Wisconsin state capital in Madison. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — The Wisconsin Assembly announced a bipartisan agreement to fund WisconsinEye, the site that broadcasts government proceedings, on Thursday morning.
It still would need approval from the Wisconsin Senate, whose majority leader expressed skepticism, and Gov. Tony Evers.
“We know how important it is for public access and for the media to make sure that we have coverage of what goes on here in the state capitol,” said Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D – Racine, speaking at a joint press conference with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R – Rochester.
The Assembly will put out a bill shortly, according to Neubauer. The bill will include WisconsinEye fundraising to cover part of its operations and will include an endowment.
“We’re going to make sure that they’re financially stable, and hopefully they can continue doing the work that they’ve already done,” said Vos.
Details of the agreement
The 2025-27 biennial budget allocated $10 million for a match or challenge grant. This bill does not require a match but would put the funds into a trust fund. WisconsinEye would fund part of its roughly-$900,000 annual budget with funds off the interest, according to Vos and Neubauer.
WisconsinEye would also add a few people to its board of directors, per Vos.
WisconsinEye is a non-profit public broadcaster that provided Wisconsin residents, reporters and other lawmakers with unedited coverage of hearings and floor sessions. It operates like a Wisconsin version of C-SPAN. Its services went offline on Dec. 15 after a lapse in private funding after broadcasting for almost 20 years.
Senate Majority Leader is skeptical
The bill would need approval from the state Senate and Gov. Evers.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R – Oostburg, is skeptical.
“Discussions surrounding WisconsinEye are ongoing,” said LeMahieu, in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite a January 9th deadline, WisconsinEye didn’t furnish documents to the co-chairs of the Joint Audit Committee until yesterday.
“Until members have a chance to review WisconsinEye’s financial statements and governance documents, Senate Republicans will not commit to blindly giving money to an organization that has been unable to reliably provide transparency to the legislature and the general public. In the meantime, my office will continue to take strides to ensure transparency and public accessibility in the State Senate.”
The Senate livestreamed its session on its own Wednesday.
The Senate Minority Leader’s office said the proposal will be reviewed.
“Conversations are ongoing, and Senate Democrats have not seen a bill yet. They will look at the bill when it gets to them,” said a spokesperson for Senate minority leader Dianne H. Hesselbein, D – Middleton.
Gov. Evers’ office has not responded to our request for comment yet. We would like to ask him whether he would support this bill or another that provides funding for WisconsinEye.
Comments