Is Wisconsin one of the strictest states for wetlands protections?
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.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Wisconsin health care system is one of the best. Is it?
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Wisconsin has one of the best health care systems in the country. We dive into national rankings to check out his claim.
Legislature’s ‘make-up’ funding would still fall short, Sen. Janet Bewley claims. We check her math.
Gov. Scott Walker touted “historic” investments to K-12 funding in Wisconsin’s 2017-19 budget. However, state Sen. Janet Bewley, D-Ashland, immediately pushed back against Walker’s claim. We check her facts.
Sen. Scott Fitzgerald touts ‘historic’ investment in K-12 aid; is he right?
In September 2017, Gov. Scott Walker signed the Wisconsin state budget for 2017-19. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, tweeted “we made historic investments in k12 education, with increases of over $200 per pupil each year totaling over $630 million.” The Observatory decided to fact-check Fitzgerald’s claims.
Is Wisconsin spending $8 million on advertising to lure people back home?
“Why are we spending $8 million on advertising to persuade people to come back to Wisconsin?” State Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, asked on Jan. 24. We check out her claim that the state will spend $8 million on advertising to persuade people to come back to the state.
Have Republicans saved Wisconsin taxpayers over $8 billion? We check.
Republican Leah Vukmir tweeted on Jan. 24 that since Republicans took control of the legislative and executive branches of government in 2011, they have saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $8 billion. The Observatory addressed the claim to see if the Republican-controlled government has already saved taxpayers more than $8 billion since the party took control in 2011.
Wisconsin leaders both praise and decry Foxconn deal; we examine their claims
The plan has split state political leaders on the value of the $3 billion taxpayer subsidy to the Taiwanese flat-screen plant in southeastern Wisconsin
Recounts reassure voters, do little to change results
Both of the recounts in Wisconsin did not change the original outcome and history shows this is usually the case. Yet both parties assure that recounts are vital.
Are transfers of profits from the King Veterans Home hurting veterans’ care?
In an Oct. 26 op-ed for The Cap Times, state Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, criticized Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-run Legislature for failing to address a range of problems at two state-run facilities, including the King Veterans Home. Specifically, Shilling attributed the King nursing facility’s poor conditions and staff shortages to profits transferred from the home for other uses. “Instead of approving $18 million in facility repairs and upgrades, the governor diverted $12 million from the veterans nursing home fund to backfill budget deficits. Republican leaders are set to raid another $18 million from King over the next two years,” Shilling wrote.
Examining Wisconsin’s unemployment rates
The Observatory verified that Wisconsin has a 4.2 percent unemployment rate but Tom Tiffany’s District 12 tells a different story.