Category Archives: Shawano County Democrats Announcements
Mark Your Calendar
FORUM FOR WOMEN CONCERNED ABOUT
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
Monday, October 10th
6:00 pm
Shawano Civic Center
Three local women doctors will be there to answer your questions.
Spread the word.
Nelson Visits Shawano in 72 County Quest
Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson has pledged to visit all 72 Wisconsin Counties as part of his quest to unseat the current Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson in next year’s election. Shawano County was the first visit on his list as he met local voters at Angie’s Main Café in Shawano recently. Area residents were provided an opportunity to get their questions answered by the Senate Candidate. (Nelson is slated to be one of the scheduled speakers at the Shawano County Democrats Fall Fundraiser at the Shawano Lake Golf Course on October 2, 2021.)
Shawano County Democratic Picnic
Shawano County Dems August, 2021 Newsletter
SUMMER PICNIC
Don’t miss the Shawano Dems’ picnic on Thursday, August 19th from 5:00-7:00 pm at Kuckuk Park Pavilion (700 Oak Park Drive) in Shawano. Top tier United States Senate candidates Alex Lasry and Gilliam Battino will be there. Lasry is a Milwaukee Buck executive who worked as a White House aide during the Obama administration and has since championed social justice efforts and labor agreements.
Battino is a radiologist from Wausau who is pushing hard on the issue of Medicare-for-all.
There will be pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, beans, dessert and ice cream for all who attend. We will be having a 50/50 raffle and quilt raffle tickets will be available. Come and bring liked-mined friends with you.
SHAWANO COUNTY FAIR
Our booth in the Commercial Building will be staffed the evening of Thursday, September 2nd and from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Friday September 3rd through Monday, September 6th Those who sign up to work 2-3 hour shifts will receive a complementary ticket to the fair which includes parking. At the fair we will sell quilt raffle tickets, “Proud Wisconsin Democrat” bumper stickers and will pass out information on the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates.
You can sign up at the picnic or call Jan at 715-296-6726.
WEEKEND OF ACTION
The 2022 election is just around the corner and we are working to build our volunteer base. Our action for the week of August 21 will be to again engage voters in face-to-face conversations at their doorsteps. We will be offering training for our new volunteers on Wednesday, August 18th at the Civic Center at 7:00 pm and again on Saturday, August 21st at 9:00 am. If you would like to join our efforts, please let us know you plan to attend. There is a lot at stake in the next election and we want to be sure we are ready to get out our positive messages to as many people as possible. At this time, we will be telling voters about how President Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased the Child Tax Credit benefit to put $250-300 per child in working parents’ pockets.
AUGUST LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Democrats should be given credit for the strides they have made since President Biden took office. The Covid-19 stimulus bill gave citizens direct payments of $1400 and $300-a-week federal bonus unemployment benefits. Because of his bill we have free Covid testing and vaccinations. Governor Evers is also trying to improve the lives of Wisconsinites despite all the push back from the legislature. We can see a middle-class tax cut and more funding for education, roads and health care because of his efforts.
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 19: Picnic at Kuckuk Park (Shawano) 5-7 pm
Sept. 2-6: Shawano County Fair Booth
Oct. 2: Fundraising Dinner at Shawano Lake Golf Course. Speaker will be U.S. Senate Candidate Tom Nelson.
Chair’s Comments
It was heartening to see so many people sign the petitions that the Shawano Fairness Coalition had at their ShawanoFest booth in July. Some signed the petition to see stable and competitive wages for employees working in Shawano County and others signed the petition to have the Wisconsin State Legislature pass nonpartisan redistricting legislation.
It is important that we call our representatives at 800-362-9472 and tell them we want them to pass Senate Bill 389 and Assembly Bill 395. These bills would end gerrymandering by creating a fair, nonpartisan procedure for drawing future maps.
MEET THE SENATE CANDIDATES
These United States Senate Candidates are coming to Shawano.
Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive
Wednesday, July 28
9:00 am
Angie’s Main Cafe
Stop by to talk with Tom.
Alex Lasry, Co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks
Dr. Gillian Battino, Marshfield Radiologist
Thursday, August 19th
Shawano Dems’ Picnic
5:00-7:00 pm
Kuckuk Park
Everyone is invited to attend.
RSVP ShawanoDems2@gmail.com
U.S Senate Candidates
State Senator Chris Larson will be on Zoom at our July 21st in-person meeting
Shawano Civic Center
7:00 p.m.
Here is the Zoom link if you can’t make the meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/6228488386
Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson will be stopping by on his 72 county tour across the state July 28th 9:00 a.m.
Angie’s Main Café back room
132 S. Main St. Shawano, WI
Soon to be announced:
Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes will be the seventh candidate to take on Johnson. We will be inviting him to a future event.
MAKE SOME IMPORTANT PHONE CALLS
Contact your representatives and tell them to support these bills to have fair maps and end gerrymandering. The bills define a new procedure for the drawing of nonpartisan legislative and congressional redistricting maps. If we want popular progressive legislation passed by our Legislature, we need to let them know that we want these bills passed:
Senate Bill 389:
Senate District 2: Robert Cowles 608-266-0484
mailto:Sen.Cowles@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senate District 12: Mary Felzkowski 608-266-2509
Sen.Felzkowski@legis.wisconsin.gov
Assembly Bill 395:
Assembly District 6: Gary Tauchen 608-266-3097
Rep.Tauchen@legis.wiscnosin.gov
Assembly District 36: Jeffrey Mursau 608-266-3780
Assembly District 35: Calvin Callahan 608-266-7694
Rep.Callahan@leg.wisconsin.gov
This is Tauchen’s last term. Tell him he needs to do what is best for our democracy—let the people choose their representatives, not the other way around. Call the Legislative Hotline if you aren’t sure of your representatives (800-362-9472).
JULY LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sent to the Shawano Leader:
This past year students and their families, schools and educators had to sacrifice so much. The one-time $2.3 billion in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan was meant to help public schools recover. However, the funding was not meant to relieve the state of its responsibility. By law federal funding will NOT be received by any Legislature that fails to increase education funding by at least $387 million over the next two years.
The original Republican supported 2021-2023 budget sent to the governor cut Evers’ budget to $128 million, thus putting the federal aid in jeopardy. The governor, who cares deeply about education, did not want Wisconsin lose the federal funding. Therefore, he used his constitutional authority to revise the budget adding $100 million in recovery funds to invest in Wisconsin’s classrooms.
Districts will now be able to use these funds for non-pandemic-related expenses such as hiring educators and staff, providing additional educational or mental health supports or buying computers.
This is such a breath of fresh air after Wisconsin had been ranked 49th in the nation for per-pupil education investment increases. Over the past decade, Wisconsin’s investment in K-12 per pupil spending had increased a measly 4.3% compared to 18.9% nationwide. The Joint Committee on Finance had a chance to change that in the 2021-23 budget, but it took the governor to prioritize our children and their education.
In the past the State of Wisconsin had one of the best public school systems in the nation. Part of this was due to state funding which provided two-thirds of the cost. For two decades this has not been the case and the local tax payers have had to support their school districts. This made it difficult for many rural school districts to provide a quality education. Thanks to Governor Evers the 2021-23 biennial budget provides roughly $685 million in additional net general and categorical school aids. This funding restores the state’s commitment to providing two-thirds of the cost.
There will be $89 million that the governor put into reimbursement for students with disabilities and $19 million in school mental health programs. These services had been drastically underfunded.
As a retired educator, it is heartening and a relief to see our state putting money back into the education of our children.
Jan Koch
4th of July Parade in Bonduel
Shawano County Dem’s Chair Jan Koch participated in the Annual 4th of July Parade in Bonduel this year.
SHAWANO COUNTY DEMS: July, 2021 Newsletter
MARCH AND RALLY
On Saturday, July 17th the Shawano Fairness Coalition will be having a march from Franklin Park to the Shawano County Courthouse. Participants can gather at 1:00 pm, sign petitions for fair (non-gerrymandered) voting maps and higher wages in Shawano County and pick up a sign. The group will then walk to the rally at the courthouse where former assembly woman Penny Bernard Schafer will be speaking about redistricting reform and how it is needed if we are to have any progress in making our state more progressive. Join them!
JULY 21 HYBRID MEETING
One of the six United States Senate candidates will be on Zoom with us at our July meeting. State Senator Chris Larson is from the Milwaukee area. He has been a champion for many progressive issues that we care about. The in-person meeting begins at 7:00 pm at the Shawano Civic Center or you can view on Zoom. The link will be sent out prior to the meeting.
SUMMER PICNIC
The Shawano Dems will be having a picnic on August 19th at Kuckuk Park in Shawano from 5:00-7:00 pm. U.S.Senate candidates Alex Lasry and Gillian Battino have tentatively agreed to attend. We will have pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, beans and dessert. No need to bring anything. At the picnic we will be a thanking our many volunteers who helped during the past year. Plan to attend.
JULY LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Governor Evers has signed the 2021-2023 budget. It increased funding for education beyond what the Republicans wanted to spend. Using his constitutional authority, he was able to ensure Wisconsin gets the American Rescue Plan money by adding $100 million in new federal money for schools. He also restored the state’s two-thirds funding to school districts by providing roughly $685 million in school aids. Now there will be more money for students with disabilities and mental health services.
UPCOMING EVENTS
July 21: 7:00 pm Dems’ meeting at the Shawano Civic Center and on Zoom
August 19: Picnic at Kuckuk Park 5-7 pm
Oct. 2: Fundraising Dinner at Shawano Lake Golf Course
Chair’s Comments
In August and September, we will be calling on our volunteers to help us reach out to voters. During the weekends of August 21 and 28 we can begin to knock doors and engage in face-to-face conversations. This year we will go back to having a booth at the Shawano County Fair. We will need volunteers to work 2-3 hours shifts each of days from September 2nd through 6th
You can sign up to work at the fair at our July 21st meeting or at the August 19th picnic. If you can’t make either of those events, please call me at the number listed below or email me at shawanodems2@gmail.com if you’d like to sign up. Those working at the fair will get a free pass which includes parking.
Our fall fundraising dinner is being held on October 2nd. We will have raffle baskets. If you have any items that you would like to donate for the bucket raffles, please bring them to one of our events. Any grey donkey item (something you have that is in good condition but is taking up space) is fine too. Reservation information will be sent out next month. Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive and candidate for U.S. Senate, will be speaking.
We will also be having a quilt raffle. You can purchase tickets at the picnic, the fair booth or the fall dinner. The ticket will be drawn at the dinner.
Shawano County Dems – June, 2021 Newsletter
UNITED STATES SENATE CANDIDATES
Now there are six candidates vying for the chance to defeat Ron Johnson in the November, 2022 election. In addition to Tom Nelson, Alex Lowry, Sarah Godlewski and Gillian Battino, the following candidates have announced their candidacy.
State Senator Chris Larson wants to unrig the system in addition to stopping the fascism that has been taking over America. He believes in affordable child care, paid family leave and access to healthcare for all. He will Zoom with us at our July 21st meeting. https://voteforlarson.org/
Steve Olikara is the founder and former CEO of the Millennial Action Project which trains young elected officials to build diverse coalitions for real change. He wants to lead with the values of dignity, inclusion and compassion. You can find out more at https://www.stevenolikara.com/.