WISCONSIN CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

CAPITOL UPDATE

February 14, 2023

Spring Primary Election

The 2023 Spring Primary election is coming up on Tuesday, February 21. As Catholics, we are called to form our consciences in light of Church teaching. As you discern how best to be a faithful citizen at the polls, consult the WCC Faithful Citizenship series and the WCC's 2023 Public Policy Positions below.

On the primary ballot will be candidates for state Supreme Court and for local offices. To see who is on your ballot, find your polling place, or register to vote, go to myvote.wi.gov.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court justices are elected to serve a ten-year term on the bench. Wisconsin Public Television interviewed each of the four candidates, listed alphabetically below:

You can also watch the WisPolitics Supreme Court candidate forum here.

Heal Without Harm Coalition Urges Support for Women's Postpartum Care

The Heal Without Harm Coalition—which includes the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, Wisconsin Right to Life, Pro-Life Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Family Action—is urging members of the Legislature to expand Medical Assistance from sixty days to one year for postpartum women. You can read the full coalition statement here.

As pro-life advocates, we strongly support the life and health of both mothers and their children. This legislation provides continuity of vital healthcare to women during the critically important postpartum period and will strengthen families throughout Wisconsin. We urge readers to contact their state legislators and ask that they sign onto the bills. To find out who your legislators are, see below.

Governor Evers Budget Message

Governor Evers will give his Biennial Budget Message on Wednesday, February 15 at 7pm. In that speech, he will highlight the major spending proposals of his 2023-25 Executive Budget.

The state’s budget covers the two year period from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025. Following the Governor’s Budget Message, his budget is taken up by the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), which conducts hearings around the state before developing its own version of the budget. Once the JFC approves its version, it sends the budget either to the Assembly or to the Senate. The house that receives the JFC budget bill further debates and amends it and then votes on it before sending it to the other house where it is again debated, amended, and passed. Once the budget bill passes both the Assembly and the Senate, the Governor can use his partial veto power to revise it (often through reducing appropriations or modifying text) prior to signing it into law. The Governor can also veto the budget, but the Legislature can override the Governor's veto if there is a two-thirds majority in both houses to do so.

You can watch the Governor's State Budget Address online via WisconsinEye here.

WCC Public Policy Positions: Protect Every Human Life

In the upcoming editions of the Capitol Update, we will be elaborating on each of the WCC's 2023 Public Policy Positions. The complete document can be found below.

Protect each and every human life. All human life is sacred. Wisconsin must effectively affirm, protect, and defend each and every human life at every stage of development, including the unborn. Wisconsin must also oppose all attempts to legalize euthanasia, assisted suicide, and abortion.

Human reason tells us that the right to life is the first and fundamental right. Without life, none of our basic human rights—such as food, shelter, liberty—can be exercised.

In addition, our Catholic faith holds that every human being, at every stage of life, is made in the image and likeness of God. When we encounter one another, we should do so with the understanding that we are encountering someone of transcendent worth, who like us is deserving of respect and protection from conception to natural death.

When human beings are not respected and protected, the result is a “throw-away culture,” which Pope Francis decried most recently in his January 29, 2023, Angelus: “The throw-away culture says, 'I use you insofar as I need you. When I am not interested in you anymore, or you are in my way, I throw you out’. It is especially the weakest who are treated this way: unborn children, the elderly, the needy and the disadvantaged. But people are never to be thrown out; the disadvantaged cannot be thrown away! Every person is a sacred gift, each person is a unique gift, no matter what their age or condition. Let us always respect and promote life! Let’s not throw life away!”

All of Catholic Social Teaching flows from this unwavering commitment to human life.

USCCB Catholic Social Ministry Gathering

At the end of January, Catholic leaders from around the country gathered in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. Part of this conference included advocating for policy to federal lawmakers.

A delegation from Wisconsin (led by WCC staffer Tia!) visited the offices of Wisconsin’s senators and representatives to advocate on behalf of our poor and vulnerable brothers and sisters, particularly asking Congress to:

Pass a strengthened Child Tax Credit
Provide robust international humanitarian assistance
Pass the Afghan Adjustment Act

These federal laws would help uphold the Catholic Social Teaching theme of providing “Preferential Option for the Poor and Vulnerable” in our world. To learn more about the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching, visit the USCCB’s website.

WCC 2023 Public Policy Positions

The WCC's 2023 Public Policy Positions are designed to inform state legislators, policy makers, and other interested parties about the Church's public policy positions and the principles that undergird them.

2023-24 Legislature and Citizen Resources

To find out who your legislators are, go to the Wisconsin State Legislature's home page and enter your address under Who Are My Legislators. Other legislative resources include:

You can also follow state government by tuning in to WisconsinEye, the independent, nonpartisan news service that provides uncut video coverage of state government proceedings.