Citizen Action Weekly; Friday, March 4th
Friday, March 4th
Citizen Action and Wisconsin Legislators roll out BadgerCare Public Option
Democratic legislators, together with members of Citizen Action and the Main Street Alliance introduced the BadgerCare Public Option Act during a virtual press conference on Monday, Monday February 28th. The bill, an ambitious effort to expand access to health care for Wisconsinites, was introduced by Reps. Kristina Shelton (D-Green Bay) and Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee) with Sens. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee). We applaud these legislators for fighting to shift power away from wealthy insurance corporations and into the hands of the people.
You can watch the full press conference by clicking here!
Check out the media coverage: Wisconsin Public Radio, Up North News, and the Wisconsin Examiner’s.
Contact your legislators today and urge them to support the legislation and co-sponsor.
Citizen Action members are meeting virtually with state legislators in support of the newly introduced BadgerCare Public Option Act.
This week members met with State Rep. Jodi Emerson to ask her to co-sponsor the BadgerCare Public Option Bill that was introduced to the legislature on Monday. Well, she beat us to the punch. Less than 24 hours after it was introduced, Rep. Emerson had already signed on as a co-sponsor! Thank you Rep. Emerson!
CONTACT your legislators TODAY and ask them to co-sponsor the BadgerCare Public Option bill.
Join the movement to protect Wisconsin Water!
Last week activists, experts, elected leaders, and folk just like you came out to join what they can do to protect the water of Wisconsin. We heard from Rita Simon who has been working with local tribes to stop professional polluters from destroying sacred indigenous lands. Johnson Bridgewater was on the line to speak about communities across the state making water a human right. We heard live from Sarah Barron from Crawford Stewardship Project about the dangers of factory farming in the Driftless.
We also watched videos from state legislatures, city council members, count board supervisors and more. Clean water is under attack from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. Professional polluters and the politicians they finance are using hot button issues to divide us while they kill our water. There is hope though. If we all stand together, across race and class, from every corner of Wisconsin we can create a tomorrow where Wisconsin water is clean for our bodies, our swimming, our fishing and our health!
Please watch the event here and take up action RIGHT NOW to protect Wisconsin Water!
Citizen Action and partner group members call on Congress to pass popular provisions in the Budget Bill.
On Thursday, March 3rd, Citizen Action, Main Street Alliance, and Opportunity Wisconsin members met in Green Bay to celebrate President Biden’s visit to Wisconsin, show support for his social platform, and urge Congress to end the debate on the current reconciliation package.
Main Street Alliance member Ben Camden (he/him) spoke about the grueling challenge of ensuring that employees were able to afford healthcare throughout the pandemic. Citizen Action of Wisconsin organizer Noah Reif (she/her) spoke about her own experiences as a Type 1 diabetic and shared the importance of ensuring that every single person in our community has access to quality, affordable healthcare and the need to cap the costs of medicine, like insulin. Representative Shelton also spoke on the impact closing coverage gaps would have for working class families and the importance of working towards a system that prioritizes people over profits.
You can watch the full stream by clicking here!
Volunteer to help Citizen Action endorsed candidate, Juan Miguel Martinez, Every Saturday, 10AM! Get involved!
We’re all hands on deck for Juan Miguel Martinez for Milwaukee County Supervisor, District 12!
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Working Families Party as we safely canvass the district!
Spring Election Endorsements: Southeast Wisconsin
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action was part of a press conference unveiling the exciting new and improved BadgerCare Public Option bill, which will dramatically improve health care access and lower crippling medical costs for working families. The news conference drew statewide media coverage, including Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Examiner, and UpNorth News. You can also watch the whole news conference on WisconsinEye.
Citizen Action’s Health Care Director Claire Zautke on WORT Radio to discuss prescription drug prices and the cost reform provisions being pushed by President Biden and Congressional Democrats. Listen here.
Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show for the full hour to discuss national politics, the chances of pulling out the 2022 elections, and Biden’s State of the Union address. The Boston-based show airs in Wisconsin on Devils Radio in Madison and WAUK 540 AM Waukesha/Milwaukee. Listen to Robert’s interview here
Listen to “Path breaking BadgerCare Public Option Bill Unveiled” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
Public option, what? A sweeping BadgerCare Public Option Bill was announced this week in the Legislature, which does more than any bill introduced in over a decade to make healthcare more affordable and accessible in Wisconsin. We hit on the top details of the BadgerCare Public Option Bill and why it’s so important that legislation like this gets a fair hearing. In the weird and dangerous news of the week, disgraced ex-judge Michael Gableman is back in our chatter-box telling an Assembly committee that he was joining the circus. Okay maybe not, but he did give a clownish performance that spewed anti-democracy propaganda and bizarre conspiracy theories. Will Gableman succeed in nullifying Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin and selling Donald Trump’s Big Lie? We also cover the latest Marquette Law School Poll and wonder, despite the media hoopla, if we really learned anything all that valuable. We wrap it up this week with a quick yap about the stellar pick of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson by President Biden for the US Supreme Court. Go Badgers!
Social media post of the week