Citizen Action Weekend ’26 Newsletter, Friday, February 13th
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Driftless Region Healthcare Town Hall Draws Strong Turnout, Media Coverage
On Wednesday, February 4th, Citizen Action’s Driftless Region Healthcare Action Team hosted a town hall at the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center in La Crosse to address the impact of state and federal healthcare policy changes on local families and workers.
About 50 people attended, including community members, healthcare providers, and local media. Five speakers shared personal stories about navigating the healthcare system, a paramedic described the heartbreaking journey of a woman she encountered multiple times over a year, watching her situation deteriorate from needing care she couldn’t afford, to living in a hotel, to homelessness at the Salvation Army. A CNA spoke about patients arriving sicker due to delayed treatment. A free and charitable clinic director discussed rising demand and employees who can’t afford their own healthcare. And families shared the real consequences of potential Medicaid and ACA cuts.
What I’m most proud of is that we created an environment where 10 audience members felt safe enough to share their own healthcare stories, despite a local news camera rolling in the back of the room. That kind of trust and openness doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a testament to the space our speakers created and the community we’re building together.
The event also generated coverage from WKBT News 8, amplifying these voices beyond the room.
This is what grassroots organizing looks like: members stepping up, people sharing their stories, and building the public will to fight for the Badger Care Public Option and the Hospital Accountability Act. The Driftless Region is showing up, and this is just the beginning. With a Governor’s Forum scheduled for February 28th, the momentum continues to build.
Attend Citizen Action Governors Forum in La Crosse, Saturday, February 28th, 9:30am.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s 2026 Governor endorsement process will consist of in-person candidate forums in our five co-op regions around the state, and one virtual forum.Forum attendees will be asked for feedback on what they heard from candidates, and that feedback will be used to guide our endorsement decision.
LA CROSSE (Hosted by: Southwest Driftless Organizing Cooperative)
WHEN: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28th
DOORS OPEN 9:30am, FORUM 10am-12pm
WHERE: First Congregational UCC, 2503 Main Street, La Crosse.
For more information, please reach out to Priscilla Bort, CAW Political Director, at priscilla.bort@citizenactionwi.org with any questions or needs.
Attend Fight for Our Lights: Milwaukee Town Hall on We Energies Rates, Tuesday, February 24th, 6pm
Milwaukee residents are fed up with sky-high utility bills.
Are you worried about shutoffs? Behind on your bill? Tired of choosing between rent, food, medicine, and heat?
Join us for a Utility Justice Town Hall to demand lower bills and real accountability from We Energies.
Citizen Action Healthcare Action Team Update
It was a busy two weeks for our Co-Op Healthcare teams. Northside Rising, Southeast and the Driftless Co-Op’s all held Healthcare Town Halls.
The Townhall’s featured Citizen Action staff, team members, healthcare professionals and community members. The events included presentations on the current state of healthcare nationally and in Wisconsin and stories from people directly affected by our system that puts profits over people. There was a strong focus on how state legislative solutions like the BadgerCare Public Option can help mitigate the damage from Federal policy and drastically expand coverage to Wisconsin families and small businesses.
More Healthcare Townhalls are being planned in Wausau and Appleton. Be watching for more details.
Reminder: Our Statewide Healthcare Team will meet Tue, March 3rd on zoom at 7PM.
For information on how to join our healthcare work, please contact Kristie Tweed, Healthcare Action Coordinator at 608-317-1331 or kristie.tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Earl Ingram Show on the Civic Media Radio Network for a deeper dive into why democracy is threatened in Wisconsin and what we all can do to revive it.
Listen to “Bondi Bombast Boomerang” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
Holy Bondi!
Following a recap of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s surreal Congressional hearing, we dive into this week in the Trump Regime, including: ICE agents are flowing into Western Wisconsin; Trump immigration officials testify before the U.S. Senate with a potential DHS shutdown looming; And, U.S. House approves Bryan Steils’ “show your papers” voter suppression bill to cause chaos in the 2026 Elections.
New research finds climate change is making the Great Lakes’ winters shorter, but future tracking will be harder as the Trump regime scrubs climate change data.
We discuss packed PSC hearings where the vast majority of attendees asked them to reject a special electricity deal devised by We Energies for Data Centers. But will the PSC listen to the people? We also talk about a new Legislative Republican bill that would slow the revolving door between the PSC and big utilities.
We close with a discussion of the negotiations between Governor Evers and Legislative Republican leaders on the $2.5 billion surplus.
Listen to the show.
