State Capitol

Election results under new state voting districts in Wisconsin mean more legislators now represent rural communities, a new analysis shows.

Cullen was first elected to the state Senate in 1974 and served until 1987 as a Democrat. Petak was elected to the state Senate in 1990 and won reelection in 1994.

The State Building Commission denied a motion to allow $70 million in underspent funds to be used for a series of planned UW projects including the new engineering building at UW-Madison.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said she’s already had conversations with Republican leaders.

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer told WPR that Democrats have been meeting with Gov. Tony Evers and local communities to “do what we can to push back against Trump’s agenda.”

Wisconsin Senate leaders have chosen eight lawmakers who will serve on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee — a simple bureaucratic move with major implications.

The Monday court ruling that overturned Wisconsin’s Act 10 collective bargaining law could have massive implications in Wisconsin, where it once sparked massive protests.

Sen. Dianne Hesselbein now has four newly-elected Democrats in her caucus, eliminating the previous Republican supermajority and giving Democrats a greater say in what happens to the state budget.

Wisconsin Superintendent Jill Underly let lawmakers and the public know her budget would target the state’s $4.5 billion surplus.

With Wisconsin Republicans holding onto leads in both chambers of the state Legislature, two former leaders in state government explained Wednesday why they hope for and expect more bipartisanship in an era of new maps that enabled Democrat gains.