MADISON, Wis. - Watchdog groups in Wisconsin are opposing a move to exempt the text messages of elected officials from the state's open records law.

The Republican leadership in the legislature says texts should not be subject to the law because they are "transitory communications," and therefore don't need to be archived as public record. Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, disagrees.

"This is a new concept that they invented, I think out of whole cloth, to try once again to keep the public from knowing the business of state government," says Heck. "And it's just utterly ridiculous and ought to be rejected out of hand."

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council agrees with Heck, saying text messages made by elected officials should be kept as part of the public record. Heck calls this the latest in a series of attacks on the Wisconsin Open Records Law of 1917. Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to pass such a law. The most recent revision of the landmark legislation came in 1981.

While text messaging wasn't around in '81, Heck and others say the intent of the law is quite clear.

"If you carve out an exception for text messages, then that's where many more communications would be made," says Heck. "Because government officials, if there's something they don't want people to know, they're going to try and find the area that's not covered under the open records law. So, this absolutely needs to be part and parcel of the existing state open records law."

According to Heck, people really need to pay attention to what he calls constant attempts to close state government to public scrutiny, and says concerned citizens should say something about it to their elected officials.

"We need to guard against these types of attacks on transparency," says Heck. "I don't think most people in Wisconsin know they're occurring, and if they did know, I'm sure most wouldn't support them."


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Minnesota's rural health-care landscape is described as being "stressed" - and the diagnosis could become grimmer if congressional Republicans keep their sights on Medicaid when reducing spending.

Specifics need to be sorted out, but the budget framework advanced by House Republicans this week is expected to include major cuts to Medicaid, so lawmakers can adopt President Donald Trump's tax-cut plan. Health-care voices have said the government insurance program has a big presence in rural areas.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., touched on that issue in a news conference hosted by Protect Our Care when discussing how Minnesotans would feel the pain.

"Many of the patients that show up for care at rural hospitals are folks that get their insurance either through Medicaid or through Medicare," she said. "It tends to be in rural communities; an older and often sicker group of people."

Smith added that losing reimbursements would force more rural providers to make tough decisions by doing away with services such as maternal care or pain management.

House Republicans have said they're eyeing a final plan that "makes government work more effectively for all Americans." But they're already seeing backlash in their home districts.

Mark Jones, executive director of the Minnesota Rural Health Association, said the situation in this state isn't as dire compared with other parts of the country. But he said deep Medicaid cuts would still overwhelm the landscape as providers in smaller towns try to stand upright.

"We've seen providers leave, we've seen services cut," he said. "We've made our way through the pandemic, and now one more struggle - much of which we have no control over or little control over."

Jones reminded people that Medicaid coverage isn't a handout. He said recipients in rural areas - who often are working - have little choice but to turn to programs such as these.

"The wages aren't there to support commercial health care," he said, "or employers are very small and can't offer a group plan."

If congressional Republicans go big on Medicaid cuts, with more than $800 billion currently projected, Jones said, Minnesota's list of rural hospital closures could grow longer. Six have shuttered since 2005, which he said hurts local economies and makes communities less attractive.

"If you're trying to recruit a teacher at the school, or you're trying to recruit somebody at the law office or the bank downtown, when they come to town to look at your community and you don't have a hospital," he said, "that's kind of a sign that your town isn't very healthy."


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A lawsuit to halt the firing of probationary federal workers gets a hearing before a district court judge in San Francisco this afternoon, even as the Trump administration readies a new round of job cuts.

A coalition of unions and nonprofits is asking for thousands of federal workers to be able to stay on the job while the matter is litigated.

Don Neubacher, a retired former superintendent of Yosemite National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore, works with the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. He said civil servants deserve better treatment.

"They were told they were fired because they were bad employees but the evidence so far is just the opposite," Neubacher pointed out. "They were good employees and it was just an excuse, so we believe it was an illegal firing and they didn't follow a lawful process."

Yesterday, the Trump administration doubled down, indicating it will now seek to lay off people with civil service protections in order to cut costs. A new memo from the Office of Personnel Management instructs agencies to submit a plan for a reduction in force by March 13. By mid-April, agencies must offer a plan to reorganize management and move certain jobs out of Washington, D.C.

Neubacher argued the chain saw approach is counterproductive.

"This is just chaos," Neubacher stressed. "Right now, the National Park Service probably has the lowest morale that I've ever seen in my career in the Park Service, and I worked 36 years, so it's overall just crippling."

A dozen groups are party to the lawsuit, including the American Federation of Government Employees, VoteVets, and the United Nurses Association of California.


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Environmental projects are restarting as advocates praise Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for suing the Trump administration, leading to the release of 2 billion dollars in federal aid.

The previously frozen funds had disrupted key projects such as abandoned mine reclamation, plugging orphaned wells and other projects, while grants for electric school buses remain frozen.

Joanne Kilgour, environmental lawyer for the Ohio River Valley Institute, called it a win for Pennsylvania but said some local programs still await promised funds.

"This continued uncertainty is unacceptable," Kilgour argued. "The economic impact of this funding freeze was immediate and severe. Local contractors had to pause weatherization work. Environmental cleanup projects were put on hold. Job creating initiatives were thrown into chaos."

Kilgour pointed out during a webinar the governor's lawsuit continues because the state needs to ensure all promised funding reaches Pennsylvania communities and future funding remains secure.

Bobby Hughes, executive director of the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, said his team is working on capacity building, geothermal research in Schuylkill County and a watershed assessment in Luzerne County, where mine drainage remains an issue. The funding freeze and continued uncertainty has slowed progress.

"It needs monitoring and it needs sort of evaluation, and other sites in that watershed have discharges that go to a trout stream that goes to the Susquehanna River," Hughes outlined. "It's being impacted and hasn't been treated yet for any of those particular discharges."

James Whitesel, director of facilities for the Unionville Chadds Ford School District, said the district secured $1.3 million in grants for five electric buses but postponed a $200,000 electrical upgrade due to the federal budget freeze. While hopeful for a resolution, he warned delays could affect bus replacements and infrastructure installation.

"In mid-March, our school board is going to vote either to proceed with the electric buses or to abandon the project and purchase five diesel buses instead," Whitesel noted. "Choosing the diesel bus route will entail higher up-front costs for us."

Whitesel pointed out the funding freeze could cost the district hundreds of thousands in electric bus savings. Whitesel applauded the governor's fight against the freeze, citing his strong leadership for Pennsylvania but uncertainties remain regarding grant funding for his district, along with other projects across the Commonwealth.


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