Weekend ’24 Newsletter, January 12th
January 12th
Become a member of Citizen Action today.
Attend Citizen Action’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, Monday, March 11, 6pm
Join us for a joyous celebration of 40 years of powerful organizing at Citizen Action of Wisconsin! We will break bread and toast the proud (and often hidden history) of Citizen Action, and consider our critical role in the fight to save and restore multiracial democracy.
Citizen Action executive director Robert Kraig is researching our history (much of it preserved at the Wisconsin Historical Society) and will present his findings on our history.
Monday, March 11th, 6:00 PM
Enlightened Brewing, 2020 S Allis St, Milwaukee
The Winter Party celebrates coalition-building in Northwest Wisconsin
Last Saturday, dozens of Northwestern Citizen Action Organizing Co-op members joined with organizers and members from other groups in an Eau Claire area coalition celebration of grassroots organizing, called The Winter Party, which celebrated 2023 and looked ahead to opportunities in 2024.
The over 70 attendees were able to share food, stories, films and photos from the past year, and heard the latest in the fight for fair legislative maps from keynote speaker Nicholas Ramos, the new Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
Members of the Eau Claire Coalition that hosted The Winter Party include For our Future Wisconsin, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, JONAH, Planned Parenthood, Power Up Eau Claire, Wisconsin Farmers Union, and Wisconsin Public Education Network.
Citizen Action Driftless Organizing Co-Op Update
The Driftless endorsement team is fired up and ready to start interviewing local priority race candidates on Tuesday, January 23rd. These races are deemed priority because they are member candidates or are running in what we consider “must win” races. Other endorsements will follow after the spring primary. If you would like to sit on our endorsement team, please reach out to [email protected]. Your input is critical to our process.
Get ready to celebrate Citizen Action of WI’s 40th anniversary in the Driftless. We are in the early stages of planning a social event in March. It’s a momentous milestone, and we hope you will join fellow Driftless Co-Op members, activists, and supporters as we reflect on four decades of impactful advocacy and grassroots efforts. The event promises to be a delightful blend of camaraderie, shared memories, and a collective commitment to continue the fight for positive change.
To find out more about the Driftless Co-Op or become a member, please call or email me: Kristie Tweed, Driftless Co-Op Organizer, 608-317-1331 or [email protected]
Citizen Action Northeast Co-op is Ready to Take On Spring Elections!
Happy New Year from the Northeast Co-op! We are looking ahead to an exciting and critical election season in 2024.
We all deserve representatives that share our values of protecting our climate, our health, and our democracy, and we are thrilled that there are so many bold, progressive champions running for local offices who we know will fight for the issues we care about – especially for the Green Bay City Council, which we have the opportunity to flip this election cycle.
Every year, Citizen Action interviews and endorses candidates in a competitive vetting process, and members are welcome to take part. We will be holding candidate endorsement interviews on January 18th, and following the endorsements, we will be out in our communities supporting candidates. If you would like to get involved with the endorsement process or candidate support, please reach out to the organizer, Natalie Hoffman, at (414) 216-1316 or [email protected].
Thank you all for your continued support of the Northeast Co-op. We’ve got a lot of work to do this year, so let’s get to it!
Learn about GrowingMKE Plans
Watch this video from GrowingMKE on behalf of the City of Milwaukee on plans that include revision of housing zoning standards, redone street plans, and general improvement plans including transportation.
Citizen Action Southeast Organizing Co-Op members have been engaged in listening sessions and providing feedback on the need for expanded public transportation and less parking spaces in Milwaukee. View the draft recommendations here.
Interested in getting involved? Reach out to SEWI Co-Op Organizer Kat Klawes and [email protected].
Attend Healthcare Action Meeting, Wednesday, January 24th, 7pm
Help us develop plans in our communities to talk with state legislators about the need to schedule a public hearing for the BadgerCare Public Option bill.
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Earl Ingram Show for the full hour to talk about why Wisconsin is so retrograde on issues such as medical marijuana. It all comes back to a Legislature that does not have to answer to voters.
Listen to “Fighting for public schools” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We discuss a new report finding lower-income Wisconsinites pay a much higher proportion of their incomes in taxes than the wealthy. What does it say about the current priorities of Republicans and Democrats, and the latest state budget? We urge Governor Evers and Legislative Democrats to fight for progressive taxation in the next state budget both to fund vital services and boost the real earnings of working class Wisconsinites.
We talk about the weaknesses of the past state budget coming home to roost, as Milwaukee Public Schools announce they are headed to a referendum to raise property taxes just to cover basic operations. Meanwhile, this week Legislative Republicans introduced the nation’s worst medical marijuana bill and pushed legislation criminalizing homelessness.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin joins other U.S. Senators challenging Amazon’s abusive labor practices. In global headlines, we learned this week that 2023 was the warmest year in over 100,000 years. However, there was some progress in the United States. We discuss where we are and what needs to happen soon on the biggest issue in human history.
Dr. Michael Rosen joins us to discuss the predatory, for-profit Arizona College of Nursing’s pursuit of a location in Milwaukee. Nurses and educators are organizing to stop Arizona College of Nursing before it starts.
Listen to the show
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