http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/vets-coming-home-s5.jpg"We thank them for their service, but we forget them when they need us," says Navy veteran Palzewicz. You can express your appreciation better by ensuring their needs are met, before and after they come home.

MADISON —​ Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on the Governor's Task Force on Student Debt final report. The report outlines recommendations for how Wisconsin can provide relief, education, and protection to its students debtholders now and in the future. To learn more, read the final report on the task force website.

Audio file of radio address.

Hi, I’m Kathy Blumenfeld and I’m the Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

This summer I had the honor of chairing the Governor’s Task Force on Student Debt. The task force was created by Governor Tony Evers to address the growing student debt crisis here in our state.

In Wisconsin, we have more than $24 billion in outstanding student loan debt, and making matters worse, 53% of Wisconsinites live paycheck-to-paycheck.

Over the course of our meetings, we heard from experts and stakeholders in the field, as well as from borrowers on the challenges they face when repaying their student loans. We used this input to inform our work and provide the governor with eight recommendations to help our most vulnerable borrowers.

These include, among others, creating a Borrower Bill of Rights, improving financial literacy education, expanding targeted loan forgiveness programs, promoting refinancing opportunities, and creating a student debt relief tax credit.

Overall, our recommendations provide a multi-faceted and multi-generational approach to solving Wisconsin’s student debt problem, helping Wisconsinites before they borrow, while they are enrolled in school, and after they graduate.

Now, we must collectively move forward on the hard work ahead. You can read our final report by visiting: LookForwardWI.gov. Thank you.

As both Trump and Biden visit Kenosha, we need to put progress over partisanship and find real solutions to bring the community together says 5th Congressional District candidate.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/kenosha-jacob-blake-shooting-wsj-s5.jpgThe Governor called for a special session of the Legislature to reform police practices and improve police accountability. As state leaders, it’s our job to make Wisconsin more just and equitable for all residents.

Republicans came to the floor and gaveled in Monday, but delayed action. Legislature should listen and act now, says Sen. Erpenbach.

WEST POINT, WI - The Wisconsin Legislature must rise to meet this moment. In March, Breonna Taylor was killed while officers executed a no-knock warrant on her home. In May, George Floyd was killed after being arrested by the Minneapolis Police. On August 23rd, a Kenosha Police Officer fired seven shots at Jacob Blake’s back; causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down. Reform is necessary.

In June, Governor Evers released a package of bills designed to begin to restore equal justice in Wisconsin. The bills are an attempt to address real issues that we need to take on in order to make real change. Republicans in the Legislature did not act in June. In fact it has been 138 days since they have done anything at all. Nothing to address unemployment, nothing to address the continued demands of a global pandemic, nothing to address racial justice.

The Republican answer to all of our state’s pressing issues has been to create a task force. How can we be expected to take that seriously when just 3 out of the 30 bills introduced by the Speaker’s numerous task forces have resulted in anything at all? Democrats stand ready to meet this moment and bring about the change that has been desperately needed for far too long.

Monday Republicans came to the floor and gaveled in because they had to; because the rules of a special session called by the Governor require them to. It is now up to them how they answer the demands for justice being heard around Wisconsin.

We stand with those calling for change, with those peacefully protesting injustice. We share the anger and frustration of those who want the Legislature to act. We can no longer turn our backs on this moment and wait for it to pass.

Madison- Rep. Gruszynski (D-Green Bay) released the following statement Monday responding to Assembly Leadership ignoring Governor Evers Call for a Special Session on Police Reform:

“It comes as no surprise that Assembly Leadership chose to abdicate their responsibilities to lead our state. By gaveling in and recessing today’s special session, GOP leadership has decided not to take up these important pieces of legislation and help lead our state. They should stop playing politics and put us to work so we can debate these common sense solutions for policing reform. These bills have already been put into place by numerous states before us -- this is just another missed opportunity to take action.”

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/kenosha-militia-street-s5.jpgCommentary on the arrest of the white supremicist militia member who murdered two Black Lives Matter protesters and injured a third in Kenosha, and law enforcement’s apparent lax response before and after he shot his victims.

Trump and his allies have fear-mongered and stoked hate, egged on armed right-wing militias through calls to “liberate” states during stay-at-home orders and protests. Now we see the result.

Union stands in solidarity with the family of Jacob Blake and reiterates that Black lives matter.

MADISON - AFSCME Wisconsin rebukes the atrocious shooting of Jacob Blake at the hands of the Kenosha Police. AFSCME Wisconsin stands in solidarity with victims of police violence and recommits to eradicating all forms of brutality perpetrated against communities of color and the working class.

AFSCME Wisconsin Executive Director Patrick Wycoff stated, “amid a renewed call to honor and protect Black life, officers from the Kenosha Police Department terrorized the families they swore to protect. Shooting a Black man in the back in the presence of his children was not just reckless, it is an abuse of power.

AFSCME Wisconsin demands the implementation of community-controlled policing oversight; robust community services investment in behavioral health, social services, education, and housing; and an end to federally supported militarized police presence in our communities. Without these measures in place, trust cannot be built and repaired with the community and those who the police force swears to protect.

In solidarity with national efforts, AFSCME Wisconsin advocates for federal funding to create a civilian corps of unarmed first responders such as social workers, EMTs, and trained health professionals who are trained to handle nonviolent emergencies and specialize in de-escalation. Moreover, AFSCME Wisconsin lends its support to the creation of a national database to prevent officers who have been removed from employment or resigned in the face of misconduct, from being reemployed by another law enforcement agency.

Executive Director Wycoff stated, “as public employees, we spend our lives and labor investing in our communities. Disregard for the lives of our neighbors of color destroys the trust we have worked so hard to build. We cannot heal the wounds of white supremacy and brutality against the working class while this senseless violence persists. The safety of one means the safety of all. We cannot let up until each community member feels safe. We stand in solidarity with the family of Jacob Blake and reiterate that Black lives matter.”

Systemic racism is a problem and a public health crisis says Tom Palzewicz.

Brookfield, WI - At the height of public outcry, protests, the Black Lives Matter movement, and calls to defund the police, I am shocked and appalled that law enforcement deemed it appropriate to shoot an unarmed person, a Black man, a father, seven times, in front of his three children shortly after trying to be a good citizen and maintain the peace in his own neighborhood.

We need to invest and reinvest in other social services, we need to move money spent on police activities to other government services while stripping police departments of their military-grade weapons. Our police force shouldn’t have to be the one that gets called for everything that happens in our society. Systemic racism is a problem and a public health crisis that poses a severe threat to this country. Wisconsin consistently ranks last as a safe, healthy, and integrated state for the Black community.

I stand with Governor Evers and the rest of the public officials who are outraged at these senseless shootings and demand justice for Jacob Blake.