Wisconsin Right Now

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, sees an E-Verify bill that he has co-authored as a step toward requiring E-Verify for all employers in the state, like 10 other states require.

For now, however, Assembly Bill 281 would require state government employees and state contractors with contracts more than $50,000 to use E-Verify for employees.

“This is a commonsense measure that promotes transparency and accountability in public contracting and state employment,” said Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk, R-Hubertus.

Hubertus told the Assembly Committee on Commerce that, had Iowa used this requirement, it would have avoided the situation where Des Moines Public School Superintendent Ian Andre Roberts was arrested after it was found that he had weapons charges and was in the country illegally.

“This bill would make sure this does not happen here in Wisconsin,” Piwowarczyk said.

Wimberger said that he knows and has experienced how difficult it can be to find employees.

“The fact that we struggle to find labor does not justify doing something that is destructive to our society,” Wimberger said.

He compared it to before the Civil War when cotton farmers said that they wouldn’t have anyone to pick cotton if they could not have slaves.

“The answer is that we’re going to figure it out,” Wimberger said. “… Advance as a society and not be luddites.”

Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Voces de la Frontera registered against the bill, saying it would make some undocumented workers go the extra steps of buying a Social Security number from someone else in order to work and then it would raise the charges that could be brought against the worker if they are found to have used false information.

“We need to make sure that, here in Wisconsin, people are made to feel welcome and their contributions are welcomed,” Neumann-Ortiz said.”… In the absence of immigration reform, it is what people are coerced to do.”

David Ortiz Whittingham, of Worker Justice Wisconsin, said that the requirement will lead more contractors to heavily use subcontractors who do not have the E-Verify requirement to do the actual contracted work and shield “brazenly illegal practices.”

“The prime contractor on the project will only employ a small fraction of the workers on the project,” he explained.

Wimberger said that the use of illegal immigrant labor undercuts the value of an hour of labor for those in the country illegally, citing Cesar Chavez.

He called the employment of workers in the country illegally “corrosive.”

Iowa's largest school district is holding an emergency meeting Saturday night after its superintendent was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Des Moines agents.

ICE arrested Des Moines Public School Superintendent Ian Andre Roberts on Friday. A citizen of Guyana, Roberts has a criminal record and has been living in the U.S. illegally with no work authorization, ICE says. A federal immigration judge also ordered his removal from the country last year.

Roberts, “a criminal illegal alien from Guyana,” was arrested “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers in Des Moines said.

He was working as the DMPS superintendent “despite being an illegal alien with a final order of removal and no work authorization,” ICE said.

When ICE ERO-Des Moines officers approached him, he sped away in his taxpayer-funded DMPS vehicle to evade arrest. Officers later found the vehicle abandoned near a wooded area. Iowa State Patrol assisted with locating and arresting him. He remains in ICE custody.

Roberts first entered the U.S. in 1999 on a student visa. Not soon after, he was arrested on weapons charges on Feb. 5, 2020, in violation of his visa terms. A federal immigration judge issued a final order of removal in May of last year.

The ATF is investigating how Roberts acquired the handgun. “It is a violation of federal law for those in the U.S. without legal status to possess a firearm and ammunition,” ICE said.

“This suspect was arrested in possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle provided by Des Moines Public Schools after fleeing federal law enforcement,” ICE ERO St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson said. “This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats.

“How this illegal alien was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district.”

Des Moines Public Schools is the largest school district in Iowa, serving more than 30,000 students and employing 5,000 people. Its superintendent receives a salary of $270,000, a taxpayer-funded car and cell phone allowance, contributions to a tax-sheltered annuity and retirement plan, and district health, life and long-term disability insurance.

DMPS has an affirmative action plan, which appears to emphasize hiring based on race. Its 2021 Affirmative Action plan prioritizes “diversity, inclusion, and equity” as “fundamental and essential” to the district’s success.

The plan’s stated goal is to increase hiring the number of teachers of color by specific grades and percentages. This includes increasing hiring teachers of color in kindergarten and first grade by 8%; and in second through fifth grades by 5%. It also prioritizes increased test scores of Black male third grade reading students “from 35% to 72% by June 2023, as measured by FAST” and “Black male students earning a ‘B’ or higher in Algebra 1 by the end of 9th grade will increase from 17% to 35% by August 2023.”

It also prioritizes recruiting teachers who completed a “Blue Contract,” program through Drake University’s Master of Science in Education degree in Culturally Responsive Leadership and Instruction. Courses include “culturally responsive teaching” and “equity in Mathematics.” New teachers hired through the BLUE contract receive a higher starting salary than non-BLUE contract teachers, according to the plan.

DMPS said in a statement that its board retained Texas-based JG Consulting to conduct a search for its superintendent.

In a now deleted post, the consulting firm said Roberts previously served as the superintendent of Milcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania and “previously held leadership positions in various schools across the country, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Saint Louis.” It also cites DMPS Board Chair Teree Caldwell-Johnson praising his selection, citing his “educational experience, academic excellence, and his passion for innovation and inspiration” and “ability to create equitable experiences for students.” He assumed his DMPS role on July 1, 2023.

DMPS also included Roberts in its "Top 100 Influencers" this year.

On Friday night, the DMPS board said Baker-Eubanks conducted a third-party comprehensive background check on Roberts and that DMPS is “required to verify employment eligibility for all employees. In this case, Dr. Roberts completed the I-9 employment eligibility verification form and submitted the required documentation.”

The board also said he “was licensed by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners in July 2023” and it “did not have any knowledge” of his immigration status or final removal order.

In response to ICE stating a loaded gun was found in a district vehicle, it said, “DMPS policy states weapons are prohibited on school grounds or at a school sponsored or school related activity.”

The board is holding an emergency meeting Saturday evening “to take action regarding Dr. Roberts’ administrative leave status.” It also appointed an interim superintendent.

(The Center Square) – Gov. Tony Evers’ office and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. have not released records related to an early April trade trip to Europe.

Evers and WEDC officials went to Germany and France and took part in Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial trade show.

The trip included visiting Hannover, Hessen, and Berlin in Germany and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France.

Former WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes traveled to Europe for the trip along with WEDC Vice President of Global Trade and Investments Micah Oge as well as other WEDC staff.

The Center Square filed public records requests with both Evers’ office and WEDC regarding expenses shortly after the trip and has not received a response for five months as of Sept. 29. That included a follow-up from The Center Square asking for a status update on the requests on Sept. 18, which received no response from either office.

Public funds are often used for official economic development trips. WEDC and Evers' office also did not respond to requests for further detail on who went on the trip or the costs associated with the trip in early April.

“We've seen growing delays from state agencies over the last several years,” Attorney Tom Kamenick, President & Founder of The Wisconsin Transparency Project, told The Center Square. “It's important for the public to be able to monitor government expenses, especially when officials are spending our money taking trips to foreign countries.

“But journalists can't report on such things in a timely manner when those same officials delay providing records for months and months. Evers' administration has to do a better job responding promptly to record requests.”

Hughes has since resigned from her post, as of Sept. 19, and announced on Monday morning that she is running for governor.

Evers’ administration is searching for a replacement, according to a press release. Evers has announced he will not seek reelection.

(The Center Square) – Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany entered Wisconsin’s race for governor on Tuesday.

Tiffany, of the 7th Congressional District, told radio host Dan O'Donnell he plans to ensure the state is back open for business and proposed the state change its Department of Natural Resources to adjust its permitting process and separate its permitting from its fish and wildlife work.

He posted his announcement on social media.

Tiffany said he is running because he believes he is the best Republican candidate who can win.

Tiffany told O'Donnell that he plans to lower taxes overall, including freezing property taxes and attempting to eliminate the state income tax, though he is not sure the state can get there.

Tiffany said the state has a "tax problem, not a revenue problem."

Tiffany said that he supports President Donald Trump’s tariffs and he believes they will help bring manufacturing back to the United States.

“Generally, I support them,” Tiffany said. “… We can’t be dependent on China.”

Criticism of Tiffany came swiftly after his announcement.

“Tiffany is entering the race already at odds with voters after he tipped the scales in Washington to kick Wisconsin families off of their health insurance, threaten rural hospitals and nursing homes, drive up the cost of food, and kill good-paying jobs,” said Izzi Levy speaking for the Democratic Governors Association. “And he is unapologetic about his radical record that adds to a primary race bursting with far-right extremism: he has repeatedly pushed to overturn Wisconsin’s 2020 election results, advocated for an extreme abortion ban with no exceptions, and supported cost-raising tariffs and devastating cuts to education funding in the state.”

Tiffany joins Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and businessman Bill Berrien in the Republican race.

Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, recently joined Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley as the major Democratic candidates in the race.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly said the state’s schools are underfunded and the state needs to step up during her annual State of Education Speech on Thursday in Madison.

She also called the federal government the “biggest schoolyard bully” that Wisconsin schools face.

Critics, however, say that the way Wisconsin schools spend money is a large problem with the state’s education system.

“Dr. Underly complains that funding is 'inadequate,' but the average school district in Wisconsin now has nearly $18,000 in revenue per student,” Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Policy Director Will Flanders wrote in response. “A class of 20 students represents $360,000 in taxpayer value. Money is not what is holding our schools back.”

The Institute for Reforming Government wrote its own State of Education on Thursday, saying the state received record budget increases for the second straight budget but test scores have not improved.

The state’s public schools have a record amount of staff as the state’s schools are now facing decreasing enrollment but public schools have a lack of classroom teachers in specialized areas.

“The real state of education in Wisconsin is that the education bureaucracy keeps blocking progress, and it’s students and taxpayers who are paying the price,” Quinton Klabon, Senior Research Director at the Institute for Reforming Government, said in the group’s Real State of Education. “After consecutive years of record-breaking investment, parents, and taxpayers deserve results, not excuses.”

Underly went on to say that state legislative leaders are starving public schools to benefit private schools by pulling resources from public schools.

“Decades of insufficient investment have forced a historic number of districts into an impossible situation,” Underly said. “Turning to referenda, year after year, just to survive. All while facing micromanaging from Madison and endless finger-pointing from lawmakers who too often choose politics over partnership.”

Flanders, however, showed that inflation-adjusted spending for public schools in Wisconsin has nearly doubled since the 1970s.

Underly closed by issuing a challenge to give more funding to public schools and see better results.

“This is our wake-up call,” Underly said. “This is the mirror we must face. And we have to ask ourselves: Is this who we want to be? Will we be the generation that looked away as our schools crumbled? Or will we be the ones who stood up, kept our promise, and chose to write a different story?”

President Donald Trump is designating Antifa a “major terrorist organization,” he announced in a social media post Wednesday evening.

The Center Square asked the president Monday afternoon if he would be designating the left-wing group a domestic error group following a spate of political violence against conservatives and Republicans, including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices,” the president posted.

On Monday, the president told The Center Square that he “100%” supported designating the group a domestic terror organization.

Consistent with his latest social media post, the president said he would consider designating other groups, but wouldn’t indicate others by name. He said he's talked with Attorney General Pam Bondi about bringing federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges against some of these organizations and their donors.

In May 2020, the Department of Justice “formally labeled Antifa violence as domestic terrorism.”

‘‘The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly,” according to a DOJ statement.

This is a developing story.