As Wisconsinites, we have grown used to odd political moves, late-night sessions, and closed-door policymaking. But the events of last night and the early morning are stunning. 

If you were a legislative leader in Wisconsin, and had an opportunity to pass new laws before your party’s governor left office, what would you do? What would you fix as your last act in power?

As I face my last Senate votes, I am working hard to understand what laws my Republican colleagues choose to pass before the new Democratic Governor takes office.

Wisconsin voters elected Democrats to the state-wide offices of Governor and Attorney General.  As we are so often reminded by the Republicans, elections have consequences. There is supposed to be a balance of power between the Governor's office and the legislature. Yet the still-GOP-controlled legislature is holding a lame-duck session starting tomorrow with the sole purpose of clawing back power from the Governor's and Attorney General's offices and moving it to the legislature. 

Opening weekend of gun deer season, conditions were nearly perfect. The weather was cool, but not too cold. The sun came out and warmed us. A light dusting of snow made it easy to see critters’ tracks from the night before.

I saw nine deer opening morning. What an abundance!

A little-told story from the recent election is the change happening across Wisconsin as citizens voted to increase their property taxes to pay for local schools.

As we head into the election tomorrow, let's review the increasingly obnoxious campaign trends of the last few weeks. We all get trained to not call campaign statements lies. Let's face it, candidates of all parties are prone to stretch a point while campaigning, and to cast themselves in the best light possible, and their opponents in the worst.

“Hard to wrap my head around,” the woman shared as she considered Foxconn. Just what do big budget decisions mean to us?

Work has begun on crafting the next state budget. Over the next few months, this work will continue in earnest. One hefty unbudgeted expense added to upcoming budget math is a large taxpayer funded payment to a foreign corporation.

What happens to state money given to companies to create jobs? Do the jobs get created? How do we ensure the money is not misspent?

These questions came to mind as I recently communicated to a constituent who feared state economic development money was being misused. I encouraged, among other actions, a call to the Legislative Audit Bureau’s Fraud, Waste and Mismanagement Hotline (877-372-8317).

“I talked with a group of women in Galesville,” my friend Mary Lee told me. “They were full of questions about the election, like when is it, where do I vote, how do I find out if I’m registered?” Mary is one of many folks helping to make sure people know and when to vote.