Milwaukee News Roundup for May 19, 2023

Just like the city’s sidewalks, Milwaukee’s media cycle is filled with cracks. Here at the Leader, it’s our goal to dredge up important stories that fall through. And this week has it all: protests against electricity rate hikes, tortoise-like plans to remove lead pipes and build passenger rail, and labor victories in Minnesota. And then there’s the story of a very special plane ride. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about the big story of the week.

Republicans’ Local Aid Package is a Disaster 

On Wednesday, the State Assembly approved a Republicans plan to rework the Wisconsin’s  approach to sharing state tax revenues with local governments – aid for essential services that has been flat since the early 2000s. The bill is widely reported to be a wreck. It provides only a tiny fraction of the aid that cities and counties are due, and shortchanges larger cities, especially Milwaukee, which gets the bare-minimum level of aid. It also heaps on new requirements and restrictions like banning local advisory referenda, and requiring that local spending on law enforcement never decrease below its current levels. As Rep. Darrin B. Madison of Milwaukee put it: “At the end of the day, this body has given local governments a losing hand. Now, we come to them at their most vulnerable and we offer them this measly improvement.” (Recombobulation Area) 

When it comes to Milwaukee, the bill drives an especially ugly bargain. The City and County now get a marginal increase in sales tax revenues (if voters pass referenda), but in exchange must accept new restrictions on how they make decisions and what they can spend. According to Milwaukee Magazine, a little-noticed provision in the Assembly bill “might force Milwaukee County to choose between helping tenants avoid eviction and supporting museums and arts groups. The language also could affect the future of American Family Field and the Mitchell Park Domes. But what that provision actually means is a mystery, because its Republican sponsors aren’t talking.” (Milwaukee Mag) 

Apparently Assembly Republicans made such a mess when writing the bill that even three of their own members voted against it on Wednesday. And now, there is disagreement between Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu on what the ultimate language of the bill should be. Vos, ever the drama queen, has said that he is “done negotiating.” Le Mahieu seemed flabbergasted at this, telling reporters that Vos will “have to answer to his caucus” if he ultimately refuses to take up a Senate-amended version of the bill. (Wisconsin Examiner) 

The Mayor’s Very, Very, Very, Very Expensive Flight to Hang Out with Republicans 

According to ethics disclosures, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson received, among other gifts, a flight on a private jet, valued at a whopping $13,750, which whisked the mayor from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Chicago for a meeting of the Republican National Committee. The flight, paid for by real estate developer Ted Kellner, was part of the mayor’s bid to bring the sure-to-be-grotesque Republican National Convention to town next summer. Kellner has recently been named the Convention’s CEO. Our only question: how was the in-flight meal, Mister Mayor?   (Milwaukee Business Journal) 

2000 Milwaukeeans to We Energies: Get Lost 

We Energies implemented an 11 percent rate hike for residential customers’ electrical bills this year. The Power to the People campaign – a coalition which includes Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America, the Greater Milwaukee Green Party, North Side Rising, Our Wisconsin Revolution and the Milwaukee Party for Socialism and Liberation – took action by presenting nearly 2,000 signatures on a petition, urging Milwaukee to establish its own publicly-owned energy utility. (WPR) 

Milwaukee Will “Get the Lead Out” at Some Point, When the City Feels Like It 

Milwaukee’s Water Works says that its 70-Year plan to replace the city’s lead pipes is “the best it can do”. In 2017, the city started replacing 73,000 lead water service lines. Six years later, 67,000 of those lines are still in use. Meanwhile, the lives of countless Milwaukeeans are at risk. (CBS 58; WPR) 

Wisconsinites Can Have a Little Passenger Rail, as a Treat…in 2050. 

Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation released a passenger rail plan on Tuesday which called for new passenger services between Milwaukee and Madison and an extension of the Hiawatha Line from Milwaukee to Green Bay and the Fox Cities. When will it happen? If we’re very, very well-behaved and say our prayers, in 25 years. (CBS 58) 

The Great Children’s Hospital Hustle 

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin bills itself as a charity, a move which shields the organization from federal, state, and local taxes. There’s just one problem: it isn’t. The nonprofit has $1.5 billion in investments, $130 million in cash, and more in investments. In 2019, over $10.4 million went to salaries for top leaders. Meanwhile, as Bruce Murphy reports, Children’s provides little in charity care: “The annual report on uncompensated health care by the Wisconsin Hospitals Association (WHA) for 2021 found that Children’s Wisconsin was tied with OakLeaf Surgical Hospital of Altoona for the lowest amount spent on uncompensated care as a percent of gross patient revenue — just 0.5%. That compares to as high as 6.4% for the most generous provider, Aspirus Merrill Hospital.” The takeaway: Children’s is a reliably profitable business masquerading as a charity hospital for tax purposes. (Urban Milwaukee)

Minnesota: Where They Still Give a Shit About the Working Class 

Minnesota’s state legislature is on the verge of passing a dramatic victory for workers that would ban captive audience meetings, create a board to set minimum labor standards for nursing homes, improve workplace safety and rights for warehouse and meatpacking workers, and more. Under a separate bill, Minnesota workers would be able to earn paid sick and safe time and be covered by a host of new employee protections under a labor and jobs budget bill that the state Senate passed on Tuesday. These kinds of reforms are also broadly popular in Wisconsin, but as long as we live in the most gerrymandered state in the country––what’s popular doesn’t evidently matter. (More Perfect Union; MPR)