Freshman state Rep. Karen DeSanto spent years traveling the world with the Ringling Brothers. Now she’s representing a rural Wisconsin district in the state Assembly. The two jobs are very different, she says.
A bipartisan bill in the state Legislature would provide legal immunity to 911 dispatchers who transfer calls to the suicide hotline. Critics say the bill is unnecessary and could impede justice for the injured.
With the total number of law enforcement officers in Wisconsin sitting near record lows, the bill aims to ease staffing shortages with grants to help pay for the training of new hires. But it faces an uphill climb.
A rarity in recent years, the state budget received significant support from legislative Democrats. In exchange, they got modest investments in the UW System, public schools and child care.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a GOP-backed challenge to a decades-old campaign finance law that limits how much parties can spend in coordination with candidates for federal office.
More than a year before the GOP primary, a rural Wisconsin sheriff’s race is heating up, with the former and current district attorneys taking opposite sides.
Three bills working through the Legislature would help EMS agencies fund themselves, subsidize coursework and increase reimbursements for some 911 calls, experts say.
The Oshkosh Republican said he will block the president’s debt-increasing “One Big Beautiful Bill” if it doesn’t cut federal spending at a meeting Wednesday with the Milwaukee Press Club.