Thursday, March 14, 2013
Now an at-home mom, Nicholson has an impressive resume of political and volunteer work including serving a Cabinet secretary and a state governor in key communications roles.
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Thursday, March 14
Gov. Scott Walker announced Thursday the appointment of Jessie Nicholson of Wauwatosa to the Women's Council Board. “I look forward to having Jessie serve on the Women’s Council Board,” Walker said. “Jessie’s diverse experiences will provide a great perspective for the board.” Nicholson lives in Wauwatosa with her family. A stay-at home mom, Nicholson is an active parent volunteer in the PTSA, as well as other community organizations. Her previous professional roles include speechwriter for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC); acting/assistant director of communications for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (St. Paul, MN); various roles at the Minnesota House of Representatives (St. Paul, MN); and marketing …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had asked appeals court to stay a rule by a Dane County judge that said parts of the collective-bargaining law are unconstitutional.
A Wisconsin appeals court Tuesday refused to put a hold on a judge's decision repealing major parts of Act 10, the law that ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in September had asked the 4th District Court of Appeals to stay the ruling by Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas that portions of the law were unconsitutional. Van Hollen wanted to stay the decision while the case was being appealed. Colas refused in October to do so, and the state appeals court on Tuesday upheld that decision, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The appeals court said it saw "no basis to set aside the circuit court's decision that a stay was not warranted," the State Journal reported. Today’s ruling likely …
Monday, March 4, 2013
The days of claiming the alternative minimum tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit and the working family tax credit may be over as State Assembly Republicans look at possibly cutting them.
If you were among the 790 families that claimed the working family tax credit or the 418 who claimed the historic rehabilitation tax credit, the 2012 tax year may be your last to do so. State Assembly Republicans are talking about nixing 50 tax credit programs -- including the alternative minimum tax, working family tax credit and historic rehabilitation tax credit -- that don't get used much by Wisconsin income taxpayers. The manufacturer's tax credit would remain untouched. If a proposal passes into law, the legislation would ultimately lower the tax rate, according to a story by the Journal Sentinel. Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) told the Journal Sentinel that he's trying to simplify the tax code because it is "horrendous" and …
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Report released Sunday by Obama administration details more than a dozen areas in which federal aid would be cut — primarily in education and health care.
Wisconsin would see more than $27 million in federal funds cut from a myriad of programs if Congress fails to act this week to avoid the sequester, the Obama administration said Sunday. In a move designed to pressure Republicans into accepting new revenues as part of a deal to prevent the sequester from taking effect on Friday, the White House released reports that outlined how those cuts would impact individual states, The Huffington Post reported. In Wisconsin, most of the $27.4 million in looming cuts would affect education programs, the report said. For example, the state would lose $8.5 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 120 teacher and teacher aide jobs at risk. Wisconsin also would lose about $10.…
From the benefits of minimum wage to the destruction of the American family, Patch bloggers weighed in on a variety of topics this week. Here is a look at some of the most popular posts over the past week.
The most popular blog posts in Wisconsin Patch sites this past week ran the gamut — from pro- and anti-Scott Walker pieces to children on leashes to destruction of American families. Every day, Patch's Local Voices bloggers share information, insight and opinion about what matters to them. Here's a selection of blogs from throughout the past week. Although this post only had two sentences, it was enough to garner more than 120 comments. In, "Why Do We Have a Minimum Wage?" readers debated the importance of unions and the minimum wage system. Mount Pleasant blogger, Bottom Line, needed to only ask one question to get this conversation flowing: Why do we have a minimum wage and how does it affect society? Greendale blogger J.B. Schmidt …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Gov. Scott Walker spoke to the Oak Creek-Franklin business community about his plans for economic development and more.
Gov. Scott Walker took his message to the Oak Creek-Franklin area Wednesday night, laying out his priorities to about 220 members of the South Suburban Chamber of Commerce. The governor keyed on economic development during his 30-minute speech at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 6401 S. 13th St., where he also delivered high praise for the Oak Creek-Franklin area. "Oak Creek and Franklin are where it's happening—not just in Milwaukee County, but all across the state," he said to loud applause. Walker laid out the same priorities he did in his State of the State address: creating jobs, workforce development, education, government reform and infrastructure. The governor said they match those of the business community. "We are committed to working …
Sunday, January 20, 2013
The governor has overseen job growth, but has only netted about 15 percent of his stated goal for his first term.
Gov. Scott Walker is at the halfway mark of his first term, a term earned in part on a pointed campaign promise to create 250,000 new jobs by 2015. During his State of the State address Tuesday, Walker urged lawmakers to pass a law to spur mining in northwest Wisconsin and outlined a number of other proposals to move the jobs needle. According to Politifact, Wisconsin has netted just over 37,000 new jobs since Walker took office. It’s an increase, but still more than 212,000 away from his stated goal. Will Walker’s administration succeed in its lofty goal, or is he short on time and facing too many obstacles? Vote in our poll and discuss further in the comments.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Act 10, which essentially stripped public unions of their ability to bargain, was ruled constitutional on Friday in a federal appeals court.
The controversial state law that curtails collective bargaining for most public employees was upheld by a federal appeals court Friday. In ruling that Act 10 is constitutional, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said the state had a rational reason for rolling back collective bargaining rights, and rejected arguments from public employees unions that they violated First Amendment rights, WisPolitics.com reported. The court overturned a decision by a federal judge last year that struck down parts of the law dealing with prohibitions on government employers withholding union dues from workers' payrolls and a section requiring labor unions to vote to re-certify yearly, the Journal Sentinel reported. A separate case challenging the law remains …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
State Democrats are using the techniques learned during President Barack Obama's successful run for a second term in hopes of retaking Madison in 2014.
Touting it as a calculated risk they think will pay off big in 2014, state Democrats are putting "boots on the ground" now to start reaching out to voters in an effort to take back the Capitol building. In a conference call with reporters Thursday, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Mike Tate, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) and State Minority Leader Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) unveiled plans of attack to swing the 2014 gubernatorial and state representative races back to blue. In a nutshell, Dems are looking at establishing a dynamic ground game in all 72 counties because party leaders recognize that they'll need a strong presence outside the major Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Dane Counties. "We know this is a …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Republican governor doubles down on goal to create 250,000 jobs by 2015 in his State of the State address, but Democrats remain skeptical.
Vowing to "put more money in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers," Gov. Scott Walker Tuesday night promised to push for middle-class tax cuts and double downed on his pledge to create 250,000 jobs by 2015. Addressing the state Legislature in his annual State of the State message, Walker acknowledged that Wisconsin is still a long way off meeting the jobs goal that he campaigned on in 2010. He noted that others have pointed out "plenty of reasons" why job creation in the state has been difficult, including the slow recovery at the national level and well as ongoing concerns about the impact of the Affordable Care Act. "But in Wisconsin, we don't make excuses... We get results," the governor said. To move in that direction, Walker urged …
The Truth
10:44 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
If the patch really wanted to do some investigative journalism, they would have reported to their readers that her husband Kevin had authored and co-authored two papers respectively for the Maciver Institute. The one he authored is called, "The Wisconsin Retirement System-Why we need other options. The Patch may also have mentioned that Kevin has been very active in past presedential elections. more ›