Citizen Action Weekend 2025 Newsletter, February 21st
Join/Donate Citizen Action of Wisconsin Today!
Take Action: Tell Congress, Don’t cut Medicaid to give tax cuts to billionaires!
Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party want to cut nearly one trillion dollars from BadgerCare (also known as Medicaid) so they can give tax breaks to billionaires. BadgerCare covers over a million Wisconsinites, including:
- 1 in 3 children.
- 1 in 3 people with disabilities,
- 4 in 7 nursing home residents,
- 1 in 6 people on Medicare, and
- 1 in 7 Wisconsin adults ages 19-64, more than half of whom are parents/caretakers.
Make no mistake: these cuts will mean that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites will lose their insurance. When people lose their insurance, they can’t afford healthcare. When people can’t afford healthcare, they don’t go to the doctor’s office. When they don’t go to the doctor’s office, they get sick from things that could have been fixed earlier—and many of them die. BadgerCare cuts will kill Wisconsinites, all so Trump, Musk, and their billionaire friends can pocket more of our money.
Millions of Americans have had enough, and Citizen Action is part of the fight. Join us in demanding: No Cuts to Medicaid! It’s time to call our representatives, show up in person, and make sure the people in charge of these cuts know the consequences of their decisions.
Citizen Action Praises Advances in Health Care in Governor Tony Evers Budget; Calls on Governor to Use Veto Powers to Leverage BadgerCare Expansion
Reacting to the 2025-2026 Budget proposal presented by Governor Tony Evers on Tuesday evening, Citizen Action of Wisconsin praised several key advances that will improve access to health care and provide relief from the skyrocketing prices of medical care, prescription drugs, and health insurance. Citizen Action also praised the Governor’s proposal in other key areas of the budget, including education, corrections, and residential renewable energy.
Citizen Action called on the Governor to leverage his potent constitutional power to veto the budget produced by the State Legislature to finally secure BadgerCare Expansion. Wisconsin is one of only 10 states which has failed to expand its state Medicaid program, denying affordable health care to roughly 90,000 Wisconsin residents and costing the state billions in revenue. Citizen Action also called on Governor Evers to veto any budget that does not include sufficient funding for K-12 public schools and bold reforms needed for Wisconsin’s troubled corrections system.
“The Governor’s principle constitutional power in the budget making process is his ability to veto the budget in whole or in part,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “When a Legislature willfully ignores public opinion and harms the interests of Wisconsinites on a life and death issue such as health care, a Governor’s only recourse is to force a showdown. When the people are behind a Governor, as they are overwhelmingly in the case of BadgerCare Expansion, he will prevail.”
Citizen Action also strongly supports the Governor’s proposals to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, lay the groundwork for a BadgerCare Public Option, join 48 other states in expanding postpartum care, holding big insurance companies accountable for claims denials and preauthorization requirements, and removing medical debt from credit reporting records.
In addition, Citizen Action praised the Governor’s support for helping Wisconsin homeowners and renters gain access for rooftop solar, energy conservation upgrades, and other measures that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower burdensome home energy prices. Currently Wisconsin for-profit utilities deny access to on-bill financing available in neighboring states to help homeowners and renters finance energy conservation and distributed renewable energy at no upfront cost, dramatically lowering their utility bills.
Citizen Action also strongly supports the Governor’s support for K-12 public education, and his bold proposals on corrections reform, including funding for alternatives to incarceration and the closure of an antiquated state prison.
Contact Governor Tony Evers today at 1 (608) 266-1212 and urge him to veto any budget that does not include BadgerCare expansion.
RSVP for Citizen Action’s Crawford/Underly virtual statewide phone bank, Tuesday, February 25th, 5pm.
Fight back and beat Elon Musk and the billionaires! Musk is now dropping $2.5 million to buy a state Supreme Court seat.
Volunteer with Citizen Action to make calls from home talking directly to voters throughout Wisconsin in support of Susan Crawford and Jill Underly, next Tuesday, February 25th, 5pm. You will be well trained before starting.
Attend media event announcing The Climate Action Accountability Act, Monday February 24th, 11 AM, Washington Park Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee.
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin, State Senator Chris Larson, and State Representative Supreme Moore Omokunde, and allies for a media event on Monday, February 24th, 11am, in Milwaukee at the Washington Park Urban Ecology Center to announce new state legislation, The Climate Action Accountability Act. The bill requires Wisconsin for the first time in its history to adopt an accountable climate action plan. Its provisions are simple, but critical:
- Requires the next state Legislature to pass a concrete and enforceable plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in accordance with the Paris Climate Accords and the global consensus of climate scientists.
- Requires the plan to maximize the economic benefits of climate action for all Wisconsin residents, especially people in urban and rural areas currently locked out of economic opportunities.
To join us Monday, February 24th, 11am, contact: [email protected]
RSVP for Citizen Action Capitol Lobby Day on the State Budget, Tuesday, March 4th!
Citizen Action members from across Wisconsin will gather in Madison to talk to our state legislators about our state budget priorities.
Read Citizen Action’s Letter to Governor Tony Evers’ with Citizen Action’s budget priorities.
Plan on needing to free up the whole day for this event. We will help organize transportation which will leave from multiple cities in the morning to drive to Madison. We will meet before heading to the Capitol to talk directly to legislators during the mid-day. Following our visits with legislators, we will debrief together and make plans for continuing our lobbying back home.
Citizen Action Southeast Organizing Cooperative Update: Connecting & Organizing: My First Week in Action
Hello everyone, this new Southeast organizer Ruben Aquino. As I wrap up my first week in this role, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has welcomed me and shared their insights. It’s been inspiring to meet the passionate individuals committed to making a difference in our community.
A big part of my focus will be organizing around climate and healthcare issues—two areas that directly impact our daily lives and our collective future. I’m eager to hear from you about the challenges you see and the changes you want to fight for. If we haven’t had the chance to connect yet, I’d love to set up a time to talk.
I also want to highlight the power of one-on-one conversations. If you’re interested in meeting in person, let’s sit down and discuss how we can work together. And if we do, let’s capture the moment—sharing our work helps inspire others to get involved!
Looking forward to building strong partnerships and making real progress together. Feel free to reach out—I’d love to hear from you!
To get involved contact me, [email protected]
Citizen Action Driftless Organizing Cooperative Update
I was very fortunate to be able to attend a “Hands Off Our Medicaid Event” in Coon Valley, WI. Over 30 people gathered in the small western WI town to voice their concerns to a Van Orden staffer over threats of Federal cuts to Medicaid. The Driftless Co-Op is planning a similar event with our state representatives March 24th. Be watching for more information.
Statewide Phone bank for Susan Crawford – Tuesday, February 25th – Sign Up Here
Citizen Action of WI State Budget Lobby Day – March 4th. More info and RSVP here!
Driftless Healthcare Team Meeting – TBD (Early March)
In solidarity, Kristie Tweed; Driftless Co-Op Organizer, 608-317-1331 or [email protected]
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Earl Ingram Show for the full hour to discuss the latest in Donald Trump’s assault upon the U.S. Constitution and basic norms of international conduct.
Robert is on Earl’s show every Wednesday from 9 AM to 10 AM on the statewide Civic Media Network. Station list here.
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig joined the leaders of WISDOM and the Wisconsin Public Education Network on UpNorthNews Radio to react to Governor Ever’s Budget Address the morning after.
Listen to “Evers’ bold budget” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We review the Spring Primary victory by Jill Underly in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction election and the real challenge to public education that is posed by the well-funded voucher advocate who also advanced to the April 1st General Election. Both the DPI and Supreme Court elections will be won by talking directly to voters throughout the state on phones, doors, and one-on one conversations. We urge you to sign up and volunteer with Citizen Action to make calls from home in support of Susan Crawford and Jill Underly in our weekly phone bank starting next Tuesday, February 25th at 5pm RSVP HERE
The state budget battle commenced this week with Governor Tony Evers releasing his budget. We review some highlights, including BadgerCare expansion, Prescription Drug affordability Board, and a sweeping set of new regulations on health insurance abuses, including a first in the nation audit of claims denials. This Tuesday, Citizen Action joined Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN) and WISDOM in calling for the Governor to leverage his potent constitutional power to veto any state budget produced by the Legislature that fails to finally secure BadgerCare Expansion, include sufficient funding for K-12 public schools, or lacks reforms needed for Wisconsin’s troubled corrections system. We urge you to contact Governor Tony Evers and tell him to fight for his top budget priorities by threatening veto of any budget that fails the public on these key public priorities and others that the governor also deems essential. We encourage listeners to RSVP for our Capitol State Budget Lobby Day on Tuesday March 4th.
We close reviewing the week 5 of the Trump assault on the republic, including mounting bipartisan opposition to House Republican leadership’s plan announced this week to gut Medicaid funding to fund a massive tax cut for the wealthy. UW Madison’s research is threatened by NIH funding cuts and we expose the fake energy emergency Trump has declared to ram through an expansion of Wisconsin fossil fuel projects.
Listen to the show.
RSVP for Citizen Action’s Crawford/Underly virtual statewide phone bank, Tuesday, February 25th, 5pm.
RSVP for Citizen Action’s State Budget Capitol lobby Day, Tuesday, March 4th.
Social media post of the week
