Monday, December 3, 2012
Finishing freshman term, CPA who represents much of Brookfield and Wauwatosa receives a key committee appointment from Republican legislative leadership.
In just his second term in the State Assembly, Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield), who represents a large part of Brookfield and Wauwatosa, has been appointed to the Joint Finance Committee. Joint Finance is a 16-member standing committee with the primary task of reviewing all state appropriations and revenues. Last year, the Repulican-controlled committee was responsible for steering legislation to close a $3.6 billion deficit. “I am honored to serve on such an important committee," said Kooyenga, who was appointed by Assembly Speaker-elect Robin Vos (R-Rochester). “I believe my knowledge on tax and finance-related issues will serve the committee and the citizens of Wisconsin well.” According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, Kooyenga…
Friday, July 27, 2012
Waukesha County lawmaker becomes second candidate to declare his candidacy for post to be vacated by Sen. Rich Zipperer.
A little more than a week after state Sen. Rich Zipperer announced he was resigning to join the administration of Gov. Scott Walker, state Rep. Chris Kapenga has declared that he will run for the open seat. Kapenga, a Republican from Delafield, said his experience as a lawmaker and a business owner make him the right candidate to address the key economic issues facing the state. "I feel my unique experience outside of Madison politics as a business owner and CPA will bring a solid set of skills to the Senate that will be instrumental in the upcoming session," said Kapenga, the owner and president of Integrated Time Systems in Milwaukee. "The Wisconsin State Senate needs the perspective of a conservative who signs both sides of a paycheck …
Monday, April 30, 2012
Former mayoral candidate is the first Democrat to declare for seat that David Cullen lost through redistricting. He says his priorities will be jobs and the economy, education funding, women’s rights and workers’ rights.
- ELECTIONS
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Monday, April 30, 2012
John Pokrandt has announced his candidacy for the Wisconsin State Assembly in the 13th District. A sales and marketing professional, Pokrandt was a candidate for mayor of Wauwatosa and is an advocate for urban ecology and preserving urban green spaces. Pokrandt is a lifelong resident of Wisconsin and a resident of the 13th District for over 11 years. John and his wife Miyoshi are the proud parents of two children: a son, Kaito, who is 6 years old, and a daughter, Hana, who is 4 years old. They live in the Quarry Heights neighborhood of East Wauwatosa and are active in their community and part of the Washington School family. “I am running for the 13th Assembly District because our district deserves a strong leader who can balance the …
Sunday, October 16, 2011
In weekly radio address, Democratic leader says governor and Republicans pushed through an "extreme agenda that has stripped away access to health care."
- OPINION
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Sunday, October 16, 2011
Editor's note: Assistant Minority Leader Donna Seidel (D-Wausau) last week offered the fourth Democratic Weekly Radio Address. The topic for this week’s address is Gov. Scott Walker's attack on women's health. You can view Seidel's address on YouTube or listen to a podcast of the speech. You can also find last week's radio address from Walker here. __________________________________________ Hello. I’m Donna Seidel. I represent the 85th District, the Wausau area and I am the assistant Democratic deader. Last session, I was proud of advances we made to help Wisconsin women access comprehensive, affordable health care. We made sure they could get birth control without discrimination and have insurance companies pay for it. We expanded …
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Republicans say millions were spent unnecessarily on summer recall elections and they want to change state Constitution to require "just cause" for a recall effort.
Even with record unemployment and minimal job growth across the country, there is still one business that has demonstrated it is recession-proof: politics. The Wisconsin recall elections were a boon for statewide cash flow, with nearly $44 million in private funds pouring into the state for nine state Senate races. The Democrats and their supporters spent over $23.4 million for their efforts, with the GOP and conservative groups spent $20.5 million, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. By comparison, $19 million was spent on all of 99 state Assembly elections in November 2010. On top of the money raised in the recall, it cost municipalities another $2.1 million to hold the elections, print ballots and…
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
As legislative session gets under way, most Democrats hold little hope for compromise with Republicans.
After a rancorous spring and summer, Wisconsin lawmakers head back to Madison Tuesday to work on bills aimed at creating jobs and improving the economy. At least that's what Republican legislators say. For the most part, they are relatively mum on specifics. Not surprisingly, area Democratic lawmkers see it differently. Despite Republican Gov. Scott Walker's call for both parties to work together, Democrats say they hold little hope that they will have influence on whatever legislation that is introduced during the 13 days the Legislature will be in session between now and the end of the year. "I don't know if there is anything on his agenda that I can support," said Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee), whose district include parts of …
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Residents focus on jobs and business at town hall meetings with state senator.
It was an uneventful evening in Brookfield for state Sen. Rich Zipperer (R-City of Pewaukee), one that harkened back to simpler times in Wisconsin, before contentious recalls and acrimonious demonstrations. Zipperer spoke to a handful of residents on almost a one-on-one basis at both the Brookfield Town Hall and the City of Brookfield municipal courtroom Wednesday night. In the Town of Brookfield, after a scheduling snafu on the part of the town forced him outdoors, a small group sat at a picnic table to ask questions of the first-term senator and former state representative. But despite the informality, the Brookfield residents were all about business, with questions centering on business in Wisconsin. At the town meeting, one of …
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Monday, August 22, 2011
Senator says he will personally help any person in the state who feels disenfranchised under the new law.
State Sen. Rich Zipperer (R-City of Pewaukee) said he’s standing behind the new voter ID bill passed by the Legislature this year and will personally help any person in the state who is concerned about being disenfranchised. “Any constituent, or anybody in the state…if there’s an individual with a legal right to vote, have them contact me or my office and I will make sure they get properly registered and have an ID,” he said. “If you know any individual, bring them to my attention. Even if they don’t live in the 33rd Senate District, I’ll get them to the office of their senator.” The voter ID bill, which will take effect during the 2012 election cycle, was a top concern of the eight Sussex residents in attendance of a listening session …
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Between $35 million and $40 million was spent on Wisconsin's recall elections. Was it really worth it?
Now that Wisconsin’s summer bout of recall madness has ended, let’s run the numbers. About 769,000 votes were cast in the state’s eight primary and nine general elections for state Senate, according to unofficial results. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group, estimates that total spending on the races by special interest groups and (to a much lesser extent) the candidates’ campaigns will fall between $35 million and $40 million. That breaks down to somewhere between $45 and $52 for each vote cast. But the campaigns, waged in TV markets that went well beyond the geographic boundaries of the recall districts, had an impact beyond the votes they helped sway. Voters all over the state were exposed to a glut of toxic …
Monday, July 18, 2011
Democrats say Republicans are rushing through new legislative boundaries in part because of upcoming recall elections.
The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature is expected to vote this week on proposed legislative boundaries that dramatically redraw districts throughout the state and could ensure that the GOP retains control of the Assembly and Senate for the next decade and beyond. The boundaries for the 132 legislative districts were unveiled by Republicans on July 8; they're likely to be approved by both chambers less than two weeks later and will then head to Republican Gov. Scott Walker for his signature. State Democrats are fuming over the pace with which the plan is heading toward approval. "The Republican proposal is highly partisan, intentionally drawn not with Wisconsin's best interest in mind but rather their own special interests in mind…
Tea party 2012
9:43 pm on Friday, November 2, 2012
You learn a lot about a man's character during adversity.......... When freshmen assembly member Paul Farrow had a question on why protective services were exempt from collect bargaining Farrow went to the Republican Party leaders for his answers. What did freshmen assembly member Chris Kapenga do? Kapenga was the star of the gossip columnist Daniel Bice's articles and Jeff Flemming's loser of … more ›