Citizen Action Weekend 2025 Newsletter, Friday, August 22nd
Citizen Action member, Kelly Leibold, joins Senator Tammy Baldwin to highlight damage Medicaid cuts will do to Wisconsinites.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin visited La Crosse this week during her Fighting for Wisconsin Families Tour to discuss the impact of the federal Budget cuts to Medicaid will make accessing health care more difficult for many.
Kelly Leibold joined Senator Baldwin to speak out about the importance of Medicaid for her and the critical care it provided her when she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. She worries about what could happen if people don’t have services to rely on.
“I think about how absolutely devastating some of these federal cuts are going to be, and how there’s no longer a safety net to catch people when they fall like I did at the time,” Leibold said. “These cuts are going to cause people to skip care that they need, make really hard decisions between care, rent and groceries, and ultimately, this benefit, this hurts the most vulnerable of us all, just to benefit a very few at the top.”
For the last two years, Kelly has been a leader on the Citizen Action Driftless Organizing Coop Healthcare Action Team, speaking at our “Hands Off Medicaid” Town Hall in La Crosse in May. She has hosted a house party to educate her friends about our healthcare organizing.
Kelly is now taking a new leadership role on the Citizen Action State Healthcare Action Team which will be meeting for the first time next week, August 28th, 6pm. For more information, about joining contact, Kristie.Tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Read media story in the La Crosse Tribune (photo above from La Crosse Tribune.)
Join Citizen Action Healthcare State Action Team, August 28th, 6pm
If you want to join with fellow Citizen Action leaders from around the state who volunteer to help lead Citizen Action’s healthcare organizing, contact: Kristie.Tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Attend Health Care Town Hall in Sturgeon Bay, Monday, August 25th, 6pm
Come to a town hall to discuss healthcare reform. Join in a community conversation about healthcare and the struggles unique to Sturgeon Bay and Door County.
Share your story, listen to your neighbors, and learn how to take action. Community Meal provided by Door County Mutual Aid at 5:00PM with the Townhall at 6:00 PM.
Child Activities Provided. Event co-hosted by Citizen Action of Wisconsin and the Labor Party
Help Your Home Fight Climate Change. Flooded home? Need Help?
Citizen Action members joined Green Homeowners United, State Representative Darrin Madison, and Revitalize Milwaukee today for a media event highlighting federal grants through the Inflation Reduction Act available to Milwaukee area residents to help with flood recovery, including basement insulation and electrical panel upgrades.
Need assistance, call (414) 522-AIDE to see if you might be eligible.
Flooding has exposed serious electrical safety concerns in many homes. Aging or undersized breaker panels can fail under load and increase the risk of power loss or electrical fires. With extreme weather becoming more frequent, modernizing home electrical systems is a critical step for community safety and climate resilience. Replacing basement insulation that was ruined by floodwater, or adding insulation where it is missing, improves comfort, reduces moisture and mold risks, and lowers utility bills.
“Across Wisconsin, the Inflation Reduction Act can provide up to $10,000 per home to insulate basements, replace unsafe electrical panels, and lower utility bills. Our team will help residents apply, qualify, and get the work done,” said Kevin Kane, Chief Economist at Green Homeowners United.
For more information to join our organizing, Contact: Keviea.Guiden@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action Southeast Organizing Co-op Weekly Update
🏥 Healthcare Action Team Meeting – Wednesday, August 27 at 6 PM
We’ve shifted the date! Join us Wednesday as we organize to protect and expand health care access.
🏘️ IRA Housing Team
We’re making sure IRA funds reach people so they can improve their homes and strengthen our neighborhoods.
🌍 Climate Team – First Meeting in September
Our climate team is coming together soon—be part of the launch!
🚪 Summer Canvassing
We’re gaining new members every week. Canvassing is fun, outside, and full of great conversations—come join us!
🍗 BBQ – Sunday at 4 PM @ Kern Park
Good food, community, and connection. Bring a friend—it’s the perfect way to close the weekend.
Celebrate Labor Day 2025 Weekend with Organized Labor.
Make your plans to attend a Labor Day Weekend 2025 event with organized labor.
Madison Laborfest
Monday, September 1
Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Madison Labor Temple, 1602 S. Park Street
Live music, food trucks, kids’ events
Milwaukee Laborfest and Parade
Monday, September 1, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Parade kicks off at 11:00 am from Zeidler Union Square (301 W Michigan St) and ends at Henry Maier Park, 200 N. Harbor Dr. for Laborfest celebration
La Crosse Labor Day Parade and Celebration
Monday, September 1
Parade begins at 10:00 am at the intersections of Gillette and Kane Street.
Food and drink, kids’ games, raffles, and festivities to follow parade at Copeland Park, 1130 Copeland Park Dr.
Kenosha and Racine Laborfest
Monday, September 1
11:00 am to 4:00 pm
Pennoyer Park Bandshell, 3601 7th Avenue
Fox Valley Laborfest and Parade
Monday, September 1
Parade at 10:00 am from Menasha Curtis Reed Square through to downtown Neenah
Festival 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Neenah Labor Temple, 157 S. Green Bay Road, Neenah
Oshkosh Labor Day Picnic & Car Show
Monday, September 1
11:00 am to 5:00 pm
South Park, 1300 Georgia St
Wausau Labor Day Parade
Monday, September 1
3:00pm lineup at Marathon Park with parade starting at 4:00 pm
The parade will begin at Marathon Park and go to the Wausau Labor Temple.
From Marathon Park the parade will go up Stewart Ave to Second Avenue, travel down Second Ave to Callon Street and turn on S. Third Ave, ending at the Wausau Labor Temple, 318 S. Third Ave. Food, music and celebration to follow parade at Wausau Labor Temple
Eau Claire Laborfest
Monday, September 1
10:30am: Solidarity Walk
11:00am: Labor Rally
Noon: Picnic
Phoenix Park, 330 Riverfront Terrace
Greater Green Bay Labor Day Picnic
Monday, September 1
11:00 am to 4:00pm
Bay Beach Park, Shelter #2
1008 Bay Beach Rd, Green Bay
Fond du Lac Labor Day Parade
Monday, September 1
The parade begins at 11:00 am on the corner of Rees and Main streets and travels south on Main Street to Western Avenue.
Duluth AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic
Monday, September 1
Noon-4:00pm
Bayfront Festival Park, 350 Harbor Dr, Duluth
Marinette Labor Picnic
Saturday, September 6
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Marinette City Park, 2301 Carney Ave.
Join Citizen Action Northwest Organizing Cooperative in the Labor Day March in Eau Claire on Sept 1st
Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s Northwest Organizing Cooperative is working with Chippewa Valley Indivisible, the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, and other partners to organize a Labor Day March in Eau Claire on Monday, September 1st at 10:00am! Registrants will be given a choice to join one of multiple starting points for the march, all of which are significant to the labor movement. Each march will converge on Phoenix Park in downtown Eau Claire for a speech from Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, followed by LaborFest hosted by the Greater West Central Area Labor Council. Citizen Action of Wisconsin will have a table at LaborFest so you can connect with local action opportunities!
Listen to “$20/Hour Wage” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
On our special Labor Day show we welcome Peter Rickman, President of MASH (Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union), to discuss making work pay a living wage in every corner of Wisconsin with a $20/hour minimum wage. We also discuss the central role of organized labor in creating a fair and just economy, highlighting significant labor organizing in Wisconsin headed into Labor Day Weekend 2025. Also, we discuss the attempt to steal the 2026 election by re-gerrymandering Texas. Should the Democrats respond in kind?
Listen to the show.
Attend a Labor Day Weekend event with organized labor near you.
Sign letter in support of the workers at Pathfinders.
We will be off next week, have a great Labor Day Weekend!
Last Chance to Apply is August 28th to Citizen Action’s Movement Politics Academy 2025 Fall Class.
The Citizen Action Movement Politics Academy is a training space dedicated to giving every day folks the opportunity to learn how to run for office and campaign manage through values-based campaigns, and achieve bold reforms needed to make Wisconsin a more just and equitable place for all.
It’s a place that will cover a wide range of both campaign and movement topics, including messaging, volunteer and time management, as well as political education around values like healthcare and climate justice.
The academy is for EVERYONE – women, trans and nonbinary folks, folks of color, youth, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the working class, Veterans regardless of discharge status, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
The fall academy will start Wednesday, October 1st, going every Wednesday from 6-7pm until November 19th. Applications are open NOW until Thursday, August 28th.
So what are you waiting for – apply today!
Attend virtual The ‘Fundamentals of Organizing’ training, August 25th & 26th, 4:30pm – 8:00pm
People’s Action Institute and Citizen Action of Wisconsin want to engage hundreds of thousands of people in our movement. We are making a deep investment training our leaders in the fundamentals of organizing.
The ‘Fundamentals of Organizing’ training is a two-part training that is held quarterly and has an emphasis on building relationships grounded in mutual self-interest that balances an expansive sense of how a multiracial democracy should operate and a long-term vision for the world with the realities of building power in the world as it is today.
FOCUS: Fundamentals of Organizing with a focus on power, self-interest, one-to-one relational meetings; and the foundation of power organizations.
Introduction to Deep Canvassing: The Proven Method to Change Hearts and Minds, Tuesday, August 26th, 5 – 6pm
This is an information session, not a training. This session will help you understand if you want to attend our three-session 101: Foundational Skills of Deep Canvassing training.
Are you an organizer, community leader, or activist looking to engage with your community around deeply polarizing issues? Are you an individual hoping to understand how to have compassionate, non-judgmental conversations across lines of difference? Or, are you someone who’s heard about this thing called “deep canvassing” and you’re curious to learn more?
This is an info session, not a training.
This information session will be followed by a full Deep Canvass Institute: Foundational Skills of Deep Canvassing, Tuesday, September 9 – Wednesday, September 10th, 5 – 8pm CDT.
Social media post of the week
