In this update:

• Redistricting Updates
• Administration Updates
• Legislative Updates
• Election Updates

Redistricting Updates

ICYMI: New legislative maps signed into law

Read the Michael Best update on Gov. Evers signing the maps: click here.

For a comprehensive analysis of Gov. Evers’ maps, make sure to check out the slide deck pictured above from Michael Best. Click here to view the slide deck.

Lawmakers deciding on next steps

Following Governor Tony Evers (D) signing his maps into law on Monday, lawmakers have been making plans on how to adjust to the new legislative maps. Listed below are the latest announcements from legislators.

• Dan Knodl (R) will not run for reelection this fall for the 8th SD after being paired with Sen. Duey Stroebel (R). He said he plans to run for a different seat. He’s going to help recruit candidates for open seats and is considering running for one in the Assembly or Senate. Sen. Stroebel does plan to run for the 8th SD, saying Sen. Knodl “very graciously decided to give me that opportunity.”
• Joan Ballweg (R) is preparing to potentially move to stay in the legislature. The map relocates Sen. Ballweg out of the 14th SD to the 13th SD to be paired with Sen. John Jagler (R). Sen. Ballweg said she’s looking for a definitive answer on exactly when she’d have to live in the district to take office. Currently, she is running for the 14th again this fall.
• Similarly, Rob Cowles (R) is running for the 2nd SD that he has represented since 1987. The new maps place him in the 30th SD along with Sen. Eric Wimberger (R) and Sen. Andre Jacque (R). He is also searching for answers on when he’d have to live in the redrawn 2nd SD. Sen. Andre Jacque is considering a bid for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District.
• Nate Gustafson (R) announced that he will be running for the 55th AD, potentially setting him up for a primary with Rep. Michael Schraa (R). Despite previously representing the 53rd AD, Rep. Schraa said the redrawn 55th AD includes more than half of his current district.
• Julian Bradley (R) said he would run for the open 28th SD after being paired with Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) in the 21st SD.
• Mike Bare (D) announced he would run for reelection in the 80th AD after being paired with Rep. Alex Joers (D), who previously represented the 79th AD. Rep. Joers said he would “spend the coming days with my family considering my options and how I will continue to best serve the people of Wisconsin.”

Evers asks SCOWIS to review congressional maps

Governor Tony Evers (D) has asked the state Supreme Court to take up the case challenging Wisconsin’s existing congressional district lines. He posted on X, “MONDAY: I signed fair maps for Wisconsin’s Legislature. NEXT UP: fair maps for our congressional districts. We want to end gerrymandering in Wisconsin at every level, so I’m asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review our congressional maps to make sure those are fair, too.” The state Department of Justice sent a letter to the Wisconsin Supreme Court stating Gov. Evers doesn’t believe the bill he signed for new legislative lines “has any impact on the future of the congressional maps at issue” in a separate case before the justices.

Washington D.C. based Elias Law firm filed a brief last month with three Democratic voters asking the state Supreme Court to redraw the congressional districts in Wisconsin before the 2024 elections, based off the court’s ruling in December over the state’s legislative lines. The petition argues some of the lines in place are from the court’s 2021 decision to take a “least change approach” to the maps that were drawn by Republicans a decade before. With that standard removed from the state legislative maps, the brief argues there is no justification to maintain the current congressional lines based on the same principle.

In response to the governor’s tweet, U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald posted on X “I’d like to remind Gov. Evers that he is asking the State Supreme Court to review the Congressional maps HE drew.” Meanwhile, Wisconsin GOP Spokesperson Matt Fisher said in a press release that “It comes as no surprise that Tony Evers would shamelessly pressure the Wisconsin Supreme Court to throw out his own maps. The same out-of-state donors funding the Elias Law firm lawsuit were also responsible for bankrolling Janet Protasiewicz’s campaign last year.”

Administration Updates

Evers signs two bills into law

Governor Tony Evers (D) signed two bills into law this week, one for the Wisconsin BioHealth Tech Hub and the other relating to direct admission for the UW System. Michael Best client GE HealthCare was one of the main organizations supporting the legislation authorizing a $7.5 million dollar state investment in Wisconsin’s new BioHealth Tech Hub initiative. The formation of the Tech Hub has been spearheaded by BioForward, GE HealthCare, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, among others. Additional details on the two bills are below.

• SB 894, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 96, provides necessary funding to leverage federal funding for the development of Wisconsin’s biohealth and technology sectors. The bill supports a regional tech hub designation in the state by providing $7.5 million to fulfill the ten percent local match requirement of the phase two application that is due February 29. SB 894 provides the grant to BioForward, which leads the 15-member Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium. If the consortium’s phase two application is selected for an award, it will qualify for up to $75 million in federal funding to help position Wisconsin as a global leader in personalized medicine.
• SB 367, now Wisconsin Act 95, requires the Board of Regents at the University of Wisconsin (UW) System to guarantee admission to certain Wisconsin high school students. According to the UW System, almost 90% of in-state UW System graduates stay in Wisconsin five years after graduation. “Our state faces immense workforce challenges, and bolstering our workforce to make sure it can meet the needs of the 21st Century means working to keep our state’s homegrown talent right here in Wisconsin. Our UW System is a critical partner in this work as a major economic driver and a critical resource for building our state’s next-generation workforce by helping train and retain the talented students we already have here in Wisconsin,” said Gov. Evers.

Sec. Amundson on ‘Newsmakers’

Department of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Emilie Amundson appeared on WisEye’s ‘Newsmakers’ to discuss solutions to what Gov. Tony Evers (D) called a “childcare collapse” in his State of the State speech. They went through the Childcare Counts Program and Republican proposed solutions.

Other topics discussed included:

• Job expectations and successes
• Decrease in providers, childcare deserts
• Child and dependent care tax credit proposal
• Child welfare sector changes
• Human trafficking bills
• Artificial Intelligence in DCF
• Community-based 4K
• Goals for DCF

To watch the full interview, click here.

Legislative Updates

Floor Recap

The Assembly and Senate were on the floor this week. Here are some notable actions from the floor session:

• The Senate rejected along party lines the appointment of Todd Ambs to the Natural Resources Board. GOP lawmakers unanimously opposed the confirmation of Mr. Ambs, a former DNR deputy secretary who posted derogatory comments to X about the Republican Party in 2022. Evers already announced a new appointment to fill the vacancy on the board: Deb Dassow. Ms. Dassow taught social studies and world studies for almost 40 years at Port Washington High School.
• Senate Republicans also rejected the appointments of former Lt. Gov. Barb Lawton, former state Rep. Sondy Pope, and Candice Owley, a former president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals, to the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority and Board. None of the Republicans who voted in opposition to the appointment of Ms. Lawton explained their vote. Evers announced the replacement nominees are former state Rep. Deb Kolste, former state Rep. Donna Seidel, and Ryan Neibauer.
  • The Senate voted 19-13 to reject Ms. Lawton’s appointment. Republican Senators Joan Ballweg, Rob Cowles, and Mary Felzkowski voted in opposition to rejecting her appointment.
  • The Senate voted 22-10 along party lines to reject Ms. Owley’s nomination.
  • The Senate voted 20-12 to reject Ms. Pope. Sen. Cowles and Sen. John Jagler (R) joined Democrats in opposing the rejection.
• A proposed tax cut package passed in the Senate and will now move to Gov. Evers’ desk. Sen. Tim Carpenter (D) was the only Democrat in the Senate who voted in favor of the retirement tax break. The childcare portion of the package passed 29-3 with Democratic Senators Melissa Agard, Kelda Roys, and Chris Larson voting in opposition. The other two parts of the package, the married couple tax credit and the expansion of the second income tax bracket, passed 22-10. Below is an overview of each bill in the tax package.
  • AB 1020: an expansion of the second tax bracket to up to $150,000 for married couples filing jointly, $112,500 for single, and head-of-household and $75,000 for married-separate filers.
  • AB 1021: an exemption of the first $75,000 of retirement income from taxes for those 65 and older.
  • AB 1022: an expansion of the maximum married couple tax credit from $480 to $870.
  • AB 1023: an expansion of the child and dependent care tax credit to align with the federal credit and increase maximum credits to $10,000 per child or dependent and $20,000 for two or more children or dependents.
• The Assembly passed several bills that were included in the deal between Speaker Robin Vos (R) and the Universities of Wisconsin System. SB 895 passed 95-2 while SB 161 was passed via voice vote and SB 896 was passed unanimously. The bills now move forward to the governor’s desk.
  • SB 161: updates the Minnesota-Wisconsin tax reciprocity agreement to allow campuses to keep more of the tuition dollars that come into the state.
  • SB 896: the fiscal component of the Minnesota-Wisconsin tax reciprocity agreement.
  • SB 895: grants $423.3 million in state funds toward building projects on campuses, including UW-Madison’s new engineering building.

LeMahieu on ‘Upfront’

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) was on ‘Upfront’ last Sunday. He discussed the legislative maps and Democratic legislators’ distrust of Republican lawmakers. The interview was conducted before Governor Tony Evers (D) signed his maps, but when asked whether or not Sen. LeMahieu thought Gov. Evers would sign the maps, he said, “his word and promise are on the line.”

Other topics discussed included:

• Medical marijuana
• Monday ballot processing bill
• 2024 Presidential election
• Top priorities in the coming weeks

To watch the full interview, click here.

Election Updates

Hovde launches U.S. Senate campaign

Madison businessman Eric Hovde formally launched his U.S. Senate campaign against Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) today at a downtown Madison building his real estate company developed. Mr. Hovde went through a list of problems he sees under the Biden Administration, from illegal immigration to the rising national debt. He said the United States is in decline and the American dream is becoming increasingly out of reach for Americans. He also said he’s bothered by the way politics has been dividing Americans. Mr. Hovde said solving the country’s problems requires compromise and he vowed to reach across the aisle. The campaign also released a website with a video of Mr. Hovde saying the country faces enormous challenges and everything is going in the wrong direction.

In response to the campaign announcement, Sen. Baldwin’s campaign called Mr. Hovde an “an out-of-touch megamillionaire” who would “rubber stamp” the agenda of U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R). Meanwhile, Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Arik Wolk said Mr. Hovde would “vote to pass a national abortion ban, raise taxes on working families and seniors while cutting Social Security and Medicare, and repeal the Affordable Care Act.”

This marks Mr. Hovde’s second run for the U.S. Senate. He previously ran in 2012 and lost to former Governor Tommy Thompson in the GOP primary. Meanwhile, Sen. Baldwin was last elected in 2018 when she defeated Republican candidate Leah Vukmir 55.4% to 44.6%, a margin of 10.8 percentage-points.

Mayor Johnson wins three-way primary

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson received more than 86% of the total vote in a three-way primary election for Milwaukee mayor. The unofficial results showed Mayor Johnson with 26,361 votes, David King with 2,977 votes, and Ieshuh Griffin with 1,083 votes. Mayor Johnson won the special election for Milwaukee mayor in 2022 after President Joe Biden appointed former Mayor Tom Barrett as ambassador to Luxembourg. This will be Mayor Johnson’s first full four-year term if he wins the general election against Republican-backed candidate David King on April 2, 2024.