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The Government Accountability Board has released a PDF and a Video explaining the Voter Photo ID law. Please view these in order to familiarize yourself with this important information.
View the video below.
Site of the proposed Badgerwood CAFO
Please add your voice!
Here are the informational links:
Supporter:
Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law. The VRA was a cornerstone achievement of the civil rights movement and ensured that every American citizen, regardless of race, ethnicity or language, had equal access to the right to vote. But two years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key part of the VRA leading to a full frontal attack on the voting rights of American citizens.
Despite public outcry since the Supreme Court’s decision, Congress has ignored widespread voter discrimination and the will of the American people. Tell Congress it’s time to restore the Voting Rights Act!
We should be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and its protections, but what’s to celebrate when voters are instead more vulnerable to discrimination than at any time since the law was first passed in 1965. Congressional leadership has yet to act on restoring the law, putting the right to vote for all Americans in continuing danger.
Every day that Congress fails to repair the VRA, Americans are in danger of increased barriers at the polls. Raise your voice and tell your Representative that now is the time to restore the VRA!
Congress must fulfill its obligations under the Constitution to eradicate voting discrimination by restoring the strength and effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act. Fifty years after brave Americans gave their lives for the right to vote, we cannot allow their legacy and the protections they fought for to continue to unravel.
The right to vote is one of the most basic rights in our country and it must be protected. Tell Congress to stand with the American people and restore the VRA!
Yours in the Fight,
Elisabeth MacNamara
President, League of Women Voters
For legislator contacts and letters to the editor
Updated June 17, 2015
While LWV of Wisconsin has submitted a statement to all State Senators and Assembly Representatives, all league members are encouraged to contact their legislators about the state budget. There are many problems in this budget but we are focusing on a few areas we view as most important to our state positions. We can speak to these issues because of our comprehensive studies. These non-partisan policy positions speak to our quality of life and in support of programs which benefit all the citizens in our state.
1. Revenues
-Legislators should reject the mistaken impression that Wisconsin cannot afford the level of public services provided in the past and the top-notch institutions which have made our state great.
-The League of Women Voters is one of more than 30 citizen groups supporting the Better Choices alternate budget plan, which identifies three actions that would increase revenues by a total of $782 million, making many of the proposed cuts to programs and services unnecessary. The recommended actions are:
accept $345 million in federal Medicaid funds for BadgerCare expansion;
cap the ballooning tax credit for corporations in manufacturing and agriculture, saving $226 million;
cap property tax cuts for a second home, which would free up $211 million.
2. Maintain Strong Citizen Input and Government Oversight
-The executive budget initially proposed to reduce the state’s Natural Resources Board (composed of citizens from throughout the state) to an “advisory only” role giving all the rule-making power to the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, a gubernatorial appointee confirmed by the Senate. This proposal would remove the balance of citizen participation and put all the power in the hands of an appointee.
-Throughout the budget discussions there has been severe encroachment on the authority of locally elected school boards, which are accountable for education in their districts.
-Such measures are not fiscal matters at all. They are very significant policy matters that threaten to change the fundamental relationship between the people and our government. They deserve more public input than they will have when included in the budget.
3. Support an Educated Public
-The budget diverts money from public schools to private schools. Yet private schools do not have these requirements:
Accounting for the use of public funds
Comparable performance standards for their students
Same state standards for all school employees
-Funding cuts are proposed to important programs and services in the public education system.
Seriously inadequate funding.
No increase in property tax revenue limits.
Increased funding for private education at the expense of public education.
Large expansion of vouchers for private education.
Extending voucher availability to special needs students, who may not receive full services in voucher schools.
Allowing hiring teachers who lack a bachelor's degree.
Allowing home-school & private school students to participate in public school sports & extracurricular activities.
Giving authority to Milwaukee County Executive to take over selected schools, removing authority from the local school board, a provision that could be extended to other districts.
There are also major concerns for the University of Wisconsin, especially:
Drastic reduction in funding after significant reductions in prior years.
Removal of faculty tenure from Wisconsin state law.
4. Support a Healthy Population
-We are pleased that the Joint Finance Committee will not recommend the changes initially proposed for Senior Care, Wisconsin’s prescription drug program for low-income people. Senior Care, which has long had bipartisan support, is a program which serves the people of Wisconsin well.
-Family Care is a long-term care alternative that could be cut by $6 million in the second year. The oversight would move from the Department of Health Services to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance which reduces consumer and community input. The budget eliminates Aging & Disability Resource Center boards and councils. Is this what we want for our frail and elderly?
5. Support a Healthy Environment
-The Governor proposed freezing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, which would stop the acquisition of natural land and water areas used so widely for outdoor recreation and sports. The Joint Finance Committee restored half of the annual funding, but this does not do enough to protect hunting, boating and park areas for our citizens and it will impact our tourism industry.
-The budget proposes to cut 66 fulltime positions at the DNR, specifically targeting the Bureau of Scientific Services and Communication and Education. Citizens and administrators need information to make sound decisions based on facts to insure good natural resource management.
- There is a proposed more than $6 million in cuts to polluted runoff management efforts. These efforts have had a direct impact on water quality, and water quality affects every single citizen in this state.
6. Support Public Transportation
-While public transit is a small part of the transportation budget it is vital to the citizens who need it for jobs, child care, shopping and other daily business.
-Keep public transit an integral component of the Transportation Fund to grow the Wisconsin economy, prevent air pollution and traffic congestion.
7. Support a sustainable justice & corrections system
-While we continue to see severe underfunding of K-12 education and the UW System, the Corrections system has a budget increase based on a projected increase of prisoners.
-There has been neither an effort to improve treatment alternatives and diversion nor any move to address the imbalance of the over-long prison stay of “old law” offenders. These are actions which could actually save millions of dollars in Corrections spending.
Conclusion
We urge legislators not to allow institutions built over the past century and programs that have served Wisconsinites well for decades to be destroyed. We urge them to craft a state budget that serves all Wisconsin residents fairly with vital services, a healthy environment, high quality education, accountable government and wise use of revenue. That will reflect Wisconsin values, and it is what the people expect from our state.
LWVABC sent the letter reprinted below to Representative Beth Meyers, Senator Janet Bewley, the Joint Finance Committee, and MaryAnn Lippert, Director of the Northern Region Office of the Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Intergovernmental Relations.
This was MaryAnn's response:
“Hi Madelaine –
Thank you for your thoughtful letter on behalf of the Ashland Bayfield League of Women Voters. I appreciate you sharing your concerns regarding funding for the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, and have forwarded your email on to Governor Walker’s office.
Here in Wisconsin, the Governor’s proposed budget is now in the hands of the legislature, where it will be debated and changed. I’m encouraging all Wisconsin residents who contact me to also contact their legislators and members of the Joint Committee on Finance to voice their opinion.”
President Obama fulfilled his promise to veto legislation approving the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline! The League is proud to stand behind the President’s veto because the pipeline is not in our national interest. But the fight is not over—President Obama and the U.S. State Department must still make a final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Keystone XL pipeline will threaten the safety of our drinking water, promote a bad energy policy and increase the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that contribute to climate change. This pipeline is a venture that all risk, no reward. A full rejection of the pipeline by the President would strengthen his commitment to putting people before polluters
We are at a turning point in this fight and we need you to raise your voice yet again. The President vetoed Congress’ attempt to force through the pipeline, but he must still make his final decision on whether to proceed.
Tell President Obama to put people before polluters by fully rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline.
The President has all of the information he needs to make an informed decision to reject the KXL pipeline. Even the Environmental Protection Agency has indicated that the pipeline will be a significant contributor to climate change if it is built. Rejecting the pipeline once and for all will confirm the President’s commitment to protect public health and safeguard our environment.
The League stands in support of President Obama’s fight against climate change, including a full rejection of the Keystone XL legislation.
Sincerely,
Elisabeth MacNamara
President, League of Women Voters
Here is a summary of the petition organized by Mary Dougherty of Farms Not Factories:
To be delivered to Duane Popple, Wastewater Specialist
We are formally requesting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in order to afford the affected citizens of Bayfield County, as well as the general public, the ability to consider, participate in and comment on the anticipated impacts of the proposed Badgerwood LLC Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). Specifically, we request that DNR conduct an EIS that fully complies with the environmental analysis and review procedures contained in the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act, Wis. Admin. Code § NR 150 et seq.
Click here for more information, and to sign the petition.
Beth Meyers
We were told that yesterday's hearing lasted 10 hours. The hearing hall was packed as was a smaller overflow room.
Rep. Thiesfeldt, author of the bill and chair of the committee, noted he had not anticipated the magnitude of opposition to the bill.
According to Tom Beebe of Institute for Wisconsin's Future, the Capitol's phone system was shut down due to call volume.
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Elizabeth MacNamara, President of the League of Women Voters, sent a newsletter out this morning asking for your help in overturning Citizens United.
"Another election has come and gone and millions of Americans went to the polls to vote at the local, state and federal levels on the issues and candidates that mattered most to them. While they were working as citizens to make those important decisions, millions of dollars of secret money poured into the 2014 elections from dark money groups which hide the identity of their donors, seeking to buy our elected officials and distort our elections. And we won’t ever know who paid for all of the ads that bombarded voters throughout the election.
What’s more, Super PACs raised and spent more than $600 million dollars in 2014 to elect candidates who will do their bidding and defeat those who might resist. Super PACs and other outside groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts because they are supposedly “independent” from the candidates, but in reality, there are many ways to coordinate that are not blocked by the FEC’s weak regulations.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) can do something to stop the secret money and end the coordination between Super PACs and candidates, which would put a lid on much of the outside spending from special interests. Tell the FEC to stop the coordinated spending that is poisoning our elections!
The FEC is the federal agency in charge of our nation’s campaign finance laws, but so far they’ve done practically nothing to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s disappointing decision in Citizens United, which unleashed the secret and unlimited spending. The FEC has authority under existing law, even after Citizens United, to set disclosure rules and rigorously define “coordination,” but thus far they have refused to do so. The FEC is now receiving public comment about steps they should take “to address corruption in the political process.” As a League supporter, you know how important specific regulations can be. We need you to tell the FEC to act and enforce the law.
The American voter has a right to know who is funding political campaigns. And the American public has a right to have the law against unlimited coordinated expenditures strictly enforced. We must work to maintain the integrity of our Democracy by ensuring our elected official will be responsive to voters and not to the big money and the secret money from special interests. The stakes are too high, and the League will not stand by and let our political system be corrupted".
The League of Women Voters of Ashland and Bayfield Counties is a nonpartisan political organization whose main objective is to promote political responsibility through the informed and active participation of all citizens in government at all levels, especially locally. Making Democracy Work!
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