WISCONSIN (MacIver Institute) -- Good afternoon and welcome to a MacIver Monday newsletter -- on a Tuesday this week because of the long Labor Day weekend. There are eight weeks until Election Day, and plenty of issues to keep you informed of as summer turns into fall and campaigns ramp up. Read on for more.
Spotlight
MacIver's continued pressure and oversight of election integrity paid off at the August 31 Wisconsin Elections Commission meeting. Commissioners took up Green Bay’s repeated duplicate-ballot mailings and Milwaukee’s August 11 central-count failure instead of burying either item.
In Green Bay, Clerk Celestine Jeffreys’ office reprinted labels without confirming they were missing—152 in April and another unknown batch before the August primary. WEC did not take a final vote on whether she broke the law; staff must draft a proposed decision for a September 9 vote. Milwaukee staff downloaded audit logs instead of unofficial results from five of nine tabulators, delaying 27,187 absentee totals. The Commission voted 6–0 to wait for promised uploads of logs and training plans. The lesson, MacIver writes, is simple: accountable government happens because citizens keep watching.
Deep Dive
Once Again, the DNR Is Trying to Rewrite State Law
Richard Moore argues that Wisconsin’s wolf problem is not only in the woods -- it is inside the Department of Natural Resources. Livestock and pet losses have outrun the statutory compensation program, and the DNR’s answer is emergency and permanent rules that would cap, prioritize, and prorate claims instead of making victims whole.
With a surplus near $3 billion, Richard writes, the governor and Legislature should fund the claims, not hand DNR a standing formula to shortchange the people the program was written to protect.
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Coming Soon
Wisconsin Lawmaker Wants Total Screen Ban Through Second Grade
Rep. David Steffen is pushing a plan to ban classroom screens through second grade except for testing and computer-science classes, citing research on language, attention, and early reading and math, noting similar laws in Utah and Alabama.
You Should Know
Crowley Brags About Repealing Act 10 After Union Meeting
Benjamin Yount reports that Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley used a Kenosha meeting with labor leaders to promise he would repeal Act 10, restore collective bargaining, and bring back project labor agreements. MacIver estimates Act 10 has saved taxpayers nearly $36 billion since 2011; WILL puts the school-only cost of repeal at $1.7 billion, with cities and counties facing additional tax hikes.
Crowley’s pledge lands as Republican Tom Tiffany is already running ads on Crowley’s Milwaukee County sales-tax increase. A pending Wisconsin Supreme Court case could wipe Act 10 off the books even without a new governor—raising the stakes for every taxpayer in the state.
Quick Click
Gov Evers Calls Trump Admin Voter Fraud Investigation “A Joke”
Benjamin Yount reports that Gov. Tony Evers told federal investigators to “stay out” of Wisconsin after the Trump administration confirmed a review of states where non-citizens could be voting. Republicans Tony Wied and Derrick Van Orden welcomed the scrutiny and said Democrat-run states should release their voter rolls.
For Your Commute
With David Crowley's promise to repeal Act 10, now is a good time to remember just all that went in to passing the landmark reforms that have saved the state tens of billions of dollars. Watch our "Act 10 Story" below.
Last Update: Sep 08, 2026 4:29 pm CDT
