According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin has the highest rate of deaths from falls in the country. The number of falls that emergency medical services respond to is rapidly growing each year, resulting in 55,000 emergency department visits in 2024 alone. This is bad for older adults who get hurt, first responders and health care providers who are stretched thin and taxpayers who shoulder the burden of hospitalizations and lengthy recoveries.
Unfortunately, many older adults are not getting the preventative care they need to maintain their balance and health. That needs to change.
The Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly (SAFE) Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Carol Miller and U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, both West Virginia Republicans, would address this crisis by allowing Medicare beneficiaries to receive a no-cost falls risk assessment from a physical or occupational therapist as part of their annual wellness visit.
A growing number of bipartisan co-sponsors — including Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin — supports this legislation. I urge all of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to do the same.
Kevin Svoboda is a physical therapist in Greendale and a member of the Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation.
Guest commentaries reflect the views of their authors and are independent of the nonpartisan, in-depth reporting produced by Wisconsin Watch’s newsroom staff. Want to join the Wisconversion? See our guidelines for submissions.
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Wisconsin leads the nation in reported fall deaths among older adults, with more than 1,800 in 2024.
The reasons aren’t fully clear but may include how local officials report deaths, graying demographics and Wisconsin’s culture of alcohol use.
Many falls can be prevented — and Wisconsin is a leader in that work.
Programs from ballroom dancing to parkour help older adults build strength, balance and confidence.
About a dozen gray-haired adults line the playground fence at Madison’s Warner Park. Standing on narrow wood planks, they balance on the balls of their feet.
“Calves are burning, woo!” someone yells. The class stops to shake out their legs. Participants, most in their 60s or 70s, step back onto the boards and lift their heels off the ground — one of several movements in the class to help build muscle to prevent falls and practice parkour.
Alice Morehouse, 70, hits the playground’s blue, rubber surface. She shifts her weight to her left side and pushes herself up onto her toes. An instructor reminds everyone to flatten their hands — a tip Morehouse already picked up during two years in Parkour for Seniors classes.
She drops to the ground and confidently springs back up twice more.
“When I first started, I went home, drank a cup of coffee and took a nap,” Morehouse tells a classmate. “Now I only need the coffee.”
Sitting on a swing, holding two Jenga blocks in the form of a “T,” Morehouse says she has tried other workout classes. But parkour is “way, way more fun,” she adds while pushing off the ground.
Anne Cook, left, practices a balancing exercise with Kathy Reinhard during a parkour class at Warner Park on April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin has the nation’s highest reported death rate from falls among older adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. More than 1,800 older Wisconsinites died from falls in 2024.
It’s not clear why Wisconsin stands out. Without firm evidence, experts point to several possible factors, including how local officials report deaths, graying demographics and Wisconsin’s culture of alcohol use.
But one thing is certain: Many falls can be prevented.
Wisconsinites are national leaders in fall prevention work. A local nonprofit trains people across the country to provide an evidence-based course, Stepping On, recommended by the CDC. Oshkosh health care providers started a “Mugs-for-Rugs” event to get older adults to trade hazardous throw rugs for free local coffee. Madison area advocates and experts developed a network of balance-enhancing classes, including ballroom dancing and parkour.
Still, the number of fall-related EMS calls in Wisconsin increased between 2023 and 2024, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Falls made up more than 20% of 911-related ambulance runs in 2024.
Stepping On is offered in 43 Wisconsin counties, including Dane. Madison residents can also access a wide range of additional classes. Still, falls remain a leading cause of injury deaths in the county.
To change those numbers, advocates say they need to reach more older adults. But that costs money. Attempts to dedicate state dollars toward fall prevention failed in the Legislature.
Parkour for Seniors grew popular enough this year to add a Thursday morning class. Morehouse has gained confidence since joining.
“I’m no longer afraid to fall because I know I’m going to do it, and I know how,” she says. “And I’m much, much stronger.”
Her favorite part of the class is watching participants have fun.
Kathy Reinhard, right, lifts her leg while participating in a parkour class at Warner Park on April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
She stands in a circle with the others, stretching.
“Have we talked about grapefruit in our armpits yet?” asks Shelby Copeland, a parkour instructor and former “American Ninja Warrior” contestant.
The group looks confused before Copeland explains the warmup. She tells everyone in the circle to pretend they placed two grapefruits inside their armpits. “See if you can juice them using just your shoulders,” she instructs the group.
“What do we do with the juice?” someone asks.
“Citrus deodorant!” another attendee jokes.
‘Every senior should take this class’
“How’s everybody doing with their exercises?” facilitator Marcy DeGreef asks the Stepping On participants.
“I’m thinking about it,” 89-year-old Gary Geller responds after a brief pause.
“We work together on that,” adds Jim Jenkins, 79.
The small group of older adults laugh before reviewing exercises that reduce fall risk. Heel-toe walks help with balance. Knee lifts build strength. They can easily do these at home. TV commercial breaks are long enough to finish several sit-to-stands, someone says. Another attendee says she practices side steps while waiting for hot cocoa to heat in the microwave.
It’s the last of seven weekly classes. They’ll return to the Jewish Social Services building in three months to check in. Before they leave, DeGreef runs through some of what they learned: Vitamin D supplements can help with bone health; trained professionals should install grab bars in the bathroom; they should clean shower mats regularly so they don’t lose their stick; proper footwear is a must. The attendees should talk with their doctors and pharmacists about how their medications affect balance. They should also consider regular bone density screenings and get their vision checked.
A participant in a Parkour for Seniors class at Warner Park, April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. The class aims to build balance and coordination to prevent falls. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Older adults stand on wooden planks to build strength and improve balance, April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
“We just had our eye exam,” Geller says. “They went from 20/20 in my right eye to 20/40 to 20/25.”
“He’s getting better instead of worser,” his wife Denny quipped.
As the review wraps up, Geller offers an endorsement: “Every senior should take this class.”
Stepping On reduces falls by more than 30%, says Jill Renken, executive director of the nonprofit Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, which licenses the program and helps distribute its curriculum nationwide.
But expanding the class and other prevention efforts in Wisconsin requires more funding to train instructors and run awareness campaigns that reach more participants, Renken says.
Earlier this year, Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Weston, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, introduced bills to set aside money for the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging and community emergency medical initiatives.
The Assembly unanimously approved Snyder’s proposals in February, but they stalled in the Senate — failing to reach Gov. Tony Evers’ desk before lawmakers wrapped up work for the year.
Snyder says the proposals died due to Senate Republicans’ concerns about funding, including $600,000 for community EMS and $400,000 for fall prevention across the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years. Neither James nor Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, responded to questions from Wisconsin Watch about the failure of the bills.
Snyder plans to bring the proposal back next session, which starts in 2027. That’s if he’s reelected later this year.
“I’m hoping that next session we can actually get a substantial amount of money for fall prevention,” he says.
Barb Brown, second from left, and Shelby Copeland, second from right, instruct a group of participants during a Parkour for Seniors class at Warner Park on April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
An antidote to loneliness
For Jim Jenkins, the class has already prevented a fall.
The day before the final class, he noticed a raised edge in the floor while leaving a restaurant. Paying close attention to his surroundings, he climbed over it.
“Six weeks ago, I probably would have just blundered through there and on down,” he says.
The classes have helped him avoid injury and loneliness, Jenkins says. His wife died more than a year ago, and he now lives alone. Stepping On gave him a social outlet, he says. He plans to take as many classes as he can.
“I wish I was going to be seeing everybody every week,” Jenkins says as the class wrapped up its final spring meeting.
He and others exchanged emails to plan extra outings.
Where to find fall resources
The nonprofit Safe Communities works to reduce injury-related deaths, like falls, in Dane County and keeps a list of fall prevention resources on its website and hosts community events focused on fall prevention.
The Madison School and Community Recreation program guide lists classes — like Parkour for Seniors —- that help people build fall resiliency. People can register online or get assistance by calling 608-204-3000.
AgeBetter provides free home safety assessments for older adults in Dane County. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, residents can ask their Aging and Disability Resource Center about local home safety resources.
Fallsfreewi.org lists schedules and locations for Stepping On across the state.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Falls are the leading cause of injury death for people over 65 years old across the country, and more than 1,800 older Wisconsinites died from them in 2024, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
But fall injuries don’t have to be so common.
Wisconsin Watch talked with local experts and attended three Madison-area classes designed to improve balance and prevent fall injuries: Stepping On, Parkour for Seniors and Ballroom Basics for Balance.
Here’s what we learned.
Practicing balance can be fun
Children walk on curbs and twirl on purpose. But as people get taller, heavier and older they often stop practicing movements that help with balance, said Susan Frikken, a physical therapist and co-creator of Ballroom Basics for Balance.
The class uses music and different dance genres to teach people to improve balance. Students often waltz on their tip toes, turn during tangos and switch from lead to follower to challenge their minds during salsa.
The nonprofit Safe Communities outlines its “Keys to Better Balance” on its website, including the balance exercises used during ballroom dancing and movements people can do at home.
Throw away the throw rug
Loose rugs and cluttered walkways increase fall risk. Small home improvements like taping down rugs, installing grab bars and adding bright tape to stairs can significantly improve safety, according to the AARP.
AgeBetter Today provides free home safety assessments for older adults in Dane County. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, residents can ask their Aging and Disability Resource Center about local home safety resources.
Talk about falls
Stepping On is a multi-week fall prevention course that has been shown to reduce falls by more than 30%. Wisconsin residents can find a statewide list of classes through the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging.
Attendees at a recent class in Madison reviewed the importance of regular eye exams.
Marcy DeGreef, who facilitated the class, suggested discussing fall risk with health care providers. It’s important for people to understand how the medication they are taking might impact balance, she explained.
The Madison School and Community Recreation program guide lists classes — like Parkour for Seniors —- that help people build fall resiliency. People can register online or get assistance by calling 608-204-3000.
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Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses.
The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics to prevent misuse, but Wisconsin imposes more than a dozen additional requirements on providers.
As a result, patients may wait longer to begin treatment, make daily trips to clinics and take more time to reach an effective dose.
Many other states have eased their rules, expanding access without compromising patient safety.
After years of opioid use, Bob saw three paths ahead: jail, death or methadone.
The 70-year-old Stevens Point resident chose methadone, which he has stuck with for more than half his life. He credits the treatment for his long career and ability to raise two daughters. Now retired, he sits in a recliner holding a sheet of paper with a list of old friends; he’s written “OD” next to the names of several loved ones killed by drugs.
Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses, experts say. It reduces drug cravings, prevents withdrawal and can provide stability without a mind-altering high.
More than 10,000 Wisconsinites used methadone treatment in 2024 to recover from opioid use disorder. But state regulations make accessing treatment more difficult for those patients, providers and researchers say.
The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics providing methadone treatment aimed at preventing misuse. Wisconsin adds more than a dozen more restrictive requirements, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
For patients, the state’s laws can mean waiting longer to enroll in treatment, daily drives to the clinic — even on weekends and holidays — and waiting longer to reach an effective dose.
Two years after the federal government relaxed its rules, Wisconsin’s landscape remains largely unchanged. Providers and researchers want Wisconsin to catch up with newer standards adopted by other states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa.
The Department of Health Services is reviewing Wisconsin’s rules, but it’s unclear what will change or when.
Long drives for methadone treatment
Bob wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and starts the 40-minute drive to his treatment clinic. Years ago, he left that early to make it to work on time. Now, he just likes to beat the crowd.
Wisconsin Watch is identifying people who use methadone by first name only to protect their private health information.
Bob tries not to pee before starting the drive. He knows clinic staff will likely send him into the bathroom with a cup as soon as he arrives. It’s been two decades since he used drugs or alcohol, but he takes the drug test all the same.
Bob holds a bottle of methadone at his home, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Bob sits in his recliner, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Next, he walks up to a clinic window, where someone hands him 13 plastic bottles of a cherry red liquid. Bob locks the medications inside a box he brought from home. A staff member watches as he swallows another dose.
He’ll do it all again in 13 days. The treatment saved his life, but it keeps him tied to this time-intensive routine — and to a clinic in another town.
“Methadone is like having a pair of golden handcuffs,” he says.
Unlike other medications, methadone cannot be picked up from a pharmacy. Only 31 locations across Wisconsin are approved to provide medication-assisted opioid treatments including methadone, according to the state health department.
At the state’s northernmost clinic in Wausau, patients traveled an average of 31 miles, one way, to their clinic in 2024.
Wisconsin allows fewer take-home doses
Methadone can be fatal if misused. To prevent people from overusing it or selling it, the federal government limited the number of take-home doses patients receive.
Early in the pandemic, the federal government allowed states to relax take-home rules to limit crowding at clinics — and many states did so. Studies later showed higher patient satisfaction and feelings of being respected without a significant increase in misuse.
In making the pandemic exceptions permanent in 2024, federal regulators wrote that the previous standards “can pose disruption to employment, education and other daily activities for patients, and several of the criteria reflect outdated biases that promote stigma and discourage people from engaging in care.”
But Wisconsin’s take-home regulations remain stricter than the federal minimums from before the pandemic.
The federal standard allows patients like Bob to take home 28 doses at a time. Wisconsin allows only 13.
Wisconsin patients must visit their clinic seven days a week until they complete a month in treatment and meet other criteria not required by the federal government. It takes a year in Wisconsin to qualify for the number of take-home doses providers in other states can offer patients after two weeks.
Bob sits in his recliner for a portrait alongside his methadone bottles, April 14, 2026. For patients, Wisconsin’s laws regarding methadone can mean waiting longer to enroll in treatment, daily drives to the clinic and starting at a dose too low to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Random callbacks disrupt routines
State rules also require clinics to regularly “call back” patients, like Bob, who have more than two take-home doses. The callbacks are intended to help providers make sure patients are not selling or misusing take-home doses.
Between visits, Bob’s provider often calls and tells him to arrive at the clinic within 24 hours with all 13 methadone bottles. If he doesn’t, he has to go back to daily clinic visits.
Federal rules do not require callbacks. In a 2024 report, federal regulators said providers should “consider the disruptive nature of random callbacks.”
It’s hard to make plans knowing you might have to change them any moment, Bob says. “I want to be normal again.”
Rules changes under review
Wisconsin is an outlier whose policies are overdue for an update, said Sharel Rogers, CEO of Addiction Medical Solutions and Vin Baker Recovery. She also serves as president of the Wisconsin Association of Treatment for Opioid Dependence.
Rogers was among several providers who backed a bill last month to update state rules. The measure was introduced right before the legislative session ended and was not expected to pass, but supporters hoped it would push regulators to act.
Wisconsin health officials are considering changing opioid treatment regulations, but without legislative action, the process could take years.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services aims to ensure state regulations support access to “high-quality, evidence-based care for those who need it,” wrote Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokesperson for the agency.
The agency started the state’s “intentionally thorough” rulemaking process last year to bring state regulations “closer in alignment with current federal regulations,” Goodsitt said.
The agency is still drafting proposed changes. They would be subject to public hearings and lawmaker approval in a process that ensures input from providers, advocates and patients, Goodsitt said.
The health department declined to answer detailed questions. Staff plan to review enrollment and take-home requirements, according to a document submitted to the Legislature. It’s not clear if other discrepancies, like callbacks, lab testing or dosage levels, will be addressed.
Opioid treatment providers should be carefully regulated, but Wisconsin’s current rules create barriers for patients, Rogers said.
“I’m just amazed at these patients every day, what they will do for their own recovery,” she said.
Bob flips through a 1974 copy of The Physicians’ Desk Reference to find the drug listing for methadone, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Bob lined up his methadone bottles on a table at his home for a portrait, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Recovery under tight restrictions
Timothy overdosed three times before starting treatment.
After nine months in Marathon County jail, he relapsed unaware of his lowered tolerance and the strength of the drug supply in 2022.
Within a couple of months, he started methadone.
“Some people don’t get out of that. A lot of people don’t,” Timothy said. “I’m grateful.”
Opioid overdose deaths dropped by more than 42% in Wisconsin between 2023 and 2024, according to the state health department. Still, opioids killed 815 people in Wisconsin in 2024, compared with fewer than 300 deaths two decades earlier.
Rising overdose rates are driven in part by fentanyl, a more potent opioid. Patients with a history of fentanyl use typically need higher methadone doses, said Dr. Hillary Tamar, who oversees Wisconsin treatment providers as a medical director for Community Medical Services.
Wisconsin rules prohibit providers from giving new patients a starting dose above 30 milligrams of methadone. That limit is outdated in the fentanyl era, Tamar said. The average dose at most Wisconsin clinics in 2024 was above 100 milligrams.
Updated federal limits allow providers to start patients at 50 milligrams or higher, based on their clinical judgment. A higher starting dose can help patients avoid withdrawal and reach a stable dose sooner, Tamar said.
Federal regulations also give providers greater ability to decide whether a patient may benefit from fewer visits.
“The regulations in Wisconsin bind us to creating a one size fits all plan, and that is just not how humans work,” Tamar said.
Despite attending regular counseling and dosing in-person daily for four years, Timothy still doesn’t qualify for a single take-home dose in Wisconsin.
That’s because he started using cannabis while undergoing chemotherapy around the time he started methadone treatment. Now in remission, he is working with his counselor to stop using cannabis, but it still prevents him from receiving take-home doses in Wisconsin.
In other states, marijuana use does not bar patients from receiving take-homes, Tamar said.
Last month, Timothy received two take-home methadone bottles while visiting his daughter in Florida.
Before leaving Wisconsin, he worked with staff at his clinic to set up a week’s worth of visits with a Florida provider. He was surprised when the new clinic told him he would receive take-home doses over the weekend.
When at home in Wisconsin, Timothy doesn’t mind the daily clinic visits. But when he’s with his daughter, they remind him of his past mistakes.
For two days he mixed his medication with apple juice and celebrated his 45th birthday with his family without stopping at the clinic.
He said it was the best time of his life.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
State Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, this month introduced legislation requiring crisis pregnancy centers to obtain permission from clients before sharing their sensitive health information.
Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), also known as unregulated pregnancy centers or pregnancy resource centers, provide some services for pregnant people but largely aim to dissuade clients from choosing abortion care. Importantly, most CPCs are not licensed medical facilities and are intentionally vague about their inability and unwillingness to provide abortions or make referrals. They attract clients with targeted advertising that promises free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and options counseling.
Without the restrictions proposed by Subeck and more like it, Wisconsinites will continue to be victimized by this industry.
Since CPCs are not medical providers and do not charge for services,they are not subject to the same consumer protection laws and licensing requirements, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
Without confidentiality protections, CPCs are not required to protect sensitive client information and may misuse private client data with no accountability. Subeck’s bill would help close this loophole and ensure that client information is secure.
While this legislation would be a step in the right direction, privacy is just one of many instances in which CPCs violate medical ethics.
With the funding they receive from faith-based organizations, anti-abortion advocacy groups and taxpayer dollars, CPCs may present themselves in ways that resemble medical settings. Staff and volunteers may wear white coats, visit with clients in exam rooms and adopt language used by clinicians. But many of their services fail to meet evidence-based standards of care.
For example, CPCs have been reported to overestimate gestational age to convince clients they are too far along in pregnancy to legally access abortion. They also readily share medically inaccurate information about abortion.
CPCs across Wisconsin claim that abortion can lead to depression, substance abuse, nightmares, and future fertility issues. Major medical organizations say there is no evidence that abortion leads to mental illness or negative impacts on future fertility. In fact, research suggests that denying people abortion care is associated with worse outcomes to their long-term health and well-being.
Many CPC websites list “abortion reversal” as a service. This involves taking progesterone to “reverse” the effects of mifepristone, the first medicine used in medication abortion. University of California-Davis researchers attempted to test the effectiveness of this treatment, but the study was stopped early due to ethical and safety concerns. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has determined that abortion reversal is “not supported by science.”
Despite their questionable practices, CPCs in Wisconsin continue to benefit from public funding, and some state legislators want them to receive even more. In 2023, Sen. Robert Quinn, R-Birchwood, proposed legislation that would give $1 million a year to Choose Life Wisconsin, a statewide network of CPCs.
Funds raised through Choose Life license plates are also directed to CPCs. Meanwhile, some of Wisconsin’s legislative Republicans have not supported measures that would benefit pregnant people and new parents. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, repeatedly blocked proposals to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage, calling it “an expansion of welfare,” until the Assembly this session finally sent the bill to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk.
In Wisconsin, legitimate providers of abortion care must navigate a litany of restrictions. Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, or TRAP laws, are widely criticized by medical groups and exist only to make obtaining and providing abortion care harder. Yet CPCs are free to operate under limited regulations while they enjoy our tax dollars.
In other states, efforts to regulate CPCs have failed on the grounds that these organizations are protected under the First Amendment. But these centers are a growing public health risk, and protecting people’s health and safety should take priority. This is especially important as the network of CPCs continues to grow. In Wisconsin, there are just five clinics that provide abortion care, compared to an estimated 60 CPCs.
When pregnant people reach out for support, they deserve to be met with compassion, honesty and the opportunity to consider all of their options. The ongoing failure of our lawmakers to regulate these facilities is an affront to evidence-based sexual and reproductive healthcare. It is time that Wisconsin’s lawmakers uphold respect and humanity, not deception and manipulation.
Layne Donovan was born and raised in Wisconsin and holds a degree from Barnard College. She has studied the history of abortion in the United States, and currently works in reproductive health, rights, and justice.
Guest commentaries reflect the views of their authors and are independent of the nonpartisan, in-depth reporting produced by Wisconsin Watch’s newsroom staff. Want to join the Wisconversion? See our guidelines for submissions.
I have visited many after-school and summer programs across Wisconsin, from large urban sites to small rural schools, and what I’ve seen has stayed with me. I’ve watched students immersed in creative writing, acting and robotics. I’ve observed staff working one-on-one with kids navigating intense emotional challenges. And I’ve seen the smiles on middle schoolers’ faces as they reconnect with trusted mentors at the end of the school day. These programs are not “extras”; they provide crucial support to kids, families and entire communities.
The access gap
And yet, for far too many Wisconsin families, these opportunities remain out of reach. According to the latest America After 3PMreport, nearly 275,000 Wisconsin children who would participate in after-school programs are not enrolled because none are available. Four in five children who could benefit from these supports are missing out. Parents cite cost, lack of transportation and a simple lack of local programming as the biggest barriers.
The benefits are clear
The impact of these programs is undeniable. Parents overwhelmingly rate their children’s after-school programs as excellent or very good, reporting that they keep kids safe, build social skills and support mental wellness. Research in Wisconsin shows that students who participate in extracurricular activities are less likely to report anxiety or depression and more likely to feel a sense of belonging.
Out-of-school-time programs often provide the space for deep, long-term mentoring, a powerful protective factor in a young person’s life. While teachers are often stretched thin during the academic day, out-of-school-time staff can focus on the relational side of development.
The cost of instability
When funding is unstable, it undermines the very connections that make these programs transformative. Recently, a Boys & Girls Club director shared the human cost of budget constraints: They were forced to reduce a veteran staff member to part-time. This didn’t just trim a budget; it severed a multi-year mentorship. When that bond was broken, several youths stopped attending entirely.
Wisconsin lags behind national trends
Across the country, after-school and summer programs are increasingly viewed as essential to youth development. Twenty-seven states provide dedicated state funding for these programs; Wisconsin provides none. States as different as Alabama and Texas recognize that federal funding alone is not enough. So do our Midwestern neighbors.
Public support for these programs is strong and bipartisan. Families across Wisconsin want safe, enriching opportunities for their children. With a significant budget surplus, Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to invest in its future.
State leaders should view out-of-school programming as a foundation for safety, mental health and long-term economic opportunity. We have the resources; now we need the will. By committing to consistent state funding, we can ensure that every young person in Wisconsin has a place to belong when the school bell rings.
Daniel Gage is a consultant with the Afterschool Alliance and Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance, focusing on advocacy and outreach. He co-founded the Wisconsin Partnership for Children and Youth, a coalition that promotes after-school and summer programs as vital for healthy youth development and future citizenship.
Guest commentaries reflect the views of their authors and are independent of the nonpartisan, in-depth reporting produced by Wisconsin Watch’s newsroom staff. Want to join the Wisconversion? See our guidelines for submissions.
This story was originally published on Investigate Midwest.
Lisa Lawler wasn’t surprised when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025. Her mother had breast cancer and died in 2016. It seemed like cancer had become a common diagnosis for many of her neighbors and friends.
“With how many people seem to get cancer in our community, you just assume you will get it,” said Lawler, who lives in rural Hardin County, Iowa. “But no one really talks about what’s causing it.”
After 10 rounds of radiation and a surgery to remove the tumor, Lawler’s cancer was in remission. Last year, she took a test to determine if her cancer was likely genetic, meaning a high chance of recurrence, which could lead her to have her entire breast removed.
She was surprised by the results.
“The genetic test they ran for me was one that covered 81 genes that are typically related to breast cancer,” Lawler said. “After the test, they told me my cancer is likely not genetic, but likely environmental, based on these 81 genes.
“Your next thought is, then what’s in the environment that caused my cancer?”
Increasingly, pesticides are being blamed for rising cancer rates across America’s agricultural communities.
Hardin County, home to around 800 farms, has a pesticide use rate more than four times the national average and a cancer rate among the highest in the state.
Most of the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile are located in the Midwest. Sixty percent of those counties also had cancer rates higher than the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to an analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute.
This story was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship.
Last year, Investigate Midwest, in partnership with the University of Missouri, investigated the link between agrichemicals and cancer in Missouri, finding that many were rural communities that already lacked access to health care.
Investigate Midwest expanded on that coverage by analyzing data across the country, along with interviewing more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists as part of a partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. The result was the picture of a nation at a crossroads in dealing with this public health crisis that has not just been ignored by state and federal health officials, but aided.
This story was also supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
“Cancer is everywhere and it’s an experience that is unfortunately all too common,” said Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy and programs at the Iowa Environmental Council, a Des Moines-based nonprofit that has been studying the state’s growing cancer rate.
Agrichemicals have helped America become a crop-producing power, increasing yields of commodity crops — such as corn and soybeans — used for food, fuel and animal feed.
Sprayed from airplanes, drones, tractors and handheld devices, these chemicals can drift through the air or run off into nearby rivers and streams.
And for decades, some farmers and pesticide users have developed neurological and respiratory issues. Thousands of lawsuits have alleged that pesticides and the companies that make them were to blame.
Pesticide manufacturers often rejected those claims while sometimes concealing research by their own employees that raised similar concerns. These companies — such as Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva and BASF — have also spent millions to lobby federal and state lawmakers for laws that would limit their legal liability and continue to allow them to sell agrichemicals.
“This is one of the most transparently reviewed products ever,” said Jessica Christiansen, the head of crop science communications for Bayer, speaking about her company’s production of Roundup, a glyphosate-based pesticide. “This product is so well studied … been on the market for over 50 years with thousands and thousands of studies. There is no linkage to cancer, there just isn’t.”
Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture have also hired dozens of former pesticide executives and lobbyists, some of whom have already pushed for deregulation of their industry. The Department of Health and Human Services has also altered its own reports to downplay the harm of pesticides.
Two states — North Dakota and Georgia — recently passed laws limiting their residents’ ability to sue pesticide companies, and at least a dozen other states will consider similar laws in the coming months.
“We’ve gotten to a point in the U.S. … where we’ve stopped treating pesticides as if they are dangerous tools,” said Rob Faux, who manages a small Iowa farm and has advocated against pesticide liability shield laws. “Instead, these companies tell these stories that these pesticides are completely safe and we are encouraged to use them anytime. We’ve been convinced that we must use them or we are not going to have enough food to eat.”
In Iowa, a state with heavy pesticide use — 53 million pounds last year — and the nation’s second-highest cancer rate, doctors and health officials have been sounding an alarm for years.
The state has become ground zero in the fight to limit the impact of pesticides on health and the environment. Farmers have gathered at the state Capitol to advocate for increased laws and funding to address the rising cancer rate. That advocacy likely helped defeat a bill last year that would have protected pesticide makers from some lawsuits.
I call myself a Republican, but this is not about politics; this is about money, about the almighty dollar.”
— Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024
“I believe the groups wanting this (bill) to go through didn’t expect any substantial resistance, but there was enough resistance,” said Faux, who also works for the Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network, a nonprofit advocating for less agrichemical use.
The Iowa bill was strongly opposed by environmental and health organizations, which have traditionally been left-leaning. But there was also strong opposition from many conservative residents and farmers.
“I call myself a Republican, but this is not about politics; this is about money, about the almighty dollar,” said Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024.
Initially, doctors told Billings, then 61, he would likely be dead in a matter of months after discovering lymphoma in his lungs. A health enthusiast and hospital administrator, Billings had been a regular user of Roundup, the popular Bayer pesticide used on farms and residential properties.
“The cancer specialist said, very directly, (my) cancer is a result of being exposed to chemicals,” Billings said. “In my records, it literally says that I have cancer as a result of exposure to Roundup and agrochemicals.”
Billings was prescribed a five-drug regimen, along with chemotherapy. In September, he was declared cancer-free.
Last year, he hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Bayer.
“The irony is … Bayer Pharmaceuticals makes one of the drugs that treated my cancer,” Billings said. “It’s disturbing to find out you are in this financial circle — not only as a consumer, but as a patient.”
Bill Billings in Red Oak, Iowa, on Jan. 21, 2026. (Geoff Johnson for Investigate Midwest)
The home of Bill Billings in Red Oak, Iowa, on Jan. 21, 2026. (Geoff Johnson for Investigate Midwest)
Surrounding neighborhood in Red Oak, Iowa, photographed Jan. 21, 2026. (Photos by Geoff Johnson for Investigate Midwest)
Research increasingly links pesticides to growing cancer risk
Cancer is a complex disease and can be caused by numerous environmental and genetic factors. Some links have been clear — such as smoking and lung cancer — while other forms can be impossible to trace back to an original cause.
But scientific research linking pesticides with certain types of cancers has been growing.
“Our findings show that the impact of pesticide use on cancer incidence may rival that of smoking,” scientists wrote in a 2024 study, which was published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society.
The study linked pesticides to prostate, lung, pancreas and colon cancers. Pesticides have also been associated with lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease, the study claimed.
Many doctors in agricultural communities say the link with pesticides is hard to deny.
“Iowa has a super high rate (of cancer) and when you look at all of our modifiable risk factors … tobacco, obesity, too many calories, highly processed foods, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption, getting vaccinated for HPV, sun exposure, and so on, Iowa doesn’t really stand out dramatically at any of those,” said Dr. Richard Deming, medical director at MercyOne Cancer Center in Des Moines. “But one thing that distinguishes Iowa from other states is our environmental exposure to agricultural chemicals.”
Deming and other health experts also point to Iowa’s high radon levels, a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by uranium and radium.
The state also has high levels of fertilizer-derived nitrate in its water, which has been associated with increased cancer risk.
“But we use tons of ag chemicals that make it quite likely that the volume of these chemicals is contributing to what we’re seeing in Iowa in terms of the increased incidence of cancer,” Deming said.
A direct correlation can be difficult to determine, as cancer development times can range from months to decades. Overlaying cancer rates onto a map, however, highlights the nation’s top crop and vegetable growing regions, where pesticide use is highest.
The Midwestern states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Missouri — leading corn-growing states — had the highest rates, while rates were also high in California and Florida, high fruit-growing states.
Lawler, who developed breast cancer in Hardin County, grew up on her family’s 400-acre farm, where her father grew corn and used 2,4-D, a pesticide made by Dow Chemicals. She and her siblings moved out of state after high school, but Lawler returned in 2010.
Pesticides have become indispensable in farming, Lawler acknowledged, but she wishes more people would ask questions about the risks.
“We change products all the time when we learn about the health impacts,” Lawler said.
These family photos show Lisa Lawler with her mother and siblings over the years. Lawler was recently diagnosed with breast cancer; her mother later died after a cancer diagnosis. The family believes years of farm pesticide and herbicide exposure may have contributed. (All photos courtesy of Lisa Lawler)
As lawsuits mount, Bayer pushes state laws to limit liability
In early 2022, Rodrigo Santos had just been promoted to the head of Bayer’s crop sciences division, a prestigious position within the German-based chemical company. But a global pandemic, climate change and a pending war in Ukraine were disrupting the global production and sale of crops — a direct hit to the company’s pesticide sales.
“The global food system is in crisis,” Santos wrote in a column for the World Economic Forum, going on to say that the world needed to grow more food without a significant increase in the amount of land devoted to crops.
But beyond the pandemic and war, another crisis presented an existential threat to one of the company’s top-selling products. Roundup, the glyphosate-based weed killer produced by Monsanto, which Bayer bought in 2018, had been blamed for causing cancer in thousands of lawsuits.
Since purchasing Missouri-based Monsanto, Bayer’s stock price has dropped more than 90% over five years.
In recent years, Bayer executives, including Santos, openly discussed discontinuing glyphosate production. We are “evaluating all the alternatives that we have for the business,” Santos told investors last year when asked about a possible sale of its Roundup division.
But while Bayer publicly said it was reconsidering its glyphosate business, a review of lobbying disclosure statements, campaign finance records, state legislative records and other documents reveals the world’s largest pesticide company remains committed to expanding its sales.
Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the EPA regulates the warning labels on pesticide products. While state-level lawsuits have claimed that federal labeling is insufficient, pesticide companies, including Bayer, have argued that federal regulations should trump state laws.
Bayer, along with other corporate agriculture groups, has pushed for bills in more than a dozen states that would codify the view that federal labeling regulations are sufficient warning, effectively voiding state-level lawsuits.
Christiansen, the head of crop science communications for Bayer, disputed that these laws will stop lawsuits and said courts have yet to begin interpreting those that have passed.
“Folks can still sue a company, and they should if there’s a problem,” Christiansen said. “But the litigation industry has a lot to lose with these (bills) that are out there.”
Founded by Bayer, the Modern Ag Alliance has lobbied for these bills and promoted opinion articles downplaying the health impacts of pesticides.
“If farmers lose access to crop protection products because of misguided ideological agendas, U.S. agriculture would be upended, potentially forcing many family farms to shut down and driving up food costs for every American,” said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance.
The Modern Ag Alliance has spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on state lobbying since 2024.
Most of the bills came up short in 2025, but Georgia and North Dakota passed liability shields that will complicate local lawsuits.
Georgia’s Senate Bill 144, which took effect Jan. 1, received some bipartisan support but was mostly approved by the Republican majority and opposed by Democrats.
Similar bills have been filed in at least 10 states for this year’s legislative sessions.
In 2024, the Iowa bill was passed by the state Senate with a 30-to-19 vote. Ahead of a vote in the House last year, farmer and environmental groups lobbied against the bill.
The session ended without the House taking up a vote. The bill could return in 2026, but Faux, the Iowa farmer, said he also worries about it being “snuck into” another bill or budget agreement.
“I don’t think we can just assume this fight is over,” Faux said.
In other states, backlash seemed to stop liability shield bills before they got started.
In Oklahoma, Rep. Dell Kerbs, a Shawnee Republican, authored a pesticide liability shield bill he said was meant to end “frivolous” lawsuits against pesticide makers.
“What’s happened in our country is we have … judges that have decided they need to be in the labeling business,” Kerbs said when introducing his bill at a Feb. 11, 2025, hearing of the House agriculture committee.
State Rep. Ty Burns, another Republican, asked Kerbs why he chose to author the bill.
“I was first approached by Bayer,” Kerbs responded.
“But this is a labeling bill; it is not an immunity bill. It is just clarifying on EPA labeling regulations,” Kerbs added. “There is nothing that prevents a lawsuit from any single person. This is not giving a free pass to kill people. This simply is saying that a frivolous lawsuit to potentially pad the pocket of somebody who was not reading the label is not a justification to add that to a label through a state district court.”
But when Burns asked Kerbs about opposition to the bill, especially from many farmers, Kerbs denied receiving any complaints.
“That is hard to believe,” Burns told Kerbs, “because I have been bombarded.”
The bill was never presented to the House for a vote.
After early promises, MAHA walks back pesticide oversight
While liability shield laws have been largely advanced by Republican lawmakers, the push to further regulate pesticides has transcended partisan lines.
Both left-leaning environmental groups and conservative health movements, which have targeted agrichemicals and some vaccines, have called for reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been a longtime critic of pesticides. In a May 2025 report, his Make America Healthy Again commission linked pesticide overuse to children’s health issues, which drew praise from both political camps.
George Kimbrell, co-executive director of the Center for Food Safety, which has advocated for stronger pesticide regulations, called the initial report a “baby step” forward and said he was encouraged after decades of inaction by the federal government.
“Going back my entire career, 20-plus years now of doing this work, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, they have been beholden to and done the wishes of the pesticide industry,” Kimbrell told Investigate Midwest last year. “So, this is a unique moment where … there’s a chance that there could be some positive change in terms of responsible oversight for these toxins.”
Corporate agriculture groups heavily criticized the report, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and CropLife America, a national organization representing many large agrichemical companies, including Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and Syngenta.
Many of those groups and companies had been large financial backers of Trump. But Kennedy downplayed any concerns that the president would avoid taking a hard position against pesticide companies because of that support.
“I’ve met every president since my uncle was president, and I’ve never seen a president (like Trump), Democrat or Republican, that is willing to stand up to industry when it’s the right thing to do,” Kennedy said at a May 22, 2025, MAHA commission meeting as the president sat smiling to his right.
Three months later, Kennedy’s MAHA commission published its final report, which contained no calls to further regulate pesticides. In fact, it called for the federal government to work with large agrichemical companies to ensure public “awareness and confidence” in the EPA’s current pesticide regulations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment from Kennedy.
Many of the groups that expressed optimism over the initial report were outraged over the change.
“This report is … a clear sign that Big Ag, Bayer, and the pesticide industry are firmly embedded in the White House,” said David Murphy, the founder of United We Eat and a former finance director for Kennedy’s presidential campaign.
The Trump administration has employed several pesticide executives, researchers and lobbyists at the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Kyle Kunker, who was a registered lobbyist for the American Soybean Association, an organization that has advocated for the legal liability shield laws at the state level, was hired last year to oversee pesticide policy at the EPA.
Three weeks later, the EPA recommended expanded use of dicamba-based herbicides, which federal courts had previously restricted. The EPA proposal was closely aligned with the position of the American Soybean Association.
In 2025, the EPA also hired Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva, both of whom worked with the American Chemistry Council.
Last month, a coalition of MAHA supporters called for the removal of Lee Zeldin, administrator of the EPA.
Recent EPA decisions around pesticides “will inevitably lead to higher rates of chronic disease, greater medical costs, and tremendous strain on our healthcare system,” the group stated in a petition circulating online.
Several prominent MAHA influencers have joined the petition, posting anti-pesticide messages on social media under handles such as The Glyphosate Girl and the Food Babe. “The EPA is acting like the Everyone Poisoned Agency,” wrote Kelly Ryerson, on her Glyphosate Girl Instagram feed.
As the EPA advances pesticide use, the Trump administration has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal labeling laws invalidate state-level lawsuits.
“After careful scientific review and an assessment of hundreds of thousands of public comments, EPA has repeatedly determined that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic in humans, and the agency has repeatedly approved Roundup labels that did not contain cancer warnings,” Trump’s solicitor general wrote in an amicus brief with the Supreme Court.
However, one of the studies the EPA has often cited in claiming pesticides are safe was recently retracted due to concerns about its authorship and potential conflicts of interest.
The report, published in 2000 by the scientific journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, claimed Roundup “does not pose a health risk to humans.” The report has been the foundation for numerous other studies, court cases and policy decisions.
The journal retracted the study last year, noting that court cases had revealed that Monsanto employees had contributed to the study. “This lack of transparency raises serious ethical concerns regarding the independence and accountability of the authors of this article and the academic integrity of the carcinogenicity studies presented,” the retraction stated.
“This is just one example of how the current process of certifying these chemicals is broken in the U.S.,” said Colleen Fowle, water program director at the Iowa Environmental Council. “At the very least, we’re hoping that this (retraction) eliminates this specific research article from being cited in the future and concentrates more on independent peer-reviewed research as our basis to determine the safety of glyphosate.”
Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom whose mission is to serve the public interest by exposing dangerous and costly practices of influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism. Visit online at www.investigatemidwest.org
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