MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Republican lawmakers got no closer Wednesday to figuring out how the Milwaukee Police Department’s data storage system crashed after most city leaders skipped a hearing on the matter.
Since January, the police department has been working to recover video and audio recordings rendered inaccessible after the storage system malfunctioned.
It’s unclear how many cases remain inaccessible. Still, Rep. Joel Kleefisch and Sen. Van Wanggaard, leaders of the Assembly and Senate criminal justice committees, said they’re afraid information from scores of cases could be lost forever.
They scheduled a joint hearing on the issue, inviting Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Police Chief Ed Flynn, Sheriff David Clarke, District Attorney John Chisholm and Milwaukee Police Association President Mike Crivello. But Barrett, Clarke and Chisholm, all Democrats, didn’t show up.
Neither did Flynn, who told The Associated Press that he didn’t want to legitimize “a political charade.”
“I’m nobody’s political zombie,” he said. “(The malfunction doesn’t) mean it’s the end of the world and criminals will now roam the streets unpunished.”
Barrett’s spokeswoman said the mayor didn’t travel to Madison because he was attending a meeting of law enforcement and community leaders. Clarke spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin said the sheriff was testifying at a congressional law enforcement hearing in Washington, D.C. A message left at Chisholm’s office wasn’t immediately returned.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Republican state lawmakers say they hope to pass a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of gestation before the budget is debated in June.
Sen. Mary Lazich and Rep. Jesse Kremer told public affairs network WisconsinEye they introduced the measure Wednesday with more than 30 co-sponsors. The Republicans say they plan to hold a joint public hearing on the measure and pass it in both the Senate and Assembly before budget debate.
Under the bill, doctors who perform an abortion after 20 weeks in non-emergency situations could be charged with a felony and subject to up to a $10,000 in fines or 3 ½ years in prison. The bill doesn’t provide an exception for pregnancies conceived from rape or incest.
Gov. Scott Walker has said he would sign it.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The impromptu creation of a special needs voucher program early Wednesday morning caught disability rights advocates off guard, while those who supported the measure hailed the program as giving parents another option for educating their kids.
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to create the program at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday after unveiling the idea just five hours earlier. The program would function like open enrollment for public schools, with public dollars following each disabled student who leaves the district for a private school. The $12,000 voucher would be available only to special needs students whose applications to open enroll to another public school are denied and who have individualized education plans in place.
The divisive proposal has been rejected several times in the Legislature in recent years. By comparison, all other students who receive vouchers to attend private schools would cost public school districts $7,210 for elementary students and $7,856 for those in high school.
State disability advocate groups responded to the news Wednesday morning with anger, saying they weren’t consulted. The program wasn’t part of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget.
“It feels very much like a sneak attack,” spokeswoman for the group Stop Special Needs Vouchers Terri Hart-Ellis said. “It happened literally under the cover of night.”
Voucher supporters contend the program would provide more options for disabled students and their families.
“These children and families are trapped. Their public school has failed them, and their chance of open enrollment has been taken away,” said Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, the program’s co-author. “We are giving families hope that their children can finally get the education they deserve.”
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Three nationwide credit reporting agencies have agreed to fix disputed information on credit reports more quickly, wait longer before adding potentially damaging information on medical debt and scrutinize certain data furnished by outside entities, according to a multistate settlement announced Wednesday.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the pact that Equifax, Experian and TransUnion struck with attorneys general in 31 states. It calls for the agencies to pay a combined $6 million to participating states and to adjust a host of business practices over the next three years.
“It’s a good day for all consumers in the United States,” said DeWine, a Republican. He spearheaded the investigation that led to the deal after reading a 2012 investigation by The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch about consumers denied car loans, house loans and jobs because of mistakes by reporting agencies.
Other attorneys general praised the deal.
“I am pleased that our agreement brings about reforms that will provide for more effective dealings and better communication between consumers and the credit reporting agencies,” said Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange.
“This is a comprehensive settlement that has taken participating states years to negotiate,” Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt said in a statement. “I empathize with those Nevadans who have long struggled with these issues, and am actively working to achieve changes and positive results.”
The agreement requires agencies to:
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