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Nine out of 446 bills with a Democrat as the first author got a hearing in the Wisconsin Legislature in the 2025-26 session.

The nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau provided statistics that confirmed most of the numbers in a social media post about the fate of bills introduced by Democrats, who are in the minority.

Nine Democratic-led bills got a public hearing, one of the first steps to becoming law. Those included enhancing perimenopause and menopause education, grants for AEDs in child care centers and free state park access for veterans and Gold Star families.

The LRB confirmed that no bills with a Democrat as the first author became law. That doesn’t take into account three laws where the Assembly or Senate version of the text passed, but a Democrat led the companion bill in the other chamber, such as a bipartisan law that expanded the missing child alerts system. 

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau Email Sept. 2, 2026
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Republicans control the Wisconsin statehouse. By how many seats?
• Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 437
• Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 356
• Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 718
• Wisconsin State Legislature Senate Bill 466
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Bipartisan Wisconsin law expands to improve state's missing child alerts system

Did fewer than 10 Democrat-authored bills get a hearing in the 2025-26 legislative session? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Milwaukee County has the highest county sales tax in Wisconsin at 0.9%.

Every other county with a sales tax charges 0.5% on top of the statewide 5% rate.

Two counties – Waukesha and Winnebago – do not have a sales tax, according to a chart from the state Department of Revenue.

The city of Milwaukee is currently the only city with its own sales tax of 2%. Both the 0.9% county rate and 2% city rate went into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Separately, Milwaukee has tourism-related taxes that support the Wisconsin Center District, including a 0.5% rate for restaurant meals.

The 0.9% county and 2% city sales taxes stem from a bipartisan 2023 law that sought to help Milwaukee avoid a financial crisis.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor, signed the county-level legislation that put the 0.9% tax into effect. 

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Department of Revenue: Tax Rate FAQs
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee convention hotel plan advances, could boost tourism
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue: Local Exposition Taxes
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gov. Tony Evers signs bill to keep Milwaukee financially stable, boosting funding to local governments
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Legislature passes bill aimed at averting Milwaukee financial crisis, lifting aid to local governments
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley signs 0.4% sales tax increase

Does Milwaukee County have the highest sales tax in Wisconsin? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Republicans have not voted against banning child marriage in Wisconsin. That includes Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany, who was tied to the issue in a viral post.

That’s because the bill has never been brought to a vote — a decision that rests with Republicans who control the state Legislature.

The bill was introduced in the 2019,  2023 and 2025 sessions. The 2019 version, when Tiffany served in the state Legislature, had two Republican co-sponsors. Only Democrats have led the bill since then.

Legislative records show none of the bills got hearings or votes, a common fate for many Democratic-led bills.

The legislation would eliminate an exception that allows minors between the ages of 16 and 18 to get married with written consent from a parent or guardian.

The Legislative Reference Bureau previously said 27 minors under 18 got married in Wisconsin in 2024, an increase from 2023.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Watch: Child marriage with parental consent is still legal in Wisconsin. Republicans have blocked Democratic efforts to change that.
• Wisconsin State Legislature: 2019 Assembly Bill 715
• Wisconsin State Legislature: 2023 Assembly Bill 1229
• Wisconsin State Legislature: 2025 Assembly Bill 656
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Wisconsin Democrats' climate change agenda
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawmakers intro a bill to ban child marriage. 'This is not about teenagers falling in love'

Did Republicans vote against a bill banning child marriage in Wisconsin? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Illinoisans and Minnesotans are buying about the same amount of waterfront property in Wisconsin.

A long-running resentment in Wisconsin is how Illinois residents behave when visiting the Badger State. Another common belief is Illinoisans buy up all the vacation property in Wisconsin, particularly near water.

But that’s exaggerated.

Wisconsin Property Map, an independent project, posted an article examining state property transfer records for sales of waterfront property.

The article stated that from 2021 through mid-2026, Minnesotans bought 9.5% of Wisconsin waterfront property, compared with Illinoisans’ 9.4%.

Wisconsin Watch did its own analysis and found nearly the same figures, with Minnesota edging Illinois by no more than 1 percentage point. 

Illinoisans might gain resentment partly because of the type of property they buy. 

They bought 17.6% of every $1 million-plus lakefront sale during the period, according to the article.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Milwaukee Magazine: Where Did the Nickname ‘FIB’ Come From?
• Wisconsin Property Map: About Wisconsin Property Map
• Wisconsin Property Map: Are Illinois Residents Really Buying Up Wisconsin's Lakes? We Traced Every Deed
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin home purchasing analysis

Are Illinois residents buying more Wisconsin waterfront property than Minnesota residents? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin’s voter list from the state elections commission is available to the public — and to foreign countries — for a $12,500 fee. 

In a primetime speech on July 16, 2026, President Donald Trump said voter data had been “bought, stolen or hacked by China” in 18 states following the 2020 election. 

Wisconsin’s voter list is not known to have been hacked, and state election officials say election systems are secure. 

The voter list available from the Wisconsin Elections Commission includes names, addresses and whether a person voted in recent elections, but excludes other personal information such as date of birth, driver’s license number and Social Security number.

State laws don’t apply limits to how that data can be used once it is purchased, according to Wisconsin Legislative Council guidance. Buyers can use it “to contact individuals for any purpose.”

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• CNN: Trump’s speech claiming US election vulnerabilities, annotated
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump questioned election security. What to know about Wisconsin laws
• Wisconsin Legislative Council: Voter information as public record
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In reversal, feds proclaim Russians did not seek to hack Wisconsin's election system
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Contingency Planning and Election System Security

Can anyone buy Wisconsin voter roll data? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin’s highest income tax rate is 7.65%. 

For individuals, it applies to all taxable annual income above $323,290.

For married taxpayers filing jointly, the threshold is $431,060.

Lower tax rates apply to taxable income below the two thresholds.

A married couple with taxable income of $450,000 would pay the same tax rate on the portion of their income above $431,060 as a billionaire with $50 million in taxable income would pay on the larger portion of their income above that threshold, said Jason Stein, president of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.

The couple and the billionaire would still have different average tax rates because a different share of their taxable income would be taxed at the highest rates, he said. 

Democrats have called for raising the top rate, which ranks 10th highest among the states. Republicans cut the top rate from 7.75% to 7.65% in 2013.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Department of Revenue: Tax rates
• WPR: During debate, Democrats running for governor find consensus, avoid attacks
• Intuit Turbo Tax: States with the Lowest Income Taxes and Highest Income Taxes
• Nerd Wallet: California State Income Tax Guide for 2026
• Minnesota Department of Revenue: Income Tax Rates and Brackets
• Wisconsin Policy Forum: Wisconsin Tax Burden Remains at Record Low as Incomes Rise
• Tax Foundation: State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue: Improving Wisconsin's Tax Climate

Is Wisconsin’s income tax rate the same for people earning $400,000 annually as it is for billionaires? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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When adjusting for inflation and total student population, state K-12 funding has fluctuated over the past eight budgets and is about where it was before major cuts in 2011.

Funding dropped after Republicans required public school employees to pay more toward pension and health insurance costs in 2011 under the law known as Act 10. Then from 2013 to 2020 inflation-adjusted, per-pupil spending on K-12 education increased each year. In the two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, funding decreased but then increased over the next two years.

Inflation-adjusted, per-pupil state spending is now slightly above what it was before the 2011 cuts.

Here are the figures:

2010-2011: $9,469.08

2024-2025: $9,527.65

2023-2024: $9,386.15

2022-2023: $9,299.59

2021-2022: $9,700.89

2020-2021: $9,960.87

2019-2020: $9,380.61

2018-2019: $9,219.23

2017-2018: $9,167.82

2016-2017: $8,825.57

2015-2016: $8,576.74

2014-2015: $8,549.45

2013-2014: $8,426.60

2012-2013: $8,388.53

2011-2012: $8,408.17

2010-2011: $9,469.08

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Watch: School Funding w/ Sept. Count
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: State Aid to School Districts
• Department of Public Instruction: September Count

Have eight consecutive Wisconsin state budgets given less money to public schools? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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In Wisconsin’s partisan primaries, like the one happening Aug. 11, voters must choose a party section and only vote for candidates within that column.

On a partisan primary ballot, voters must first select which party’s primary they want to vote in.

Instructions on Aug. 11 ballot templates explain that if voters mark a party at the start of the ballot, votes cast in any other party won’t be counted. 

If voters don’t make a party selection, then vote for candidates in more than one party, none of their votes will be counted.

State law requires polling places to prominently display these rules for partisan primaries.

So, if Republican voters want to strategically vote for a Democrat they think would lose to Tom Tiffany in the governor’s race Nov. 3, they forgo participating in GOP primaries for lieutenant governor, secretary of state and some state Legislature and congressional seats.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Partisan primary
• Wisconsin Blue Book 2025-26: Elections in Wisconsin
• MyVote Wisconsin: What's on My Ballot
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: 2026 Partisan Primary Optical Scan Ballot
• Wisconsin State Legislature: Wis. Stat. 5.35(6)(b)
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Election Law & Administration in Wisconsin: Effect of Crossover Voting at a Partisan Primary

Can you ‘cross over’ vote in multiple parties in a Wisconsin primary? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The massive Interstate 94 construction project in Milwaukee County is expected to wrap up in 2033, according to a timeline on the state Department of Transportation’s project page.

Construction began on the I-94 East-West corridor in late 2025, meaning eight years will pass before utility and roadway construction are estimated to end in 2033.

Parts of the roughly $1.7 billion project will be completed earlier than 2033. The Stadium Interchange reconstruction will take about four years, for example.

The project covers 3 ½ miles of I-94 between 16th and 70th Streets in Milwaukee County and prompted long-term closures of several roads.

Plans include widening the freeway from three to four lanes in each direction, eliminating left-turn ramps, redesigning the Stadium Interchange and reconstructing aging roads. 

Crash rates in the corridor are higher than the statewide average, and 13 bridges do not meet clearance standards, according to the DOT.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Department of Transportation: Interstate 94 East-West
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's 27th Street Bridge to close long-term for I-94 construction.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who's paying for the $1.7 billion I-94 expansion in Milwaukee?
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know as construction starts on the $1.7 billion I-94 expansion in Milwaukee County

Is the Milwaukee I-94 construction project expected to take eight years? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Technology companies are pursuing projects that would launch data centers into space — efforts called Starcloud at Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Project Suncatcher at Google.

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the idea is that, instead of consuming land, power and water on Earth, the orbiting data centers would harness the sun’s energy for unlimited power.

The projects are in the early stages of development, according to reporting from National Public Radio, and viability remains in question over the cost of launching servers into space, where the heat from the servers will go, and the logistics of maintaining and upgrading the technology.

While data centers in space are unlikely to happen in the next few years, studies, including one from Southern New Hampshire University, conclude space-based data centers could be a reality in the next decade.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Aldrich K. Wooden Sr.: Space-Based Data Centers: First Principles Deconstruction and Market Ecosystem Analysis Through 2035
• Wall Street Journal: Data centers in space: A pipe dream, or AI’s next big thing?
• National Public Radio: Big tech’s next move is to put data centers in space. Can it work?

Are tech companies working in 2026 to launch data centers into space? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin state government is not spending $2 billion on data centers.

The campaign website of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong stated that Wisconsin is “spending over $2 billion in public money” on data centers “this year.”  

The statement linked to a Wisconsin Watch news article, which is based on a Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo.

The article made clear that the $2 billion is forgone revenue, not an expenditure. The LFB estimated the state will forgo $2 billion in revenue over a period of years because data centers are exempt from paying state sales tax.

It’s unclear whether the three artificial intelligence data centers under construction in Wisconsin would have been built without the tax incentive, which most states offer.

Some states are rolling back the exemptions or imposing requirements for receiving them.

Texas’ Republican governor has called for elimination; Ohio’s GOP governor and Arizona’s 2027 budget paused exemptions.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• FrancescaHong.com: Data Centers and AI
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion
• Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Sales Tax Exemption for WEDC Certified Data Centers
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue: Qualified Data Center Exemption
• Texas Tribune: Abbott recommends sweeping data center regulation, including eliminating sales tax exemption
• Ohio Governor's Office: Governor DeWine Announces Pause of Data Center Tax Exemption
• Bloomberg Tax: Arizona Data Center Tax Incentive Pause Signed by Governor Hobbs

Is Wisconsin state government spending $2 billion on data centers? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A 2023-25 budget provision granting a sales tax exemption to data centers was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July 2023. 

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau said in March that the tax break will cost the state more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue, mostly from massive data centers in Beaver Dam, Port Washington and Mount Pleasant. When the budget was approved in July 2023, hyperscale data centers were so new the fiscal bureau didn’t estimate how much an exemption would affect state tax collections.

While the high cost has drawn scrutiny, the incentive was originally designed to drive economic growth. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 states offer tax incentives on data centers.

Wisconsin has about 50 data centers, largely in the Milwaukee and Madison areas.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: 2023-25 Wisconsin State Budget
• Data Center Map: Wisconsin Data Centers
• National Conference of State Legislatures: Subsidizing Servers: How States Are Competing to Attract Data Centers

Was a Wisconsin data centers tax break put in place solely by Gov. Tony Evers?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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If the 2026 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor seems large, 2018 certainly had it beat.

That year, 10 names were on the Democratic primary ballot, plus an 11th write-in candidate, according to results of the 2018 partisan primary kept by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Two Republican candidates and two additional write-ins appeared on the 2018 GOP primary ballot. 

The Aug. 11, 2026, primary ballot includes seven Democrats and two Republicans.

In both years, a few candidates dropped out of the race, but their names remained on the ballot due to approval deadlines. 

As of July 14, that includes Democrats Missy Highes and David Crowley. So, only five of the Democrats on the Aug. 11 ballot are still campaigning.

In 2018, two higher-profile candidates had also dropped out by late June: Andy Gronik and Dana Wachs, though both appeared on the ballot.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Elections Commission: 2018 Fall Partisan Primary Results: Ward by Ward – Governor
• MyVote Wisconsin: What’s On My Ballot
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Commission Meeting June 9, 2026 – Ballot Access
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrat Missy Hughes drops out of Wisconsin governor race
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Exec David Crowley withdraws from governor's race

Did more Democrats run for Wisconsin governor in 2018 than in 2026? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Generally it’s legal in 38 states, including Wisconsin, to record a conversation between two parties if at least one of them consents.

It generally would not be legal for a third party to record a conversation between two people, unless one of the two consented.

There are exceptions, said Wisconsin attorney Maxted Lenz. For example, two people talking loudly on a public bus don’t have an expectation of privacy. If a third party recorded them, it would not violate Wisconsin’s one-party law.

The law is not clear if a person in a one-party state wants to record a call with a person in a two-party state.

The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press says reporters should assume that the two-party state law applies.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Recording Law: One-Party Consent States: Complete 2026 Guide
• Wisconsin State Legislature: Interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communications prohibited
• Wisconsin Bar Association: Wisconsin Formal Ethics Opinion EF-24-01: Recording Others Without Disclosure or Consent
• Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press: Wisconsin Reporter's Recording Guide
• Recording Law: Wisconsin Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Is it legal to record a conversation without the other person knowing in Wisconsin?

In most states, including Wisconsin, is it legal to record a conversation without the other person’s consent? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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By a traditional count, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections accounts for about 28.5% of state employees, according to the 2025-27 state budget.

The total number of full-time-equivalent positions in state government is 74,426.

But that includes 38,239 Universities of Wisconsin positions. 

UW employees, who are funded largely by federal funding, tuition and other revenue, typically are excluded from such counts.

Excluding UW employees, the state FTE total is 36,187.

Corrections’ 10,328 positions account for 28.5% of that.

The next-largest departments are Health Services (6,741 positions) and Transportation (3,258).

Wisconsin Watch reported in May that Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high, with women’s prisons 78% over capacity and men’s facilities 30% over capacity.

Wisconsin Watch’s prison tracker shows that as of May 1, the adult prison population was 23,577. The record of 23,826 was set in 2019.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Comparative Summary of Provisions: 2025 Wisconsin Act 15
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high. Track the trend here.
• Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin prison population tracker

Do more than a quarter of Wisconsin state employees work for the Corrections Department? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Two 2025 studies found the majority of calories consumed by U.S. residents comes from ultraprocessed foods.

From August 2021 to August 2023, the mean percentage of total calories consumed from ultraprocessed foods among people age 1 and older was 55%, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Top sources included sandwiches, sweet bakery products, savory snacks and sweetened beverages.

Ultraprocessed foods typically are low in dietary fiber, contain little or no whole foods and have high amounts of additives like salt, sweeteners and unhealthy fats, the CDC said.

From 2003 to 2018, over 50% of the calories consumed by adults age 20 and up were from ultraprocessed foods, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins University researchers.

University of Wisconsin-Madison nutritional sciences professor Beth Olson recommends choosing foods lower in added sugars, sodium and saturated fats, and higher in dietary fiber and whole food ingredients.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• National Center for Health Statistics Ultra-processed Food Consumption in Youth and Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023
• The Journal of Nutrition Trends in Adults’ Intake of Un-processed/Minimally Processed, and Ultra-processed foods at Home and Away from Home in the United States from 2003–2018
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Nutritional Sciences Ultra-Processed Foods
• Newswise It May Not Just Be What’s in Ultra-Processed Foods, But How They’re Made
• JAMA Trends in Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among US Youths Aged 2-19 Years, 1999-2018
• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Ultra-processed food consumption among US adults from 2001 to 2018

Do over half of calories consumed by Americans come from ultraprocessed foods? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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We found no authoritative estimate that the number of Ku Klux Klan members in Wisconsin in the 1920s was 40,000.

That’s the current population of Wausau in central Wisconsin.

“No one knows for sure how many Americans joined during the 1920s but the best estimates are around 2 million members, some 15,000 of whom were in Wisconsin,” according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

That’s the size of the Milwaukee suburb of Whitefish Bay.

The KKK is a white supremacist hate group originally formed in the South after the Civil War.

Two Wisconsin KKK researchers said the 15,000 estimate is reasonable: Stephen Kantrowitz of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of a report on KKK activity on the campus; and Michael Jacobs of UW-Platteville.

As of 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center counted 13 KKK groups in the U.S., mostly in the South and none in Wisconsin.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Britannica: Ku Klux Klan
• University of Wisconsin-Madison history professor Stephen Kantrowitz: Email
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Ad-Hoc Study Group: Report to the Chancellor on the Ku Klux Klan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• University of Wisconsin-Platteville history and social sciences professor Michael Jacobs: Email
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Ku Klux Klan

Did Wisconsin have more than 40,000 KKK members in the 1920s?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Federal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” included an estimated $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid spending over the next decade. 

Passed in 2025, the bill included tax cuts and increased spending on immigration enforcement and the military, offset by nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

Provisions included mandating able-bodied adults to work 80 hours per month to qualify for Medicaid benefits, known as BadgerCare in Wisconsin. That’s estimated to reduce spending by $326 billion through reduced enrollment. 

It also freezes provider taxes in states like Wisconsin that have not expanded Medicaid, and it gradually lowers the provider tax rates in expansion states from 6% to 3.5%, saving the federal government $226 billion. States have used taxes on providers such as hospitals to draw federal matching funds.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Congressional Budget Office: Supplemental Cost Estimate
• Congressional Budget Office: Memo to lawmakers
• KFF: A closer look at the work requirement provisions in the 2025 federal budget reconciliation law
• USA Today: Medicaid 'churn': How working Americans could lose coverage under Trump tax bill
• The Commonwealth Fund: How new limits on state provider taxes will affect Medicaid funding

Did Donald Trump’s signature 2025 legislation cut Medicaid spending by $1 trillion over a decade? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin Republican Gov. Lee Dreyfus signed a law that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the first of its kind in the country.

David Clarenbach, an LGBTQ activist and Democrat in the state Assembly, spearheaded the bill. Despite conservatives’ last-minute efforts pushing Dreyfus to veto the bill, he approved it in February 1982.

Dreyfus, described as a fiscal conservative and social moderate in a 2008 obituary, cited a right to privacy and support from “a wide-ranging group of religious leaders” when signing the bill.

The law made it illegal for the state or private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations.

No other states adopted a similar law until nine years later, according to a Milwaukee Public Library post.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin State Legislature: 1981 Wisconsin Act 112
• Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project: David E. Clarenbach
• Milwaukee Public Library: First in the Nation – Wisconsin’s Gay Rights Law
• Pioneer Press: Wisconsin’s red-vested former governor, Lee Dreyfus, dies.

Did a Wisconsin Republican governor sign the nation’s first LGBTQ rights law? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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COVID-19 vaccines have not been linked to as many as 3.9 million deaths. 

Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said on May 9, 2026, on “Real America’s Voice” that the 39,000 deaths reported on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System could be low and the real number could be 100 times higher because most people don’t report to the system.

VAERS, run by U.S. health agencies, is an early warning system for vaccine problems, but its data isn’t evidence that vaccines caused deaths.

VAERS says submitting a report does not mean the vaccine caused an adverse event. Reports are not analyzed for accuracy.

A 2022 review found potential links in 38 deaths out of 8 billion doses of vaccine administered. A 2026 analysis from the National Institutes of Health found no evidence COVID vaccines increased sudden cardiac death in healthy young adults. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• CDC Wonder: Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: What VAERS Is (And Isn’t)
• Poynter: Claims that millions of people have died from the COVID-19 vaccine are unfounded
• National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine: Scientific literature review
• National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine: Association between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden death in apparently healthy younger individuals: A population-based case-control study
• NBC News: No child deaths definitively linked to Covid shots, FDA says

Have COVID-19 vaccines contributed to as many as 3.9 million deaths?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.