Cassidy Geoghegan of the Priorities USA group here in Wisconsin offers her take on the events of the week.

MADISON - A few things of note this week:

1. The biggest bombshell this week was certainly the news that Trump admitted he is open to cuts to Medicare and other programs that hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites rely on.

Some important context if you plan to cover this:

• 1,178,275 Wisconsin residents had Medicare coverage as of October 2019. That’s nearly 20 percent of the state’s population.

• 934,831 Wisconsin seniors receive Social Security benefits.

2. New research published by Baldwin Wallace University’s Community Research Institute shows that Trump is falling behind in key states, including Wisconsin. In fact, 18.4% of voters in Wisconsin remain undecided about who they’ll vote for in 2020. Additionally, health care issues are the #1 concern in Wisconsin (30.6%), "the lone Midwest or Northeast state that did not expand Medicaid under Obamacare."

3. As you probably know, Pence is coming to Madison next week to speak at the Wisconsin School Choice Student Showcase. While Pence’s focus will be on school choice, it’s important to note that the Trump administration’s actions have been making it harder for schools in Wisconsin to succeed. A few things we likely won’t hear from the vice president are that:

• Trump has proposed billions in federal education cuts that would weaken public schools while simultaneously supporting increased funding and benefits for private schools and charter schools.

• Trump's education budget cuts would have harmful impacts on Wisconsin schools, including major cuts for after-school programs and teacher training programs.

• Wisconsin ranks as one of the worst states in the country for students with college debt. In the class of 2018, 64% of Wisconsin graduates had student debt — the seventh-highest percentage in the nation. But Trump has failed to address the issue and has proposed massive cuts to federal student aid programs.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to be connected to any of our storytellers or if you’d like additional information on how Trump’s actions have made it difficult for Wisconsin schools to succeed.

Best,

Cassidy