A jury convicted a Wisconsin man of election fraud and identity theft for requesting the ballots of Republican state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Democratic Racine Mayor Cory Mason without their consent.
Jurors in Racine County on Tuesday found Harry Wait guilty of two misdemeanor election fraud charges and one felony identity theft charge following a two-day trial. He was acquitted of a second count of identity theft.
Wait leads a group that makes false election claims, including that Wisconsin’s elections are riddled with fraud and that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 by about 21,000 votes.
Wait admitted in 2022 that he requested Vos’ and Mason’s ballots to try to prove that the state’s voter registration system is vulnerable to fraud. Wait told The Associated Press at the time that he wasn’t surprised he was charged.
“You got to expect to pay some costs sometimes when you are trying to work for the public good,” he said.
His efforts drew praise from Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022, who called Wait a “white hat hacker.”
After the verdict, Wait told WTMJ that he “would do it again.”
“I tested the system and the system failed,” he said.
A sentencing date has not been set. Wait’s attorney Joe Bugni did not respond to an email Wednesday asking whether he would appeal.
Wait, 71, faces up to six years in prison on the felony conviction and up to a year in jail on each of the misdemeanor convictions.
His conviction comes after a jury in 2024 found a former Milwaukee election official guilty of misconduct in office after she obtained three military absentee ballots using fake names and Social Security numbers in 2022. Like Wait, Kimberly Zapata argued that she was trying to expose vulnerabilities in the state’s election system.
Zapata was fined $3,000 and sentenced to one year probation.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup.This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.
Borrowers who go through microloan programs in Appleton and Madison work with local banks to set up accounts. (Courtesy of unDraw.co)
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St. Vincent de Paul-Madison started a microloan program in 2023 and has so far made nearly $100,000 in loans to 50 people.
Word spread about the program, and leaders at St. Vincent de Paul-St. Thomas More Conference in Appleton decided to implement a similar initiative.
People must meet several criteria to be eligible for a low-interest microloan.
The local St. Vincent de Paul chapter financially supports the loan, and borrowers work with a partner bank to establish a bank account, get the funds and go through financial education.
However, the effort is not without risk. The Madison organization has had people default on their microloans, though leaders declined to say how many.
Mary T. had a $2,500 balance on her credit card. It came with a 26.9% interest rate.
“I wanted to be responsible and pay off my loan … but it was so hard to get it paid off,” the Madison resident said.
Then, she heard about St. Vincent de Paul-Madison’s microloan program. If she qualified, the organization would pay the credit card loan and Mary would then pay back St. Vincent de Paul on a loan with a 4.3% interest rate through a local bank.
“It’s July 2027 that I’ll have it paid off,” Mary said. “It was not hard to go through the paperwork, and they were so nice to me throughout the whole process.”
Mary is one of about 50 people helped by St. Vincent de Paul’s microloan program since it started in late 2023. The Madison organization launched its initiative to help people living in poverty manage a one-time bill or pay off high-interest payday loans.
“People get trapped in these loans,” said Julie Bennett, CEO and executive director of St. Vincent de Paul-Madison. “They take out a loan to help with a car repair, for example, and the interest just grows. They then need another loan or need to extend the loan because they can’t pay the interest, and it just spirals.”
Since St. Vincent de Paul-Madison started its microloan program, the organization has made nearly $100,000 in loans, and word has spread. The St. Vincent de Paul-St. Thomas More Conference in Appleton launched its microloan program in February.
“The first microloan we made was for someone who had an auto title loan with a 305% effective interest rate. He had a $1,500 loan, and we were able to get him down to a 5% interest rate,” Bennett said.
Finding an alternative to payday loans
The Madison organization’s leaders learned about microloan programs offered by St. Vincent de Paul conferences in Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas, after attending national events. Members thought it was a great program they could bring back to Wisconsin, which has some of the highest average payday loan interest rates in the nation. A report from The Pew Charitable Trusts found state residents pay an average of $395 in fees and interest when repaying a $500 loan after four months, for an interest rate of 338%.
As the Madison organization’s leaders worked on the 2019-2022 strategic plan, Bennett said creating a microloan program was included on the to-do list. They looked at other microloan programs and struggled at first to understand the complexity of banking. St. Vincent de Paul-Madison created a task force that included financial representatives who helped them understand how the loan process would work. Representatives from local organizations that work with those living in poverty also joined the task force.
While St. Vincent de Paul-Madison provides the money for the loans, its leaders must partner with financial institutions to process the loans and help create a positive lending experience for the borrower’s credit report. The Bank of Sun Prairie signed on as the organization’s first banking partner in 2023, with Lake Ridge Bank joining in 2025.
“We needed a financial partner to take care of all the loan documentation and to make sure the loan was on (the borrower’s) record,” Bennett said. “If they pay off the loan successfully, it looks good on their credit record and gives them something to build on.”
Microloan recipients must meet several requirements to qualify, including being a Dane County resident, having a monthly household income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, being willing to have a bank account and having a monthly debt-to-income ratio under 47%.
As part of the program, loans range from $400 to $2,500. Borrowers receive low-interest rates between 4% and 8% and set up flexible repayment plans over two years through local banks.
“We see the microloans as an alternative to payday loans for people who need money but have no other source to go to,” Bennett said. “We also see the microloans as a way to pay off those payday loans, which cause immediate and long-term harm to borrowers since the interest rates keep going up.”
Borrowers also receive financial education and support to help them avoid similar situations in the future. Bennett said St. Vincent de Paul-Madison wanted to provide that education with a sensitive approach. The University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Financial Education program developed training for the microlending team so they could have sensitive, discreet conversations.
“No one likes talking to strangers about their money, and it’s even harder when their financial condition is precarious,” she said.
The microloan program carries some risk for St. Vincent de Paul-Madison. If borrowers default on their loans, the organization is on the hook for paying them off. Unfortunately, that has happened, though Bennett declined to share how many people have defaulted.
To Mary, being able to get her interest rate to a predictable and manageable number was vital.
“I just know how much I need to pay without the total … going up all the time, with the interest … growing,” she said. “I felt I was never making any progress with the payments. Now, I can see when it’s all going to be paid off, and I know I’m going to get it done.”
An example to others
The Madison team paid their experience forward, and leaders from an Appleton organization took notice.
Karen Rickert, a member of St. Vincent de Paul-St. Thomas More Conference, heard Bennett speak about Madison’s microloan program at an event. In her years as a volunteer, Rickert saw many people caught living paycheck to paycheck. A woman who was hit with a car repair bill and turned to a payday lender stuck with Rickert.
“The repair costs were more than what we could help with. She couldn’t go to work because she didn’t have a working car. She couldn’t take her kids to school because she didn’t have a car. She eventually had to take out one of those terrible payday loans,” Rickert said. “I felt terrible about it, but it sprung me into action.”
Members from the Appleton organization met with Bennett and learned as much as possible about the Madison group’s microloan program. They put their bylaws and plans together.
The next step? Raising $20,000 to serve as security for the loans. Thanks to a grant and donations, they nearly doubled their goal.
Nicolet Bank signed on as the financial institution. Rickert said the organization has several volunteers who used to work in finance and banking. They “walk hand-in-hand with our borrowers through the process to help address any issues before they become a problem,” she said.
For organizations looking to start their own microloan programs, Bennett and Rickert recommended talking to groups with their own initiatives and being prepared to ask a lot of questions. The St. Thomas More Conference learned a lot by talking with the Madison organization and others as they put their microloan program together, Rickert said.
“It was a lot of work and took us a while to get it going, but it was worth it,” she said.
With everything in place, the Appleton organization made its first microloan in February.
“It’s amazing to see this all come together and now we’re able to help people get loans at a reasonable rate and help steer them away from payday loans,” Rickert said. “We’re helping them get a step ahead.”
The secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the agency is preparing to set up grant programs to address PFAS contamination with some work beginning this summer or fall.
The Line 5 reroute has generated years of debate, protests, tens of thousands of comments and challenges to state permits that prompted a weekslong contested case hearing. The fight over Line 5 is one front in a larger battle over pipeline projects that often pit energy security and jobs against potential harms to the environment and tribal treaty rights.
In 1985, Wisconsin was one of the most unionized states in the country. A new study looks at the precipitous decline in union membership after the passage of Act 10, which marks its 15th anniversary this month.
In a counterintuitive move, entrepreneurs see a value in moving toward, not away from, one city or the other during construction work on the Blatnik Bridge.
Harry Wait, the Racine-area man who requested absentee ballots on behalf of other people to prove it could be done, was convicted Tuesday night on election fraud and identity theft charges.
People wait in long security lines at LaGuardia Airport on March 25, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. Travel disruptions continue as hundreds of TSA agents have quit or are working without pay during a partial government shutdown. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators showed no movement Wednesday toward a deal to end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, despite the problems it’s causing for the thousands of federal workers set to miss yet another paycheck and travelers waiting hours to get through airport security lines.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said an offer from Democrats, sent over in the morning, was completely unacceptable and that GOP lawmakers wouldn’t even bother to send back a counterproposal.
“They know better. They’re asking for things that have already been turned down,” he said. “So it just seems like they’re going in circles.”
Thune said the chamber would vote later on a funding bill for DHS that doesn’t include Enforcement and Removal Operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the deportation and detention arm of the agency.
“They said over the weekend that they didn’t want to fund ERO. They’ll fund everything else,” he said. “So we’re going to give an opportunity to vote to do that.”
Thune said Republicans’ decision to remove funding for those deportation programs represents a “significant” compromise that shows GOP lawmakers are “coming to the table and trying to get a deal.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the offer Democrats sent over represented “a reasonable, good-faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months.”
Schumer said a proposal Republicans sent earlier this week didn’t include any of the overhauls to immigration enforcement that Democrats have been talking about since January, when federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
“For Republicans to send us a proposal that has no reforms is bad faith as well and will only slow things down,” he said.
Trump ‘pretty much not happy’ with ‘any deal’
President Donald Trump remains a wild card in the negotiations. His support will be needed for any DHS funding bill to become law, regardless of how much longer it takes lawmakers to reach consensus.
“Well, I don’t want to comment until I see the deal,” he said Tuesday when asked about ongoing DHS talks. “But as you know, they’re negotiating a deal. I guess they’re getting fairly close. But I think any deal they make, I’m pretty much not happy with it.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., when asked about those comments during a Wednesday morning press conference, appeared skeptical of breaking off some line items in the DHS funding bill.
Any legislation to end the shutdown that passes the Senate will need to move through the House before it could reach Trump’s desk.
“We always have Homeland funded as an entire department. There’s obvious reasons for that. It’s very important. I don’t think we need to be breaking it apart,” he said. “And so I think that’s what the president is reflecting there. He wants Congress to do its dang job.”
Will Congress leave town without an agreement?
It isn’t clear whether the Senate will still depart for its two-week spring break without a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS, which has been shut down since Feb. 14.
Legislation cannot advance in that chamber without the support of at least 60 senators, making buy-in from each party essential to end the shutdown.
Thune said he hadn’t made a final decision but seemed likely to let lawmakers head back home for the scheduled recess absent progress toward a deal.
“If we’re not here, and when the Democrats are willing to make a deal, we’d certainly get everybody back to vote on it,” he said. “But no decisions on that yet. So hopefully the next couple days will be productive.”
Until a deal is reached, the DHS funding lapse will continue to affect workers and programs run by many of the agencies within the department, including the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration.
ICE and Customs and Border Protection operations have largely continued uninterrupted since Republicans approved tens of billions in additional funding for those agencies in their “big, beautiful” law.
‘We’ve got a lot of plate spinning’
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford said lawmakers need to find some sort of solution to fund DHS following weeks of stalemate.
“At the end of the day, we got to get them open,” he said. “And the frustration that we have is we literally offered what they asked for three days ago, and then suddenly it’s like, ‘Oh no, no, we got new stuff.’”
Lankford said he doesn’t want to see senators leave for the recess without a deal to reopen DHS.
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said lawmakers should stick around Capitol Hill until they solve at least some of the several outstanding issues.
“We’ve got a lot of plate spinning. And I’m afraid if we leave until we get some certainty around them, a few of them are going to fall to the floor and people are going to be wondering what’s going on,” he said.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said the way the Trump administration has approached immigration enforcement and deportation has led to the problems over DHS funding.
“I have a constitutional responsibility to fund only a government that obeys the law,” he said. “I would be violating my oath of office to fund ICE without reforms.”
Moreno and Merkley face off
Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno went to the floor in the evening to ask unanimous consent to approve a bill that would fund every component of DHS for two weeks, providing back pay to all of its employees.
Moreno said that would give senators enough time to work out a bipartisan deal on the full-year DHS spending bill if they canceled the recess and stayed around to work.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley proposed that lawmakers instead fund TSA through the end of September, when the current fiscal year ends.
Moreno then asked Merkley to change that request to fund every agency within DHS except for Enforcement and Removal Operations for the rest of the fiscal year.
Merkley then said he would agree to fund every agency within DHS except ICE and CBP.
“He keeps asking for Customs and Border Protection to be funded without modifying how they’re behaving across the nation,” Merkley said. “He keeps asking for ICE to be funded without modifying their actions where they’re acting like a secret police.”
The senators were unable to come to an agreement to approve funding for any of the agencies at DHS for any length of time during a nearly hour-long exchange that became tense at several points.
Moreno said the impasse represented “a sad day for the United States Senate.”
Tassels emerge from corn in central Iowa on Aug. 4, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow gas stations to sell a blended fuel containing 15% ethanol into the summer season in an effort to lower gas prices, Administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday.
The blend, known as E15, is usually barred in many Midwest states over the summer to reduce smog, though the federal government has routinely in recent years issued waivers to allow summer sales. The move, which ethanol producers applauded, could prevent a spike in prices at the pump during the war with Iran that has scrambled oil markets.
“EPA is working with our federal partners to reduce unnecessary costs and uncertainty and ensure that gas prices remain affordable for all Americans through the summer,” Zeldin said in a statement. “This emergency action will provide American families with relief by increasing fuel supply and consumer choice.”
Bipartisan officials in corn-producing states had sought the waiver, and continue to push for year-round availability of the product. Ethanol is manufactured from corn and other plant materials.
Move wins praise from industry, officials
Seven Midwestern governors — Republicans Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Mike Kehoe of Missouri, Jim Pillen of Nebraska and Larry Rhoden of South Dakota and Democrats Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Tony Evers of Wisconsin — signed a March 6 letter to Zeldin requesting the waiver.
More recently, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee also endorsed the move.
“With gas prices spiking, now’s the time to make E15 available year-round,” Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said in a March 19 statement. “It will help lower costs and decrease our dependence on foreign oil.”
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, a Nebraska Republican, also applauded Wednesday’s announcement, and called on Congress to make the policy permanent.
Ethanol industry groups also approved of the waiver. Geoff Cooper, the president and CEO of the national ethanol advocacy group Renewable Fuels Association, said the move was “exactly what the supply chain needs right now.”
“President Trump and Administrator Zeldin understand that year-round E15 is a solution that can extend domestic fuel supplies and reduce pump prices for hardworking American families,” Cooper said. “With geopolitical conflict roiling energy markets worldwide, we applaud President Trump and Administrator Zeldin for acting quickly and decisively to combat potential fuel shortages and help keep a lid on gas prices this summer.”
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw also thanked the administration in a statement.
“With rising fuel prices and a war in the Middle East, this is the worst time to force retailers to bag E15 pumps. E15 adds home-grown supply and reduces prices for consumers,” he said.
Iran war disrupts oil market
Gas prices have risen since President Donald Trump launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. Transport through the Strait of Hormuz has been limited due to threats from Iran during the conflict.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted at Wednesday’s press briefing the waiver was a part of the administration’s response to rising fuel costs during the war.
“Obviously the administration is coming up with creative new solutions by the day to keep the price of oil stable, something the president wants to see,” she said.
Trump will also welcome nearly 1,000 farmers to the White House for a National Agriculture Day event on Friday, where the president plans to promote his record on the issue, Leavitt said.
The E15 waiver will be in effect May 1 through May 20. Twenty days is the longest period a single waiver can be applied under the Clean Air Act, the EPA said in the press release. The move signals the administration views further waivers as an option as restrictions ramp up over the summer.
The New Jersey Capitol is pictured along the banks of the Delaware River in Trenton. A new analysis found New Jersey has the weakest rainy day fund of any state in the nation. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
State rainy day funds — money reserved to cover unexpected expenses and patch short-term budget holes — are declining nationally as states face increased costs, lower tax revenue and federal budget cuts, a new analysis found.
The decline follows a period of strong reserves bolstered by federal pandemic aid and higher-than-expected tax collections, the report said.
Researchers at The Pew Charitable Trusts found that the number of days that state reserves could cover state operations fell in fiscal year 2025 — the first decline since the Great Recession.
State reserve funds will play a critical role in stabilizing state finances as they confront the most widespread budgetary pressures since at least 2020, the researchers said. Like household savings accounts, state reserves help fund major one-time investments or provide a cushion in times of disrupted tax revenues, including economic downturns. Lower reserves means states could be quicker to cut state services or raise taxes in times of tight budgets.
Examining data from a survey conducted by the National Association of State Budget Officers, Pew researchers concluded that the median state in 2025 could fund its operations on reserve funds for 47.8 days — down from a record 54.5 days in fiscal 2024.
States last fiscal year held a collective $174 billion in savings, though reserves varied widely. Wyoming, for example, held enough cash on hand to operate for 320 days. But New Jersey’s reserve didn’t hold enough to cover a single day of state operations. The other states with the smallest share of rainy day reserves were Washington, Illinois, Delaware and Rhode Island.
The Pew analysis found that 26 states in 2025 had less capacity in their rainy day funds — meaning they would cover fewer days of state operations. In 14 of those states, officials drew on reserves, while 10 grew their balances but did so more slowly than they increased state spending. Two states maintained flat reserve levels as expenses grew.
While helpful in the short term, reserves won’t provide a long-term solution for states as many are confronting structural imbalances, meaning revenue streams are not keeping up with government spending.
“Although reserves exist to provide relief during times of fiscal stress, they are not a sustainable solution for persistent budget shortfalls,” the analysis said.
Budget pressures are expected to increase as states grapple with major federal policy changes that cut state funding and increase state administrative costs for federal safety net programs including Medicaid and food assistance.
In its most recent survey of state budgets, the National Association of State Budget Officers found that general fund spending was projected to be “nearly flat” in fiscal year 2026 budgets. More states last year began enacting spending cuts and hiring freezes to balance budgets, the survey found, and slow revenue growth was projected for a fourth consecutive year.
The survey showed 23 states expected spending to stay flat or decline in 2026, while 14 expected spending to grow by less than 5%. Seven states projected growth between 5% and 10%, while five expected spending to grow by more than 10%.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor speaks at a March 18 forum hosted by the Marquette University Law School. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner)
The candidate debate scheduled for Wednesday night between Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar was canceled after Taylor was hospitalized with kidney stones Wednesday morning.
According to a release from Taylor’s campaign, she woke up “feeling unwell” and went to urgent care where doctors recommended she visit the hospital for further evaluation. In a later release, the campaign said she’d rest a few days before returning to the campaign trail.
“This afternoon Judge Taylor was diagnosed with kidney stones and will rest and recover for the next couple days before returning to the campaign trail,” the campaign said. “Judge Taylor will soon launch a statewide tour to meet voters across Wisconsin and we are committed to rescheduling today’s debate next week on a date that works for WISN, debate partners, and our opponent’s campaign. We appreciate everyone who has reached out to wish Judge Taylor well and we’re looking forward to a quick recovery.”
Wednesday’s debate, scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. at the Marquette University School of Law, was the only planned debate between the two candidates. A rescheduled debate is set to be held April 2 at 7 p.m. The makeup will be held at WISN’s studio without any audience.
The race between Taylor and Lazar, both judges on state appeals courts, has drawn less attention than other recent Supreme Court races, with the ideological balance of the Court not at stake. A Marquette Law School poll released on Tuesday found that Taylor holds an 8 percentage point edge among likely voters, yet nearly half of those polled had still not decided whom to support.
In a video, Harry Wait holds up absentee ballots he requested on behalf of other people. (Screenshot)
Racine County election conspiracy theorist Harry Wait was found guilty of election fraud Tuesday for requesting absentee ballots on behalf of two elected officials in 2022.
Wait has been a prominent voice in Wisconsin’s community of election deniers since the 2020 presidential election, including as a leader of the group H.O.T. Government. He was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor election fraud and one count of identity theft by a Walworth County jury.
Wait was charged by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul in 2022 after he requested absentee ballots using the names of Racine Mayor Cory Mason, a Democrat, and Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican. Wait said at the time he requested the ballots as part of an effort to prove the state’s absentee ballot system is vulnerable to fraud.
After requesting the ballots, Wait publicized his effort, gaining the attention of Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling. Schmaling and other members of the Wisconsin Republican party celebrated Wait’s work as highlighting a vulnerability in the system. However election administrators said Wait had committed a crime by requesting the ballots and the fact he was caught showed the system was not actually vulnerable.
Voting by mail has been under attack from Republicans in Wisconsin and across the country since President Donald Trump began to make his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen partially because of absentee ballots. Trump lost the 2020 election in Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes and numerous audits, reviews and investigations have affirmed that result.
Wait faces up to seven years imprisonment, but his sentencing has not yet been scheduled. After his conviction, he told reporters he “would do it again.”
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) intimidate and quiet critics, including journalists and activists, by burdening them with the cost of expensive, baseless legal proceedings./Getty Images
A bill that aimed to prevent the use of expensive lawsuits to silence journalists and other members of the public was blocked by the state Senate due to opposition from Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee), who previously imperiled a local Wausau paper.
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation — also known as SLAPP lawsuits — are a way of intimidating and quieting critics, including journalists and activists, by burdening them with the cost of expensive, baseless legal proceedings. Anti-SLAPP laws aim to provide a remedy.
Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk (R-Hubertus), who coauthored the bill, said in an email to the Wisconsin Examiner that he was “very disappointed that one or two Republican senators would block a bill that would protect everyone’s First Amendment rights.” He said he identified a few senators opposed to allowing the bill to make it to the Senate floor, and made several attempts to contact them and address potential concerns.
Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk (R-Hubertus) official portrait.
“The vast majority of Republicans AND Democrats in the state Legislature supported this bill,” Piwowarczyk said.
Bill cosponsors included Reps. Elijah Behnke (R-Town of Chase), Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls), Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc), Randy Udell (D-Fitchburg) and Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee).
Piwowarczyk is the co-founder of Wisconsin Right Now, a conservative publication focused on state government issues. He was elected to his first term in the state Assembly in 2024, and the anti-SLAPP legislation became a top priority because he said he has “seen firsthand how ordinary citizens, citizen activists, influencers, concerned parents and small media outlets are systematically targeted with lawsuits by entities with large or unlimited resources in an attempt to silence them.”
“These lawsuits weren’t about legitimate grievances; they are a form of legal warfare or lawfare. As the saying goes, ‘The punishment is the process,’” Piwowarczyk said.
The bill passed on a voice vote in the Assembly in February, but never received a vote in the Senate.
Wisconsin Right Now cofounder with Piwowarczyk, Jessica McBride, recently accused Tomczyk in a Facebook post of maneuvering behind the scenes to block the bill from a vote.
Tomczyk has some history with the issue, having prompted the introduction of anti-SLAPP legislation by Democratic lawmakers in 2023. He placed the Wausau Pilot & Review, a small digital newspaper started and edited by Shereen Siewert, in a dire financial situation when he sued the paper for defamation in 2021 after the it published a report that Tomczyk called a young teen an anti-LGBTQ slur at a Marathon County board was meeting. The paper reported that Tomczyk was overheard using the slur as a resolution called “A Community for All,” an effort to reinforce acceptance of diversity and inclusivity, was being debated.
According to the New York Times, Tomczyk admitted in a deposition to having used the slur before “out of joking and out of spite” about his gay brother.
The case was dismissed in April 2023 after the judge found that Tomczyk had failed to meet the legal standard for defamation. His appeal of the judgement was dismissed in 2024. Tomczyk’s lawsuit prompted Democratic lawmakers to introduce anti-SLAPP legislation in 2023, although it never advanced in the Republican-led Legislature.
This session, Piwowarczyk introduced his own proposal, the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, to curb retaliatory lawsuits and gathered bipartisan support for it.
Piwowarczyk’s bill would have created a process for courts to quickly dismiss lawsuits that target protected speech or participation in government proceedings, including by requiring a prompt hearing and halting constant discovery while the motion is pending. The bill would have also allowed for the parties that prevailed in court to recover attorney fees. The bill was based on model legislation developed by the nonprofit Uniform Law Commission.
Piwowarczyk has cited other cases he said prompted the bill, including one in which Moms For Liberty activist Scarlett Johnson was sued for defamation for calling a former teacher in the Mequon-Thiensville School District a “bully,” “lunatic,” “woke” and “white savior” on social media. Johnson eventually got representation from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative legal nonprofit, and her case was dismissed.
Wisconsin Right Now is not the only conservative endorser of the legislation. Meg Ellefson, a conservative podcast host, wrote in a Facebook post that she was “very disappointed” and that Tomczyk has a “shallow and myopic view” of the issue.
“This was an opportunity to protect the free speech of conservatives in Wisconsin and likely won’t come around again due to predictions that Republicans will lose control of the state Senate in this next election,” she wrote.
A coalition of Wisconsin local media stakeholders including Siewert, Freedom of Information Council president Bill Lueders and Wisconsin Watch managing editor Jim Malewitz, signed a letter urging lawmakers to pass the bill and protect journalists and members of the public earlier this month.
“Amid the many threats facing our communities, it’s more clear than ever that our right to free speech is under attack,” the letter stated. “We firmly believe that this bill is a strong solution to threats against the First Amendment in Wisconsin. By advancing this piece of legislation, lawmakers would be making a wise nonpartisan investment in protecting the speech and civic health of the commonwealth while laying the groundwork for a sustainable, community-rooted local news ecosystem.”
Wisconsin is one of 11 states in the U.S. that does not have Anti-SLAPP protections in place.
Tomczyk, however, has rejected the claim that he is the only reason did not advance.
Sen. Cory Tomczyk official portrait.
“I have to respond to the ridiculous notion that I have somehow made an assault on free speech in our state,” Tomczyk wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday evening. “Most media is dominated by the left with only 2 or 3 right leaning outlets in the entire state. This bill provides more [protection] for the media and does little or nothing for the ordinary citizen.”
Tomczyk said the bill was discussed during a Republican Senate caucus meeting where he was the only person to speak on the bill.
“It is in caucus that the Senators who have proposed bills,,, have the opportunity to support and promote their bill if there is opposition to it.” he wrote on Facebook. “When appropriately numbered Senate Bill 666 came up for discussion, I simply told my colleagues to be very careful and make sure they understand what they are voting for,” Tomczyk said. “I was the only Senator to speak against the bill. No Senator spoke FOR the bill.”
In his post, Tomczyk also, again, denied that he ever said the slur at the meeting, noted that he wasn’t a state lawmaker at the time and questioned the effectiveness of the legislation.
Language in the bill states that one of three criteria that would be used to determine whether a case can be dismissed through the process is if “the responding party fails to establish a prima facie case as to each element of the cause of action or the moving party establishes either that the responding party failed to state a cause of action or that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
“You got that?” Tomczyk wrote about the language. “Clear as mud right?”
Piwowarczyk said, however, that many of his colleagues got on board with the legislation after he explained its purpose and some of the examples.
Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Gillett) was the lead Senate author. He was not available for an interview with the Examiner, but said in a statement that “we unfortunately didn’t have the votes on Senate Bill 666 in the Senate as we prepared for last week’s floor session.”
The state Senate and Assembly have both adjourned their final regular floor sessions of the year. Work in the Capitol will be minimal for the remainder of the year as lawmakers turn their attention to running for reelection.
Free Press Action said it would also be advocating for the bill next year.
“SLAPP lawsuits are designed to punish and silence, not to win. Even when dismissed, they can cost defendants tens of thousands of dollars and years in court. When anti-SLAPP laws are enacted, targeted victims can defeat these speech-chilling attacks,” Arin Anderson, the Wisconsin civic media campaign manager for Free Press Action, said in a statement. “Passing this broadly supported bill would send a clear message: Wisconsin stands up for free speech, open debate and the right of people to hold the powerful accountable.
When lawmakers return in January 2027, the makeup of both the state Assembly and Senate could be quite different, with Republican leaders and other incumbents retiring and Democratic lawmakers eyeing majorities.
“I look forward to reintroducing the bill next session and working with my colleagues to protect Wisconsin residents from meritless, anti-speech lawsuits,” said Wimberger, who is not up for reelection.
Piwowarczyk said reintroducing the bill at the start of the next legislative session will be one of his first actions should he be elected to another term in office.
“This bill is bipartisan, so regardless of what happens in November, I expect to have wide support again,” he said.
Federal immigration officers were at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday, March 23, 2026, to help with airport security as the partial shutdown continues. The airport was telling travelers to prepare for at least four-hour wait times to get through security Monday. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Transportation Security Administration officers are struggling to afford basic necessities as they approach their second missed full paycheck since a funding lapse began last month, union leaders said at a virtual press conference Tuesday.
Officials from the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 44,000 TSA officers nationwide, urged Congress to immediately find a solution to the partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14. More than 400 TSA workers have quit their jobs since the start of the shutdown, with thousands missing shifts.
Mac Johnson, who represents TSA workers in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, said his members are increasingly telling him about difficulties affording groceries, housing costs, auto insurance and other essentials.
Some have turned to selling plasma to make ends meet, he said.
“It’s not that these employees, their families, are hungry,” Johnson said. “They’re beginning to starve, literally starve, because they do not have the funds … to provide food for their families … So we not only strongly encourage, we demand that the Congress and this administration sit down like adults and resolve this matter so these employees won’t be placing themselves between a rock and a hard place.”
Dispute over immigration crackdown
After two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in January — and other chaotic episodes sparked by President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push — Democrats in Congress demanded changes to immigration enforcement policy as a condition for funding the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA and conducts most immigration enforcement.
Senators have indicated in recent days they could be approaching a deal to fund the non-immigration parts of TSA, but union officials said their members must be paid immediately.
“We’ve been hearing about optimism and progress for weeks,” AFGE President Everett Kelly said. “Our members cannot eat optimism or pay rent with progress.”
As airports see TSA staffing shortages while officers miss work, security lines in some airports have stretched for hours.
Even once the shutdown ends, it could take two weeks to a month for workers to receive their back pay, Aaron Barker, the president of the union covering airports in Georgia, and Johnny Jones, the secretary-treasurer of the nationwide AFGE chapter for TSA workers, said.
That could potentially mean it will take weeks to return to normal staffing levels as officers continue to miss shifts to seek gig work or other quick payouts, they said.
TSA officers have missed one partial and one full paycheck since mid-February. Another paycheck is due this weekend, the AFGE officials said.
Blame game
Asked about the situation affecting TSA employees, DHS provided a statement from spokeswoman Lauren Bis that closely resembled a comment she gave a day earlier blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
“American travelers are facing HOURS long waits at airports across the country and more than 450 TSA officers quit and thousands have called out sick from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent,” Bis said.
At the U.S. Capitol, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer blasted Trump for demanding that a national voter ID bill be included in a deal to reopen DHS.
“We wasted a day of negotiations because of Donald Trump’s temper tantrum,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a floor speech. “A day may not seem a lot to the president, but that’s another day of TSA workers needlessly waiting for checks, another day of travelers standing for hours at a time at security.”
ICE ‘in the way’
The administration has dispatched agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, another DHS agency, to a handful of airports to assist TSA workers. ICE is fully funded, despite the DHS shutdown, because Republicans’ spending and tax cuts law last year provided money for immigration enforcement.
White House border czar Tom Homan has said ICE agents would help with tasks like guarding exits and not conduct activities that require extensive training, freeing up TSA officers to operate x-ray machines and other more specialized tasks.
But AFGE officials said the ICE officers are not helping.
“All ICE is doing is in the way,” Hydrick Thomas, the president of the AFGE council covering TSA workers, said. “We’re still trying to figure out why they’re there. No way ICE is gonna help us make passengers feel safe.”
(The Center Square) - A Wisconsin Supreme Court debate scheduled for Wednesday night was delayed after candidate Chris Taylor said that she could not attend and was diagnosed with kidney stones after visiting urgent care.
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