Wisconsin
Requiring Competitive Bids On Wisconsin School Construction Projects Is Long Overdue [WRN Voices]
![Requiring Competitive Bids On Wisconsin School Construction Projects Is Long Overdue [WRN Voices]](https://i1.wp.com/www.wisconsinrightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/MixCollage-25-Jan-2024-06-17-PM-5595.jpg?ssl=1 "Requiring Competitive Bids On Wisconsin School Construction Projects Is Long Overdue [WRN Voices]")
When was the last time the government did less of something?
We’re used to nothing but more—more inflation, more debt, and more spending, particularly under President Biden. From trillions of dollars spent during COVID to hundreds of billions for “Green New Deal” policies, to the “omnibus” bill giving a six percent spending hike across the board, Biden’s spending spree is going to be felt for generations.
Thankfully, some in Wisconsin are doing the opposite.
Sen. Duey Stroebel has a smart idea that’s working its way through the legislature as we speak. His bill, SB 688, would force local governments to actually spend less on one of their biggest ticket items: school construction.
Wisconsin is one of only three states that currently don’t require school boards to bid out school construction projects. The other 47 states have requirements for projects of different sizes (depending on the state) but one requirement is common—a public bidding process. Even Illinois—the land of corruption and backroom deals—has this law on the books, so surely we can as well.
This isn’t some small-potatoes change. According to Sen. Stroebel, in the past three elections, a total of 103 capital referenda were included on local ballots throughout the state. The vast majority (75) of them passed, costing taxpayers a combined $2.4 billion.
Compare that to the entire sum of Wisconsin’s capital budget and transportation borrowing, about $1.6 billion, and you can see the problem. Billions of dollars in taxpayer spending, and the largest single form of public construction in our state, has no requirement for competitive bidding.
These conditions have even created a cottage industry in Wisconsin of construction companies that don’t just do estimates or construction—they pitch projects to school districts, provide the estimate, run the referendum campaigns, and then get paid to deliver their own single-bid projects.
There are examples here, and here, and it quickly begins to look like single-source construction firms are leading the charge for large project referenda instead of parents, school boards, and administrators.
When you see the resulting property tax increases, you wonder if someone else could have done it for cheaper. But the truth is, it’s too late because nobody ever had to ask in the first place!
That’s been the problem with school construction for years now. There’s no real incentive to save money or watch out for the taxpayers. There’s always the ability to just run another referendum—particularly if they may not even be running it themselves!
Sen. Stroebel’s bill also sets a requirement to bid out the cost of purchasing supplies and equipment as well; Wisconsin is also one of only nine states that have no requirement to do so. Finally, the minimum standard for projects subject to this requirement is a reasonable $150,000. That would make Wisconsin still one of the 12 most lenient states for requiring competitive bids, and fourth most lenient for bidding for supplies and equipment.
Again, it shouldn’t be such a heavy lift to force the government to put the taxpayers where they belong—at the start of the conversation, rather than an afterthought. There will undoubtedly be critics who enjoy some personal incentive to defend the status quo, but education resources needlessly wasted are resources that can’t make it to teachers or classrooms.
Wisconsin should not be one of only three states with zero accountability to ensure these massive projects are done as affordably as possible. This bill is a smart move for taxpayers, school boards, and most importantly, students.
Wisconsin
Rubber bullet carnage as 1,000 animal welfare activists storm beagle breeding lab in Wisconsin | Fortune
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.
Activists later moved from the Ridglan facility to protest outside the jail in downtown Madison.
The group Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized plans to seize the dogs Sunday but launched its operation a day earlier. The X account of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a picture of him being arrested.
The sheriff’s department said a person who “recklessly” drove a pickup through the front gate of the property was arrested, “preventing a potentially deadly outcome.”
Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website it says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
Wisconsin
Wisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
MADISON (AP) — Around 25 protesters were arrested as around 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin and were met by officers firing pepper spray and rubber bullets, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s protest was the second attempt in as many months by demonstrators to take beagles from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were turned back by officers who arrested the group’s leader.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful” on Sunday, when around 200 people assembled outside the farm. They dispersed after around two hours, it said.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
Owen Ziliak/The Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The sheriff had said in a video statement Saturday that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” They tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Some got through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Those arrested included the leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, who was being held on a tentative felony charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. But most arrestees were just booked and released, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
“No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort,” Hsuing said in a statement from jail Sunday that also accused authorities of using excessive force. “The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse,” he concluded.
Protesters took 30 dogs when they broke into the facility in March, when authorities arrested 27 people.
Ridglan denies mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 in a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, the company says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
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