As we wrap up months of hard work, culminating in 400,000 candidate comparisons aimed at encouraging informed conservative voting, the political campaigns are finally behind us. Now, we can shift our focus to policy—an area where we need your support. Also, see my most recent Newsmax Piece on stopping the liberal attempt to throw out Voter ID to help ensure they win future national popular votes after losing to Trump. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to help us advance these crucial priorities.
Federal Focus at Mar-a-Lago, But State Matters Matter More
While the week in Mar-a-Lago was centered around federal policy, many key decisions still happen at the state level. As we look toward the upcoming Legislative session in Madison, it’s important to review some of the successes of 2024 and discuss efforts that have moved policies forward, even if they haven’t fully passed yet. These actions help build momentum and apply pressure for future victories.
Success: The Citizens-Only Vote in Wisconsin
On October 19, I challenged a liberal group that was hosting a “Big Tent” meeting to oppose a critical ballot measure in Wisconsin. The measure would ensure that only citizens are eligible to vote in elections—a policy strongly supported by Wisconsin Faith and Freedom, as well as by 70% of Wisconsinites and 87% of voters nationwide. This stance stands in stark contrast to the far-left agenda, as shown by them only securing 30% of the vote for their supposedly “big tent” position to allow non-citizens to vote, about the same percent I’d expect they’d get for their other extreme positions such as allowing men to compete in women’s sports or supporting terrorist groups like Hamas.
Tax Reform: Eliminating the Marriage Penalty
Another important measure this year was the effort to eliminate the marriage penalty in Wisconsin’s tax code. Currently, if married couples filed their taxes individually, they would collectively save $169 million annually. Personally I’ve written against policies that discourage a father from being in the home since I was the News Editor at the Marquette Tribune and welfare benefits were withheld from single moms if bureaucrats found evidence that a man was actually living in the house to help father the children.
The Assembly and Senate took a significant step forward by passing AB 1022 to remove this penalty. However, the Assembly’s 62-34 vote fell short of the two-thirds needed to override liberal Governor Tony Evers’ veto. Despite this, getting the legislation to his desk forces the question: Should the governor charge Wisconsinites an extra $169 million just for getting married, especially with a $4.6 billion surplus?
Missed Opportunity: Abortion Referendum
The one measure I lobbied for on behalf of our national 501(c)(4), the Faith and Freedom Coalition, was AB 975. This bill would have allowed voters to decide whether to limit abortions in Wisconsin from the current 22-week threshold to 14 weeks—since the current law is more liberal than even 45 of 47 European Countries. The Assembly passed the bill 53-46, but unfortunately, the Senate failed to act. Had the Senate approved it, voters could have made the decision.
This failure is significant, as it left the Republican Senators vulnerable to attacks claiming they supported the 1849 abortion law making no exceptions – a position supported by only 7 percent of voters. Meanwhile, the Assembly members who backed our bill, which was advocated by Ron Johnson, went 15-1 against other Republicans who opposed it following other groups who claimed no improvement in the law should be passed unless it banned all abortions. Those Assembly Republicans not only won their primaries, most also defeated Democrats in the General Election to maintain a double-digit lead in the house despite partisan liberal gerrymandering.
The Republican Senators who failed to take up the measure lost all of the highly competitive races, dropping to only a 1-vote majority.
Wisconsin voters would have likely passed this measure, almost identical to one passed in Nebraska allowing abortions only up to 12 weeks while stopping it thereafter. This could have been Wisconsin’s path as well and probably saved the GOP Senators in the process, but we missed the opportunity.
The Impact of Pro-Life Policies in the 2024 Election
The debate over abortion in Wisconsin mirrors the larger national picture. Public opinion on abortion has shifted, with one-third of Americans now supporting abortion without restrictions, another third supporting pro-life law to stop most abortions except for limited cases like rape and incest, and the remaining third advocating for some but not all abortions. This split was evident in the 2024 elections, where pro-life victories occurred in Florida in part because the Faith and Freedom Coalition there was able to point out how extreme the measure was, and then one complete pro-life victory when South Dakota voters were the first since Roe v. Wade was overturned to pass a pro-life law that would stop almost all elections.
Moving Forward: Key Policy Priorities
Looking ahead, we are committed to continuing the work of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Some of the key policies we will monitor include:
- Voter Registration: Pushing for a window of time before elections to require voter registration, preventing the influx of out-of-state students voting without time to see if they already voted in their home state.
- Combating Riots: Advocating for making rioting a felony.
- Religious Rights: Protecting religious freedoms in hospitals and schools.
- Human Trafficking: Securing funding to rescue victims of trafficking.
- Prison Reform: Opposing the dangerous practice of allowing men to claim female identity to move to women’s prisons, such as is allowed in some places in California.
- Born-Alive Protection: Ensuring that babies who survive abortion are given the medical attention needed to survive, contrary to the former liberal Governor of Virginia who stated they should be left to die.
- And most importantly as noted in my Newsmax piece:
- Protect Photo Voter ID
- Protect the Electoral College
We remain committed to shaping policies that reflect conservative values and prioritize the well-being of families and communities.
