Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 82. Sunrise is 5:17 and sunset is 8:37, for 15 hours, 20 minutes of daytime. The moon is new with 0.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1950, the Korean War begins when North Korea invades South Korea.
One reads that the state budget deadline looms as Assembly approves new programs without funds:
Assembly Republicans gathered ahead of the floor session to stress the need for bipartisan negotiations and progress on writing the state budget.
Budget negotiations fell apart last week for the second time as Senate Republicans walked away from talks with Gov. Tony Evers. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said in a statement at the time that discussions were “heading in a direction that taxpayers cannot afford.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said during a press conference that he has been in communication with Evers, including on Tuesday morning.
Vos said the discussions about child care funding are “preliminary” with “a lot of details to be worked out.” He said Assembly Republicans remain “steadfast” in its opposition to “writing checks out to providers” but are open to working with Evers on child care.
Evers told reporters Monday he wouldn’t sign a budget if it doesn’t include money for child care.
“Republicans need to get their act together and come back and let’s finish it up,” Evers said.
Asked if he would sign a budget that doesn’t include funding for the state’s Child Care Counts program, Evers said “no.”
Evers has not vetoed a budget in full during his time in office, though he has exercised his partial veto power extensively, rejecting major tax cuts and making changes to extend increases for school revenue – to the great irritation of Republicans.
See Baylor Spears, Budget deadline looms as Assembly approves new programs without funds, passes nuclear power bills, Wisconsin Examiner, June 25, 2025.
Professional journalism only goes so far, by its own standards, in calling this what it is.
Prof. Mark Copelovitch, using higher-education funding as his example, describes Assembly Speaker Vos’s approach:
Quite right: Vos reflexively argues in bad faith, where there is always another reason, lurking behind his professed reason, for his actions.
In Whitewater and across Wisconsin, Vos is a hopeful model for liars, schemers, and posers that they, too, can gain power and influence without talent or integrity.
Drones tackle Everest’s trash crisis, carry garbage down: