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>> This is really more of a somber mood than anything else.
I mean, this is the first time in history that we've had a
former president convicted of a felony, much less 34 felonies.
>> Donald Trump is convicted of 34 felony charges.
>> Wisconsin weighs in the trouble now, the Democrats will
have as they have to go to the people of this country and say,
we're willing to weaponize judges, juries, prosecutors
because we can't beat Donald Trump otherwise.
>> I'm Frederica Freyberg tonight on "Here& Now" a
bipartisan reading law turns partisan once money is involved,
a renewed challenge to Governor Walker's Act ten, the state
retirement system invests in Bitcoin and barriers to food
pantries are lifted, but at a cost. It's "Here& Now" for May
31st, funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus Fund for
Journalism and Friends of PBS. Wisconsin. School is not yet out
for summer, but starting next fall, the new Wisconsin law
mandating how children must be taught to read goes into effect.
The law requires teaching phonics or the relationships
between sounds and words instead of the current method widely in
use, called three cueing, which uses such things as pictures to
solve unknown words. This comes as the latest statewide third
grade reading test scores show fewer than 40% of students are
proficient readers. The reading law is in place, but the
legislature is suing over the governor's veto of how $50
million to help fund the change can be used. We sat down with
one of the authors of the reading bill, Representative
Joel Kitchens, as his signature legislation is now in the
courts. I know that you have said that this reading bill was
the most important thing that you have worked on in the
Capitol. What's your reaction, then, to the governor's veto and
the lawsuit over it? As act 20 is really already being enacted?
>> Yeah, it's frustrating. You know, it's sort of politics, you
know, what the governor did actually with the veto was not
that horrible. It's just the precedent of that of him being
able to go in and use a partial line item veto where
traditionally he has not been able to use it. And our lawyers,
when they drafted the bill, said he does not have that authority.
So it would set a dangerous precedent. And it's sort of it's
similar to the PFAS problems that we're having with that bill
where the governor seems to think that he can change you
know, how the how the money is spent. And that's just going to
be a problem. >> But meanwhile, it kind of
catches this whole piece of policy, right? In the midst of
that veto and the lawsuit now. Right
>> So it's unfortunately my bill ends up sort of being a test
case on this. That's really unfortunate. So hopefully it
doesn't slow it down too much. I know there are portions of it
and I've been in touch with DPI about it. I think, you know, as
far as the testing and the assessments, they'll have the
money for that. But hiring the coaches statewide, certainly
they do not have that money. So until this lawsuit is settled,
that won't happen. You know, we are encouraging the schools as
far as getting the training for the teachers as buying new
that. You know, we will have the money there. It's just it's just
the lawsuit has to play out. >> So the governor's veto
message also spoke to the idea that he wanted to give DPI the
flexibility of where to put this money, do you take exception to
that? much as because I think we're on
the same page on it. It's really, really unfortunate with
this. And again, some other bills that he didn't just talk
to us. You know, because I think we can work out the details of
this. It's just that when you do that in an area that's never
where that's never been allowed before, it's a problem. And I
know when he first did that, you know, I talked to the members of
JFC and they were back and forth. Well, you know, should we
challenge this? But I think they decided that, yeah. The
precedent it's too strong to ignore that and let him do that
because then it'll continue to escalate from there.
>> Is there anything to the idea that Republicans might have been
concerned because he vetoed a part of the appropriation that
would have given per pupil increase to private choice
schools and independent charter schools?
>> You know, I haven't heard that be part of the concern with
it, you know, what I'm hearing from JFC is just that it's the
precedent of it. And, yeah, there's a lot of distrust of
DPI, but I think, you know, again, the substance of what
that partial veto did is not the big deal. It's just the
precedent. this act 20 is going into effect
in the fall. Right. Have you heard from educators about, you
know, concerns they might have about being able to be ready to
do that? address some of those. There
were a lot of concerns. So we made the first assessment which
would have taken place in September. We made that
optional. So they don't have to do that until later because we
were trying to, you know, to speak to their fears. And now
with this, of course, everybody's like, what's going
on? So again, we keep telling people and I think DPI is giving
them the same message. Just go ahead, go forward. You know,
you're you're the money's going to be there. And it's really
important that we get this going.
you've done around this important issue for you, how
soon do you think these kinds of changes will result in more
children being able to read at a proficient level?
pretty rapid. I think that in two years we will see the
difference in those kids. And again, this is, you know, kids
learn to read. There's not a more important thing in their
whole lives than learn to read. If they don't learn how to read,
their chances of success in school and really in life are so
diminished that this is really important. And I was, you know,
gratified to hear Speaker Vos when he gave his end of the
session, wrap up. He said this was the most important thing
that we passed this session, too. And I think it really is.
And so, you know, we have to get this going. And I think, I think
we'll see progress pretty quickly because going back to
Wisconsin's reading test scores is what is that like for you as
someone who works on these issues to see that? Yeah it's
pretty awful. And you know, our African American students have
fallen from where they used to be, kind of middle of the pack.
Now they're dead last in the country. So we have got to turn
that around. It's just it should really scare people to think of
what that means to the future of these kids. And then you throw
the pandemic in on top of it, where some of those kids just
and unfortunately, especially in real instruction for a year.
Well, you can't take a year off from school when you're in
first, second, third grade and think you're going to make up
>> All right, Representative Kitchens, thanks very much.
>> Well, thank you. >> A lawsuit once again
challenging Wisconsin's decade old act ten law heard oral
arguments this week in a Dane County court. The suit is
brought by multiple unions and individuals representing public
employees, who argue they have been adversely affected by act
ten, act ten, or the budget repair bill was signed into law
in 2011 by then Republican Governor Scott Walker, prompting
weeks of protests that drew as many as 100,000 people to the
Capitol. The law prohibits general public employees from
collective bargaining, but like police and firefighters.
The distinctions between these two groups and how they're
applied is the basis of the lawsuit.
>> There are simply not substantial distinctions that
make the class of general employees, as defined in At ten,
differ from the class of public safety employees. There's no
substantial distinction, for example, between on the one
hand, the Capitol Police, the UW police and conservation wardens,
all of whom are, law enforcement officials with ¦arrest authority
who are deemed general employees.
between the classifications here, I think that this court
can acquire that, but cannot under rational basis, with
respect, get into some of the minutia that my friends have
attempted to interject this court into.
>> The Wisconsin pension Fund, ranked as one of the most
fiscally sound in the nation, took bold action this year. It
invested in Bitcoin. Most all government workers are part of
the employee Trust fund that pays out retirement benefits.
But for a pension fund widely known for being stable, prudent
and smart with investments, is this a departure or right on
brand? Our next guest says it's certainly turning heads. We
should note PBS Wisconsin employees are participants in
the Wisconsin Retirement System. We are joined by David Krause,
Marquette University emeritus associate professor of finance.
And thanks very much for being here. Yes, thank you. So what is
the reaction within the kind of investment industry to this
news? pretty amazed that a pension
fund this early in the introduction of the Bitcoin ETF
came on board. They expected it might take several years before
there would be institutional involvement with Bitcoin
>> So the Bitcoin ETF is different.
>> And apart from the kind of bitcoins that folks might have
in their digital wallets. >> Yeah that's right, it was
January of this year that the Spot Bitcoin ETF was approved by
the SEC. That allowed investors like the university systems or
Swib, in this case, the Wisconsin Investment Board, to
buy directly these securities that are regulated by the SEC,
highly liquid and traded on exchanges is still.
>> Was it a surprise to you to see that it was, but Wisconsin's
investment board has always been innovative.
pension fund. So in a way they have the luxury of being able to
invest for the long term. They don't need to worry as much
about liquidity as, say, the pension fund for the state of
Illinois, which is only funded at 50% of its level.
>> So should it cause pensioners, though, or workers,
to worry given the volatility of Bitcoin, a lot of assets are
volatile. look deep down into the
portfolio, you would see that a lot of assets, including some
stocks as well as some other alternative investments are
quite volatile in nature. Yeah, Bitcoin has moved around a lot,
but supply and demand and are starting to balance out. And I
do think the investment community is beginning to
understand this more as a viable alternative investment.
>> So how much are they putting into Bitcoin compared to the
fund itself? It's just a toe in the water.
It's one tenth of 1. Now $180 million is not pocket change.
But this is $180 billion fund. I think it's just an entry point.
I think they're testing to see the reaction of the public to
whether or not there's resistance to owning this, and
they're using it as a trial run, because it really is not going
to impact the portfolio. Substantial really, until you
get to maybe a 1 or 2% positioning.
>> Because I was going to ask you, what does your expertise
tell you about whether this is a good investment for the pension
fund? >> Well, it's a good investment
in the sense that it's going to add diversification in the
objective of a portfolio manager or a fund is to maximize return
while minimizing risk. Bitcoin like other alternative
parallel with stocks and bonds. So therefore it adds nice
diversification effect. The potential upside returns are
high as it could be with any new technology, and finally, because
this is a currency with a limited supply, it actually can
serve as an inflation hedge. I don't think very many people
talk about the potential for it to remove volatility of
government actions. >> Do you expect other states to
follow suit? Watch this closely and follow.
expect those that are underfunded can afford to do
that because this is a long play. I mean, the state of
Wisconsin can afford to go through maybe several cycles. I
think the long term trend of this type of assets is going to
be upward slope, but there's going to be dips, there's going
to be peaks, but if you're a pension fund with low liquidity,
you really can't afford long plaits.
investment in Bitcoin >> The day that it was announced
and that's when the SEC 13 F form became available to the
public. That day, Bitcoin went up 1. Now is it solely
attributable to the fact that an institutional investor bought
the market did pay attention to that. And I would not be
surprised to see other institutional investors move
into this asset category. >> David Krauss, thanks very
much. Good. Thank you. A second attempt to recall Republican
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was set in motion this week with the
delivery of 9000 petition signatures to the Wisconsin
elections Commission. Speaker Vos has been the focus of
derision from Donald Trump and his supporters. After refusing
to decertify Wisconsin's 2020 election results. Starting in
October, 265 emergency pantries in Wisconsin that accept
donations from the Federal Emergency Food Assistance
Program can no longer ask visitors to verify their address
in order to access free food. This new state rule comes as
food pantries are seeing an explosion in need, and such
verification can be a barrier to access. But could it also result
in shortages at popular locations like the Oshkosh Area
Community Pantry that saw a 70% increase in usage last year? We
ask its executive director, Ryan Rasmussen, and thanks very much
for being here. Pleasure to be here.
>> So, as we've said, your pantry has seen a major surge in
demand in the last few years. How related is that surge to the
end of extra food share benefits available during the Covid
pandemic? >> Absolutely. Extremely
last year around the March time frame, right when food share
benefits were starting to go back to pre-pandemic levels and
at the exact same time that that was happening, we were also
seeing inflation at the highest we've seen in a long time. Food
prices were skyrocketing, groceries and gas, everything
was just through the roof. So all of it culminated in a really
perfect storm of a lot of expensive things and folks
needing some additional help. >> So your location also
operates more like a regular grocery store where people can
choose the food they need or want. How much does that
influence its popularity? Do you think?
>> I think we're extremely popular because of that. We are
firm believers in in the dignity and respect of all of our
guests. And so we truly believe that there's power in choice.
And so we believe through that choice, folks retain their
dignity. And so rather than getting a pre-loaded box of
food, folks are able to come shop our aisles just like they
would any other grocery store. Really providing a dignified
shopping experience as opposed to a pre-loaded box of food. And
so for us, we're extremely popular because of that model,
because folks are able to shop like us, shop, shop with us like
anybody else. >> So in fact, you see hundreds
of people from outside your county visiting your pantry. Can
can you keep up with that demand ?
be interesting, especially as we talk about the new Tefap
regulations that are coming in. I certainly agree that, you
know, creating a barrier free opportunity for guests is super
important, and we value that. And we believe that also. But I
think there's some logistical concerns that we really need to
think through in order to make this happen. And obviously
ensuring that, you know, there's plenty of food to go around all
the pantries that need it is one of them. And I think one of the
things we'll have to look at is how can we redistribute that
food in a food system where food is available, you can get it,
but how can we allocate it? The right way to the pantries that
need it, that are seeing some major increases?
>> So that's what you mean when you talk about the logistical
challenges, potentially like moving it from out of your
county into another. >> Yeah, exactly. And some of
the other pieces that we have to think about too is with these
regulations, you know, without being able to verify proof of
address for pantries that have service areas like we do at and
throughout the state, there's I assume a lot of other pantries
we're thinking about having to, really a couple of ways that
We'll either have to separate to distribute this product.
the inventory or we're going to have to reduce and eliminate the
service areas. And so with that comes a lot of logistical
pieces, especially in our store to model that we have where, you
know, being set up like a grocery store, having multiple
programs in that store could create some additional confusion
for our guests, because how much of the food in your pantry comes
from the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program? Yeah, right
now it's about anywhere from 15 to 20% of the overall food that
we get. And so although that percentage doesn't seem really
high, the actual quantity and the quality of the food that
we're getting is fantastic, we're taking advantage of a milk
program where we're able to get, direct to farmer to pantry milk,
for free, a lot of produce comes from, from the Tefap program, as
well as some of the high protein rich foods that we look for in
canned goods. So although the overall quantity isn't huge, the
quality of it is really good. So it's something we wouldn't want
to sacrifice. >> Losing how has the clientele
of your pantry changed over the past several years?
>> Yeah, we certainly have seen, and a lot of pantries experience
this. The age demographic for pantry users is generally skews
a little older, and we've seen that age demographic come down
quite significantly for us, especially as we were talking
about when food share benefits were rolled back, you know, we
were seeing a lot of middle income folks who generally were
on the bubble before where they made too much to qualify for
services, but but not enough to make ends meet are the ones that
are really now the ones that are being affected by what's
happening. And so all that does is we're seeing a lot more
families. We're seeing a lot more children, we're seeing a
lot more of that younger demographic of folks that are
coming in who are needing the extra help.
>> All right. Well, Ryan Rasmussen, thanks very much, I
appreciate it. >> Spring storms have pounded
Wisconsin in recent weeks, but parts of the state are still
experiencing a long term drought that can cause problems for
marine life, that need high water levels to survive. Here
and now, reporter Nathan Denzin has more on one species that has
been hit particularly hard. >> We reached peak drought
severity in September of last year to just see that crash with
almost no rain for a long time was very disturbing.
>> It's been a very dry few years for Wisconsin.
>> I started getting lots of phone calls from people saying
the there's all these mussels out there and they're, you know,
they're stranded there. They're dying. What can we do?
>> It's had a significant impact on a species we hardly think
about. >> I was no longer picking up a
mussel and placing it gently in the water. RFK, Jr, I was
throwing them as fast as I could.
has been in a perpetual drought since about 2021, straining
aquatic resources despite spring rains. Drought is still hitting
the southwestern part of the state right now near the
Wisconsin River. the fall or usual fall. Rise did
not occur. And then really, a paucity of snow, especially in
northern Wisconsin. >> Mark Cup is the executive
director of the lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board, where he
works with the Wisconsin River from Prairie du Sac to the
Mississippi. anything happen with our spring
flow that we usually see. >> Droughts are very stressful
to aquatic organisms as well. >> Ellen Vos is the climate
resilience director with the Wisconsin River Alliance.
>> It is average. >> There's just less space for
the things that animals and plants and insects and
everything else need to survive. >> One animal that can be
squeezed out by low water is mussels.
>> They're basically just, you know, a mollusk with two shells.
And they live in the rivers and lakes, rivers and streams of
Wisconsin. expert at the Wisconsin DNR.
>> They don't have a brain and they don't have eyes. So they
they you know, they can't just figure out where the deeper
water is. She says there are tens of thousands of mussels on
the bed of the Wisconsin River, including 40 different species.
>> They filter as much as ten gallons of water a day per
mussel. and thousands of them, they
really help purify the water. >> But when the drought reached
its peak in September, mussels started to wash up on shore
banks. was actually historic artifacts,
because the water was so low, I'd never seen it this low in
the time I've lived here. >> Jean Anmuth is a retired DNR
scientist who lives near the Wisconsin River in Prairie du
Sac. She was the first person to contact experts when she saw
stranded mussels. >> Mussels are a huge part of
the ecology of this river because dams act as a barrier
>> Almost all of the mussels in for some aquatic species.
below. Prairie du Sac back. the Wisconsin River can be found
>> So I thought, hey, I'd better ring the alarm on the dam.
>> Here is the last of 26 on the waterway because we had such a
drought year, the dam did not have water to release many of
the dams on the Wisconsin, including Prairie du Sac, have
strict federal regulations, while dams keep a reservoir of
water on hand to generate electricity. We federally
regulated dams are not allowed to release more water than they
receive whatever comes into Lake Wisconsin at the at the very
head of the lake comes through the dam. Those dams are called
run of river dams because any water that comes in must go out.
Alliant energy, which owns the Prairie du Sac Dam, in a
requires us to maintain the statement said our license
release more water during water level. Therefore we cannot
on the Wisconsin River are drought conditions. Not all dams
facilities, and some may licensed as run of river
scenario. manipulate water levels in this
wrong. Everybody was in there in compliance with their license
obligations the entire time. And yet the outcome was thousands or
tens of thousands. We don't know. Dead mussels on the river.
>> That meant the only solution to save the mussels was to
physically walk the shore banks and throw them back into the
river. Just saying. We know that this
is a problem. If you're able to help, please go out to the
river. spending 3 to 4 hours. Forget
the artifacts. I was no longer looking at that.
mussels saved. I mean, individuals were picking up 100
mussels a day, 300 mussels a day. I mean, it was pretty
amazing what people were willing to do.
>> Anmuth saved more than 1200 herself.
a year and just those 1200 mussels, you you're filtering
like over 3 million gallons of water.
>> I know that we made a difference. And that will pay
dividends down the road. >> Extended forecasts for the
summer show that for the fourth straight year, drought
conditions are likely. Let's just assume that we run into a
similar situation and we don't have rain, particularly in the
northeast and central part of the state.
. And that is yes. We will need to do muscle rescues again.
>> There is a live, phone tree muscle rescue alert system in
place. >> They can also contact me
anytime and I can give them, advice as to what to do until
the time comes to walk the shore banks again, experts eyes will
be glued to the weather for "Here& Now"
>> I'm Nathan Denzin in Prairie du Sac.
>> For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit
Org and then click on the news our website at PBS Wisconsin.
coverage. Visit Wisconsin vote. tab to see all of our election
Org That's our program for tonight. I'm Frederica Freyberg.
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is Have a good weekend.
Journalism and Friends of PBS. provided by the Focus Fund for