Citizen Action Weekend ’26 Newsletter, Friday, February 27th
Citizen Action endorses Judge Chris Taylor for State Supreme Court. Vote by Tuesday April 7th.
Citizen Action’s board of directors voted unanimously to endorse Judge Chris Taylor for Wisconsin Supreme Court. After studying Judge Taylor’s record, and asking a series of questions about her legal philosophy, we are convinced that she is the only candidate in the race that can be relied upon to uphold equal justice under the law.
We are especially impressed with Judge Taylor’s nuanced understanding of the rights guaranteed by the Wisconsin Constitution, many of which go beyond the protections in the U.S. Constitution.
Please make sure to vote by Tuesday, April 7th.
Citizen Action announces candidate endorsements for 2026 Spring Election.
See list of endorsed candidates.
Citizen Action members attend the $20 Living Wage bill introduction at the State Capitol.
Citizen Action members joined Living Wage Coalition partners from around the state this week for a media event at the Capitol announcing a new $20 hour wage bill.
The bill would immediately start at $15 and raise to $20/hour by 2030, index to inflation, reduce the tip penalty and increase the tipped minimum wage, and restore local control on wages policy.
Among those speaking at the Capitol yesterday in support of the $20 Wage legislation was 26‑year‑old Sabrina Prochaska, who has worked in the service industry for a decade.
“I don’t make a living wage. I make $15.81 an hour, so don’t tell me $15 is enough. $15 is not enough when the cost of living continues to rise substantially each year. $15 is not enough when the cost of health care continues to skyrocket”, she says.
Watch Sabrina Prochaska’s speech at the Capitol.
Troy Brewer, a lead cook at FiServ Forum in Milwaukee, also attended the media event and said it is past time for Legislators to make all work pay a living wage. Troy is fed up with both parties failing to help working people.
Watch Troy Brewer’s comments at the media event.
Citizen Action members from Green Bay attended the media event and lobbied their Legislators in support of the bill after the event, including with co-sponsor Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner.
“At a time when workers are the most productive in history and profits are at record highs, seven dollars and twenty five cents an hour cannot pay the monthly bills in Green Bay or anywhere in Wisconsin,” said State Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner. “We cannot call ourselves the best place to live if the people who live and work here cannot afford to stay,” he added.
Co-sponsors for the $20 Wage bill, include:
Senate: Kelda Roys, Dora Drake, Chris Larson, Mark Spreitzer, Tim Carpenter
Assembly: Angelina Cruz, Ryan Clancy, Angelito Tenorio, Clinton Anderson, Margaret Arney, Mike Bare, Brienne Brown, Karen DeSanto, Ben DeSmidt, Joan Fitzgerald, Russell Goodwin, Kalan Haywood, Francesca Hong, Andrew Hysell, Alex Joers, Tara Johnson, Karen Kirsch, Darrin Madison, Renuka Mayadev, Maureen McCarville, Tip McGuire, Vinnie Miresse, Supreme Moore-Omokunde, Lori Palmeri, Christian Phelps, Priscilla Prado, Amaad Rivera-Wagner, Ann Roe, Joe Sheehan, Christine Sinicki, Ryan Spaude, Sheila Stubbs, Lisa Subeck, Sequanna Taylor, Randy Udell, Robyn Vining
If your state legislator is not on this list, call them and ask them to sign on, call today at 1-800-362-9472. If they are signed on, call and thank them for leading!
TAKE ACTION: Send email to your legislators in support of the $20/hour bill.
Read media stories from the media event; Wisconsin Examiner, Spectrum News; WBAY TV 2, Wisconsin Radio Network, Urban Milwaukee, Channel 12 Rhinelander, WKOW TV27, Barron News Shield
Utility Town Hall in Milwaukee turns to action.
Citizen Action North Side Rising held a Utility Townhall at the Center Street in Milwaukee, this Tuesday, February 24th. It was a big success. Thanks to those who attended.
Members, affiliates and community members expressed their challenges paying the energy bill. We educated the public as to why Wisconsin needs to cap the cost of energy at 2% of household income.
The truth is monopolies provide our energy. WEC Energy Group net income for 2025 was $1.6 BILLION, $4.4 million in profit every single day. In the meantime, nearly 100,000 Wisconsinites have their utilities shut off each year. Another rate increase is planned. Building data centers that will use as much energy as all the homes in Wisconsin will increase demand and force a rate spike.
We need to stop utility companies from cheating us by shackling us with energy burden.
- Sign email to you state legislators urging them to support the 2% Utility Rate Cap Sign the Petition for a Data Center Pause. Tell state leaders no new data center approvals until there are strong protections for our utility bills, our water, our communities
- Join our organizing.
Statewide Healthcare Action Team Update
(photo: 2023 BadgerCare Public Option Media Event in Eau Claire, WI)
Now more than ever, the BadgerCare Public Option Bill must be at the top of our healthcare agenda. Our healthcare teams have laid important groundwork — and this is the moment to build on that momentum and make affordable, quality coverage a defining issue for legislators and candidates across Wisconsin.
It’s time to significantly expand access to healthcare for low- and middle-income families and small businesses in Wisconsin. Together, we can make that happen.
Join our All Teams – Healthcare Action Team Meeting
🗓 Tuesday, March 10
⏰ 6:00 PM
💻 Via Zoom
At this meeting, we will:
- Unveil our 2026–27 strategic campaign plan
- Launch Phase 1: The Rollout
- Provide training on the BadgerCare Public Option and how to clearly explain it to others
- Map out actions and tactics to build a winning campaign
This is an important moment to plug in and help shape the path forward.
RSVP here to attend (Zoom link will be sent upon registration)
To prepare, please consider reviewing the BadgerCare Public Option explainer in advance.
A bit of BadgerCare Public Option history:
- First introduced in 2018, developed by Citizen Action and former State Rep (now Mayor of Green Bay) Eric Genrich.
- In 2018 Governor’s race every Democratic candidate for Governor supported it, some ran TV ads on it
- In 2022 the bill was expanded to double the income eligibility limit for public coverage, and include small employers, making it a more impactful bill.
- After years of organizing by co-op members, in 2024, 43 out of 45 Democrats in the Legislature cosponsored it. The two that did not are out of office.
- In 2026 we are closer than ever! Join us at our All Teams – Healthcare Action Team Meeting to find out more!
For more information about joining our healthcare organizing work, contact:
Kristie Tweed
Healthcare Action Coordinator
📞 608-317-1331
✉️ kristie.tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Let’s build the healthcare system Wisconsin families and small businesses deserve.
Citizen Action Northeast Organizing Cooperative Update
Please take this survey on our team meeting schedule! We want to make sure we are meeting at times that actually work for our members, instead of the normal Tuesdays that we assigned. The survey will close on 3/15.
Please email Garnet any additional feedback on meeting times or locations at g.degrave@citizenactionwi.org.
Next Healthcare Team meeting: March 10! This will be an unconventional meeting. We want every healthcare team member from across the state to attend a zoom meeting from 6-7 (our normal meeting time) and then the North East team will stay afterwards to do any final touches on our upcoming healthcare town hall from 7-7:30. We will still be meeting in person and have the statewide event up on the screen for us to all watch together, but if zoom works better for you due to the longer timeframe, please feel free to logon remotely.
There have been a lot of changes to medicaid and medicare over the last year. Some changes got rolled back, others didn’t. You’ll get to hear a brief talk about the current lay of the land for healthcare in Wisconsin. Community members will share their stories of how healthcare access has impacted their lives and what their family needs to change. Local Legislators will be there to listen. You’ll learn how to get involved in this fight and what policies you can advocate for that will result in a community that is cared for. Please come to this town hall to Learn, Listen, and share!
Next Climate meeting: March 17th
All team members are invited to the next climate meeting since we may be having a special guest! Climate, healthcare, movement politics teams are all invited to attend this meeting.
Big thank you to all of the members who came out to support the $20 minimum wage team very early in the brisk cold Wisconsin morning for our press conference. I would like to highlight Ali Weaver who shared this from his speech: “Jobs that paid well enough to survive independently by only working one either weren’t hiring me, or would be the equivalent of selling my health and wellness. I’ve had to make hard decisions. Until I moved in with my now wife, I always needed to have roommates. I’ve never owned a car made after 2005. My current vehicle is a moped because my last car died and I couldn’t afford a new one and mopeds are cheaper. I recently had to decide whether I was going to pay for health insurance or just skip it. The price that I was paying last year was upped by almost 200 dollars per month. I chose to look after my health, but it has affected how much money I have left for essentials.” Thank you Ali for honestly sharing your life with our community. The more we are transparent about our wages and what that means for us, the better we can organize in solidarity.
Citizen Action North Central Organizing Cooperative Update
The North Central Organizing Co-op held their monthly Healthcare Action Team meeting Thursday night (2/26). The team meets on the 4th Thursday of every month at the same time.
After years of organizing, we have a real chance for the BadgerCare Public Option bill to become a reality in 2027. A few of the gubernatorial candidates support it, and many in the state Assembly also support it. During our meeting, the team discussed tactics that we could use to keep the momentum going.
The Climate Action Team has a history of working on getting the City of Wausau to commit to a Climate Action Plan, to get to 100% renewable energy. Since that time, we are also working on a 2% rate cap on public utilities. As a result, we would like to extend an invitation to new members that care about these issues. This team meets on the 2nd week of every month at 6 pm via Zoom.
If you care about healthcare and/or climate,, and would like to get involved, reach out to Organizer Joel Lewis, at 715-551-2525 or joel.lewis@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action in the News
This week Citizen Action members and staff traveled from Green Bay and Milwaukee to the Capitol for the introduction of the $20 Minimum Wage bill.
See coverage of Citizen Action’s Northeast Co-op members who attended the press conference from WBAY TV (ABC) 2 Green Bay/Fox Cities. Also see general courage from Duluth Country Radio.
Citizen Action members in Milwaukee had a town hall on the rising cost of energy, and the pressing need to enact the Utility Rate Cap bill.
See coverage from WISN TV (ABC) 12 Milwaukee.
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show to discuss the latest plans by the Trump Regime to steal the 2026 elections. The Jeff Santos Show, which originates in Boston, now airs in Wisconsin Monday-Friday from 2 to 5 PM on the Civic Media radio network.
Listen to the interview of Robert here (2 hour 8 minute mark on the video).
Civic Media’s new daily progressive talk line up here.
Listen to “Vos retires” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We discuss the retirement of Speaker Robin Vos after a decade of ruthless control of the Legislature. Vos was the most powerful and successful state politician since Scott Walker, and one of the most influential Assembly Speakers ever. The 2026 election is upon us and Citizen Action is announcing our endorsement of Judge Chris Taylor for state Supreme Court. This week the new $20 Wage Bill was introduced in the Legislature with a big media event at the Capitol.
We review the new MU Law Poll. We take a deeper dive into what the poll tells us about the race for governor, and where voters stand on data centers, health care, and the cost of living.
We welcome Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN) leader Heather DuBois Bourenane to discuss Public Schools Week and a new lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s chronic underfunding of public schools. The lawsuit was filed by teachers, parents, students, and WPEN by Law Forward. We encourage our listeners to attend a Capitol Rotunda rally this Friday (Feb. 27th) at noon.
Listen to the show.
