Citizen Action Weekend 2025 Newsletter, Saturday, November 22nd
Saturday, November 22nd
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin Today!
Support NEW Utility Rate Cap Bill. Contact your State Legislators and urge them to co-sponsor.
Big utilities rig the system against all of us to jack up prices and make the climate crisis worse. Several states have laws capping the percentage of income people have to pay for utilities. Wisconsin has no limit.
Citizen Action members worked with State Representative Darrin Madison on a NEW bill that will cap the percentage of income households must pay for electricity and heat to the affordable level of 2% of income.
The Utility Rate Cap bill is circulating for co-sponsors in the state legislature until December 5th.
Call your state legislators and urge them to support the legislation 1-800-362-9472.
Learn more about the bill.
In a Wisconsin Public Radio story this week State Rep. Madison and Citizen Action of Wisconsin member Jill Sexton from Wausau speak to the bill’s critical importance.
“Folks in my district and around the state are on a knife’s edge,” state Representative Darrin Madison said. “Many of them are just barely getting by. This bill is going to do something. It’s going to keep more money in their pockets.”
Wausau resident Jill Sexton and her husband are both in their 60s. Sexton says she’s on disability and her husband is on Social Security.
Sexton said she had to take a part-time job to cover rising utility costs, but it’s still tough to make ends meet.
“Each month, we choose between paying the electric bill and heat bill or filling our prescriptions,” she said at a recent news conference. “Some months, I don’t buy the medication. Some months, we stretch food until the very last day.”
Read CapTimes Editorial in support of the legislation.
AT&T never saw it coming
By: Sulma Arias, Executive Director, People’s Action
As you know, Trump’s deportation machine has been targeting Chicago and greater Illinois. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have terrorized our neighborhoods, rolled tear gas into the places we live, and violated our rights.
And, behind them, big corporations are profiting off our pain. They’re contracting with the Department of Homeland Security, CBP, and ICE. Among them is AT&T, a multi-billion-dollar corporation with multi-million-dollar government contracts.
That’s why we, our Illinois member organizations The People’s Lobby and ONE People’s Campaign, and our allies just mobilized 1,000 people in and around Chicago and Illinois to tell AT&T that we know what they’re doing. And, we’re not going to take it. At 18 stores all around the area, people like you and me rallied to tell them to drop their contracts.
And, if they don’t, we pledged not to buy or upgrade any of their plans or products in the holiday season. We invite you to join the thousands of people who already took the pledge. Anyone can join–even if you don’t use AT&T.
What took place in Illinois is part of pivots in our organizing to meet the moment. Instead of just naming and shaming AT&T CEO John Stankey and AT&T’s big shareholders, we asked people to join us in imposing a financial cost on them. And they did, with the Chicago Teachers Union and May Day Strong helping to lead the way.
We’ve still got a lot to learn. But as thousands of people continue to flock to sign our pledge, we think we may be onto something here. Tonight we’re going to build on what we started in Illinois with a big coalition to hold even more corporations accountable. Please join us.
The Organizing Revival is alive and thriving thanks to your support and organizing. We can do new things to get different results–but it’s going to take all of us.
The top issue in the national MU Law Poll is clearly inflation and the cost of living. Make work pay. Pass a $20/hour Minimum Wage in Wisconsin.
No matter where you live in Wisconsin you should be able to fight inflation and the high cost of living with your work.. To do otherwise is immoral.
Take action in support of $20 Wage in Wisconsin.
If you want to get involved in Citizen Action’s organizing in support of $20 Wage in Wisconsin, contact: Matt.Brusky@citizenactionwi.org
7 in 10 want ACA subsidies to continue.
The MU Law national poll also found a majority of the public supports extending tax credits that help people buy Affordable Care Act health insurance plans — a Democratic demand during the government shutdown.
The poll asked whether Congress should extend the enhanced, pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies or let them expire at the end of 2025. Nationwide, 70% said the subsidies should continue, and 30% said they should end.
45% of Republicans supported extending the credits, along with 76% of independents and 94% of Democrats.
A majority of Americans, 55%, also have positive views of the Affordable Care Act in general.”
Join our healthcare organizing, contact: Kristie.Tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Join Citizen Action Northeast Wisconsin Healthcare Action Team
Northeast Wisconsin Healthcare Action Team leaders met last night to plan organizing in support of a BadgerCare Public Option to expand access to health care for working families and small businesses.
Learn more about BadgerCare Public Option.
Join our healthcare organizing in Northeast Wisconsin, contact: g.degrave@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action Southeast Organizing Co-op Weekly Update
We’re closing out November with strong organizing across health care, climate, and community outreach. Here’s what’s new this week:
🏥 Health Care Action Team
Our Health Care Team is partnering with North Side Rising (NSR) to deepen our Medicaid and health justice work. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 10. If you want to be part of the planning and action, reach out!
🌿 Climate Action Team – Next Meeting December 2
Our Climate Team continues to grow and develop its priorities around clean energy, transportation, and utility justice. We’ll meet again on Tuesday, December 2 — new members are welcome!
🚪 Canvassing
Canvassing is going strong! We’re excited to be teaming up with the Latino Dems to expand our reach and connect with even more community members. If you want to join a canvass day, now’s the perfect time.
🏛️ Climate & Utility Justice Lobby Day
Our statewide Climate & Utility Justice Lobby Day went great! Thank you to everyone who traveled to Madison and spoke with legislators. Stay tuned for our next one — more opportunities to take action are on the way.
For more information or to get plugged in, contact: ruben.aquino@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action in the News
A Capital Times editorial strongly endorsed the Utility Rate Cap bill authored by Rep. Darrin Madison with the support of Citizen Action.
See additional coverage from Wisconsin Public Radio here.
Citizen Action’s Executive Director Robert Kraig was on the Earl Ingram Show on the Civic Media radio network for an in-depth discussion on the new politics needed to resist authoritarianism and rebuild democracy.
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was quoted in an article in Isthmus about Robin Vos blocking a bill that would require coverage of additional breast cancer screenings needed by women with dense breast tissue. Read it here.
Listen to “Wisconsin populist rival heats up heading into the winter” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We discuss the historic Utility Rate Cap bill which is currently circulating for co-sponsors in the state legislature. We praise the current co-sponsors and encourage our listeners to reach out to their state legislators today.
We expose the continuing perversion of democracy and human decency that finds Speaker Robin Vos unilaterally blocking the latest effort to pass a PostPartum Care Expansion bill in the Assembly with overwhelming bi-partisan support. It already passed the Wisconsin Senate 32-1.
We continue the conversation on the un democratic rush to approve and throw tax giveaways at AI data centers owned by the world’s richest people and largest tech companies. We look at the public uprising where conservatives, independents and democrats agree the data center assault on communities is corporate welfare in the guise of economic development.
We close with a dive into the new national MU Law Poll that trumpets Trump vulnerability. We are not as sure. We also look at how voters’ clear top issue is the cost of living and how no matter where you live in Wisconsin you should make enough income to afford the basics of life. House Democrats call on Trump to act on an epidemic of claims denials in employer-sponsored health care. And, Group Health Co-op board to discuss motions to recognize the nurse and healthcare workers union.
Listen to the show.
Social media post of the week
