In this week's Capitol Chats episode, State Dem Party Chair Ben Wikler says Wisconsin DNC delegates who haven't formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign have "absolute clarity" that they support her over former President Donald Trump.

A special edition of Capitol Chats reviews the 2024 Republican National Convention. WisPolitics President Jeff Mayers speaks with WisPolitics reporter Kate Morton; Lou Jacobson, who covers politics for US News, PolitiFact and Sabato's Crystal Ball; and Taurean Small, campaign reporter at CBS News.

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode Trygve Olson, a senior adviser for anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, compares former President Donald Trump to an autocrat and says Wisconsin voters will decide whether democracy continues in the 2024 presidential election.

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Wisconsin Policy Forum VP and Research Director Jason Stein weighs in on the Universities of Wisconsin's budget challenges. Stein raises concerns that the state has reduced the capacity for universities to serve the labor market and discusses the closures of two-year campuses over the past few years.…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Angela Lang, executive director of Milwaukee-based Black Leaders Organizing for Communities weighs in on Milwaukee and Black and Brown voters' importance in the 2024 election. Lang also shares her thoughts on what President Joe Biden could do to appeal to Black voters.…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Rick Abrams, CEO of the Wisconsin Health Care Association and Wisconsin Center for Assisted Living (WHCA/WiCAL) shares concerns about Wisconsin’s nursing homes’ ability to meet new minimum staffing standards in the midst of a worker shortage.

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Forward Analytics Director Dale Knapp says the state will need to build more housing to meet an increased need due in part to the baby boom of the mid-20th century. Knapp said some challenges are building enough housing that’s also affordable and people with a “not in my backyard” attitude toward new housing pr…

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Wisconsin Young Republicans Chair Kyle Schroeder says young GOP voters are enthused and ready to get behind former President Donald Trump. He also says their biggest issues right now are abortion, the economy and issues at the southern border. He also says many are disappointed with the Biden administration isn…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Wisconsin College Democrats Chair Matthew Lehner says one of the biggest misconceptions about young voters is that they won’t turn out to vote in November. He also says he shares concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but noted there are many other issues at stake in the upcoming presidential election, …

On this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Dane County Republican Party Chair Brandon Maly, 24, says Republican voters, even so-called "RINOs," will likely rally behind Trump in the November general election as long as they can clear the abortion hurdle. Maly says voters aren't pleased with how the White House is handling many current issues, especially…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Dem strategist Joe Zepecki shares his takeaways from the April 2 presidential primary. Zepecki says he believes President Joe Biden will earn support from uninstructed voters in November. He also points out the percentage of voters who cast ballots in the GOP primary for candidates that are no longer in the rac…

In this week's Capitol Chats: Kyle Johnson, political director for Listen to Wisconsin, says voters who checked the 'uninstructed' box this April primary want President Joe Biden to remember and listen to those who helped elect him to office. They're protesting Biden’s policies toward Israel and Gaza. Johnson also says the movement still wants to s…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, School Choice Wisconsin President Nic Kelly says new legislative maps that favor Dems could be a challenge. But he argues Dems should remember their constituents benefit from the state's private school voucher programs. Kelly also reviews the group's efforts during the legislative session.…

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Wisconsin Education Association Council President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen says the $1.4 billion in combined school budget referendum requests across Wisconsin is a sign public schools need more funding and the funding formula is broken. A WisPolitics review found this year to be the third-highest ask from schools sin…

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, announces her bid for reelection after talking about what her caucus wants to work on for the remainder of the year. She also says she's not too worried the Dem Assembly members leaving this year will impact her caucus' ability to make significant gains with th…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Sen. Brad Pfaff discusses his bill aiming to fight PFAS contamination. The Onalaska Dem says the Legislature must act on the issue amid a standoff between Republicans and Gov. Tony Evers over PFAS funding.

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Assembly Corrections Committee Chair Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, talks about some of the most pressing issues facing the Wisconsin's prisons. He talks about what it will take to continue driving security staff vacancy rates down and how likely it is a longterm push to replace maximum security prisons from the 19…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, WISDOM Transformational Justice Campaign Coordinator Mark Rice says long term lockdowns amount to torture for inmates. He also says there has been no significant progress to lift the nearly yearlong lockdowns at Wisconsin's two oldest maximum security prisons, and argues former Parole Commissioner John Tate II …

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, freshman Rep. Nate Gustafson discusses recommendations from the Speaker's Task Force on Artificial Intelligence he chairs. The Fox Crossing Republican also shares his thoughts on how AI could be used to address the state's workforce shortage.

In this week's WisPolitics Capitol Chats podcast, Americans for Prosperity State Director Megan Novak says most voters are thinking about inflation on regular goods and services such as groceries and energy heading into the presidential election. She argues the federal government has got to stop growing the national debt and should also focus on pr…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, state Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, talks about her campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and touts her credentials as a state legislator. Shankland is one of three Dems vying for the seat.

In this week's WisPolitics Capitol Chats WILL President and General Counsel Rick Esenberg talks about the legislative redistricting lawsuit his office is party to. Esenberg also talks about what to watch for in the lawsuit seeking to make Wisconsin's 1849 abortion law unenforceable. A Dane County judge late last year ruled the law doesn't apply to …

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Marquette University Law School Lubar Center Research Fellow John Johnson gives his first impressions of maps submitted to the Supreme Court for a redistricting lawsuit. He says the court laid out criteria the maps must meet, but did not detail how to gauge the criteria. He also says he'd be surprised if the fe…

In this week’s Capitol Chats episode, Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters and chair of the Fair Maps Coalition, discusses a case before the Supreme Court challenging the state's legislative maps. The court has ordered new maps ahead of the 2024 elections.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Department of Workforce Development Secretary Amy Pechacek says the department's plan to modernize its unemployment insurance claims program is on track to finish within the 4-year goal. But she says that won't be the end of modernization efforts as new technologies to improve efficiencies and protect against f…

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, says it's crucial to include protections for innocent property owners who discover PFAS contamination in their wells in his grant bill. He rips those who argue the protections would give polluters a legal pass, noting many who find contamination are not the source of the pollut…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Democracy Found Executive Director Sara Eskrich says ranked choice voting has proven successful in other states such as Alaska. Final five, a subset of ranked choice voting, would also decrease the odds candidates who mostly appeal to their party's extremes end up on the general election ballot, she added.…

In this week's WisPolitics Capitol Chats podcast, Rep. David Steffen, R-Green Bay, argues the state has delayed replacing the aging Green Bay maximum security prison, built in the 1890s, too long. He says the politics of constructing a new prison while the administration has focused on criminal justice reform have let long term infrastructure, safe…

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Wisconsin Conservation Voters Government Affairs Manager Peter Burress explains why the group opposes a GOP bill to combat PFAS contamination. Burress argues a provision in the bill would protect polluters and shift the cost to fight pollution to taxpayers.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson, also the Wisconsin County Clerks Association's Legislative Committee co-chair, says a bill to allow absentee ballot processing before election night will absolutely help clerks do their jobs. But she says she's not sure if clerk protections the Legislature recently passed will …

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, says he and other House members are asking Israel to describe what the end of its latest conflict with Hamas will look like. He argues the Israeli bombing campaigns that have taken innocent lives "isn't a plan." The Congressional Progressive Caucus chair emeritus also sa…

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Sen. Romaine Quinn says his package of abortion-related bills would provide support for women and families. The Cameron Republican also pushes back on a lawsuit arguing abortion is legal in Wisconsin, saying abortion is clearly prohibited under state law.

In this week's Capitol Chats podcast, acting State Public Defender Katie York is in the office to talk about how she's doing since outgoing SPD Kelli Thompson gave her the reins earlier in the year. She says recent pay raises have helped some with staff vacancy issues, but she has a lot of other projects to work on now too.…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Rep. Shelia Stubbs discusses a bill she has reintroduced to establish a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls. The Madison Dem says she is hopeful the bill will be signed into law considering its bipartisan support.

This week's Capitol Chats podcast features an interview with redistricting expert John Johnson. The Marquette University Law School Lubar Center research fellow says the state Supreme Court could take a few different paths to tackling how to redraw the state’s legislative boundaries if it rules against the current maps. He said if the court draws n…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Rep. LaKeshia Myers explains why she voted with Republicans on a nonpartisan redistricting bill. The Milwaukee Dem also explains her past concerns with Gov. Tony Evers' People's Maps Commission.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in his first interview for the podcast says he's skeptical about releasing any kind of report or findings from the panel looking into impeachment. The Rochester Republican also says he doesn't want it to come to impeachment, but he still wants to know what sort of conduct might be imp…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, talks about the details in a proposal to spend more than $600 million on Milwaukee Brewers stadium maintenance and improvements efforts. The deal would keep the team in Wisconsin through 2050 and proponents argue it would bring a major economic boost to the local area and the rest …

On this week's Capitol Chats episode, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler says Republicans pushing to impeach liberal Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz are basically shooting themselves in the foot. If they go through with an impeachment, Wikler says it will likely turn many voters away from the GOP and open the door to more impeachm…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee Chair Scott Krug says the committee is focused on bipartisan solutions to election issues going into 2024. The Nekoosa Republican says allowing absentee ballots to be counted before Election Day is one priority.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Allouez, says the U.S. will always been a trade partner with China since the country relies on American goods such as Wisconsin soybeans. Still, he argues America must reduce its reliance on Chinese manufacturing and production to insulate itself against a possible economic and demog…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Dem AG Josh Kaul won't say if he plans to charge any of the 10 fake electors in Wisconsin as other AGs have brought similar cases in their states. He also talks about pushing for closure for survivors of clergy abuse and the future of his lawsuit to make the state's 1849 abortion ban unenforceable.…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, freshman Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, talks about why she and Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, formed the Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus. She also talks about the importance of expanding broadband access.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski talks about how she plans to run her new office, specifically how she wants to help clerks and other election workers do their jobs. She also talks briefly about her role as chair of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, State Treasurer John Leiber warns the Town of Sanborn's property tax revenue issue could be just the beginning of revenue problems for municipalities that previously collected the taxes from tribal members. A recent federal court ruled tribal members don't have to pay property tax, which leaves Sanborn looking …

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, nonprofit owner Rebecca Cooke talks about her second bid for western's Wisconsin's 3rd CD -- this time to unseat U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien. The Eau Claire Dem also talks about finding shared values with voters across the aisle.

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, League of Wisconsin Municipalities Government Affairs Director Toni Herkert talks about why the shared revenue deal that increases state aid to local governments is so important. She also talks about why some municipalities got more than others and why the Milwaukee-specific provisions are so contentious.…

On this week's Capitol Chats podcast, Department of Health Services Sec. Kirsten Johnson talks about the importance of expanding Medicaid coverage in Wisconsin, which would save Medicaid recipients money. She also said the state's abortion ban could make Wisconsin less attractive to medical students, arguing the lack of abortion access is a "traves…

In this week's Capitol Chats episode, Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, talks about how Republicans' budget doesn't give Milwaukee the help it needs. She argues the state's most populous city is the economic driver, and other lawmakers should give Milwaukee the respect and resources it needs to keep boosting the rest of the state.…

On this week's Capitol Chats podcast, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, argues the recent investigation that resulted in charges against Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, compromises the president. He also says several members of Biden's cabinet should be impeached.