6/06/2025

LANSING - 2024 saw the lowest amount of total dollars refunded since the Michigan Department of Treasury started tracking bottle returns in 1990.  $275.7 million in total was refunded last year, equating to just over 70% of the total deposits collected, of $391.6 million. The total “owed to under-redeemers” reached over $116 million. 

6/06/2025

MADISON - Months of state budget negotiations between Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers have collapsed this week.  Gov. Evers said in a statement Wednesday that no compromise had been made on the 2025-27 Biennial Budget.  He added that he had agreed to a Republican proposal that mainly targeted income tax. Meanwhile, he said the GOP is not aligned on his proposals for childcare, K-12 schools and the UW System.  State law requires a new budget to be passed by June 30. If that doesn’t happen, the state will operate under its current spending plan until a new one is signed into law.

6/06/2025

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Trump administration has accused the Wisconsin Elections Commission of violating federal law by failing to provide a state-based complaint process for voters bringing allegations against the commission itself. A Department of Justice letter on Wednesday outlined the accusation and threatened to withhold all federal funding. But the Democratic chairwoman of the elections commission said yesterday that there is no federal funding to cut. She also disputed allegations made in the letter, saying it made no sense for the commission to determine whether complaints against it were valid. It marks the second time in a week that the Trump administration has targeted election leaders in battleground states.