Hey there, Wisconsin!

🏈 Welcome to Draft Week. No, it’s not a political story, but it is a nice feather in Wisconsin’s cap to land the 2025 NFL Draft. About 250,000 folks will be part of the draft in some form or function, pumping nearly $100 million into the Wisconsin economy.

$100 million!

That’s about the same amount of money Gov. Tony Evers is proposing to save Wisconsin consumers by eliminating the sales tax on home electricity and gas, if Republicans would approve his tax relief plans for the next state budget. 

(We couldn’t resist. We have what you could call a very particular set of skills, acquired over a very long career, to slide political references into almost any  discussion.)

Whether you’re a football fan or not, take time to enjoy watching thousands of people having a good time in our state. Expect strong marks for hospitality and team spirit. Hopefully for the weather, too.

⏮️ Last week: What are your thoughts on toll roads? 

A)  17% – Let’s do it.

B)  22% – Only at the borders.

C)  28% – Willing to hear more.

D)  33% – Never.

Herb in Cottage Grove has a typical (D) response: “Not only should all roads be open roads to travelers, but their building and maintenance should be a straight-forward line item in the budget disassociated from the gas tax. We know the revenue from gasoline is going to disappear with the adoption of electric and hydrogen vehicles, so let’s prepare for it.”

⏭️ This Week: As noted in one of this week’s stories (below), Wisconsin governors have had partial veto powers unlike almost anywhere else. While a traditional veto only allows for the rejection of a bill in its entirety, Wisconsin’s partial veto has allowed governors to strike sections of bills, individual provisions, even single letters and numbers sometimes.

There are some who believe this gives a duly-elected governor the latitude to sign modified bills into law without having to veto the whole thing and force the Legislature to start over. Others believe a governor should only be allowed a straight up-or-down veto.

(And let’s be honest, others change their answer… depending on whether their party controls the governor’s post!)

What do you think Wisconsin governors should have?

A)  Unlimited partial veto power. It prevents reckless legislation.

B)  Leave the partial veto as-is. Numbers can be selectively vetoed, but you can’t veto individual letters or words to create new sentences.

C)  No more partials: a straight all-or-nothing veto.

To answer this week’s question, hit reply or email me directly at pat@couriernewsroom.com, and we may share it in a future newsletter or on UpNorthNews Radio.

(Never Out Of The Fight PAC)

🐘 Bill Berrien, a former Navy SEAL and manufacturing CEO, launched a new political action committee this week, laying the groundwork for a potential Republican run for governor next year.

In his first statement, Berrien attacked the transgender community and made the false claim that parents don’t have input into their children’s education. 

Berrien also sought to make a connection between President Trump’s trade war with China and a resurgence of US manufacturing, but Trump actually inherited nearly 1 million new manufacturing jobs from the Biden administration.

👉🏼 My View: It’s not clear that Republicans are ready to replicate the Tim Michels and Eric Hovde recipe of running well-to-do executives who can’t make a connection with a swath of Wisconsin voters.

Recent events have helped make one thing clear: Those who insist government should be run like a business don’t appreciate the clear differences in each. Good public servants solve real problems. Bad politicians manufacture imaginary ones. Just ask the growing number of Americans who wouldn’t trust Elon Musk or Donald Trump to run a lemonade stand, having watched them cause damage that will plague this country long after they’re gone.

And to connect the dots here: Compare their costly cuts to the actual savings we mentioned in just one of Gov. Evers’ tax relief ideas.

🔔 Remember 🔔

📻 “UpNorthNews Radio” is making a change this Wednesday—expanding from two hours a day to three and heard on more stations across the Civic Media radio network. New name, too! “Mornings with Pat Kreitlow” can be heard from 6-9am and seen on our Facebook and YouTube pages. 

📱 And stay up to date all day with all of our team’s work through our social media feeds, including Instagram and TikTok.

1️⃣ – The Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds 400-year veto. Both Republican and Democratic governors have used this state’s unique partial veto powers to reshape spending bills sent by the Legislature. On Friday, the state Supreme Court upheld the most recent example, when Gov. Evers struck individual numbers, words, and a hyphen in the 2023 budget bill to increase a particular annual school spending level—until the year 2425! Like this:

the 2023–24 school year and the 2024–25 school year.

Even progressive justices in the majority noted it’s an unusual situation, but not one that runs counter to the state constitution. 

2️⃣ – Fake elector’s conspiracy theories on display. A meeting of the Wisconsin Elections Commission devolved into a shouting match Thursday, after one of the members continued to promote unfounded accusations about how the city of Milwaukee conducts elections. The commission was actually discussing a missing ballot situation in Madison when commissioner Bob Spindell, one of the fake Trump electors from the 2020 election, tried to direct the discussion to Milwaukee. Democratic commission chair Ann Jacobs was having none of it and threatened to eject Spindell if he didn’t stick to items on the agenda.

3️⃣ – Temporary trade war, permanent damage. One of our radio show guests this week discussed how President Trump’s trade war has already done lasting damage to America’s reputation as a trusted partner. Sean O’Malley, a Hudson native with extensive Wall Street experience in financial compliance and risk management, pointed to the recent selloff in US Treasury bonds, seen as one of the safest investments in the world. O’Malley said other countries no longer see the US as always willing to keep its word and pay its bond debts—and instead of bowing to pressure from Trump, they’re working out trade deals with each other and bypassing the US.

🏁 Thanks for reading today’s update.

Have a great week.