2.6.24 SCCD News You Can Use
Chair's Message
Paul Hambleton, Chair
Driving in bad weather is tricky. Not only is it slippery for you and other drivers; it’s hard to see with rain, sleet, or snow pounding on your windshield. That’s when having good wiper blades with plenty of washer fluid makes a real difference.
Finding facts and information in the firehose of modern news is a similar challenge. Has Internet access improved our access to knowledge? Only if you work at it. Ignorance is rampant. Many media outlets are filled with misinformation and disinformation. Passions are high. Sorting through the noise for good journalism and information takes some real effort. There are plenty of “news” outlets that will tell you what to think about the facts, but not as many that stick to the facts.
The election cycle ahead will involve storms of misinformation and disinformation, especially when emotions are high. We saw an example of that right here in our county when a County Supervisor introduced a proposal to “object” to having refugees in St. Croix County. Speakers in favor (including our Congressperson Tom Tiffany!) delivered a barrage of fear and misinformation about immigrants coming to our county. After discussion and consideration, cooler heads prevailed and a motion was made and passed to postpone the resolution indefinitely. The County Chair also called upon staff to do some actual research to understand and gather facts about the situation.
Whether you listen to the radio, watch TV, do podcasts, Facebook, or TikTok, you’re going to have trouble seeing the facts. It’s time to start loading up on washer fluid and make sure your wipers are in good order. We’ve got to be ready to see in order to prevail in the coming elections.
There are many ways you can help. Check out our donation and volunteer page and consider coming to a membership meeting. I look forward to cleaning some windows with you!
Sign up on our website.
Important Dates
February 8, 2024 Open House St. Croix County Comprehensive Plan 5 - 7 p.m. Government Center, Hudson
February 13, 2024 February Meeting
February 14, 2024 Valentine’s Day…Don’t forget your honey!
February 20, 2024 Spring Primary (if needed, dependent on local candidates and municipalities)
March 12, 2024 March Meeting
April 2, 2024 Spring General Election (Local Boards, Preferential preference primary
April 9, 2024 April Meeting
August 13, 2024 Fall Primary for those positions in the November 5th Election
November 5, 2024
Fall General Election (US President (President Joseph Biden), US Senate (Senator Tammy Baldwin), WI House of Representatives #7 , State Senate and Assembly Districts (We most likely will have new districts)
February 8, 2024 Open House St. Croix County Comprehensive Plan 5 - 7 p.m. Government Center, Hudson.
Membership Meeting: ALICE Initiative
Tuesday, February 13th, 6-8 p.m.. All are welcome. Hop & Barrel Brewing, Hudson.
Join us as we welcome Steve McCarthy, Executive Director from United Way. Steve will share information about United Way's ALICE initiative.
WHO IS ALICE?
ALICE, an acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, is a way of defining our families, neighbors, and colleagues (men and women) who work hard, earn above the federal poverty level, but not enough to afford a basic household budget.
ALICE educates our children, keeps us healthy, and makes our quality of life possible. But these low-wage jobs, often in the service sector, do not pay enough for ALICE to live on. These families are forced to make tough choices, such as deciding between quality childcare or paying the rent, which have long-term consequences for ALICE and our communities. The future success of our communities is directly tied to the financial stability of ALICE households.
We welcome you to join us. RSVP below.
February 20 Primary
How do you know if your area and ballot includes a February Primary? Visit the link below to see what's on YOUR ballot.
Spring Primary will be held for Somerset School District residents. There are five candidates running for three positions and a primary must be held.
Candidates are: Lorri Ballergeon (incumbent), Kristin Siskow, and Ruth Harleen - all supportive of teachers and students. These candidates: Steve Degelau and Dani Erickson - have vocalized support of book banning.
Good News Wisconsin
Fair Maps Update!
Good news! Some of you may remember the old billboard that the St. Croix County Democrats displayed more than 2 years ago. It read, Slay the Gerrymander! And that is indeed what is happening. In December, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the Republican-drawn legislative maps. Yay!
Here’s an update:The consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review the Wisconsin maps submitted through the legal process have determined that the current maps in place by the Wisconsin GOP are indeed gerrymandered. In a last- ditch effort the Wisconsin GOP Legislature tried some monkey business and submitted a bill regarding the redistricting process. In summary, the Bill was vetoed by Governor Evers leaving the Supreme Court to make the final decision on the legislative maps. This process has confirmed what we as Wisconsinites already knew, the deep gerrymandering is happening in our state. Soon (between February 9 and March 15) the final map will be determined that will actually represent a true Wisconsin. See a chronology of the fair maps issue on our website.
Thank You, Governor Evers!
Evers’ Lawsuit Against Legislature Will Be heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Here’s an example of how your votes make a difference to make a fair Supreme Court and fight against the unfair and biased Legislature. Just this last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to hear one of three issues brought by Evers in his complaint. Evers' concern is related to the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee blocking funding for state conservation programs.
Clean Water Wins!
The value of clean water and the DNR to be stewards of our resources prevailed this past week! A lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance on behalf of large factory farms and Centralized Animal Feeding CAFOs alleged that the DNR lacked the power to regulate and permit CAFOs. This is another attempt by organizations to undermine the DNR so that they do not need to be accountable and continue to pollute our public waters.
The Clean Water Wisconsin, Wisconsin Farmers Union and Midwest Environmental Advocates joined Clean Water Wisconsin to defend the role of the DNR. Circuit Court Judge Carey J. Reed rejected the argument that the DNR does not have authority and confirmed the DNR’s role in clean water, citing Wisconsin Statute section 283.001(1). According to the statute, “It is the policy of this state to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of its waters to protect public health, safeguard fish and aquatic life and scenic and ecological values, and to enhance the domestic, municipal, recreational, industrial, agricultural, and other uses of water.”
CAFOs have been expanding in Wisconsin, often owned by out-of-state businesses. These factory farms have contributed statewide to an increase in pollutants in surface and groundwater including individually owned water wells and contribute to high nitrogen levels in the St. Croix River watershed. St. Croix County’s Emerald Sky Dairy’s expansion permit (6,288 cows) is currently being considered by the Wisconsin DNR. We are hoping that given Emerald Sky’s history of spills and water contamination that the DNR will reconsider that expansion. At a hearing held last fall, area groups and individuals voiced their concerns.
An Anti-Refugee Resolution was tabled at St. Croix County Board
Thank you to all of you who attended, spoke and sent emails to Supervisors to share your opposition to the anti-refugee resolution scheduled for the St. Croix County Administration Committee meeting on January 16, 2024. It made a difference!
Supervisor #1 Lisa Lind and the MAGA St. Croix County Republican Party wrote and supported a symbolic anti-refugee resolution that was written initially to prohibit refugees in St. Croix County but later was amended to appear less racist. However, it contained fear-mongering language that perpetuates and accentuates the national MAGA language on immigration. At the meeting, Rep. Tom Tiffany called in to support this resolution. The St. Croix County MAGA Republican Party rallied at the beginning of the meeting passing out literature from Tom Tiffany.
In addition to opposing the resolution, we oppose utilizing non-partisan boards as political disinformation vehicles. There was considerable input from the community for and against the resolution. The amount of disinformation and racism communicated by those from the far right was difficult to hear.
Thank you to those who spoke up against hate and racism. Ultimately federal decisions such as immigration are to be handled by Congress, which currently cannot work together or fund the immigration changes that are needed. In the end, the resolution was tabled with all but one committee member voting. Paul Berning left the room at the time of the vote. Thank you to those voting to table this referendum: Supervisors Carah Koch, Bob Long, Bob Fiedler, Greg Tellijohn and Scott Counter. See the video and minutes here.
Holding Tom Tiffany Accountable for Disinformation
Thank you to St. Croix County Democrats and others who attended Rep. Tom Tiffany's listening session on January 25 in New Richmond. This group of heroes questioned Tom Tiffany’s far right and conspiracy-theory thinking. We demonstrated that the people of Congressional District 7 are listening and will not stand for Tiffany’s disinformation. We had a presence and we communicated that we are paying attention and will not be complacent to his MAGA far right agenda.
Good News America
Infrastructure Improvements Keep Happening
Wisconsin was in the news last week when President Biden visited Superior to announce the $5 million in federal funding to repair the Blatnik Bridge and other infrastructure projects across the country. Joining him were Governor Evers, Governor Walz of Minnesota, Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, First Lady Jill Biden and Senator Tammy Baldwin. While visiting Superior, President Biden stopped in the Earth Rider Brewery. Biden at a Brewery…That’s Wisconsin!
From Ben Wikler, Chair of Wisconsin Democratic Party
21.3 million. That’s the number of Americans now covered thanks to the Affordable Care Act— up 31% from last year with 5 million new enrollees. How did this happen? It happened because, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden Administration reduced costs for people signing up for health care. We now have the lowest rate of uninsured Americans in American history. The goal is to drive that number to zero. This huge leap in that direction would not have been possible without your work to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. But if Republicans win, we know exactly what they’ll do—because they keep telling us. They’ll rip it all apart. Trump keeps doubling down on his pledge to shred the Affordable Care Act. In the process, if his last term is any guide, he’d gut Medicaid and eliminate protections for people with preexisting conditions. And costs for families would skyrocket.
It’s not just the Affordable Care Act. One of the Biden Administration’s triumphs was the law directing Medicare to actually negotiate the price of prescription drugs and to cap the price of insulin. Those negotiations are under way and are helping address the brutal choices seniors have had to make between life-saving medicine and food on their tables. The GOP having banned these negotiations in the first place—would ban the negotiations again if they won, and prices would rise. The special interests at Big Pharma would love that. But the rest of us would pay.
The extraordinary progress on health care is possible because of the Biden-Harris Administration, the tie-breaking Senate vote from Senator Baldwin (remember, that was in the days of the 50 - 50 Senate—and not one Republican voted for the IRA), and the last Democratic majority in the House. If Democrats win in 2024, we can go yet further.
Tammy Baldwin Stands up to Big Pharma
For too long Big Pharma and their CEOs have been lining their pockets at the expense of hard-working families, making it harder for families to get the health care they need. Tammy Baldwin knows firsthand the importance of high-quality, affordable health care, which is why she’s standing up to Big Pharma and spearheading federal efforts to hold them accountable for their price gouging.
Last month, Tammy launched an investigation into the four largest manufacturers of inhalers to determine why they’re hiking up the price of inhalers by hundreds of dollars more in the U.S. than in other countries. These manufacturers are currently selling inhalers for as little as $7 in Europe and as high as $645 in the U.S.
Tammy’s work to get to the bottom of inhaler price gouging builds on her work to hold Big Pharma accountable with the Fair Drug Pricing Act, which would increase prescription drug pricing transparency.
In 2022, Tammy took on the drug industry and won, beating Big Pharma by passing the Inflation Reduction Act to lower drug costs and cap insulin costs at $35 a month for Americans on Medicare. But Tammy knows that there’s more work to be done to bring down drug prices, which is why she’s fighting to pass the INSULIN Act of 2023, which would cap insulin costs at $35 or less for all Americans living with diabetes.
Whether it’s championing the Affordable Care Act to ensure no one with a preexisting condition gets denied health care coverage or helping pass the Inflation Reduction Act and capping out-of-pocket costs for nearly 46 million seniors nationwide, Tammy is committed to making sure every single Wisconsinite is able to get the health care they need.
Opinion
Make a Plan to Vote (Published in January 18 Hudson Star Observer)
Author: Judy Green
“Make a plan to vote.” We’re going to hear that a lot this year. What does that mean, exactly? It means to mind the calendar, plan for contingencies, and be specific.
Most of us intend to vote. But any number of unforeseen reasons – school, work, family, travel – can easily prevent us from casting our ballots despite our best intentions. You do not want to sit out this year’s elections, so here are some things to consider as you make your plan to vote. Read the rest of Judy’s plan on our news blog.
Progressivism’s Christian Roots (Published in the January 18 edition of the Hudson Star Observer as a response to opinion column) Author: Kerry Kittel
Like most kids, I usually turned to my father to help me understand many things. When I heard critical – oftentimes mean – comments directed at others, I would ask Dad about them. Invariably, he would shake his head, often chuckle, and say, “consider the source.” I got a lot of good advice from my dad, but none better than to always consider the source. (Read the rest of Kerry’s opinion in our news blog).
Get Involved
Interested in Poll Observing this Spring in Wisconsin?
The WisDems official Poll Observer sign-up form is open for the April 2 election! Poll Observers are the eyes and ears of our team on Election Day and are a great resource for voters who might need help. Poll Observers are fully trained in Wisconsin election law and you will have full communication and support from our team on Election Day. Fill out the sign-up form to join the VoPro Poll Observing team for the April Election and you can reach out to our team at with any questions. Contact pollobserving@wisdems.org
From Sierra Club
TAKE ACTION TO HELP WOLVES:
Hounding Expansion Bill (SB 545) - Please oppose expanding hound training in the Northern portion of Wisconsin for the months of May and June that would be devastating to the ecosystem and all wildlife raising young at that time, especially wolves. Sierra Club has provided you a pre-drafted email you can send to legislators and the Governor to oppose.
Wolf Population Bill (SB 139) - The proposed bill that would "require a wolf population number to be added to the Wisconsin Wolf Management plan" has been passed by the State Assembly and Senate and is now over to Governor Evers. This essentially overrides the new wolf management plan, public input and the science-based adaptive management recommended by the DNR. Please call the Governor at (608) 266-1212 and tell him not to sign it!
The Hudson Star Observer: A vehicle for community political views
The Hudson Star Observer (HSO) over its history has included a letter to the editor section. The HSO, historically a conservative paper, has been open to hearing the various political views of those within the St. Croix Valley through the letter to the editor section. Most recently the HSO has identified two individuals of differing mindsets to write an opinion column weekly. We encourage you to read and submit your thoughts in support or in opposition to the opinions published. Let's get political!
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Thank You and Make it a GREAT Day!
