Citizen Action Weekly: Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Friday, May 22nd

TAKE ACTION: Expand BadgerCare & Free COVID-19 Testing & Treatment!


It’s time for us to unite across our differences and work together to deliver free testing and treatment for COVID-19 for everyone in Wisconsin. We need to open BadgerCare to everyone without insurance and require insurance companies to provide free COVID 19 testing and treatment without any copays or deductibles, we can ensure that all Wisconsinites have the health care we need through this crisis.

Contact your legislators today in support.

Recap of “Covid vs Everybody: Communities of Color Townhall” 

On May 15, Citizen Action organizers held a virtual town hall that focused on a covid related conversations for communities of colors.  Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted people of color. Covid can strike any of us but the people that have been denied care and support for generations are being hit the hardest. 

In this town hall, Milwaukee leaders touched on food insecurity, unemployment, and healthcare in communities of color. They explored perspective, solutions, then demands  for following issues in these communities that were affected the worse during the pandemic. Rick Banks, Leader of St Joseph Accountability Coalitions, shared demand and how the community can get involved with holding the only hospital on the northside accountable for closing the health disparity gap.  Alex Hagler, local business owner of a wellness  center and fresh food organizer, shared tips and resources on fighting food insecurity during the pandemic. 

Important questions and a need for action was raised during this hour. Our Community of color townhall reached about 30 viewers on Facebook and Zoom.  This is the first of many conversations around our communities that will continue even once Covid-19 ends!

For more information or a recording from this town hall, please contact Southeastern Co-op Organizer, Trevonna Sims at [email protected]

Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin for our small group e-meeting to discuss expanding work sharing and creating green jobs across the state

Thanks in part to the efforts of Citizen Action of Wisconsin members like you, over 14,000 Wisconsinites have been helped by the expansion of WIsconsin’s work sharing program.  This program reduces layoffs, helps area businesses and puts more money into the pockets of hard working Wisconsinites.  We are still working hard to expand this program.

You can learn more about this program, help expand it AND help our efforts to create green jobs across our state by joining one of our upcoming small group e-meetings.  Please use one of the following links to RSVP for one of our upcoming small group meetings.  You must RSVP in order to attend.

Tuesday May 26 4:00 PM meeting co hosted by Susan Garcia Franz 
Thursday May 28th 6:00 PM meeting co hosted by Tamara Thomson
Wednesday June 3rd 6:00 PM meeting co hosted by Carol DiBiasio-Snyder

Coffee w/your Co-op: Social Distancing Edition 2.0

Grab your beverage of choice, comfy chair, and join our Citizen Action Northeast Co-op for coffee from the comfort of your own home!

Co-op leaders will be discussing our push our advocacy on a county-to-county basis since the Wisconsin Supreme Court repealed Governor Evers’ Safer-at-Home Order. Connect with other progressives and learn what Citizen Action is up to as we navigate this challenging time until we can meet at our favorite coffee shop again.

See facebook event page.

You must RSVP to [email protected] to receive log in.

Volunteer Opportunities in Central Wisconsin

Citizen Action of Wisconsin has significantly increased their field team this year. Currently, we have staff all across the state making calls to see how people feel about accepting the Medicaid money to expand Badgercare, while ensuring that all receive free testing and treatment (mentioned above). YOU CAN HELP!! These are real conversations, and they can help to change the political landscape by creating an echo chamber. That echo is this: Here is the problem, here is the solution, and this is who is standing in the way of us getting what we need and deserve. Even if candidate calls are not for you, these may be. People are typically more receptive, and many of them want to share their stories and make a connection. Not only could this turn into more voters voting for the people that we need to win the victories that we seek, but it increases the visibility of Citizen Action, and will result in more people being proactively involved in government at all levels. If you would like a one-on-one or even a virtual phone bank training prior to getting started, we can make that happen too. Please reach out to Central Wisconsin Organizer Joel Lewis at 715-551-2525 or email him at [email protected]

Below, you will read about how you can help promote the work-share efforts in the state and how you can help promote green homes and a green new deal. This can be done in a variety of ways, but for starters, we recommend that you join one of the e-meetings listed below. Many workers and employers are still learning about how they can utilize work sharing and you can help! This could be the difference between a person being able to keep their job(s) and continue to pay their bills or being laid off. It could help keep a small business, nonprofit or municipal entity operational and preserve jobs. The more of you that help with this, the more people and businesses we can help!! Reach out to your organizer if you would like to get involved or simply join one of the meetings listed below.

Lastly, we are really lucky to be working on the green homes and green new deal campaigns! Green homes is something that has been years in the making, and it all started in Northern and Northwest WI!! Feel free to reach out to your organizer for a history on this campaign. According to the Nature Research Defense Council (NRDC), “Residential Energy Efficiency Leads the Way on CO2 Reduction. One of the major highlights of the report that the single largest source of CO2 equivalent emissions from a single intervention is residential energy efficiency.” This is about solar panels, but that is not all! Join one of the meetings below to learn more. Also, if you would like to look into upgrading your home, or know someone that would like to, go here to sign up to see if it is worth our time to help you accomplish this!

Co-op Leader Appointed to Governor’s Task Force on Student Loan Debt!

Northeast Wisconsin Steering Committee member Renee Gasch has been appointed to Governor Ever’s Task Force on Student Loan Debt. Renee is a founding member of the co-op and is a strong statewide leader on the fight to end partisan Gerrymandering. She also serves on the De Pere sustainability commission. We are extremely proud of Renee and her tireless leadership on progressive causes across the state! If you have any questions or a story to share with Renee about your experiences with Student Loan Debt, please contact her at [email protected]

Join U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin on Facebook Live, Thursday, May 28th 6pm.

We are partnering with Wisconsin Organizing Together Coalition for a Facebook Live event next Thursday, May 28th, 6pm – 7pm.  RSVP here.  The virtual event will highlight contributions of frontline workers leading us through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Trump cut millions in funding for the CDC and fired the pandemic response team. He called the virus a hoax. As a result of his inaction, workers are now suffering. Join us for a virtual event to highlight contributions of frontline workers leading us through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Join us Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 6 PM – 7 PM

Citizen Action in the News

The Capital Times gave a huge shout out to Citizen Action on our response to the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision overturning the Governor’s social distancing directive.

Citizen Action’s Kevin Kane was on the Earl Ingram Show to discuss the most neglected tool in pandemic relief, the work sharing program that Citizen Action is promoting. 

Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show to discuss the House pandemic relief bill, and how it could be improved.

“Expand BadgerCare & free COVID-19 testing and treatment” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast

We discuss the latest pandemic developments, including: a major study finds that 36,000 lives could have been saved if the US implemented mandatory social distancing earlier; Governor Evers’ moves over $1 billion in federal money to ramp up testing and tracing; and the state is now a patchwork of COVID-19 policies with some counties and municipalities lifting Safer at Home restrictions early. Robert briefs us on U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s new bill guaranteeing free COVID 19 testing and treatment to everyone in America by dramatically expanding Medicare. Next, we look at what is being done to expand voting opportunities in Wisconsin this fall. We close with a look at the growing strength of progressive talk radio in Wisconsin.

Listen now – Episode #443
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