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Women's Rights

• Dec 2, 2005 AG wants Doyle to approve morning-after pill lawsuit Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked the governor on Thursday for permission to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for delaying a decision on whether to make the morning-after pill available without a prescription. Lautenschlager said the FDA's delays in approving the pills for...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Doyle 'troubled' by FDA delay Gov. Jim Doyle promises quick action on a request by Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager for permission to sue the Food and Drug Administration for delaying approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B, the so-called "morning-after pill." Doyle has already directed the Department of Health and...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 AG asks for lawsuit over Plan B Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager launched plans to investigate whether any malfeasance has played into the Food and Drug Administration’s delayed approval of the emergency-contraceptive pill Plan B for over-the-counter purchase. In a letter, Lautenschlager asked Gov. Jim Doyle for the...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Suit sought on pills State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager today asked Gov. Jim Doyle to give her authority to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for delaying approval of over-the-counter sales for emergency contraception. Lautenschlager said the agency has played political games with the drug and hasn't...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Wis. seeks to sue FDA over birth control pill Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked for Gov. Jim Doyle’s consent Thursday to bring suit against the Food and Drug Administration for what she claims is an unnecessary delay in approving a contraceptive pill, Plan B, as an over-the-counter drug. If Lautenschlager attains Doyle’s...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Lautenschlager wants to sue over FDA delay State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager sought the power Thursday to sue the federal Food and Drug Administration over delays in approving over-the-counter sale of the morning-after pill. Lautenschlager said that, by denying women quicker access to Plan B emergency contraceptive pills, the...    more   
• Dec 1, 2005 AG Wants To Sue FDA Over Morning-After Pill Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is asking Gov. Jim Doyle for permission to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for delaying a decision on whether to make the morning-after pill available without a prescription. According to a Lautenschlager spokeswoman, the attorney general...    more   
• Dec 1, 2005 A-G wants Doyle to let her sue F-D-A over morning-after pill Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager (LOWT'-en-shlah-ger) is asking the governor for permission to sue the U-S Food and Drug Administration for delaying a decision on whether to make the morning-after pill available without a prescription. According to a spokeswoman for Lautenschlager, the A-G...    more   
• Dec 1, 2005 AG asks to sue feds over Plan B pill delay In a move that could put Wisconsin at the forefront of a national debate, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is asking Gov. Jim Doyle's permission to sue the federal Food and Drug Administration for delaying approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B, the so-called "morning-after pill." In a...    more   
• Nov 12, 2005 Kohl says Alito called Roe decision 'embedded' in society Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito told Sen. Herb Kohl that he acknowledged the importance of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established abortion rights, Kohl said after their meeting Thursday. "He recognizes that it's embedded in our society, and he understood that it would be a...    more   
• Nov 9, 2005 Abortion info bill heads to governor Despite strong objections by the two members of the state Assembly who are doctors, the Assembly voted 61-34 Tuesday to approve a bill that would require a physician to provide additional information to a woman who is seeking an abortion. The Senate has already approved the bill, which will now...    more   
• Oct 22, 2005 Tammy Baldwin: Help break vicious cycle of violence All Americans should feel safe in their homes, their neighborhoods and their workplaces. Yet domestic violence and sexual assault remain serious problems across the country, and every year thousands of Americans become victims of violence in their own homes. More than half of all victims of...    more   
• Oct 21, 2005 Kohl: Miers mum on abortion Sen. Herb Kohl said Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers downplayed a 1989 questionnaire in which she backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion in most cases. "She made the point that it was at a different time for a different purpose," Kohl, D-Wis., said after meeting with...    more   
• Oct 21, 2005 Kohl hears plea to look at Miers' present, instead of past Senate Democrat Herb Kohl said Thursday he was told by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers not to "read too much" into the support for an abortion ban she expressed in a 1989 candidate questionnaire in Texas. Kohl, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke to reporters after a private...    more   
• Oct 21, 2005 Kohl: Miers downplays abortion answer Sen. Herb Kohl said Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers downplayed a 1989 questionnaire in which she backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion in most cases. "She made the point that it was at a different time for a different purpose," Kohl, D-Wis., said after meeting with...    more   
• Oct 20, 2005 Kohl: Miers downplays abortion answer Sen. Herb Kohl said Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers downplayed a 1989 questionnaire in which she backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion in most cases. "She made the point that it was at a different time for a different purpose," Kohl, D-Wis., said after meeting with...    more   
• Oct 19, 2005 Doyle's veto good for our 'conscience' Last week, a bill landed on Governor Doyle's desk characteristic of the work our state legislature has engaged in as of late. AB 207, the so-called "Patient Abandonment Bill," would have allowed doctors and other health care workers to put their personal religious and political beliefs above the...    more   
• Oct 17, 2005 Doyle vetoes bill that would let doctors refuse to perform morally disputed procedures Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed Assembly Bill 207 Friday, rejecting legislation that would allow medical professionals to refuse to perform procedures conflicting with their personal beliefs. The governor said his veto safeguards "the best interests of patients," noting that the bill would not require...    more   
• Sep 16, 2005 Assembly bill debate heats up before Senate At a public hearing Wednesday, opponents of a bill to protect health care providers who refuse to perform certain reproductive-related procedures called the bill dangerous to patients while supporters called the bill necessary for doctors and pharmacists. Assembly Bill 207 passed the state...    more   
• Sep 15, 2005 Birth control bill progresses A bill Gov. Jim Doyle plans to veto if it reaches his desk still has many on UW campuses concerned.The bill, authored by Rep. Daniel LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, would prohibit advertising, prescribing or dispensing emergency contraception on UW campuses. The state Assembly passed it 49-41 on June 16,...    more   
• Sep 9, 2005 Women's Group Criticizes Birth Control Ban, Roberts Nomination The president of a national pro-choice group spoke at the state capitol Thursday to condemn the nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court. She also criticized attempts by Wisconsin lawmakers to limit access to birth control. Accusing Roberts of not respecting women's right to privacy,...    more   
• Aug 1, 2005 Abortion Foes Take Aim at Contraceptives Abortion rights activists have long accused abortion foes of waging a covert war against contraceptives. Often they were accused of being paranoid. Now at least one powerful anti-abortion lobby in the state is copping to the charge. "By outlawing contraception, you're closer to outlawing surgical...    more   
• Jul 20, 2005 Battle Over Nominee May Center on Abortion President Bush urged lawmakers Wednesday to give Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts "a timely hearing, a fair hearing" during a Senate confirmation battle that both sides expect to center on abortion. "We will push the process forward," Bush said, joined at the White House by Roberts on steps...    more   
• Jul 20, 2005 Bush Picks an Activist In 1999, when he was trying to appeal to the conservative base that would eventually deliver the Republican presidential nomination to him, candidate George W. Bush said the Supreme Court justices he most admired were Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. The clear intimation was that, given the...    more   
• Jul 2, 2005 O'Connor Exit Puts Abortion in Spotlight With the resignation of Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice and a familiar white-haired figure on the Supreme Court, lawmakers on Capitol Hill and Wisconsin activists alike began preparing for the turbulent road to her replacement. "She has made a significant impact on the country in...    more   
• Jun 24, 2005 'Conscience' Legislation is Bad Medicine for Wisconsin Some call it the "Conscience Clause." Critics dub it the "Patient Abandonment" bill. The latter label is more accurate. The state Assembly has passed a bill that would let pharmacists and other medical professionals refuse to supply medications or treatments on moral or religious grounds....    more   
• Jun 20, 2005 Wood's Emotional Speech Creates Capitol Buzz State Rep. Jeffrey Wood's first speech on the Assembly floor was a memorable one. The Republican from Chippewa Falls divulged that he might have been aborted had the practice been legal in 1969 and chastised party leaders for ignoring concerns about vague wording in a bill that would ban the...    more   
• Jun 19, 2005 Lawmaker's Dramatic Abortion Speech Takes Capitol by Surprise Rep. Jeffrey Wood’s first speech on the Assembly floor was a memorable one. The Republican from Chippewa Falls divulged that he might have been aborted had the practice been legal in 1969 and chastised party leaders for ignoring concerns about vague wording in a bill that would ban the University...    more   
• Jun 18, 2005 Advocates of Rape Victims Blast EC Ban Critics say the State Assembly's approval of a ban on emergency contraception at UW campuses will hurt victims of sexual assault. Advocates of rape victims say the vote shows Wisconsin is moving backwards when it comes to a woman's right to choose. Their argument is based on a recent legislative...    more   
• Jun 17, 2005 Assembly Passes Ban on Morning-After Pill at UW Schools After an emotional debate, the state Assembly voted late Thursday to make Wisconsin the first state in the country to move toward banning the so-called morning-after pill on state college campuses. The Republican-controlled Assembly passed, 49-41, a bill that would prohibit University of...    more   
• Jun 17, 2005 Pill Ban at UW Moves Ahead The state Assembly late Thursday narrowly passed a bill that would prohibit University of Wisconsin System health clinics from advertising, prescribing or dispensing the morning-after pill to students. The Assembly approved the measure with a 49-41 vote. One member didn't vote on the bill or...    more   
• Jun 17, 2005 Wisconsin May Ban Morning-After Pill The Wisconsin Assembly approved a ban on the so-called morning-after pill on state college campuses, a restriction that would be the first in the nation if approved. The vote in the lower chamber late Thursday sends the bill to the state Senate; both are controlled by Republicans. Democratic Gov....    more   
• Jun 17, 2005 Contraception Controversy The Wisconsin Assembly votes to ban the morning-after pill on state college campuses. That vote came late Thursday night. The bill prohibits University of Wisconsin System health centers from advertising, prescribing, or dispensing emergency contraception, like the morning-after pill. The bill...    more   
• Jun 17, 2005 Pill Ban Won’t Get Past Doyle After an emotional debate, the state Assembly voted Thursday to make Wisconsin the first state to move toward banning the so-called morning-after pill on state college campuses. The Assembly passed, 49-41, a bill that would prohibit University of Wisconsin System health centers from advertising,...    more   
• Jun 17, 2005 Log-Rolling Charges Dropped Gov. Doyle was not taking part in illegal bargaining to reach a deal on the state's minimum wage. Prosecutors have dismissed those allegations today. Madison Alder, Austin King accused Doyle and Republican lawmakers of illegally trading support for two unrelated measures, a felony known as...    more   
• Jun 16, 2005 Patients Lose to Politics The state Assembly once again put politics above patients' medical needs when members voted almost entirely along party lines Tuesday in favor of the so-called "conscience protection" bill, AB 207. The legislation would allow health professionals, without fear of repercussion, to refuse to...    more   
• Jun 15, 2005 Conscience Clause Bill Advances It may soon be easier for doctors to turn down medical procedures because of their religion. The State Assembly passed a bill that would let them do that, and not punish them for it. Health care workers can already refuse to do abortions and sterilizations, but this bill would cover six other...    more   
• Jun 13, 2005 Battle Over Birth Control It's a debate that's been raging on for forty years and it's about to ignite in Wisconsin again. Some Wisconsin pharmacists are refusing to fill their patient's birth control, saying they're morally opposed to it. The Wisconsin legislature will debate two different proposals this week....    more   
• Jun 9, 2005 Funding Shift Aimed at Planned Parenthood In a move hailed by abortion rights foes, Republican lawmakers early today approved a measure that would shift state and federal family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood and other groups that support abortion rights. On a 11-5 vote shortly after midnight, the Joint Finance Committee...    more   
• Jun 9, 2005 Conscience Clause Passes Assembly Committee Dr. Cody Nikolai just graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School. There was only one section that he didn't enjoy. "It was the one with the reproductive endocrinology. They dealt with human embryos after they were fertilized." The 32-year-old Cody says his seven kids are living...    more   
• Jun 8, 2005 Access to Birth Control Under Attack, Democrats Say Saying access to birth control is under attack, Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would allow the state to sanction any pharmacist who refuses to dispense legal forms of contraception. Democrats say the measure, which would define birth control as all forms approved by federal...    more   
• Jun 8, 2005 Access to Birth Control Under Attack, Democrats Say Saying access to birth control is under attack, Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would allow the state to sanction any pharmacist who refuses to dispense legal forms of contraception. Democrats say the measure, which would define birth control as all forms approved by federal...    more   
• Jun 7, 2005 Dems Unveiling Bill on the Pill Democratic lawmakers were expected to unveil a proposal today that would require pharmacists to fill prescription contraception orders regardless of their moral beliefs. The sponsors acknowledged their move was a direct challenge to pending "conscience clause" legislation that would allow...    more   
• Jun 7, 2005 Democrats Say Birth Control Rights Under Attack Severa Austin was in her 20s back in 1965, when the landmark Supreme Court ruling Griswold v. Connecticut made birth control legal and accessible for married couples. "I remember going to my gynecologist for the first time and getting a prescription and walking out and being stunned that this had...    more   
• May 27, 2005 Rights of Patient Come First No one said living in a free society would be easy. That's especially true these days, when medical, scientific and technological realities exist far beyond what could have been imagined by America's founders a couple of centuries ago. If one believes that a basic tenet of a free society is that...    more   
• May 27, 2005 Emergency Contraceptives Bill Brings Abortion Debate to the Capitol An ad in the UW student newspaper led to a debate over emergency contraception and abortion. Last spring University Health Services took out a series of ads in the campus newspaper. The number one tip told women to bring the morning after pill along with their sunscreen and bikini on vacation. I...    more   
• May 18, 2005 Bill Lets Pharmacists Nix Birth Control Pharmacists should not have to choose between their religion and their profession, Republican lawmakers argued Tuesday as they supported a bill to protect pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. But a stream of critics, from doctors to abortion rights advocates, told a Senate...    more   
• May 5, 2005 Federal Act Would Stop Wis. Minors from Receiving Unconsented Abortions The Wisconsin Right to Life Committee won a major victory last week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed an act that would make it a felony to knowingly transport minors residing in states with parental consent or notification laws across state lines to get abortions. The House passed...    more   
• May 4, 2005 Thousands Stand up Against UW Birth Control Ban Thousands of college students, faculty, and supporters on campuses statewide demonstrated their opposition to AB 343, the UW Birth Control Ban, today. They wore red scarves, handkerchiefs, and ribbons to show their support for access to birth control. AB 343, introduced by Representative Dan...    more   
• May 3, 2005 Advocates Defend Morning-After Pill Access to emergency contraception must be protected as a vital health care service to women, said legislators and other women's advocates on Monday in Milwaukee. "It's not abortion; it's about prevention," said U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat. Moore was among the speakers at a luncheon...    more   
• Apr 30, 2005 Hillary Clinton Calls for Ongoing Gender Effort Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's star power wowed an overflow crowd at Monona Terrace Friday night, as she applauded the strides women have made and called for more progress. In a 45-minute speech, the junior senator from New York and former first lady said, "The struggle for women's full...    more   
• Apr 18, 2005 Ensuring Gender Equity The appropriate apologies have been made, and the appropriate review has been promised. Now, it's up to the Doyle administration to make sure that all state employees are on board with the effort to ensure that qualified women receive the promotions they deserve in state government - and we have...    more   
• Apr 16, 2005 Pharmacist's Reprimand Saluted by PPAW Nearly 2 years ago, pharmacist Neil Noesen refused to fill and transfer a young woman's birth control prescription. Noesen can still appeal the limitations placed on his professional license. Planned Parenthood's public policy analyst Nichole Safar says this issue is not completely over, despite...    more   
• Apr 14, 2005 Board Approves Sanctions Against No-Contraceptives Pharmacist A state board approved sanctions Wednesday against a pharmacist who refused to fill a college student's prescription for birth control pills or transfer it to another pharmacy because he believed providing a contraceptive would be against his religion. The Pharmacy Examining Board said the...    more   
• Apr 9, 2005 DOT to Review Women's Pay The state Department of Transportation plans to review the pay and promotion of women in the aftermath of controversial comments a top official made last week about female employees. At a 2 ½ hour meeting Friday with two dozen women employees, administrator Kevin Chesnik said he would form a...    more   
• Apr 6, 2005 Opinion on Pill Reasonable Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager's opinion that any legislation that would ban the University of Wisconsin System from advocating the use of emergency contraception or providing it to students would be unconstitutional has, not surprisingly, touched off a controversy in the Capitol. But that...    more   
• Apr 6, 2005 Proposed Ban on Emergency Contraception Likely Unconstitutional A proposal to prohibit the University of Wisconsin System from distributing emergency contraception to students, known as the morning after pill, would be unconstitutional on several fronts, the attorney general said Tuesday. Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager issued an informal opinion that...    more   



Working Families

• Dec 6, 2006 Doyle seeks local input on state budget Gov. Jim Doyle trekked to Green Bay on Tuesday to ask residents about their priorities for the state's biannual budget. As part of a campaign to visit communities throughout Wisconsin as budget discussions get under way, Doyle addressed about 50 people on Tuesday at Howe Elementary School in...    more...  
• May 31, 2006 Minimum wage goes up Thursday MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin's minimum wage will go up 80 cents Thursday, closing the books on a nasty political struggle that gripped the state Capitol for months. The state's minimum wage for adults will jump from $5.70 an hour to $6.50. The state Department of Workforce estimates about 200,000...    more   
• Apr 20, 2006 Union targets Downtown workers Bartenders, servers, baristas and others who work Downtown could soon be carrying more than your food or drinks. They may also be carrying union cards. Local organizers for the Industrial Workers of the World union hope to sign up some of the over 4,000 Downtown Madison employees, many of them...    more   
• Mar 30, 2006 Wisconsin lieutenant governor promotes home heating aid while in La Crosse Qualifying moderate-income families could get between $200 and $400 for their heating bills, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said Wednesday in La Crosse. “The warmth of spring doesn’t melt away” winter’s heating bills, Lawton said at a news conference to encourage people to apply for help from the new...    more   
• Mar 29, 2006 Groups, Dems urge Doyle to veto rent-to-own bill MADISON, Wis. - Key Democrats and consumer groups are urging Gov. Jim Doyle to veto a bill that would create new rules for rent-to-own stores while allowing them to conceal the interest rates they charge consumers. Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, joined critics such as Senate Minority...    more   
• Feb 24, 2006 Doyle denounces Republican silence on heating issues Gov. Jim Doyle decried Republican leaders' lack of legislative action on home-heating assistance for low-income families Thursday, according to a statement from his office. Doyle called for a special Legislative session Feb. 14, asking lawmakers to pass a $6 million dollar emergency...    more   
• Feb 24, 2006 Action on Heating Assistance Delayed Again Republicans in Assembly, Senate Block Attempts to Call a Vote Today the Republican leadership in both houses of the Legislature blocked attempts to bring Governor Doyle's emergency heating assistance package, which would provide $6 million to help approximately 30,000 Wisconsin families afford their heating bills. The assistance would be available...    more   
• Feb 8, 2006 John Edwards was right In the 2004 presidential campaign, Democratic Sen. John Edwards spoke of the danger that we are developing into "Two Americas, one rich and one poor, and he was right. Statistics from the Congressional Budget Office prove his case rather alarmingly: In 1992, the top 1 percent of households,...    more   
• Feb 2, 2006 Family Care expansion makes sense While Gov. Jim Doyle and his administrators made the rounds in Rock County during Monday's "Capital for the Day" event, they touted the "Affordability Agenda" Doyle unveiled in his recent State of the State address. One initiative, expanding Family Care, is particularly intriguing. We question...    more   
• Feb 2, 2006 House barely passes cuts in entitlement The House on Wednesday narrowly approved a hard-fought, budget-cutting package that would save nearly $40 billion over five years by imposing substantial changes on programs from Medicaid and welfare to child support and student lending. With its presidential signature all but assured, the bill...    more   
• Jan 29, 2006 Home heating aid on rise Warm January weather has saved the average Wisconsin Public Service customer $100 in home heating costs, but for low-income Sheboygan County residents like Jim Sauve of Elkhart Lake, the softened blow is still a painful one. The 53-year-old Sauve recently paid a $200 December heating bill that...    more   
• Jan 22, 2006 Editorial: Small price, big gain for state Is the Affordability Agenda affordable? That's the question Republicans had after it was the centerpiece of Gov. Jim Doyle's State of the State speech Tuesday night. Frankly, that's what The Post-Crescent editorial board was wondering about, too. Many of the proposals were noble, addressing the...    more   
• Jan 22, 2006 Who pays the tab for low benefits? Health care was a manageable expense in 1981 when Patti and Dave Lorbecki took over their Piggly Wiggly supermarket in Jefferson. Now the Lorbeckis, like small-business owners across the nation, struggle each year with double-digit increases in health insurance premiums for their full-time...    more   
• Jan 22, 2006 Editorial: Wisconsin Covenant grand idea with big potential payoff Gov. Jim Doyle is not short of grand ideas. In his State of the State speech Tuesday, he introduced a program that would guarantee qualified students a package of financial aid and loans sufficient to fund a college education at one of the University of Wisconsin campuses. Wisconsin Covenant is...    more   
• Jan 21, 2006 Doyle: Funds provide heating aid Gov. Jim Doyle on Friday said new higher-than-expected state revenues should pay for increased heating assistance for Wisconsin families squeezed by energy costs. On Thursday, the state's Legislative Fiscal Bureau released figures that indicate revenues in the 2005-07 budget period will be $93...    more   
• Jan 20, 2006 High Heating Bills Leave Residents In The Cold Gov. Jim Doyle is pushing a plan to help more Wisconsinites cover their heating costs this winter. He wants $6 million added to a fund helping people like Lottie Truman cover heating bills. The seamstress runs her shop out of her living room, and said she can't make it without the state's help....    more   
• Jan 20, 2006 Assembly Democrats unveil agenda to help middle class Key state Assembly Democrats announced their 2006 “On Wisconsin Agenda” Thursday, outlining a number of legislative reform goals aimed toward helping the middle class. “We have 20 days left, and I think we need to focus on those issues that are kitchen-table issues that deal with everybody across...    more   
• Jan 19, 2006 Dems hype home heat help Assembly Democrats want to turn up the heat, on the issue of home heating assistance. In his state of the state address, Governor Jim Doyle proposed six million additional dollars in home heating assistance. Representative John Lehman of Racine urged action on that proposal. Republicans have...    more   
• Jan 19, 2006 Doyle focuses on middle class in speech According to Gov. Jim Doyle's State of the State Address, the state government will turn its focus to the working, middle-class families of Wisconsin in the coming year. Speaking from Madison on Tuesday evening, the governor presented his "affordability agenda," which will aid in providing health...    more   
• Jan 19, 2006 Doyle Proposes Heating Costs Relief Plan Governor Doyle wants to give needy families another six million dollars to help pay their heating bills. But, he hasn't said how he'd come up with that money, and Republican lawmakers are questioning whether Doyle is sincere or just politically grandstanding. Doyle announced the plan Tuesday...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle wants to expand Family Care program A few words that Gov. Jim Doyle spoke Tuesday night could fundamentally change the lives of local elderly and developmentally disabled people. Doyle proposed to extend the state's Family Care program across all counties from only a handful of pilot counties. That program aims to centralize...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Affordability Agenda Education, jobs, and healthcare all have prominent places on Governor Jim Doyle's agenda for the year. He spelled out his priorities during his annual State of the State Address Tuesday night at the state capitol. He calls his proposals 'the affordability agenda.' The Governor wants to provide...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Editorial: Small but decent idea In an age when spin trumps substance, State of the State addresses, like State of the Union addresses, have lost all meaning and value. Governors use them to grab a little television time by tossing out laundry lists of proposals that are unlikely ever to be acted upon by the Legislature - let...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle touts affordability agenda Seniors, college students, people living in poverty and people struggling with their heating bills received pledges of help Tuesday night from Gov. Jim Doyle. In his annual State of the State speech, Doyle outlined a list of new programs he dubbed an "affordability agenda." "Tonight I offer an...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Proposals focus on health care, college tuition, elder care in State of State address Gov. Jim Doyle proposed new programs to make health care more affordable, put college within reach of middle-class families and help more people stay in their own homes rather than assisted living facilities Tuesday in his annual State of the State address. Unveiling what he called his...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle agenda focuses on 'affordability' Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle outlined an "affordability agenda" aimed at middle-class and working families during his State of the State address Tuesday night. The question many Republican lawmakers have is: How will the state afford it? "He made a lot of promises and a lot of interesting proposals,...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Governor seeks help for the middle class In his last State of the State address before what promises to be a tough re-election year, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle on Tuesday took credit for steering Wisconsin out of dangerous budget shoals and sought to align himself with middle-class families. Announcing what he termed his "affordability...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Governor Pushes "Affordability Agenda" The theme Gov. Doyle pushed on Tuesday night was the idea of making life easier on Wisconsin middle class families. He began with addressing the need for affordable healthcare, starting with the need to drive down insurance costs. "The state will set up a catastrophic insurance pool that will...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 State of the State: Doyle unveils "affordability agenda" Governor Jim Doyle proposes an "affordability agenda" with health care and education as its cornerstones. In his State of the State address, Doyle conceded that health care costs are putting middle class Wisconsin families and many state employers in a bind. He proposes the "Healthy Wisconsin"...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle Agenda Governor Jim Doyle is proposing what he calls an "affordability agenda" ... with goals of making health care more affordable, putting college within reach of middle-class families and helping more people stay in their own homes rather than nursing homes. The Democratic governor unveiled the...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Highlights of Gov. Jim Doyle's 'State of State' speech Governor Jim Doyle's annual State of the State speech tonight included plans for several new initiatives, including: Creating a new health insurance program for children called BadgerCare Plus. The effort would merge 500,000 individuals currently enrolled in three different programs into one....    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle touts 'affordability agenda' In a wide-ranging speech aimed at covering all of his political bases, Gov. Jim Doyle said he had righted the state's finances and was now turning to an "affordability agenda" to address the demands on middle-class families across the state. In his fourth "state of the state" address - and his...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle unveils 'affordability agenda' Governor Jim Doyle is proposing what he calls an "affordability agenda" ... with goals of making health care more affordable, putting college within reach of middle-class families and helping more people stay in their own homes rather than nursing homes. The Democratic governor unveiled the...    more   
• Jan 18, 2006 Doyle wants emergency $6 million for heating Gov. Jim Doyle says he wants to do something about that knot in the stomachs of poor people when they open their heating bills. In his State of the State address Tuesday night, Doyle proposed an emergency heating assistance package that would lay out $6 million to help pay heating bills on the...    more   
• Jan 17, 2006 Doyle to propose energy cost aid About 30,000 Wisconsin families would be given an average of $200 in state heating bill assistance this year under a plan Gov. Jim Doyle plans to unveil tonight. In his annual State of the State speech, Doyle intends to propose spending $6 million to help people struggling with rising heating...    more   
• Jan 15, 2006 Doyle aims to expand Family Care In his state of the state speech Tuesday, Gov. Jim Doyle will propose a statewide expansion of Wisconsin's Family Care program, which provides long-term, community-based services to low-income seniors and people with disabilities. The program now operates on a pilot basis in five counties,...    more   
• Jan 14, 2006 State Issues Recommendations After Doyle's Hearings With Big Oil Wisconsin should get more energy from renewable sources, the federal government should review oil company mergers and the country needs to set up refined oil reserves, according to a report state consumer protection officials released Friday. The report stems from a hearing Gov. Jim Doyle called...    more   
• Jan 14, 2006 Doyle Outlines Energy Recommendations New recommendations from Governor Doyle after lengthy public hearings with oil executives. The plans are aimed at reducing energy costs for Wisconsin residents. The initiative calls on the major oil companies to assist in helping those in need by encouraging oil makers to contribute profits. It...    more   
• Jan 14, 2006 Energy ideas touted Wisconsin should work toward greater use of renewable energy sources, and the federal government and oil companies should take several steps to help consumers, Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday. Doyle and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection released a report stemming from a Dec....    more   
• Dec 25, 2005 Forgetting Christmas in aiding the poor, need Christmas came hurtling at me this year, before I even had a chance to send out cards. This season of peace is a season of rush. Ask Congress. So it could adjourn for the holidays, it rushed last week to hand out goodies to the rich and lumps of coal to the poor. Oh, I take that back about the...    more   
• Dec 22, 2005 Doyle signs bill ending automatic gas tax increase Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has signed a bill that ends the automatic annual gas tax increase. Doyle also signed a bill that brings the Wisconsin Consumer Act in line with federal law. That bill prohibits credit card issuers from penalizing merchants who offer customer discounts for paying by cash,...    more   
• Dec 22, 2005 Governor Signs End To Automatic Gas Tax Increase Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation Thursday repealing Wisconsin's automatic, annual increase in the gas tax. The measure ends the increase that kicks in automatically each year to keep pace with inflation starting in 2007. Doyle says it's inappropriate to let taxes go up each year without a vote....    more   
• Dec 22, 2005 WI Gas Tax Increase Ends With Signed Bill Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation Thursday repealing Wisconsin's automatic, annual increase in the gas tax. Doyle indicated earlier this week he would sign the measure, which ends the annual indexing for inflation in 2007. The legislation also moves up by one month to April 1 a planned penny cut...    more   
• Dec 22, 2005 Automatic gas tax increase repealed Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation today repealing Wisconsin's automatic, annual increase in the gas tax. Doyle indicated earlier this week he would sign the measure, which ends the annual indexing for inflation in 2007. The legislation also moves up by one month to April 1 a planned penny cut in...    more   
• Dec 20, 2005 Governor to sign bill benefiting Goodwill Gov. Jim Doyle today plans to sign a bill ensuring recognition of Goodwill Industries' nonprofit status under Wisconsin law. The signing ceremony will take place at the Ashwaubenon Goodwill Retail Store & Training Center. State Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, authored the bill in order to...    more   
• Dec 8, 2005 WHEDA commits $10M to affordable housing program The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) has committed another $10 million for a program that works to preserve affordable housing statewide. The funding was committed to the Wisconsin SOS program - the "Saving Our Stock" of Affordable Housing program, Gov. Jim Doyle said...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Oil officials grilled at state hearing Officials from the world’s five largest oil companies were grilled by state leaders Thursday in a hearing on high oil and gas prices. The hearing was chaired by Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and included representatives from...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Oil company representatives address record profits Gov. Jim Doyle used the state’s subpoena authority to compel oil company executives to come to Wisconsin and explain why gas prices rose by nearly 70 cents the day after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. But forcing the oil executives to come to Wisconsin is one thing; eliciting the...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Hearing puts oil execs on the spot It was cold enough Thursday for the oil executives who arrived in Wisconsin to wear wool. It was a day when Wisconsinites who use natural gas to heat their homes will be paying far more than they paid the year before. And it was a day when oil executives faced some tough questions from Wisconsin...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Officials pass along public's questions Like everyone in Wisconsin, the top official at the state's consumer protection agency watched gas prices soar this fall. Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, watched as gasoline peaked at $3.12 a gallon in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina....    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Hearing puts heat on oil execs It was cold enough Thursday for the oil executives who arrived in Wisconsin to wear wool. It was a day when Wisconsinites who use natural gas to heat their homes will be paying far more than they paid the year before. And it was a day when oil executives faced some tough questions from Wisconsin...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Oil probe spurs state hearing Prompted by consumers’ strong suspicions of big-oil profiteering in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, several oil-company executives were subpoenaed to Milwaukee Thursday to attend an administrative hearing. “The purpose of the hearing was to call the largest oil companies of the world and...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Gov. holds hearing to question oil companies’ record profits Gov. Jim Doyle convened a hearing on gas and oil profits held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education Wednesday afternoon. Doyle subpoenaed the top five oil-producing companies in the United States—Exxon Mobile, British Petroleum, Shell Oil, Conoco Phillips and...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Oil company execs pumped for answers Representatives of the five major oil companies said Thursday they will consider Gov. Jim Doyle's request that their corporations donate a portion of their profits to a fund that helps Wisconsin families struggling to pay winter heating bills. Less than a month after oil CEOs testified in...    more   
• Dec 2, 2005 Gas Price Hearings in Milwaukee The forces of supply and demand in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita led to the big increases in gasoline and natural gas prices in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the nation, oil industry executives told a state administrative hearing Thursday. While the oil executives defended the pricing,...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Gas station owner criticizes minimum markup law A gas station owner who says state law left him no choice but to gouge consumers this year is calling for the law to be changed. Richard McDonald says state law requires gas station owners to mark up prices at least six percent. The law was passed in the 1930s to protect mom-and-pop stations and...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Oil company executives have hearing Thursday in Milwaukee Consumers get to ask about the soaring gas and heating fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina Thursday, when executives from five major oil companies are supposed to appear at a Milwaukee hearing. Gov. Jim Doyle directed the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to subpoena...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Oil company executives have hearing Thursday in Milwaukee Consumers get to ask about the soaring gas and heating fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina Thursday, when executives from five major oil companies are supposed to appear at a Milwaukee hearing. Gov. Jim Doyle directed the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to subpoena...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Doyle Wants Answers The first hearing Governer Doyle has called to question oil companies is this week. Doyle has issued subpoenas for the C-E-Os of the nation's five largest oil companies. He alleges that the companies gouged customers by charging excessive gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In fact,...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Public Can Question Oil Companies The public will get the opportunity to question five oil companies accused of price gouging. The Thursday hearing will take questions off a Web site submitted by the public. A moderator will then ask the companies as many questions as time allows. Gov. Jim Doyle alleges the companies gouged...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Oil Company Execs To Have Hearing In Milwaukee Consumers get to ask about the soaring gas and heating fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina Thursday, when executives from five major oil companies are supposed to appear at a Milwaukee hearing. Gov. Jim Doyle directed the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to subpoena...    more   
• Nov 28, 2005 Oil company executives have hearing Thursday in Milwaukee The first hearing Governer Doyle has called to question oil companies is this week. The state has created a Web site where the public can submit questions for the executives ahead of the Thursday hearing in Milwaukee. At the hearing, a moderator will ask them as many questions submitted by the...    more   
• Nov 27, 2005 Oil Company Execs To Have Hearing In Milwaukee Consumers get to ask about the soaring gas and heating fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina Thursday, when executives from five major oil companies are supposed to appear at a Milwaukee hearing. Gov. Jim Doyle directed the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to subpoena...    more   
• Nov 27, 2005 Oil execs to face query Earlier this month, U.S. senators had a chance to grill oil executives about the record profits their companies made while consumers were sacked with record-high prices at the pumps. Now, Wisconsin consumers get a chance to do some grilling of their own. On Thursday, executives from five major...    more   
• Nov 27, 2005 Local station owner wants changes in markup law Gas station owner Richard "Bubba" McDonald says he still is charging too much for gasoline. Ten weeks ago, when gasoline was more than $3 a gallon, the owner of "Bubba's Place" on the city's west side said, "I feel like I'm gouging at 19 cents markup on a gallon." He blamed big oil companies and...    more   
• Nov 27, 2005 Now's your chance to question oil executives Earlier this month, U.S. senators had a chance to grill oil executives about the record profits their companies made at the same time consumers were sacked with record prices at the pumps. Now Wisconsin consumers get a chance to do some grilling of their own. Gov. Jim Doyle directed the state...    more   
• Nov 27, 2005 Oil company executives have hearing Thursday in Milwaukee The first hearing Governer Doyle has called to question oil companies is this week. The state has created a Web site where the public can submit questions for the executives ahead of the Thursday hearing in Milwaukee. At the hearing, a moderator will ask them as many questions submitted by the...    more   
• Nov 26, 2005 Questions sought for oil executives The State of Wisconsin is giving residents a chance to express their views on high oil prices to the heads of the nation's oil companies. The oil executives, including the heads of BP Amoco, ExxonMobile and ConocoPhillips, are scheduled to be in Milwaukee next week after being subpoenaed by Gov....    more   
• Nov 26, 2005 Democrats want government to address rising energy costs The governor of Washington state is calling for a comprehensive federal energy policy to address rising costs across the country. In the Democratic Party's weekly radio address, Christine Gregoire (GREG'-wahr) cited actions taken by her state and Democratic governors in New Mexico and...    more   
• Nov 22, 2005 Governor invites public to submit questions for oil execs Governor Doyle wants oil company executives to answer questions -- your questions. The state has created a Web site where the public can submit questions for the executives ahead of a December first hearing in Milwaukee. At the hearing, a moderator will ask them as many questions submitted by the...    more   
• Nov 22, 2005 Hearing set to question oil execs Surging oil and gasoline prices this year have forced the Stockbridge School District to tighten its belt, and leaders may have to tap maintenance funds to deal with rising costs. District Administrator LeRoy Kopecky suspects there is no single cause for the energy cost increases, but if he were...    more   
• Nov 22, 2005 Queries sought for oil execs Surging oil and gasoline prices this year have forced the Stockbridge School District to tighten its belt, and leaders may have to tap maintenance funds to deal with rising costs. District Administrator LeRoy Kopecky suspects there is no single cause for the energy cost increases, but if he were...    more   
• Nov 21, 2005 Republicans Steal Thanksgiving As the Republicans go home for Thanksgiving this week, House leaders are congratulating themselves on having squeaked through a divisive budget bill that takes canned goods from the poor in order to fund more luxuries for the rich. The $50 billion in budget cuts for programs that help the poor...    more   
• Nov 20, 2005 Letters: Doyle right to challenge profits of oil companies Oil company profits are a threat to our economy. I applaud Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle for his efforts to make the oil companies accountable for their price gouging and I wonder why President Bush doesn't do the same. I know that this is a free-market society but when the economy is so closely tied...    more   
• Nov 15, 2005 Doyle issues subpoenas to five oil company chiefs Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday that subpoenas are being served today requiring the chief executives of the five major oil companies to appear at a hearing in Milwaukee on December 1, 2005 to testify about the record oil company profits made in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The...    more   
• Nov 15, 2005 Gov. Doyle issues subpoenas to country's biggest oil companies Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle ordered state officials Monday to subpoena executives from the country's five largest oil companies to appear at a Milwaukee hearing next month and answer questions about soaring gasoline and natural gas prices after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Erin Roth, a spokesman for...    more   
• Nov 15, 2005 State issues oil company subpoenas Wisconsin's consumer protection agency issued subpoenas Monday to representatives of the five major oil companies, seeking detailed pricing and production information tied to the state's investigation into rising energy prices since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The subpoenas also demand that the...    more   
• Nov 15, 2005 Doyle Subpoenas Oil Companies Governor Doyle subpoenaed executives from the nation's five largest oil companies to answer questions at a hearing about soaring gasoline and natural gas prices. But American Petroleum Institute spokesman Erin Roth says Doyle should wait for Congress and federal investigators to complete their...    more   
• Nov 15, 2005 Doyle Issues Subpoenas to Oil Execs Governor Doyle subpoenaed executives from the nation's five largest oil companies to answer questions at a hearing about soaring gasoline and natural gas prices. But American Petroleum Institute spokesman Erin Roth says Doyle should wait for Congress and federal investigators to complete their...    more   
• Nov 13, 2005 GOP amends housing bill Republicans in the state Assembly have added a provision to a popular Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority modernization bill that would bar those without Social Security numbers from receiving WHEDA-backed mortgages. The action was an attempt to get around Gov. Jim Doyle's...    more   
• Nov 6, 2005 So much for family values of House Republicans The politicians who favor cutting taxes on the wealthy typically proclaim their desire to encourage hard work, personal responsibility and family values. So why are House Republican leaders pushing a budget that, when it comes to our neediest fellow citizens, is a direct assault on . . . hard...    more   
• Nov 4, 2005 EDITORIAL: At least, governor, make them sweat IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY: Find a need and fill it. Charge what the traffic will bear. Sometimes, though, it is possible to move beyond entrepreneurial ingenuity into outright piracy. There is reason to suspect the latter in the eye-popping profits being recorded by the major oil companies. For...    more   
• Nov 3, 2005 Good day care aids economy, official says Good day care is one of the keys to a better local economy, a state official told Wisconsin Rapids-area leaders Wednesday. As part of Gov. Jim Doyle's "Capital for the Day" program, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton started a conversation on the importance of early childhood education to local and state...    more   
• Nov 3, 2005 Wisconsin governor to subpoena oil execs for hearing on profits Saying people want answers as to why major oil companies have earned large profits in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday he will subpoena executives of those firms to appear at a public hearing. "They are reaping huge dividends from the suffering of others," he...    more   
• Nov 3, 2005 Official lauds good day care Good day care is one of the keys to a better local economy, a state official told Wisconsin Rapids-area leaders Wednesday. As part of Gov. Jim Doyle's Capital for the Day program, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton started a conversation on the importance of early childhood education to local and state...    more   
• Nov 3, 2005 Doyle to subpoena oil execs on prices Gov. Jim Doyle is trying to turn the heat up on energy producers even as Wisconsin prepares for another winter. The governor Tuesday said he will use the state’s subpoena power in the next few days to force major oil company leaders to come to Wisconsin to explain why their prices rose...    more   
• Nov 2, 2005 Kind Keeps Pushing for FEMA Help Congressman Ron Kind says he's doing his best to get FEMA to reconsider its decision not to provide financial help to the victims of August's tornadoes. A string of twisters tore through the southern part of the state on August 18th. Viola was one of the communities hit the hardest. More than...    more   
• Nov 2, 2005 Gov. Doyle to subpoena oil execs Gov. Jim Doyle announced Tuesday that he will subpoena top oil company executives under Wisconsin’s consumer protection and trade laws to answer questions about their profits earned after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The public hearing, scheduled for Dec. 1 in Milwaukee, will seek answers from...    more   
• Nov 2, 2005 Doyle plans to subpoena oil execs Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he plans to use the state's consumer protection law to subpoena oil company executives to answer questions about oil company profits after recent hurricanes. "We will issue subpoenas to the executives of the big oil companies and demand that they appear in...    more   
• Nov 2, 2005 Props to Doyle for oil fight? Dems are backing the gov's stand against oil companies ... are Republicans far behind? Here's one Democrat's statement backing Doyle -- there are dozens more. Could the Democrats be sensing an election year issue? STATE REP. JIM KREUSER APPLAUDS GOVERNOR DOYLE CALLING OIL EXECS ON THE CARPET IN...    more   
• Nov 2, 2005 Doyle to subpoena oil execs on profits Gov. Jim Doyle plans to issue subpoenas to oil company executives to appear in Milwaukee on Dec. 1 for a public hearing on the record profits earned in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Doyle said he has the authority to do so under Wisconsin's trade and consumer protection law. "We will...    more   
• Nov 1, 2005 Editorial: Big Oil knows how to rip us off Oil companies tried their best to get us to feel sorry for them in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The storm of the century hit them hard, like so many businesses along the Gulf Coast. Oil rigs and refineries were heavily damaged by 100-mph winds. Oil drilling and production came to to a halt. The...    more   
• Nov 1, 2005 Wisconsin governor to subpoena oil execs for hearing on profits Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday he will subpoena oil company executives to appear at a public hearing in December on profits they earned in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Doyle said he plans to use authority under the state's trade and consumer protection law to issue the subpoenas. The...    more   
• Nov 1, 2005 Funny, seems OK on the other side of the pump Not funny ha-ha. Funny peculiar. With oil companies racking up record profits, we still get the shaft. Now Gov. Doyle is asking for answers. He'll have to take a number. The feds want to know first. Or at least they're pretending to; the oil and gas industry has stuffed Congressional pockets...    more   
• Oct 29, 2005 Dems Criticize GOP Over Energy Prices Democrats chided congressional Republicans on Saturday for failing to do enough to stem high energy costs that have resulted in huge oil industry profits. "What was the Republican answer to the hurricanes? More subsidies to the oil industry," Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said in his party's weekly...    more   
• Oct 28, 2005 Gov. Doyle Calling For Refund From Oil Companies Gov. Jim Doyle is after big oil companies, and he's not giving up, News 3 reported. New third quarter reports reveal huge profits for the companies, and Doyle says that makes it clear there's plenty of money to give consumers a refund. More than a month ago, Doyle joined eight other governors...    more   
• Oct 28, 2005 Politicians urging investigations of gas prices Record profits that major oil companies reported this week are resulting in more calls from politicians in both parties for investigation into gouging of consumers through gasoline price spikes after the summer hurricanes. Hours after ExxonMobil Corp. reported $10 billion in net income in the...    more   
• Oct 28, 2005 Letters: Senate vote will leave many out in the cold The U.S. Senate last week voted to leave a lot of folks out in the cold this winter. It defeated an amendment that would have added $3 billion to the Low Income Heating Assistance Program for the coming fiscal year. The vote came despite the fact that the price of natural gas is expected to rise...    more   
• Oct 28, 2005 Doyle Fuels Oil Price Debate Governor Jim Doyle is renewing his attacks on the oil industry for what he calls gouging consumers. The governor was in Milwaukee Thursday, where he told reporters families in Wisconsin are paying an unfair price for record breaking profits of oil companies. “When I see CEO's of gas companies...    more   
• Oct 27, 2005 Edwards lauds anti-poverty initiatives The stereotype of college students as apathetic, uninvolved individuals is simply not accurate, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., declared Wednesday at an event held by College Democrats of Madison in the Wisconsin Union Theater. Edwards came to Madison representing Opportunity Rocks, whose goal is to...    more   
• Oct 27, 2005 Edwards: Help fight poverty in U.S. Former vice presidential hopeful and current U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-North Carolina, called University of Wisconsin students to action in the fight against poverty at Union Theater Wednesday afternoon. Edwards made a stop in Madison as part of his “Opportunity Rocks” tour, which is aimed at...    more   
• Oct 21, 2005 Some may have to choose between W-2, child support Central Wisconsin's poor families could face a choice between public assistance programs. The federal government might decide recipients no longer can receive full child support money and Wisconsin Welfare money at the same time, a county official says. A special federal authorization allowing...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Doyle slams Bush on high energy prices On a two-day political trip to the nation's capital, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle joined Senate Democrats in criticizing the Bush administration over high energy prices and urging Congress to boost home-heating aid to low-income Americans. "Energy costs have emerged as the No. 1 issue in Wisconsin,"...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Governor Pushes For Relief At Gas Pump Wisconsin's governor was in Washington D.C. Monday to urge lawmakers to help ease the pain at the pump. Gov. Jim Doyle said the pain in the wallet will only get worse as the nation enters the winter months. Doyle said the government needs to rely less on the Middle East and more on renewable...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Governor Doyle Speaks Out Over High Heating Costs Governor Jim Doyle was in Washington Monday, where he took a shot at the federal government for its lack of action on energy prices spikes. "I'm just astounded when the United States Department of Energy comes out with a report that tells us in Wisconsin that home heating costs will go up 61% and...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Gov. Doyle Discusses Energy Policy Gov. Jim Doyle made a trip to Washington Monday. News 3 reported that he and others governors are calling for increased use of renewable fuels such as ethanol. Addressing a conference hosted by the American Council of Renewable Energy, Doyle said the states are limited in the impact they can have...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Doyle pushes energy relief for Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle went to Washington, D.C., on Monday to call for a federal investigation into price gouging and urged the Bush administration to increase aid for low-income heating assistance as Wisconsin has already done. Back home, state Republican Sen. Robert Cowles of Allouez said Doyle’s...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Doyle Urging Federal Government To Use Ethanol Gov. Jim Doyle is urging the federal government to do more to use renewable fuels such as ethanol. Doyle is attending a conference put on by the American Council on Renewable Energy in Washington, D.C. Doyle supports a plan in the state legislature that would require all gas sold in Wisconsin to...    more   
• Oct 18, 2005 Doyle Urges Renewable Fuels Governor Doyle today urged the federal government to do more to increase the use of renewable fuels, such as ethanol. Doyle made the remarks at a conference in Washington hosted by the American Council on Renewable Energy. Doyle says the federal government should look to biofuels, not increased...    more   
• Oct 12, 2005 Doyle wants gas pricing answers As Wisconsin's Attorney General looks into allegations of gas price gouging, the governor suggests congressional action. Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and counterparts in five other states want to know if increased prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina were illegally pumped up by oil...    more   
• Oct 12, 2005 Child support exemption for W-2 program to expire soon Nearly 19,000 current and former participants in the Wisconsin Works welfare reform program stand to lose a large part of their child support payments, as a special federal authorization allowing them to retain their full child support and public assistance expires next year. The loss would...    more   
• Oct 12, 2005 Laid-off workers to receive $15 million Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman announced Monday laid-off workers from the Georgia-Pacific manufacturing plant in Green Bay will receive federal dollars to get back into the workforce. Doyle said the employees will be eligible to receive...    more   
• Oct 11, 2005 Doyle Announces Assistance for Georgia-Pacific Workers Governor Jim Doyle and Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman announced that the Doyle Administration has secured up to $15 million in federal funds to help eligible workers being laid off by Georgia-Pacific as part of the company's workforce reductions. Last week,...    more   
• Oct 11, 2005 $15M available to displaced Georgia-Pacific workers Federal benefits worth $15 million will be available to Georgia-Pacific Broadway mill employees scheduled to lose jobs by the end of this year. Day Street mill employees are not now eligible for federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Act benefits, but Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday the state would be...    more   
• Oct 10, 2005 Georgia Pacific Workers to Get Federal, State Assistance Governor Jim Doyle says federal and state assistance is coming to hundreds of workers who learned last week their jobs are being eliminated. Workers hearing about the help say it's the best news they've heard in a long time. Georgia Pacific is cutting 368 jobs at two Green Bay mills and more than...    more   
• Oct 6, 2005 Doyle announces WI Energy Help initiative "When heating costs are expected to rise by up to 50 percent this winter, it affects everyone's budget," Doyle said. "That is why it is important to not only help our most vulnerable citizens pay their heating bills, but to make sure Wisconsin is taking the necessary steps to increase energy...    more   
• Oct 1, 2005 Heating prices spark action Gary Miller had been thinking about replacing his 26-year-old furnace with a new system for a couple of years, but he kept putting it off. When he heard that heating oil prices could rise 40 percent to 50 percent this winter, that was the “icing on the cake” to go ahead and get a new system...    more   
• Oct 1, 2005 State Makes Money Available For Those Who Need Heating Assistance Help is on the way for low-income families who think they will need help heating their home this winter. Gov. Jim Doyle said Wisconsin will more than double the amount of money available to help poor people meet the growing cost of heating their homes this winter. Families that make less than...    more   
• Sep 30, 2005 State adds to heating fund Poor Wisconsinites will get another $16 million worth of government help paying their heating bills this winter, more than doubling what state programs have spent in past years. Just hours after Gov. Jim Doyle's announcement Thursday, the price of natural gas hit an all-time high in market...    more   
• Sep 29, 2005 State to make more money available to help with heating costs The state will more than double the amount of money available to help poor people meet the growing cost of heating their homes this winter, Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday. The state will provide an additional $16 million in aid starting Saturday, he said. "American families could see their heating...    more   
• Sep 29, 2005 Doyle Doubles State Effort to Heat Homes The state will double its financial commitment to low-income heating assistance, providing another 16 million dollars in aid. Record heating bills are on the horizon this winter. The federal government has projected natural gas prices could increase as much at 77 percent. The extra help will come...    more   
• Sep 29, 2005 State Will Double Low Income Heating Assistance Record heating bills are on the horizon this winter. The federal government has projected natural gas prices could increase as much as 77 percent. The extra help will come through a reassessment of money collected by the Department of Administration for low-income energy assistance. Money for...    more   
• Sep 29, 2005 Gov offers help with heat costs Gov. Jim Doyle today announced a comprehensive plan to help Wisconsin residents and businesses meet the skyrocketing costs of energy. Nationwide, heating bills are expected to rise an average of $611 this winter. Doyle pointed out that the amount exceeds the total aid that most low-income people...    more   
• Sep 24, 2005 Gas Gouging Alert Depending on the damage left by hurricane rita....gasoline prices may jump again. The oil companies began closing refineries around Southeast Texas yesterday so its workers could evacuate. That means the supply of gasoline will drop....and prices will rise. Its a similar situation to what...    more   
• Sep 22, 2005 Gas Gouging Investigation There is growing evidence big oil companies used Hurricane Katrina to overcharge customers for fuel. A GOA report shows gas prices have risen faster than crude oil prices. The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating complaints of gas gouging. The price at the pump is still below the $3 mark...    more   
• Sep 21, 2005 Doyle's asking for a huge refund from gas gouging Wisconsin's governor is joining seven other governors to urge Congress to investigate and put an end to price gouging at the pumps. Governor Jim Doyle says it's curious that the price of gas went up even before the price of crude oil increased. Also, he says, after he asked the EPA for a...    more   
• Sep 21, 2005 Doyle, seven governors demand refunds for alleged gas-price gouging Gov. Jim Doyle and seven other Democratic governors sent a letter to President Bush and congressional leaders Tuesday demanding Congress investigate possible gas-price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and refund any ill-gotten profits to consumers. The letter cited a study by University...    more   
• Sep 21, 2005 Oil price probe demanded by governor coalition Gov. Jim Doyle and seven other governors are asking President Bush and Congress to investigate possible price-gouging by big oil companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In a letter sent Tuesday, the governors also requested federal legislation refunding excess oil company profits to...    more   
• Sep 21, 2005 Doyle, other leaders seek refunds for gas gouging Gov. Jim Doyle and seven other Democratic governors sent a letter to President Bush and congressional leaders Tuesday demanding Congress investigate possible gas-price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They want any ill-gotten profits refunded to consumers. The letter cited a study by...    more   
• Sep 21, 2005 Doyle Calls for Investigation into Possible Gas Gouging Governor Doyle and seven other Democratic governors sent a letter to President Bush and congressional leaders today calling for an investigation into possible gas gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The letter cites a study by a U-W Madison economist that found the hurricane isn't fully to...    more   
• Sep 21, 2005 Doyle blasts oil companies for overcharging, calls for refund Gov. Jim Doyle accused oil companies of price- gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and demanded an $88 million refund for Wisconsin consumers at a press conference Tuesday. "The last few weeks have been difficult for Wisconsin's working families," Doyle said. "The record gas prices we've...    more   
• Sep 20, 2005 Governor Doyle, 7 Others Call for Gas Gouging Investigation Governor Doyle and seven other Democratic governors sent a letter to President Bush and congressional leaders today calling for an investigation into possible gas gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The letter cites a study by a U-W Madison economist that found the hurricane isn't fully to...    more   
• Sep 20, 2005 Doyle: Probe gas, oil prices Gov. Jim Doyle and seven other governors are asking President Bush and Congress to investigate possible price-gouging by big oil companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In a letter sent today, the governors also requested federal legislation refunding excess oil company profits to consumers....    more   
• Sep 18, 2005 Wisconsin legislators differ on easing bankruptcy law for Katrina's victims Senate Democrat Russ Feingold and Republican Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. are on opposite sides of a brewing debate over whether victims of Hurricane Katrina should get relief from the nation's strict new bankruptcy law. Feingold has introduced a bill to delay and soften bankruptcy...    more   
• Sep 9, 2005 Bankruptcy Protection for Hurricane Victims Senator Russ Feingold wants to make the new bankruptcy law easier on those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The Wisconsin Democrat says a new law, which would make it more difficult for people to declare bankruptcy, could make it difficult for victims of hurricane Katrina and other natural...    more   
• Sep 8, 2005 Feingold To Seek Bankruptcy Protections For Katrina Victims Sen. Russ Feingold plans to seek legislation aimed at softening the effects of a new, tougher bankruptcy law on victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. Feingold, D-Wis., said he wanted to make sure the new law "does not compound the hardship for thousands of hardworking...    more   
• Sep 8, 2005 Feingold Seeks To Protect Katrina Victims With Bill Sen. Russ Feingold plans to seek legislation aimed at softening the effects of a new, tougher bankruptcy law on victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, said he wanted to make sure the new law “does not compound the hardship for thousands of...    more   
• Sep 8, 2005 Doyle Points Finger At EPA Gov. Jim Doyle accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday of "dragging their feet" on a request to temporarily waive reformulated gasoline mandates for southeastern Wisconsin as a way to help minimize rising prices. Doyle said he sent a letter to EPA Administrator Steven...    more   
• Sep 8, 2005 High Demand Fueling High Gasoline Prices Slow down. Don't panic. That is our advice for motorists and lawmakers concerned about gasoline prices. Who isn't concerned these days? Hurricane Katrina struck oil rigs, refineries and pipelines and helped push prices past $3 per gallon. Such prices further cloud the future of Janesville's...    more   
• Sep 8, 2005 Doyle Raps EPA On Gas Waiver Response Gov. Jim Doyle accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday of "dragging their feet" on a request to temporarily waive reformulated gasoline mandates for southeastern Wisconsin as a way to help minimize rising prices. Doyle said he sent a letter to EPA administrator Steven...    more   
• Sep 2, 2005 Lautenschlager Plans To Look Into Gas Prices Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager pushed Thursday for a new law to ban price gouging in Wisconsin and announced a multi-state investigation into what's behind skyrocketing gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Gov. Jim Doyle announced a series of steps he was taking in response to the...    more   
• Sep 2, 2005 Attorney General Pushes Price Gouging Ban Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager pushed Thursday for a new law to ban price gouging in Wisconsin and announced a multi-state investigation into what’s behind skyrocketing gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The announcement came as gas prices jumped 26 cents in the Green Bay area to...    more   
• Sep 2, 2005 3 States Launch Gas Market Tampering Probe The attorneys general from Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois will conduct a joint investigation into whether anyone is manipulating the gas market in their states in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said Thursday. But if they find wholesalers or retailers...    more   
• Sep 2, 2005 Attorney General Pushes To Bban Gas Price Gouging, Announces Probe Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager pushed Thursday for a new law to ban price gouging in Wisconsin and announced a multi-state investigation into what's behind skyrocketing gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Gov. Jim Doyle announced a series of steps he was taking in response to the...    more   
• Sep 2, 2005 Wisconsin, Other States Investigate Gas Prices Wisconsin's attorney general says she's taking action to lower sky-high gas prices. Peg Lautenschlager is teaming up with attorneys general of other Midwestern states to put pressure on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the business practices of the big oil companies. Three states,...    more   
• Sep 2, 2005 Officials Respond to High Gas Prices Wisconsin officials are standing up for consumers and taking steps to fight price gouging at the gas pump. State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is joining efforts with other Midwestern states to find out what's behind skyrocketing gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Lautenschalger...    more   
• Aug 18, 2005 Lawmakers, Doyle Call For End Of Minimum Markup On Gasoline Two Republican lawmakers Tuesday renewed a push for legislation to repeal the state's minimum markup law for gasoline, and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday he supports the idea. But bills that could repeal the law are stalled in committee, and supporters and opponents strongly disagree over...    more   
• Aug 17, 2005 Lawmakers, Doyle Call For End of Minimum Markup on Gas Two Republican lawmakers Tuesday renewed a push for legislation to repeal the state's minimum markup law for gasoline, and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday he supports the idea. But bills that could repeal the law are stalled in committee, and supporters and opponents strongly disagree over...    more   
• Aug 10, 2005 Coalition Seeks Paid Sick Time Guaranteeing that all workers in Madison can take some paid time off when they are sick is the next major initiative in a city that has recently reformed smoking laws, affordable housing and the minimum wage. About a dozen community organizations, ranging from religious groups to the Neighborhood...    more   
• Aug 10, 2005 Coalition Proposes Paid Sick Leave Law Within City A coalition of labor, housing and religious interests is launching an effort to get paid sick leave for all employees in Madison. But some are skeptical about a law that could put a financial burden on businesses already upset about city laws for a minimum wage, smoking ban and making developers...    more   
• Aug 9, 2005 Backers of W-2 Jobs Program Hope Fourth Time is a Charm A state senator is trying again to gain support for a thrice-rejected proposal to start a pilot program that would pay employers to train and hire poor parents. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle originally proposed a subsidized private sector employment program for the participants of Wisconsin Works, or...    more   
• Jul 27, 2005 Study: Wisconsin Ranks 10th in Child Wellness Wisconsin improved to the 10th best place in the country for children in 2003, despite more kids in poverty and more parents struggling to find steady work, according to a study released Wednesday. Fewer teens died, gave birth and dropped out of high school, according to the Kids Count 2005 Data...    more   
• Jul 21, 2005 Edwards Focuses on Poverty During Visit What does a former presidential candidate, vice presidential candidate and U.S. senator do once the campaign is over? If you're John Edwards, the vice presidential half of last fall's Democratic ticket, you start a poverty center at your home state university, then stump the country talking about...    more   
• Jul 17, 2005 Officials Want Pension Plan Veto Leaders of the state’s public employee pension system oppose a provision in the proposed state budget that would make 31,000 nonunionized state workers contribute $42 million toward their pensions. Department of Employee Trust Funds officials have asked the governor to veto the provision, which...    more   
• Jul 16, 2005 Veto Likely on Pension Item Officials who run Wisconsin's public employee pension system want Gov. Jim Doyle to veto a middle-of-the-night addition to the state budget that would make 31,000 non-union state workers contribute $42 million toward their pensions over the next two years. Doyle is listening to the plea. He...    more   
• Jul 5, 2005 W-2 not Tracking Participants' Results Eight years after the start of Wisconsin's pioneering welfare-to-work program, state welfare officials are not tracking systematically whether people who have left the program have jobs, housing and other necessities, The Associated Press has found. Critics contend that as a result, it's...    more   
• Jul 2, 2005 Results of W-2 Not Measured Eight years after the start of Wisconsin’s pioneering welfare-to-work program, state welfare officials are not systematically tracking whether people who’ve left the program have jobs, The Associated Press has found. Critics contend that as a result, it’s impossible to measure the success of a...    more   
• Jul 2, 2005 State Doesn't Follow People When They Leave W-2 Eight years after the start of Wisconsin's pioneering welfare-to-work program, state welfare officials are not systematically tracking whether people who have left the program have jobs, housing and other necessities, The Associated Press has found. Critics contend that as a result, it's...    more   
• Jun 11, 2005 Supporting Briarpatch Few social service organizations provide more important assistance to more needy young people than Briarpatch, which for more than three decades has offered teens in crisis a place to turn. The agency provides 24-hour crisis hotline phone service, face-to-face family crisis counseling with teens...    more   
• Jun 2, 2005 Doyle Lauds Wage Hike in Janesville Visit Gov. Jim Doyle visited Janesville on Wednesday to welcome the increase in the state's minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.70. Flanked by legislators, including Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, and Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, Doyle told an audience at the Rock County Job Center it was "a great day in...    more   
• Jun 1, 2005 Wisconsin's Minimum Wage Goes Up Today Some Wisconsin workers will see more in their paychecks starting Wednesday, when the state's minimum wage climbs from $5.15 to $5.70 an hour. It is the first increase since 1997. The minimum wage will rise to $6.50 in June of next year. Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign a bill banning cities...    more   
• Jun 1, 2005 Wisconsin's Minimum Wage Goes Up Today Some Wisconsin workers will see more in their paychecks starting Wednesday, when the state's minimum wage climbs from $5.15 to $5.70 an hour. It is the first increase since 1997. The minimum wage will rise to $6.50 in June of next year. Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign a bill banning cities...    more   
• Jun 1, 2005 Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect Tim Metcalfe wasn't sure when it took effect or exactly how much it would go up, but the employer of 450 Wisconsin workers said Tuesday that he was glad the statewide minimum wage tussle finally was settled. The general minimum wage increases statewide to $5.70 an hour today, the first increase...    more   
• Jun 1, 2005 Minimum Wage Increase Right now, the minimum wage in Wisconsin is $5.15 an hour. Starting Wednesday, it goes up to $5.70. The debate over this minimum wage increase was the same as it was every other time. Supporters said the additional money was desperately needed by the working poor. Opponents argued it would hurt...    more   
• May 31, 2005 Wages Rise Wednesday; Minimum up to $5.70/hour Wisconsin's minimum wage is going up. Finally. After more than eight months of bitter political gridlock in the State Capitol, the lowest legal wage in the state will climb from $5.15 an hour to $5.70 starting Wednesday - the first change to Wisconsin's minimum wage since 1997. The state...    more   
• May 31, 2005 Wisconsin's Minimum Wage Set to Go Up - Finally Wisconsin's minimum wage is going up. Finally. After more than eight months of bitter political gridlock in the state Capitol, the lowest legal wage in the state will climb from $5.15 an hour to $5.70 starting Wednesday - the first change to Wisconsin's minimum wage since 1997.    more   
• May 29, 2005 State Minimum Wage Gets a Raise Wisconsin’s minimum wage is going up. Finally. After more than eight months of bitter political gridlock in the state Capitol, the lowest legal wage in the state will climb from $5.15 an hour to $5.70 starting Wednesday — the first change to Wisconsin’s minimum wage since 1997. The state...    more   
• May 29, 2005 Minimum Wage The lowest legal wage in the state will climb to $5.70 an hour Wednesday. That's up from $5.15, and it's the first hike in 8 years. The State Department of Workforce Development says the change could affect as many as 150 thousand people who make the minimum or less than $5.70. Democrats sought a...    more   
• May 29, 2005 State Increases Minimum Wage Eau Claire couldn't wait. Now the state is setting the rate for a minimum wage increase. Wisconsin's minimum wage is going up this week. It will climb from the current $5.15 to $5.70 cents an hour. The change goes into effect this Wednesday. The state says as many as 150,000 workers could be...    more   
• May 27, 2005 Wisconsin's Minimum Wage Increases June 1st Wisconsin's minimum wage workers are about to get a raise. Starting next Wednesday, June 1st, the state's minimum wage is increasing to $5.70 an hour. The move comes after Governor Doyle issued an emergency rule earlier this month, requesting that the Department of Workforce Development increase...    more   
• May 21, 2005 Doyle Rips GOP for W-2 Trims Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle on Friday lashed out at Republican lawmakers for stripping his remake of the Wisconsin Works welfare reform program from the state budget and vowed to enlist the public in a fight to restore his plan. The elimination of his "trial jobs-plus" program, reduction in child...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Dem Calls Cuts 'War on the Poor' Despite criticism from Democrats that the moves were both anti-family and anti-child, Republican lawmakers approved cutting more than $24 million from Gov. Jim Doyle's budget for aid to low-income families. In a statement, the Democratic governor charged that Republicans are "dismantling" the...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Budget Committee Eliminates Plan For Child Care Rating System The Legislature's budget committee voted Thursday to cut $24 million from the governor's plan to expand Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program, saying the state could not afford it during difficult fiscal times. The committee cut Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to more than double maternity leave for new...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Budget Committee Votes to Cut $24M from W-2 Funding The Legislature’s budget committee voted Thursday to cut $24 million from the governor’s plan to expand Wisconsin’s welfare-to-work program, saying the state could not afford it during difficult fiscal times. The committee cut Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposal to more than double maternity leave for new...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Budget Committee Votes to Cut W-2 Funding The Legislature's budget committee voted Thursday to cut $24 million from the governor's plan to expand Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program, saying the state could not afford it during difficult fiscal times. The committee cut Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to more than double maternity leave for new...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Budget Committee Eliminates Plan For Child Care Rating System The Legislature's budget committee voted Thursday to cut $24 million from the governor's plan to expand Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program, saying the state could not afford it during difficult fiscal times. The committee cut Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to more than double maternity leave for new...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Budget panel OKs Day-Care Cuts Outside the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee hearing room Thursday, Madison child-care provider Jane Robinson couldn't stop shaking her head. The committee, which is rewriting Gov. Jim Doyle's 2005-07 budget proposal, had just voted to cut more than $24 million that would have expanded...    more   
• May 20, 2005 GOP Lawmakers Pare Doyle's W-2 Reforms Republican legislators Thursday dismantled Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's package of expanded job services to Wisconsin Works families and his plan to tie payments for day care centers to a new rating system. In a further swat at Doyle over W-2's biggest scandal - the criminal kickback convictions...    more   
• May 20, 2005 Budget Committee Votes to Cut W-2 Funding The Legislature's budget committee voted Thursday to cut $24 million from the governor's plan to expand Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program, saying the state could not afford it during difficult fiscal times. The committee cut Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to more than double maternity leave for new...    more   
• May 19, 2005 Budget Panel Nixes Governor's Plan for Milwaukee Child Welfare The Legislature's budget committee voted Wednesday to cut a series of the governor's proposals to improve Milwaukee County's child welfare program but backed other reforms designed to improve a system that was the subject of a decade-long lawsuit. The Joint Finance Committee also voted to give...    more   
• May 19, 2005 State Aid to Foster Care Rejected Legislators on Wednesday turned down Gov. Jim Doyle's $5.8 million expansion of help for Milwaukee County's foster care system, including the governor's plan to hire an ombudsman to monitor the system. Instead, Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee approved spending $770,000...    more   
• May 16, 2005 Doyle Puts a High Price on Foster Care It’s 8 p.m. and time for “Steve” to go to bed. Clancy Allain has cradled the 22-month-old as he slurped a warm bottle of milk. His wife, Cindi, gives their foster son a few final hugs and kisses after putting the toddler into his jammies. Their son, Palmer, 15, enjoyed playing games with the...    more   
• May 12, 2005 Doyle Lays Out Deal to Raise Wages Wisconsin’s minimum wage would get the first of two increases June 1 under a new plan Gov. Jim Doyle pushed Wednesday. Doyle wants to end an impasse with Republican lawmakers who blocked his original plan to raise the wage level. Doyle said if Republicans go along with his new plan to increase...    more   
• May 12, 2005 Statewide Minimum Wage Hike Expected After a year of haggling, Republican leaders of the state Legislature and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle are in the heat of agreement over raising the state's minimum wage. The end result will look like this: Beginning June 1, the minimum will increase from $5.15 an hour to $5.70, then rise to $6.50...    more   
• May 12, 2005 Doyle, GOP Agree on Wage Increase Minimum-wage workers should see a bump in their paychecks starting on June 1, as a deal struck between Gov. Jim Doyle and leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature has ended a yearlong Capitol standoff. Both sides have tacitly agreed that a two-step statewide increase from $5.15 an hour to...    more   
• May 12, 2005 Doyle Pushes to Raise Minimum Wage Wisconsin’s minimum wage would get the first of two increases June 1 under a new plan Gov. Jim Doyle pushed Wednesday to end an impasse with Republican lawmakers who have blocked his original plan to raise it. Doyle said if Republicans go along with his new plan to increase the wage from the...    more   
• May 11, 2005 The Truth About W-2 Finally, a top state official has spoken the bitter truth about Wisconsin's so-called "welfare reform" experiment: It was designed to fail. A decade ago, opponents of the cynical moves by former President Bill Clinton, former Gov. Tommy Thompson and other political charlatans to "end welfare as...    more   
• May 11, 2005 Can GOP be Shamed on Wage Law? It's about time that a group of Wisconsin people got up on their high horse to shame the Legislature into admitting that enough is enough - the state's minimum wage needs to raised - now. The Republicans who control the Legislature have refused to increase the state's $5.15 an hour minimum wage...    more   
• May 8, 2005 Working to Improve W-2 One of the shortcomings of the Wisconsin Works welfare program is a lack of employer involvement, according to a recent state audit. And for a system aimed at replacing welfare with work, employer buy-in is critical. That is why a bipartisan effort has led to a proposal for Trial Jobs Plus. The...    more   
• May 4, 2005 Senators Get More in Expenses Than Minimum Wage Earners Make in a Year Eight Republican state senators who voted Tuesday against acting to raise the minimum wage received more in tax-free expense checks last year than a minimum wage worker earns working full-time for a year. "I think it’s safe to say those senators don’t feel the pain of minimum wage workers," said...    more   
• May 3, 2005 Lawton: W-2 Was Designed to Fail Wisconsin's lieutenant governor told a community forum that the state's welfare-to-work program was designed to fail. Few participants have gone on to family supporting jobs because Wisconsin Works, or W-2, was set up to quickly find them any job, "and not to get them out of poverty," Lt. Gov....    more   
• May 3, 2005 W-2 Program Design Derided Wisconsin Works was born to fail, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said Monday at a Milwaukee community forum on the troubled welfare-reform program. Few participants have gone on to family-supporting jobs because W-2 was set up to quickly find them any job, "and not to get them out of poverty," Lawton...    more   
• May 2, 2005 W-2 Needs Housecleaning Spring is a time for renewals and cleanings. Speakers who testified before the Legislature's Joint Audit Committee said it's time to do both for the state's W-2 welfare reform program. We couldn't agree more. The program in Milwaukee - where 80% of the state's W-2 clients live - has been battered...    more   
• May 2, 2005 Groups Take on GOP Over Wage Several Democratic-leaning groups are making political hay out of Republican efforts to block an increase in the state's minimum wage. The Greater Wisconsin Committee, a self-described progressive "issue advocacy" group, is sponsoring radio ads targeting four Republican state senators for their...    more   
• Apr 28, 2005 House Passes Budget That Cuts Medicaid The House narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget Thursday evening that would cut back the Medicaid health care program for the poor for the first time since 1997 in a step toward trimming federal deficits. The 214-211 vote approved a blueprint that instructs lawmakers to freeze or cut spending in...    more   
• Apr 27, 2005 Critics Recommend Overhaul of W-2 The state's deeply troubled welfare reform program desperately needs to reform itself, critics told lawmakers Wednesday at the Capitol. Battered by scandals, bureaucratic bumbling and new evidence that the poor stay poor after W-2 stints, the hard-luck Wisconsin Works program needs a dose of...    more   
• Apr 25, 2005 Ratings Would Boost Quality Gov. Jim Doyle has included an assessment and rating system for child care providers in his state budget proposal that will give more money to higher-rated centers and give less to poorly-rated providers. The Legislature, starting with its Joint Finance Committee, should support the proposal...    more   
• Apr 20, 2005 Baldwin Blasts Bankruptcy Bill President Bush planned to sign the controversial bankruptcy reform bill today, despite fierce, seven-year Democratic opposition. "It is out of balance...it's tilted to benefit credit card companies, the financial industry, the banking industry at the expense of those in financial crisis," Rep....    more   
• Apr 16, 2005 Baldwin: Tax Credit Should be Extended Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) calls for expansion of the Child Tax Credit. Baldwin is bringing this one back before Congress, right at the annual deadline for paying your income taxes. She says it just doesn't make sense -- Wisconsin families get that thousand-dollar credit...    more   
• Apr 14, 2005 Doyle Details Child Care Rankings Gov. Jim Doyle visited a Racine child care center Tuesday to detail plans that would rank the state's child-care centers on quality. During his stop at Next Generation Now Child Development and Family Support Center, Doyle explained how the five-star system would be used in the state's subsidized...    more   
• Apr 13, 2005 Doyle Budgets for Child Care System Review It's not every day that Gov. Jim Doyle is greeted by a dozen singing pre-schoolers. But the children's performance at Racine's Next Generation Now, a child care and family resource center, was a fitting welcome for Doyle on Tuesday as he announced that he had dedicated $8.5 million in his...    more   
• Apr 13, 2005 Doyle Backs Stem Cell Use Gov. Jim Doyle, citing groundbreaking discoveries made in Wisconsin and his own mother's health issues, reaffirmed his support of embryonic stem cell research Tuesday. "Our goal in Wisconsin is to make sure we're a major player in this and that we continue to be one of the leading research...    more   
• Apr 12, 2005 City Achieves Biggest Drop in Tax Refund Loans in U.S. The use of convenient but costly "rapid refund" loans by the poor to get faster access to tax refund money declined more in Milwaukee than in any other major U.S. city, a study released today says. About 37% of Milwaukee residents who qualified for the federal earned income tax credit - a tax...    more   
• Apr 10, 2005 Parents Gain With Child Care Rating System Proposal The days should draw to a close that Wisconsin lacks a detailed rating system for the quality of its child care centers. And it will happen if the state Department of Workforce Development has anything to say about it. Department Secretary Roberta Gassman has been traveling the state to bring...    more   
• Apr 4, 2005 Ex-candidate Tells Wisconsin Democrats He's Focused on Poverty Former Sen. John Edwards tried to keep the spotlight off politics and on his campaign to fight poverty as he visited Wisconsin and spoke to state Democrats on the weekend. The former vice presidential candidate's new endeavor follows his campaign speeches last year about the existence of "two...    more   
• Mar 31, 2005 Doyle Wants State to Rate Child Care Centers hild care providers across Sauk County could be affected by Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to rate them, and they hope to find out exactly how. Doyle's plan to rate child care centers' quality according to a five-star system - and allocate state subsidies accordingly - will be the subject of an...    more   
• Mar 31, 2005 Doyle Budget Would Double Leave For Mothers On 'Welfare To Work' Gov. Jim Doyle's budget would let new mothers in the state's Welfare to Work program stay at home with their newborns for six months. Roberta Gassman is the secretary of the Department of Workforce Development. She told the budget committee this week that the plan is in the best interests of...    more   
• Mar 29, 2005 Medicare Applications Sent to Low-Income Americans The Bush administration said Monday that it had sent the first of some 20 million applications to low-income people who might qualify for financial assistance with Medicare's new prescription drug benefit. But lawyers and other advocates for low-income people said the form was so complex that...    more   
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