Search Results for: BID

The Cannabis Question: Marijuana advocates in Wisconsin face legalization hurdles

Public support for cannabis is growing, but GOP lawmakers mostly oppose the plan by Governor Tony Evers to legalize medical cannabis and possession of small amounts. Gary Storck has been here before. For decades, Storck, a longtime medical marijuana advocate from Madison, has been pushing the state Legislature to legalize his medicine. Storck suffers from glaucoma. He uses cannabis to slow progression of the disease, which is gradually robbing him of his sight. The first big moment was in 2002, when statewide polling found that 80.3 percent of Wisconsinites supported medical marijuana. Storck was ecstatic. When he first heard...

Read More

Equal Pay Day: How far into 2019 women must work to match men from 2018

April 2 was National Equal Pay Day, which marked how long women have to work into this year to catch up to what men earned in the previous year, on average. Women of color must work even longer into this year to bring their 2018-19 earnings up to the same level as men’s earnings from last year. Race and gender-based pay disparities devalue women, especially women of color, and rob them of opportunities to achieve financial security and establish wealth. Workers should not pay a penalty for being female or of color. But in Wisconsin, women – and especially...

Read More

Shared Wealth: Investment strategies needed for a path to mutual prosperity

Everyone in Wisconsin deserves the opportunity to fully benefit from the state’s economic growth. Our economy, our communities, our schools, and our families will fare better when every person in the state has full access to opportunity. A new budget framework from the Wisconsin Budget Project shows how effective investments in the state’s families, schools, and communities, can promote full opportunity and move Wisconsin along the path to shared prosperity. For our state to be competitive and prosperous, we also need to remove the structural barriers to opportunity for people of color. To fund the investments that expand opportunity...

Read More

Pardeep Kaleka: Our habituation to mass murder and violence is a bitter soup of inaction

I woke that Friday morning, March 15, to a barrage of notifications on my mobile phone. Another mass murder was committed in a place of prayer by a self-proclaimed White Nationalist who live-streamed his attack on Facebook. The social media feed described multiple dead and injured in a New Zealand Mosque. My concern centered on the families directly impacted, and before I could even truly reflect, my phone was ringing and dinging from various media outlets. CNN, Newsweek, and a local TV station wanted an interview. I immediately recorded a video response with my wife to express our condolences,...

Read More

An Economic Tug-of-War: How Wisconsin can win its treasury battles without fighting other states

Economic skirmishes among the states are taking a heavy toll on state and local treasuries. Halting the interstate war over jobs can and should be a cause that attracts conservatives as well as liberals. Inspired by the withdrawal of Amazon.com’s plans for a 2nd headquarters in New York City, and by the potential debacle of Foxconn’s broken promises in Wisconsin, Good Jobs First is proposing a way to end the economic war among the states. What is this war? It is a battle where states and local governments bid against each other for economic development projects in a way...

Read More

Congresswoman Gwen Moore scolds ICE over its fear tactics in letter defending Sheriff Earnell Lucas

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has arrested 83 people across Wisconsin since September 2018. According to the limited data provided by ICE, at least 39 of the individuals arrested in the state had no documented criminal history. President Trump has claimed that ICE has only been deporting dangerous gang members, drug dealers, and human traffickers. But according to its own records, ICE is deporting members of Wisconsin communities with minor offenses or no criminal history. The Federal agency has failed to properly notify local law enforcement of ICE operations prior to conducting raids. It has also routinely ignored...

Read More