, Kara Pennoyer, Deputy Chief of Staff

• State Senators Janis Ringhand & Kathy Bernier

• State Representative Evan Goyke & Cindi Duchow

• Michael Williamson, State of Wisconsin Investment Board

• Sara Chandler, State of Wisconsin Investment Board

• Michael Lauer, Service Employees International Union

• J. Michael Collins, UW-Madison Center for Financial Security

• Jennifer Wickman, Cooperative Network

• Lisa Lamkins, AARP Wisconsin

• Ron “Duff” Martin, Wisconsin Education Association Council

• Maiyoua Thao, City of Appleton Alderperson

• Guadalupe “Wally” Rendon, Educators Credit Union

• Brenda Gebhardt, Gebhardt Financial

• Dr. Eve Hall, Milwaukee Urban League

• Jim Blank, United Northeast Educations

The first meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on Retirement Security is scheduled for October 25.