Citizen Action Weekend 2025 Newsletter, Friday, December 12th
Donate/Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Citizen Action member Chrysa Ostenso speaks at healthcare media event in Washington D.C
Citizen Action member, Chrysa Ostenso, from Ladysmith, WI speaks at Senate Democrats media conference on why letting healthcare tax credits expire will hurt millions of Americans.
Chrysa has an outrageous $1500 increase per month for her healthcare premiums.
Listen to Chrysa speak in Washington D.C. (at 27:00)
Join our organizing for healthcare for all, contact: Kristie.Tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Learn more about BadgerCare Public Option.
Take Action in support of $20 Minimum Wage
The Problem: Rising Prices and Artificially Depressed Wages are Driving the Affordability Crisis
Wisconsin’s minimum wage of $7.25 has not increased in decades and long before that failed to reflect a living wage. As wages for working people have flatlined the gains of economic growth have been skimmed off by the wealthy in the form of massive corporate profits, producing record levels of economic inequality. According to Oxfam over the last 30 years U.S. households in the top 1 percent gained at least 101 times more wealth than the average household. Because of the excess profits stolen from working people, the stock market is skyrocketing to new records, and luxury yachts are one of the fastest growing consumer products.
For the rest of us, the affordability crisis is caused by a double whammy of artificially depressed wages and skyrocketing cost of essentials, such as health care, housing, utilities, groceries, and everything else we need to thrive. The cost of living in every Wisconsin county is 3xs the minimum wage, making it impossible for many workers to afford the basics of life.
There are 800,000 Wisconsin workers who make less than $20/hour, 30% of workers, and yet in every area of Wisconsin the living wage, the amount needed to afford the basics of life, is over $21 per hour for a single person!
Many people who make above the living wage also have trouble making ends meet and getting ahead because their wages are also depressed by the artificially low wage floor in Wisconsin. When the minimum wage is increased all boats are lifted.
The Cause: The Power of Corporations and the Wealthy
The stagnant minimum wage is not an accident, it is not natural, it is a sign of the corruption of our democracy. The economy has been rigged against working people to benefit the wealthy and the powerful through the lobbying and political might of exploitative employers like fast food chains and big box stores, and big corporate lobbying interests like Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce (WMC).
Their voices are heard more loudly than the people at the State Capitol. Democracy is broken when elected officials act on behalf of powerful economic interests rather than the people they are sworn to represent.
As a result, working people have lost their bargaining power in the economy. Without a reasonable minimum wage, and with few unions (due to rampant legalized union busting), workers are left at the mercy of the greedy and the powerful.
Solution: A $20 Minimum Wage
Politicians promise good jobs all the time, but most of what they propose has little if any impact for most workers. Throwing tax breaks at big corporations in the name of so-called “economic development” does nothing to address the affordability crisis.
The simplest and most effective solution that lifts all boats and makes work pay is to raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. This is what a $15 minimum wage is worth now, after inflation, since the idea was first proposed ten years ago.
A $20 minimum wage will create jobs and more prosperity in every Wisconsin community. When corporations take more than their share, they extract money (and jobs) from our communities, investing anywhere they can make the most profit and buying more status symbols like vacation homes and luxury yachts. When typical Wisconsinites make a living wage, they spend it on essentials, such as groceries, child care, school supplies, rent, and long term care for our elders, employing more people and making our communities thrive. This especially helps small businesses throughout Wisconsin and their workers, because they provide goods and services to the working and middle class.
The State Legislature and the Governor have this power, but they will not do it without irresistible public pressure. Only organized people can defeat organized money. The only way this can happen is if enough people get involved, and raise the voice of working people loud enough to overwhelm the corporate lobbyists that infest and corrupt our State Capitol.
Contact your state legislators today! Tell them to support a $20/hour minimum wage bill being drafted by State Representative Angelina Cruz and State Senator Kelda Roys.
Join us in MKE, Tuesday, December 16th, 6pm, to get involved in organizing support for $20/hour minimum wage.
Citizen Action Southeast Co-op Weekly Update
Dear Citizen Action members and friends,
Our organizing continues to grow across the Southeast region, and this week brought even more momentum. Here’s what’s happening:
🏥 Health Care Team
Our Health Care Team meeting this week was a success! We’re excited to welcome new members and keep building our strategy for the coming year. We’re now gearing up for our Health Care Town Hall on January 31 — and we’d love for more people to join the team as we prepare.
🌿 Climate Team – Next Meeting in January
Our Climate Team continues to grow, and we’re building strong plans around clean energy, public transportation, and utility justice. Our next meeting is in January, and new members are always welcome.
🚪 Canvassing
Canvassing remains strong across our region. We’re having powerful conversations with community members and bringing more people into the movement every week. If you’re interested in joining a canvass, we’d love to have you.
🤝 Movement Politics Team
We’re in the process of forming our Movement Politics Team — for members who want to support progressive candidates, uplift community champions, and build independent political power. More updates coming soon.
For more information or to get involved in any of our work, contact ruben.aquino@citizenactionwi.org or call/text 414-377-2995
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action was mentioned in a column by David Zweifel in the Cap Times castigating Wisconsin’s rock bottom minimum wage and supporting a $20 Minimum Wage.
Read the Cap Times column here.
Read more on Citizen Action’s case for a $20 Minimum wage here.
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show to discuss the battle for the future of the Democratic Party between progressives and corporatists.
Listen here (at 2 hour 12 minute mark in program)
Listen to “Caring about democracy” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We welcome Corrine Hendrickson, with Main Street Alliance, to talk about the upcoming Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed (WECAN) Lobby Day on January 20, 2026 at the state Capitol where childcare, education and healthcare funding will be center stage in day of action. We encourage our listeners to attend.
Next, we are joined by Amy Barrilleaux, Communications Director at Clean Wisconsin, to encourage our listeners to sign their petition calling for a statewide pause of approvals of A.I. data centers until we can get better, transparent data necessary to develop a comprehensive plan to protect the environment, avoid massive increases in utility costs for residential customers, and prevent a massive increase in climate-busting greenhouse gas emissions.
We discuss Department of Public Instruction’s report this week that the state will fail to meet 42% special education reimbursement promised in the recent state budget. In a classic bait and switch, the state will only pay 35% of special education costs, dumping the rest on already underfunded public school districts.. Democratic lawmakers are proposing a new bill to ensure schools get special education funding at the rate promised in the state budget process.
Robert does a deep dive into the health care drama in Washington, D.C. where Senate Republicans advance a junk alternative to renewing Affordable Care Act subsidies. We give you a full account of why the GOP plan would be a disaster for Americans already struggling to afford health care.
Social media post of the week
