The Observatory (https://observatory.journalism.wisc.edu/author/mmuerhoff/)
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has approved the diversion of 7 million gallons of water a day to be used primarily for the proposed Foxconn plant. Critics question whether the diversion complies with the Great Lakes Compact, which restricts use of Lake Michigan water outside of the lake’s basin.
Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson supports President Donald Trump’s move to add troops to the southern border with Mexico to intercept unauthorized immigrants and drugs. Johnson cited a shortage of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The Observatory finds his claim that the Border Patrol does suffer from attrition Verified, but finds his claim about the need for more agents Unobservable.
Gov. Scott Walker announces a deal in July 2017 with Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn to build an LCD manufacturing plant in Wisconsin. At far left is Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn. Matt Flynn, one of Walker’s Democratic challengers for governor, says some of the state’s multi-billion taxpayer investment will flow to out-of-state companies. We check his claim.
A growing movement in the United States seeks to loosen regulations on having guns on school grounds and college campuses. A proposal in Wisconsin to allow more concealed carry license holders to do that died in the most recent legislative session.
In response to Gov. Scott Walker’s State of the State address in January, Milwaukee attorney and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn released a statement claiming that “Wisconsin still lags behind the rest of the country in wage growth. Adjusted for inflation, median wages today are lower than they were before (Walker) was elected.” The Observatory rates this claim as Verified.
In a Feb. 21 tweet from his personal Twitter account, Wisconsin state Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, responded to FOX6 Milwaukee political reporter Theo Keith, writing, “The truth is school shooters almost exclusively have passed background checks.” We found that claim to be Mostly True.
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke claims Wisconsin has some of the toughest regulations in the nation for protecting wetlands. Is that true? The Observatory investigates.