Friday, October 19, 2018

Citizen Action members join Mandela Barnes and former HHS director Kathleen Sebelius at media conference  

Highlight importance of the ACA’s ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.

Denise Patton, a Citizen Action co-op member and small business owner, flanked by fellow co-op members, Mandela Barnes & former US HHS director Kathleen Sebelius, sharing how we need to protect people like her with preexisting conditions (both allergies & heart condition), and how reform allowed her to have more time with her late brother than if he couldn’t get coverage. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t first thank God”, said Denise Patton. “But second I thank the Affordable Care Act” Read More

Friday, October 12th, 2018

Scott Walker Misleading Voters With Health Care Cost Reduction Claims

Walker’s election year plan impacts a tiny fraction of health consumers, is dwarfed by premium reductions in neighboring Minnesota, and does not make up for cost of his sabotage

After 7 years of working to sabotage the Affordable Care Act in Wisconsin, Scott Walker is making misleading claims about reducing health care costs just weeks ahead of a close election. The public has a right to know his real record on health care access and affordability. Read More

Friday, October 5, 2018

Northeast Cooperative hosts Fair Maps Town Hall in Oshkosh

In preparation for the November referendum on nonpartisan redistricting in Winnebago County members of Citizen Action, the League of Women Voters – Winnebago County, and others in the Fair Maps Coalition organized a town hall to educate voters on this important issue. Sachin Chheda, director of the Fair Elections Project spoke about how gerrymandering occurred in Wisconsin and the Gill v. Whitford court case. Shauntay Nelson, Democracy Director at Wisconsin Voices, gave a presentation on prison gerrymandering and how this impacts communities of struggle, especially in comparison to communities that contain a prison. She shared specific examples of how we see this playing out in Winnebago County. Jolie Lizotte, Citizen Action Northeast Co-op Organizer, explained the referendum and gave the local perspective on electoral maps in the county.

If you missed the event you can view the Facebook livestream here. Read More

Friday, September 28, 2018

Citizen Action and SOPHIA/WISDOM attend national conference on addiction

Citizen Action of Wisconsin Organizing Director Angelique Rogers and SOPHIA Youth Activist Maria Barajas represented Wisconsin this week at Community Catalyst’s 2018 Gathering for Action on Addiction in Atlanta. The convening included structured roundtable conversations in which participants from across the country harnessed their collective energy and expertise to address current challenges for substance use disorders advocacy. Some of the discussion topics included the latest developments across the country grounded in the work on youth prevention, treatment and recovery support, and diversion of people with substance use disorders away from the criminal justice system to appropriate community services.

Starting in the 1990s, pharmaceutical corporations fueled an opioid epidemic which continues to spiral out of control. Fortunately, there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that substance addiction is a medical condition that can be addressed through prevention, early detection, and treatment. The advances in our scientific understanding of addiction mean it is within our power to respond effectively to the opioid epidemic, and the ravages of drug and alcohol addiction generally, with a public health response similar to how we counter an outbreak of flu or measles.

The War on Drugs has fueled racial inequality and oppression while doing nothing to address substance addiction in our urban areas. Now that the opioid epidemic has spread rapidly in the white community, Wisconsin policymakers have doubled down on the failed War on Drugs which inappropriately responds to substance addiction as a criminal justice issue, increasing addiction while fueling mass incarceration. In Wisconsin, there has been a 600% increase in opioid overdose deaths since 2000, and the number of people incarcerated has more than doubled since 1995. The drug war approach, which has targeted communities of color in urban areas for half a century, is now fueling the rise in overdose and incarceration of economically distressed rural communities as well.

Day in and day out, we’re facing threats to social justice and to moving our agendas forward. Responding with a proactive agenda is tough, but we can do it.  Stay tuned for more information about Citizen Action’s Youth Substance Use Prevention campaign and how you can get involved in 2019. Read More

Friday, September 21, 2018

Walker’s Bait and Switch on Pre-existing Condition Discrimination Becomes Dominant Issue in Governor’s Election

Scott Walker’s declaration last week that he would protect people with pre-existing conditions from discrimination is in sharp contrast to his actual record as governor and any policy proposal he has made to date, raising the specter that he is deliberately misleading voters in order to deflect a major campaign issue.

According to a report from Associated Press over the weekend “Gov. Scott Walker pledged Friday to ensure those with pre-existing conditions would be covered in Wisconsin if the Affordable Care Act were repealed.” Read More

Friday, September 14th

Citizen Action hits the doors for members running for office

With Labor Day long gone, the fall general election is heating up with only 2 months left until Election Day on November 6th. Last weekend Citizen Action members started hitting the doors in support of Organizing Cooperative members who are running for State Legislature. In Milwaukee members were out helping Emily Siegrist and Julie Henszey. This weekend it’s time for you get out and help a member with doors or phone calls. See full schedule of volunteer opportunities at the end of the Weekly. Read More

Friday, September 7th

Tammy Baldwin Signs Pledge to Protect Wisconsinites with Pre-existing Conditions

Wednesday evening U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin signed a pledge issued by Citizen Action Wisconsin to protect Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions. Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which brings together health professionals and patients from across the state, called on U.S. Senate candidates Sen. Tammy Baldwin and State Sen. Leah Vukmir to sign a pledge not to repeal or weaken the provisions of the Affordable Care Act outlawing discrimination against people with health conditions. Approximately 2.4 million Wisconsinites have a health condition that could be designated a “pre-existing condition.” Read More

Friday, August 31st

Happy Labor Day Weekend: Attend a Labor Day event near you!

On Labor Day, we recognize and honor the achievements of all of America’s working people.Celebrate with your union brothers and sisters and community members around the state as we honor all who labor.

This weekend take some time to attend a Labor Day event in your community. There are events throughout the state, including in Milwaukee, Wausau, Eau Claire, Fox Valley and Green Bay.   Read More

Week of August 13th – 17th

Progressives Win Big in Wisconsin Primary

Robert Kraig

Mandela Barnes, Marisabel Cabrera, Jeff Smith and Sarah Godlewski: remember these names. These four members of Citizen Action Wisconsin, who all won primary races Tuesday night by wide margins, are proof the blue wave Democrats hope will crest in November continues to rise. Read More

Friday, August 3, 2018

Walker Plan Does Not Make Up for Cost of Sabotage

Governor Scott Walker is touting the approval by the Trump Administration of his complicated health insurance scheme that does not even begin to make up for the cost of ongoing efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Walker’s complicated scheme called “reinsurance” funnels $200 million in direct public subsidies to insurance companies in the hope that they would lower premiums for some consumers. The proposal does not require that health insurance companies pass on any savings to consumers, and even if they did it would only impact a small percentage of Wisconsinites. Read More