Janet Protasiewicz: Angela Major / WPR, American Family Field: Michael Barera
Clockwise from top left: Janet Protasiewicz, American Family Field, Wisconsin district map, Universities of Wisconsin.
And what a year it was! Here is my list of the Top 10 state government stories of 2023.
1. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz not only won a 10-year term on the state Supreme Court, but she won by a landslide in the most expensive ($51 million by candidates and outside groups) judicial race in the nation’s history. Her win gave liberals their first majority on the seven-member court in 12 years.
2. In December, that new Supreme Court majority ruled Assembly and Senate boundaries Republicans drew in 2021 were unconstitutional. The court gave all sides a January deadline to submit new district lines for November elections and named two experts to advise the justices on next steps. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the ruling would be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
3. The American Family Field remodeling, updating package will cost state and local taxpayers, fans and the baseball team $706 million but keep the Brewers in Milwaukee until 2050. The stadium will be upgraded for year-round concerts and other events, although those fans will have to pay a ticket surcharge.
4. A Dane County judge ruled that an 1848 law does not ban abortions but prohibits feticides, the deliberate killing of a fetus. The challenge to the 1848 law was filed by Attorney General Josh Kaul at the request of Gov. Tony Evers. It was the first state ruling since the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the right to set their own abortion guidelines.
Sheboygan District Attorney Joel Urmanski has appealed the judge’s ruling, teeing up the case for a Supreme Court decision.
5. State government finally fixed local government financing by dedicating 20% of the 5% statewide sales tax to shared-revenue payments to locals. The deal also helped fix underfunded Milwaukee city and county pensions systems by allowing them to levy a local-option sales tax and placing all new hires in the state pension system.
6. Republican legislators forced the Universities of Wisconsin to begin dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs by withholding 6% pay raises for all System employees and $32 million in aid Republicans say those programs cost.
Although UW Regents claimed the System was being micromanaged by GOP politicos, they agreed to a deal that approved $740 million for new buildings and pay raises.
7. Evers twice vetoed $2-billion income tax cuts passed by Republican legislators, saying those cuts favored the wealthiest taxpayers and legislators refused his pleas to continue child-care subsidies in the face of looming crisis when federal COVID aid expires.
8. The UW System ended the year in disarray that won’t be fixed by rebranding it as the “Universities of Wisconsin.” Two-year campuses closed, there were widespread layoffs on four-year campuses, System President Jay Rothman sent an email questioning liberal arts programs, and he may have offered to resign over the DEI controversy. The year came to an especially ugly end when Regents fired UW LaCrosse Chancellor Joe Gow for making pornographic videos with his wife.
9. The state Senate voted specifically to fire state Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe, although a Dane County judge allowed her to keep her job.
Some Assembly Republicans and third-party groups tried to force the Assembly to begin the process of impeaching Wolfe, but Assembly Speaker Robin Vos didn't start that process with only months until November elections for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and legislative seats.
10. Republican Party leaders who signed documents saying President Trump won Wisconsin in 2020 and was entitled to the state's Electoral College votes stipulated that President Biden won and they will not contest the results of the 2024 election.
The "fake Trump electors" included former Party Chairman Andrew Hitt, former RNC Committeewoman Mary Buestrin and Elections Commissioner Robert Spindell. The stipulation allowed them to avoid paying monetary damages or admitting illegal activity.
Runners-up
* Former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl — a Milwaukee native and business executive whose career redefined Wisconsin politics, charitable giving and professional sports for four decades — died at age 88. Kohl led the Democratic Party's comeback in the mid-1970s, bought the Milwaukee Bucks to keep the team in Wisconsin in 1985 for $18 million and sold the team in 2014 for $550 million, and kept a low profile but championed Wisconsin issues as a U.S. senator from 1989 until his 2013 retirement. (Madison Democrat Ed Garvey, who lost a U.S. Senate primary to Kohl, called Kohl’s $100-million donation to build the UW-Madison's Kohl Center the "world's biggest yard sign.")
*State Senate Republicans end the traditional practice of letting governors pick who they want on state board and commissions by refusing to appoint — essentially firing — Evers appointees. Evers instantly made new appointments, allowing boards and commissions to function.
*The Biden Administration designated Wisconsin one of 31 national Biohealth Tech Hubs, opening the door to major new investments and the state emerging as a global leader in personalized medicine.
*Microsoft paid $50 million for 315 acres of Mount Pleasant land owned by Foxconn, ending the 2018 promise by then-President Trump, ex-Gov. Walker and ex-U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan that Foxconn's high-tech investment in Racine County would be "the eighth wonder of the world." Microsoft says two data centers will be built.
Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com.
