👋 Hello! You've read quite a few articles on our site. Our goal is to build strong, informed and connected communities across Wisconsin. Can you help? Please share our stories and, if you can afford to, become a monthly supporter.
Bob Kinosian, from Wauwatosa, Wis., holds up a protest sign outside an extraordinary lame duck session of the Wisconsin Legislature on Dec. 4, 2018, at the State Capitol in Madison, Wis. The Republican-authored bills stripped powers away from Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul, both Democrats. They included narrowing the state's window for early voting, giving lawmakers more influence over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., and barring Evers from halting efforts by the GOP to enact work requirements and requiring drug testing for certain benefit programs. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Reading Time: 4minutes
Never miss stories like this one.
We cover issues that deserve more attention. Get our free Wednesday newsletter and you’ll always be in the know.
We are Wisconsin Watch. Here’s why you can trust us:
Wisconsin Watch is a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news outlet. We increase the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Our work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
We currently have reporters based in Madison and Milwaukee and have other members of our robust editorial and business teams located across the state. We collaborate and share our content with mainstream and niche media across Wisconsin and the nation.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization operated by a professional staff under the guidance of a nationally noted board of directors. Our legal name is Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ Inc.).
Wisconsin Watch is a founding member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a group of nonprofit journalism organizations that conduct investigative reporting in the public interest.
Wisconsin Watch is a member of the Trust Project, a global network of news organizations that has developed transparency standards to help news readers assess the quality and credibility of journalism. Learn more about how we incorporate the Trust Indicators on our site.
Wisconsin Watch is a member of the CatchLight Local Visual Desk, a shared-services initiative that makes visual storytelling accessible to community newsrooms across the country.
Wisconsin Watch is a member of The Global Investigative Journalism Network, an international network of nonprofit organizations founded to support, promote and produce investigative journalism.
Wisconsin Watch is a member of the International Fact-Checking Network, a network that brings together a growing community of fact-checkers around the world and advocates of factual information in the global fight against misinformation. If you believe our organization has violated the IFCN code of principles, please submit a complaint here.
Our mission:
To increase the quality, quantity and understanding of investigative journalism to foster an informed citizenry and strengthen democracy.
Our values:
Wisconsin Watch values truth and pursues it through accurate, fair, independent, rigorous and nonpartisan reporting. We also value transparency, collaboration, innovation and a spirit of public service. These values guide Wisconsin Watch’s training of journalists and its investigations, which seek to protect the interests of people in vulnerable circumstances, expose wrongdoing and deficiencies in systems, and explore solutions to problems.
Our guiding principles:
Protect the vulnerable. Expose wrongdoing. Explore solutions.
Follow Emily Hamer’s reporting from the Capitol on Twitter.
See more photos from the extraordinary session in our Flickr collection.
Dee J. Hall, WCIJ managing editor, writes that the controversial measures approved by the Legislature fit into a recent pattern of secretive, rushed maneuvers by state leaders in the most recent Your Right to Know column.
From Dec. 3 through the early morning of Dec. 5, 2018, members of the press, the public, and legislators bustled through the halls of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison as the Senate and Assembly held an extraordinary session to push through a series of fast-tracked bills before Gov. Scott Walker leaves office in January.
The bills represent sweeping efforts to shift power to the Legislature from the executive branch, limit early voting and enact major changes to road spending, agency oversight and public benefits. Critics say they were clearly aimed at stripping power from incoming Gov. Tony Evers and incoming Attorney General Josh Kaul, but Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the bills were little more than legislative “inside baseball.”
Center reporters Emily Hamer and Coburn Dukehart were at the Capitol during the lame duck session and present a snapshot of images and videos from those contentious few days.
Protesters hold up signs inside the Wisconsin State Capitol calling for Republican lawmakers to respect their votes, on Dec. 3. Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
During the public hearing on the lame duck bills in the Wisconsin Legislature on Dec. 3, members of the public bang on the doors and chant to be let into the room. Police secured the doors, trying to control the crowd. Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Members of the public occupy an overflow room during the Joint Finance Committee public hearing of the Wisconsin Legislature on Dec. 3. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Chants of “respect our votes” and “shame” are heard outside of the Joint Finance Committee hearing room in the Wisconsin State Capitol on Dec. 3. Doors were locked to prevent protesters from entering the already full room. pic.twitter.com/k23WRIMfyK
Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee Co-Chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, threatens to clear the room when members of the public start shouting during the public hearing on Dec. 3. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
A member of the public is escorted out by police for interrupting the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee public hearing on Dec. 3. Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, speaks during a public hearing of the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Dec. 3. “This is unprecedented, what is happening here today,” Taylor said. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Retired public school teacher Gail Milbrath, from Milwaukee, gives a thumbs down sign, in reaction to testimony given during a public hearing of the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Dec. 3. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Protesters gather on the Wisconsin State Capitol steps on Dec. 3, to oppose lame duck bills that would restrict early voting and limit the powers of Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul and Gov.-elect Tony Evers. Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Protesters gather on the Wisconsin State Capitol steps on Dec. 3. As the protest went on, the Joint Finance Committee heard public testimony against the bills at a hearing inside the Capitol. Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, addresses the crowd during the Dec. 3, protest at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Nile Ostenso, who used to work for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, testifies against lame duck bills during the Joint Finance Committee public hearing on Dec. 3. “We’re going to have a new governor, but it’s going to be (Assembly Speaker) Robin Vos,” Ostenso said. He added that Republicans are “micro-managing the whole state.” Credit: Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
The Christmas tree lighting ceremony, attended by Scott Walker, takes place on Dec. 4, at the Wisconsin State Capitol, while protesters hold up signs decrying the fast-tracked bills. Later that afternoon an extraordinary lame duck session of the legislature was held. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, is seen during the extraordinary session of the Wisconsin Legislature on Dec. 4, 2018. “This is a heck of a way to run a railroad,” she said as Senate debate resumed at 5 a.m. after a seven-hour impasse. “This is embarrassing we’re even here.” Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, is seen in the Senate during the extraordinary session on Dec. 4, 2018. “Talking to senators over the weekend, a number of these items, you know, I still characterize them as inside baseball,” he said. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, talks with his chief of staff, Katy Prange, during the extraordinary session of the Legislature. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Wisconsin Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, holds up the list of gubernatorial appointees the Republican leadership wanted to approve during the December 2018 lame duck session. He bemoaned the fact that Democrats had not been able to vet the appointees before the extraordinary session began. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
After waiting more than three hours for the Wisconsin Senate to convene, members of the public were cleared from the gallery shortly after the session began by @SenatorRoth, who had twice warned them to stay silent. Chants and shouts followed the order, prompting a temporary recess. pic.twitter.com/yqM0BHERE8
After waiting for more than three hours for the extraordinary Senate session to convene on Dec. 4, members of the public were cleared from the viewing gallery shortly after the session began by Wisconsin Senate President Roger Roth, who had twice warned them to stay silent. After Roth ordered the room cleared, people chanted and shouted in protest, prompting a temporary recess of the Senate. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, addresses the press on Dec. 4, 2018. The package of extraordinary session bills was passed in the early morning hours of Dec. 5. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Elaine Pridgen of Madison, center, sings protest songs along with the “Solidarity Singers” outside of the Wisconsin Senate on Dec. 4. Credit: Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Scroll down to copy and paste the code of our article into your CMS. The codes for images, graphics and other embeddable elements may not transfer exactly as they appear on our site.
*** Also, the code below will NOT copy the featured image on the page. You are welcome to download the main image as a separate element for publication with this story. ***
You are welcome to republish our articles for free using the following ground rules.
Credit should be given, in this format: “By Dee J. Hall, Wisconsin Watch”
Editing material is prohibited, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and in-house style (for example, using “Waunakee, Wis.” instead of “Waunakee” or changing “yesterday” to “last week”)
Other than minor cosmetic and font changes, you may not change the structural appearance or visual format of a story.
If published online, you must include the links and link to wisconsinwatch.org
If you share the story on social media, please mention @wisconsinwatch (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), and ensure that the original featured image associated with the story is visible on the social media post.
Don’t sell the story or any part of it — it may not be marketed as a product.
Don’t extract, store or resell Wisconsin Watch content as a database.
Don’t sell ads against the story. But you can publish it with pre-sold ads.
Your website must include a prominent way to contact you.
Additional elements that are packaged with our story must be labeled.
Users can republish our photos, illustrations, graphics and multimedia elements ONLY with stories with which they originally appeared. You may not separate multimedia elements for standalone use.
If we send you a request to change or remove Wisconsin Watch content from your site, you must agree to do so immediately.
For questions regarding republishing rules please contact Jeff Bauer, digital editor and producer, at jbauer@wisconsinwatch.org
Coburn Dukehart is an Associate Director at Wisconsin Watch. She joined the organization in 2015 as the Digital and Multimedia Director. She is currently head of product and audience, directs visual and digital strategy; creates visual content; manages digital assets and trains student and professional journalists. Dukehart previously was a senior photo editor at National Geographic, picture and multimedia editor at NPR, and a photo editor at USATODAY.com and washingtonpost.com. She has received numerous awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year International and the White House News Photographers Association.
Emily Hamer is a recent graduate of UW–Madison with degrees in journalism and philosophy. She has formerly worked as an intern for University Communications and WisPolitics, and as an editor at The Badger Herald newspaper.
