Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/tag/tom-tiffany/)
Questions and concerns about the fliers led to the creation of Citizens for Democracy in Oneida County. Member Scott Eshelman blasts the fliers for making “wild accusations” that have taken a toxic toll on county politics.
The battle wounds of politics are very much on display in Oneida County in northern Wisconsin, where claims of election law violations involving a prominent state senator are now under review by the state Department of Justice.
A legislative hearing Monday on a revised attempt to limit local governments’ authority to regulate nonmetallic mining, including existing frac sand mines, drew support from mining representatives but opposition from town leaders.
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported that mining bill proponents have given more than $15 million since 2010 to Scott Walker, who was elected governor that year, and to current members of the state Legislature. Meanwhile, only about $25,000 has flowed from environmental groups registered against the bill.
Wisconsin’s status as a battleground state was reaffirmed in thousands of 30-second increments. The money flowed fast and furious. Yet all this spending brought little change.
Opponents believe Agenda 21 is driving every last smidgen of Earth-friendly policy: Renewable energy. Land-use planning. Resource conservation. Even recycling. Every green tag is a red flag.
Assembly Bill 303, introduced last fall by Republicans, would have allowed communities to opt out of Smart Growth, the state’s law setting the rules for developing local land-use plans, and make it easier for these plans to be repealed.