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Good, good morning, everyone, and welcome, welcome to Matinee on Air.
My name is Craig Block.
I am your host and you are listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Welcome.
Happy Monday.
Happy post Christmas.
You can always get in touch with me with us, me and sweet Calbee on the boards.
You can always do that by calling in or texting.
The number is the same 855-752-4842-8557.
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We are currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube and the site that we in this house still call Twitter and always will call Twitter.
We have a fantastic show ahead of us today.
We've got a lot of great news coming your way.
We also have the executive director of Fair Wisconsin Abigail sweats.
She is returning to the show.
She is a friend of the show.
And in the 10 o'clock hour, she'll be here at 1006.
We will be speaking about the announcement from the Trump administration, specifically from the secretary of HHS, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
along with some commentary from a former talk show host, medical peddler.
Dr. Oz about new I guess rules proposals that are gonna be put on doctors and hospitals who who Help with gender affirming care for young people and we'll be discussing the quote-unquote Science they discussed the proposals they are putting in place and how you can actually be part of the discussion because this is not law yet This is not gone through and you can be part of that conversation.
We'll be discussing that more
with Abigail in the 10 o'clock hour.
After that is going to be the genie of just about everything, Terri Barr.
She is back and we're gonna be discussing some stories that she has been working on on the Civic Media website, which you can always check out by going to civicmedia.us slash news.
You can find all the stories that she as well as all of our wonderful reporters are working on and they're keeping you covered as far as the local news.
State news, politics, sports, entertainment, it's all there on civicmedia.us slash news.
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You've got a lot of things going on and you're giving me your time and I'm grateful for it.
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Also, what's really fun is that a few times a year, every quarter we do text to win contests.
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You can also call, text, or leave a voice message on there.
And Calvin, did you know this?
I'm not sure Calvin Butenhof, who is on our ones and twos today, you can leave a voice note, even if you don't like me.
You don't like what I'm saying?
That's fine.
Tell me.
People have done it before and they'll do it again.
But you can do that by getting the Civic Media app on your phone, leaving us a message, making a call, sending a text, getting in touch.
just staying in our universe because we want to have you here.
But that's Terry Barr coming up at 1035.
We'll talk about stories such as like what people do, people who are in need even over the holidays, what people are doing for their pets, and a wonderful story about a gentleman who is helping those who were affected by the hurricane in Jamaica this year.
Stick around it's gonna be a great show for you really quick.
I want to throw it to Calvin Butenhof who is here Calvin really quick I know you're not feeling well, so we're not gonna make you be on the microphone too much Which is unfortunate because that dulcet wonderful rich tone of Calvin is one that we all miss Calvin.
How was your Christmas?
You know Greg it
was a little disappointing.
Yeah, I spent most of it under the weather as well as most of my family my dad and my mom were sick as well, so we
hunkered down and it wasn't even like fun sick where you're just like, oh, he's sitting bed and watching when he's like, I slap it wasn't a good time.
Well, that's, I'm sorry to hear that.
You weren't the only one who I guess was hit by it.
Some people here at the station were also not feeling well this holiday season.
I guess, I guess the age old thing of it's going around.
So, you know, this is just a call to, and we talked to,
Dr. Chris Cernich last week about this, about staying healthy in these holiday times and these wintery, especially, I mean, my goodness, Cal, yesterday it was like 39 degrees and raining and windy.
This morning I woke up and my windshield wipers didn't even work because they were frozen to my car.
So in light of such, you know, drastic changes in the weather, we just beg for you to stay warm, stay healthy.
Make sure you get your vaccinations, your flu shot, your RSV shot, your COVID shot if you need to get those.
And then also, just stay home if you need to.
I know I talked to Calvin about this.
I said, why aren't you home?
He says he's on the mend, which is great.
But if you can stay home, if you can get rest, please do that.
You need to do that.
And yeah, if you got that sick time, use it.
Don't waste it.
Don't get other people sick.
Be good to yourself.
I'm just also hoping that it doesn't hit me as well.
So Calvin, if I get sick, I'm going to blame not you.
I'm going to blame someone else in the station because that's how I work.
I'm friends with you.
You can blame me.
I'm blaming my dad.
Okay.
I'll blame Mr. Butenhof.
That's what I'll do.
I don't
even know the
news and he'll never hear this because he finds me crass.
You told me that once.
We got a lot of stuff to go over today.
I, and we'll talk about this more in a little bit as far as like the plan for this week.
It's going to be another short week for us to the, for the new years.
We hope that you're going to be celebrating safely and funnily.
That's not a word, but really, really want to talk about right here is a story that came across on the cap times this weekend.
Olivia Hurkin with the byline says four times Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans worked together in 2025.
Now,
That's not the only, it didn't just happen four times.
There were other examples, but these were the four biggest stories coming out of Madison and something that we have always discussed here on the show when Jane was here back in the day, back in the day, what like three weeks ago was the fact that I believe.
And I, you know, the listeners here and the viewers here, I think that we are a state who wants to have cooperation.
We understand that in modern politics, there must be compromise to move forward, that there must be a coming into a room and saying, all right, how do we hash things out and get something done while maintaining our own personal values, but also moving the state as our model would suggest forward.
So the cap times put out four.
four times that we worked together, not we, I wasn't there.
I'm not a Democrat or Republican.
I'm just a guy here on a radio show, but we're going to talk about those.
And I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
As I said, give them touch eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five civic leave a comment on the live stream, leave a voice note through the app.
If you'd like, tell me that you like my hoodie.
It's very comfy.
And I just found it recently.
So that makes me happy.
So, um, yeah.
Basically, all based on the idea that we here in Wisconsin, we want to get things done.
We want to have discussion.
We want to have cooperation.
That is how I believe a true Democratic Republic works, is with compromise, with cooperation, and with the best interest of people in mind.
The first thing, and this is gonna be, this can be hotly.
debated because I know that a lot of people have opinions on this, including the lawmakers that we are going to, you know, who are a part of the story.
And that was the biennium budget for 2025, 2027.
That was compromising on the state budget.
As you may or may not know, the biennium budget hit a pretty hard standstill this year with people with
Folks on both sides kind of walking away from the table.
Tony Evers famously in a story said that we cannot find common ground and he walked away.
And then it was basically, how do we get people in a room to discuss this?
And in July, on the July 3rd, that all came to a head when in the early, I think about 1.15, 1.30 in the morning, Tony Evers did sign the 2025, 2027 biennium budget.
And that was after basically,
Democrats and Republicans got into a room and said, we need to get things done.
Specifically, Diane Hesselbein, who is the Senate Minority Leader, who walked in the room and said, let's hammer something out.
Now, I won't ignore the fact that there were many people specifically on the, oh, actually both sides, who were not happy with the version of the budget that got passed.
And I'd love to know your thoughts on this.
because two things that we, you know, two things we discussed was education and early childhood education as well.
And I know that when we had on, I believe it was actually Diane Hesselbein on the show, we were talking about in that first day or two, how this was great that we're moving forward, that we are compromising, that we were finding common ground and making things happen.
Because if, just as a piece of fun fact for you, if we did not get a budget done,
It's not like the federal budget.
It's not like the federal government where we shut down What we would end up doing was reverting to the old budget to the current budget and all of those monies that are placed in various line items So the government would still operate.
It just would be at 2023 2025 levels.
So we would still be going but that's not really and then some Republicans wanted that they were fine with that Democrats wanted something else and
When we first heard about the budget compromise, we said, all right, good, we can do something.
When Republicans and Democrats in Wisconsin can sit down in a room and make things happen, that feels like a win to a certain extent.
And I'm sure there are people listening who are like, you are wrong.
And I understand that.
But then in the next few days, we came to understand just the complete picture of the budget.
And the two major things that really stuck with us was the fact that
We did not get an education increase on K through 12 funding again.
We got increasing on things like special education reimbursement that went up to 42% and then we'll go up to 43%, then 45% in the following year, but there was no increase in the general funding for K through 12, which is something they've done before.
That made people very, very upset.
That makes me very, very upset.
We've talked about
education funding here on the show quite a bit.
When there isn't education funding K through 12 in the general sense and just the general funding, that means it's up to folks like me and you who are taxpayers, even if you are renter, you don't have to own a house for this to affect you because if you're renting those property tax get raised, your rent gets raised because of it.
So you are in the fight too.
When they're not raising that, when they're not increasing that funding,
It's up to us through referendum to do that and we've talked extensively about that I won't get into it right now because we have other things we need to talk about But I just want to make that point that no funding was increased for general education K through 12 and the other thing too when we had Kareen Hendricks on the show who is currently running for office in Madison I'm sorry in in up in you know in Nouglaris the fact that early childhood education did not receive sufficient funding it got
funding to run for a year, but that's not what they were looking for.
And because of that, Kareen had to close her daycare.
I know that sounds very bleak and dire and you're saying, well, you guys worked together.
They did work together.
That is great.
I love that.
But it's also important to point out the fact that while they are compromising, we need to know what our leaders are really doing up there in Madison.
We need to work towards a better budget for the next time or a budget repair bill depending on how the election in 2026 goes because we're going to keep talking about that.
Cause we are days away from being in a full blown election, your governor's race, Madison state house, as well as, you know, our midterms coming up for Congress and Senate, but we're going to talk more about.
how the Republicans and Democrats came together in an article from the cap times that came out on the unboxing day.
If you're familiar with that, the 26th of December, we're going to talk more about that.
Love to hear your thoughts on cooperation, compromise, where you want to see it go next year.
What do you want to see out of the Madison state house and the work our leaders do in 2026?
Cause it is a short year, by the way, nine to 10 month vacation, but we're going to talk more about that.
On the other side, get some hot, get some water, get some snacks.
Come on back because you were
listening to Matt and Air on Air on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Stay tuned, stay close.
Good, good morning.
Welcome back to Matt and Aaron air on the civic media radio network.
My name is Greg Bach.
I am your host.
You are listening to us, as I said, on the civic media radio network, and we are here today just cozying in.
It's the week after Christmas.
We got great guests coming your way in the second hour.
Abigail sweats, who is the, the executive director of fair Wisconsin here talking about the recent announcement from the Trump administration, specifically HHS.
regarding gender affirming care for youth and what they believe will be a protection of children.
But we'll get more into that almost crazy statements in the second hour of Abigail.
And then at 1035, Terry Barr from Civic Media, the genius just about everything will be here to talk about stories she has been working on.
She has worked on as far as post holidays.
what people need in the world.
We're talking about helping those who are in need and looking forward to having her on the show again, because she is just fantastic.
And also, you can get in touch with us, 855-752-4842-855-75CIVIC.
That is the number, call or text.
It's the same no matter what you do.
You can also get in touch with us on the live stream, Facebook, YouTube or the platform we still call Twitter.
And you can also download the Civic Media app, get in touch with us that way.
But right now we are continuing this discussion about a story in the cap times that was published on the 26th of this year, a few days ago, the day after Christmas by Olivia Hurkin.
Four times Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans worked together in 2025 talking about the importance of compromise, the importance of cooperation, discussing the Wisconsin state budget, which was a controversial one really from start to finish.
Nobody was happy, but honestly in a budget process, not everyone should be happy because you have to give up certain things to move forward, but this was one that was controversial as far as the passage.
When it was signed and what was and was not in there for the state and basically talking about the thought that...
Wisconsin here, we want cooperation.
And one of the things that one of the things that did happen to is earlier in the month, Governor Ediver signed a bill that added what's called sex extortion to a list of crimes in Wisconsin before that, that was not listed as a crime.
This is something, it's not new, but it's being taken more seriously in the, in recent years, signed into law, something called Braden's law.
And it is to combat
sex extortion, which is when someone coerces or threatens a person to create and send sexually explicit images or favors or threatens to release such images.
Essentially, it sounds like, to me, it sounds like digital blackmail.
And this is named after a young man named Brayden Bone.
I apologize if I'm saying the last name incorrectly, but I think it's Brayden Bond, a 15 year old student from
the wassa area who took his own life as the result of this sort of action after his death.
His mother started advocating for change in the law and this was one I feel like you know this one it was it was introduced in April by a bipartisan group of legislators we're protecting people we're protecting kids especially because this affects a lot of kids as well and it passed in committee unanimously and it was approved by both the state by the senate and the assembly
So that is another example of them working together.
Another one that happened just recently as well was the cell phone ban that starts next year.
All Wisconsin school districts will be required to have a policy in place banning cell phones in the class.
And one of the problems with this before the bill was signed was that every district had something or nothing.
There was no, no consistency.
So there was nothing, there was a difficulty to enforce or to find.
Boiler plate information to move forward, but this was brought forth by Republicans passed by the assembly almost entirely on party lines with I guess a Republican joining the Democrats that opposed the bill.
But in the, in the, in the Senate, there was much more bipartisan support where Democrats did vote for this.
There was also some, some controversy as well.
We've talked about this as, you know, what does a cell phone ban?
What does it help?
How is it enforced?
If we know anything right now, we know that teachers and administration are overwrought with a lot of things they need to be doing.
Policing the cell phone usage might be a problem too, just because it's another thing they have to take care of.
And we have also heard from individuals, including our very good friend, Angela Lange from Block, Black Leaders Organizing Communities.
She feels like this is not a good bill because kids
should have access to their phones in case of extreme violence inside the schools.
Regardless of that discussion, and I'm not discounting them, I'm not invalidating them, this is another example of the Democrats and Republicans working together.
And I guess what I'm doing here is I'm setting the stage here for 2026 and saying, this is what we would like to see.
They would not have written the story in the cap times had it not be of some interest because we've talked about this before with Jane and with Dan, that when we see our leaders work together, it can do good work and it can move us forward in other legislation.
But I'm gonna discuss on the other side of the bottom of the hour news, another one that the fourth one, which has to do with breast cancer screening, which when we talk about healthcare in this country, when we talk about access, that is especially in Wisconsin,
That is a dicey hot topic.
We have had many, many talks about the fact that we need to have better healthcare access here in Wisconsin.
And one way that the Republicans and the Democrats decided to work together is with regard to breast cancer screening.
But that will come after the bottom of the hour news.
I don't want anyone to go anywhere.
You're going to stick around.
I want to hear from you, though.
I want to hear from you about your thoughts on compromise and cooperation.
And are these stories that
that resonate with you.
What do you want to see our leaders work for in their very, very short 2026?
Remember, they're done pretty much in February, March, and then the rest of the year, they're off.
It's a short year.
Just like this is a short week, two days of live shows and the rest best of it.
We'll talk more about that in a little while.
Don't go anywhere.
Want to hear from you.
Call or text 855-752-484-2855-755.
Civic, leave a comment on that live stream.
You're listening to Matt and Air On Air on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Good, good morning.
Welcome back.
Welcome back to Matt and Air On Air.
My name is Greg Bach.
I am your host, your friend, your pal.
And you are listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.
You can always get in touch with us, call or text.
It's always the same number.
It's 855-752-4842-855-75CIVIC.
Leave a comment on the live stream if you'd like.
We are currently streaming on our Facebook pages, 540 WAUK, Matt and Aaron and Civic Media.
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So if you are on the Twitter, and by the way, just really quick, we've discussed this a couple of times.
If you are watching on Twitter right now and you want to make a comment, thank you.
It's hard because those don't come through to us on the live stream here on the format we use, but we'll be checking in if you want to leave something there.
Let us know what you're feeling, let us know what you're thinking, but we will take a look at our Twitter page here on Civic Media and just make sure that we are seeing everyone's thoughts.
on the topics we're talking about today.
Don't forget, after the 10 o'clock hour begins, after the top of the hour news, 10 o' six, we have Abigail Swetz here, who will be talking about gender affirming care for kids.
She is the executive director of Fair Wisconsin and the Trump administration by way of HHS, by way of RFK Jr.
and Dr. Mehman Oz.
failed Senator candidate.
Uh, they came out with some, they came out with some rules and proposals that basically say that gender affirming care for minors will be essentially punished by the United States government.
But we'll talk more about that with Abigail at 1006 10 35.
We got Terry Barr here was the genie of just about everything at civic media.
And we're going to be talking about the story.
She's working on stories.
She's put out there in the world.
You can find those stories at civicmedia.us slash news.
That's great page for you for, for Wisconsin news.
for state and federal news, but also it's just great to catch up with what's going on in your neighborhood.
What's also great, Calvin, is that Civic Media has a bunch of great stations all around.
I mean, really the Midwest, we're in Wisconsin, we are in Minnesota and we are in Michigan now.
And we have radio stations all over there.
If you go to civicmedia.us and look for stations, you can see a station close to you.
You can go directly to that station's website, check out what's going on.
If there's
deals, promotions, whatever happening, but it's a great way just to stay in contact with your local station, which brings to the news that directly affects you.
But civicmedia.us and we'll, it's a great, it's again, a wonderful way to stay in touch.
I just want to do this really quick here.
It's civicmedia.us slash stations.
I want to make sure I got that correct.
US slash stations to find out more about the civic media station nearest to you.
If you're in the Southeast from Wisconsin area, WAUK.
Hello.
Good morning.
But we're talking about four times that the Democrats and Republicans worked together in 2025 highlights of that.
There's bipartisanship that happens all the time in, in, in Madison.
We know that's not always the case.
We know that's not always the story that comes out.
There's a lot of division in politics.
I know he says something so deeply philosophical.
No one's ever said that before in the history of radio or media, but we want to talk about the story out of the cap times.
came out on the 26th of December from Olivia Hurkin.
Four times Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans worked together in 2025.
We talked about the cell phone ban.
We talked about a bill in December signed that fights sex distortion that helps to keep people from being essentially extorted through blackmail using very sexually explicit materials or favors.
And then compromising on the state budget, which is some would say it was a bad compromise, but these are stories
These are examples of our officials, our leaders working together and moving us as our motto says forward.
And the last one I want to discuss here was breast cancer screening.
In October, the state Senate nearly unanimously passed a bill that would cap patient payments for additional breast screenings like ultrasounds or MRIs at $50.
It's now awaiting a vote in the assembly.
It's also known as Gale's Law.
The bill was sparked, inspired by Nina resident Gale Zemer, who died from complications of breast cancer in 2024 and lobbied for legislation, legislative changes after her diagnosis.
Zemer helped pass the bipartisan bill in 2018 that requires healthcare providers to provide patients with information on dense breast tissue and associated risks.
After that, she wanted to do more.
And in 2021, she helped spearhead the bill that would cap out of pocket.
screening costs, because again, nothing that hasn't been said in the history of media, we talk about healthcare access all the time on this show.
And when you talk to the people of Wisconsin, we talk about education, we talk about cost of living, we talk about access to healthcare.
Those are the issues that we really face.
These are the ones that concern us the most.
And I'm assuming they concern you whether or not
You voted one way or the other because at the end of the day you have to look at the same bills that we all do at our kitchen table and say What can I afford?
What's going up?
What do I have to sacrifice because of the cost of various things whether it's health insurance costs veterinarian costs I have a dog and our vet bills have gone up.
So the fact that our
Our legislators, legislators are working towards this.
It hasn't gone through yet.
It says it's waiting, awaiting a vote in the assembly.
I don't know if it will find a vote.
They are going to be, I believe they're on break now.
Of course, it's the holidays, but Governor Evers has said he will sign it into law if it does come through.
And I want to make this really clear because next year in 2026, we have a short work week for them.
by May, I mean 2026, which means they're only gonna be in their office doing legislative work for a few months.
Because after the biennium budget, they, I guess they deserve a long vacation.
But I want you to, you know, that doesn't mean you can't voice your opinion.
And that doesn't mean you can't go to myvote.wi.gov and get the information you need as far as who represents you and tell them that you want the assembly to take this up for a vote.
and especially Robin Voss, our assembly speaker, and tell him to don't block this.
When it comes to access to healthcare, this is something he's been very outspoken against, whether we're talking about taking Obamacare funds since they were available 15 years ago, whether we talk about expanding Medicaid for new mothers up to a year, because right now it's 60 days and we are one of two states.
that does not do that, us in Arkansas, and something like this that will help people afford to get procedures that could save lives.
So I want you to go to myvote.wi.gov and I want you to look up your representatives.
I want you to look up Robin Voss's number.
I want you to call those numbers or write a letter or send an email and say, this is something that's important.
If this topic has touched you,
And I'm sure it has.
Breast cancer touches a lot of people in this world.
Male, female, children, doesn't matter.
If this is something that has affected you in some way, shape, or form, let them know how important this is to continue that streak of cooperation.
Because that cooperation helps us to, again, move Wisconsin forward.
And Calvin, you know me.
I don't like being petty.
or whatever.
I would also call Chris Capica's office.
He is the Republican Senator from Della Field and ask him why he voted no on it.
In the Senate, he was the lone no vote.
Ask him why.
I'd love to know why.
If you're listening, sir, I'm sure you're not.
If someone you know is listening right now, tell him that Greg here sends you a message and says, why did you vote no for this?
Why in the face of
cooperation to help people, to help really, I mean, honestly, make sure that Gail Zeemers' work did not end in vain.
Why did you vote no?
And ask Robin Voss when he will bring this up for a hearing so it can be voted upon.
Those I think are ways, positive ways we can exercise our voices.
And again, saying that
In 2026, there's not a lot of time as far as the work they're going to be doing, but it is an election year.
It's time to make yourself aware of who's running where and what district and for what seats.
See what they stand for.
Do they stand for you?
Do they stand for the people of Wisconsin?
Do they move us forward?
Or are they going to stand in the way of progress?
Are they going to stand in the way of cooperation?
Are they going to stand in the way of helping maybe your sister, your mother?
Your grandmother, your friend, whomever also shouldn't take you knowing somebody who has it to want to help.
So I say that to you.
My vote.wi.gov, find the information, go there and tell them.
And even if it's someone that you voted for and someone who supports this, tell them how important it is because they can go to someone's office and say, Hey, I got a call from so-and-so.
They are going through this thing.
Let's make this work.
Let's make this happen.
I know it seems like an insurmountable task because we all know the sure immovable force.
To me, Calvin, he's both the immovable force and immovable object and unstoppable force that is Robin Voss.
But these are things that we agree upon.
These are things that are important to us.
So I know I made a long appeal, but I think this one is very, very, very important to talk about.
My vote.wi.gov.
Yeah, so Really quick here another story that I wanted to talk about really quick and then we were gonna and on the other side of the break We're gonna talk more about this week for the shows as well as a story that came out from Wisconsin watch Discussing the future of Democrats in Wisconsin if the 2026 election goes their way Talking to again
spoke about it earlier before, Senate Minority Leader Diane Hesselbein.
But right now, hackers are targeting U.S.
farms and food companies.
Lawmakers say it's time to act.
This is coming out of Wisconsin Public Radio.
Molly Ashford has the byline, came out also on the day after Christmas, said that cyber criminals are increasingly targeting the food production and agriculture sections, sectors, and that...
Cyber attacks on those sectors have increased 101% and I'm sorry, worldwide.
And in the US, it was a 38% increase.
And basically this is, I wanted to say, I wanted to talk about this because it's another time when our lawmakers are coming together to say, we need to do something about it.
We need, I mean, we've discussed the farmers at length here.
They do, like teachers, they're not just teaching, they are,
the mechanics, they are the scientists, they are the doctors, they are the vets, they are taking care of their lives.
They don't need to be worrying about being the targets of hackers.
So in that instance, it's something that I feel like we need to also, if you are a farmer, if you know someone who's a farmer, talk to your leaders and say, we need to do something about this.
And US Representative Don Bacon from Nebraska Republican, he introduced the American Agriculture Security Act last year.
as part of the Farm Bill, which has never passed.
It's two years plus late.
So that is something too, where we need to be talking about our farmers as far as the things that are in that bill, the Cyber Security Act, the things that can take care of them to protect them from hacking.
It's time to sit down in a room and get things done.
This shouldn't be controversial.
The Farm Bill should not be controversial.
We're just trying to fund and take care of them, and which then takes care of the people.
Again, cooperation, compromise moves us forward.
Standing in the way of progress does not help anyone, maybe helps your own, your elections, but I think that it's time for us to stand up and ask for a better kind of leader.
So good on all those who sat in a room and got things done.
When we come back, we'll talk more about the future of Democrats in Wisconsin.
If the 2026 election goes their way, get some water, get some snacks, come on back.
You're amazing.
Let no one tell you differently.
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Good morning.
Welcome back to Matt and Air On Air.
My name is Greg Bach.
I am your host, your pal, your buddy.
You are listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.
And we are here live.
It's Monday.
It's after Christmas.
We're happy that you are here.
We're happy that you are sharing your time with us.
We hope you are relaxing after Christmas.
We hope that you have a wonderful New Year's plan of nothing ahead of you.
Because that's what I like.
A big old pile of nothing during the New Year's celebration.
But that's for more discussion tomorrow.
We'll be talking about your New Year's plan on tomorrow's show because tomorrow will be our last live show of the week.
Today and tomorrow we're live and the rest of the week will be curated best of shows.
We're going to be looking at all of what we believe are award-winning moments in Matt and Aaron air.
We had some great discussions, great shows this year and we're going to be putting together our, you know, our picks for the top ones, you know, there's no, there's no civic media awards here.
There's not like we're like entering this into a contest here at civic media.
I'm talking to you WBA, but also we are talking about the fact that we just want you to know about the great
talks we've had, the great things we've covered.
So Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they will be prerecorded, but that we will be here with our best stuff.
So don't go anywhere, stick around.
Of course, in the second hour today, Abigail sweats executive director of fair Wisconsin will be here talking about the White House's proposal threats.
What do you want to call it?
However you want to refer to it on gender affirming care for young people, as well as 1035.
Terry Barr will be talking about the story.
She's been, she's worked on
regarding people who just, you know, need help, need get out in the world and, and need assistance.
And we'll be discussing that 1035 in audio sorbet.
Cause we want to talk about things that make us feel good, how we can help ourselves, how we can help others.
But that's all coming up in the second hour, but we are happy that you were here on a Monday.
We've been talking a lot about compromise and cooperation in Madison, a story in the cap times, covering four stories that really took a look at.
how that took place in Madison this year.
Want to talk about this story that came across our desk as well on Wisconsin watch.
And this is from Brittany Carloni came out on the 22nd.
It says Wisconsin Democrats say they won't act like Republicans if they win a legislative majority in 2026.
If you don't already know, next year is another election year.
We're going to be going to the.
to the polls to vote for members of the assembly, members of the Senate.
We're also going to be voting for the governor.
It will also be midyear midterms.
It is going to be a big election year here in Wisconsin and across the nation.
And the Democrats have a real shot for the first time in a long time of taking control of, if not the Senate, both the Senate and the assembly.
If not, a lot of people believe that they have a good shot at the Senate.
That's all speculation right now.
I don't get into the numbers of it, but basically they have not had the chance to govern with any real power in over 15 years.
And Senate majority, Senate minority leader, Diane Hesselbein from Middleton said that this could signal a change in the budget writing process and having what she calls a negotiating a seat at the negotiating table and really just looking for ways to undo some of the
what they believe is the damage done to this state, whether we're talking about Act 10, we're talking about, we're talking about access to healthcare, we're talking about properly funding education, really looking at all those things I discussed earlier about what do we find as important topics in our everyday lives, that's healthcare access, affordability, which is a very weaponized term nowadays in elections.
and also healthcare access, but they're gonna be taking a look at those sorts of things.
They said they're gonna have an open door policy as Democrats in the state Senate, if they win, they're willing to work with anyone that has a good idea.
They will try to continue the work with Republicans when they can and seek common values to help the people of the state of Wisconsin.
And that's gonna come by way because of the newly redrawn maps that took place here in Wisconsin.
And I hope that's the case.
My hope is that I don't want anyone who's in power to act like they have all the power.
I feel like it's not becoming.
It's not of Wisconsin, and it doesn't help any of us here, me and you, including the person listening right now who doesn't agree with me at all.
I'm really talking to you a lot because the things we're discussing affect you and me almost the same unless you make way more money than me than maybe that doesn't.
But I don't think I have multimillionaires and billionaires listening right now.
If you do, that suit looks great.
But we need people in Madison, working in Madison, who are going to put our best interests at heart and move us forward together.
And I've talked about this all the first hour, because I think that's the only way that democracy really works, is that when we're all firing on all cylinders together.
I'm hoping that the Democrats who are running who want to change course Keep that in mind if they do I mean some say they could grab what's called the trifecta the governor's assembly and and the state Senate Keeping that in mind when putting forth legislation keeping that in mind when maybe looking at the budget keeping that in mind when they look at everything that's been passed over the past 15 years and Saying how do we make it better?
How do we get rid of the things that don't work?
How do we look after the folks who are under the poverty line?
How do we look for the folks who are way above it?
Because I'm, you know, not saying we leave the wealthy behind.
They should pay their fair share, but that's for another discussion.
But it's only advantageous for us as a state if we look at us as a people together.
And I'm hoping as Senate Minority Leader Hesselbein says,
It's an open door policy.
I hope that they also then stand up when they need to and say, all right, if you don't want to be on board with this, we're going to move forward without you because we need to make sure that this is a priority.
And I do not want to see Democrats or anybody say, well, let's just work together when no one's working together.
That's not how things get done.
So if they win at least the assembly, if not the Senate, it'll be interesting to see.
But next year is an election year, folks.
It's not presidential, but I believe it's just as big, if not bigger.
because it's on the seats that affect our state, our people, our everyday lives.
But don't go anywhere.
When we come back, we're going to be talking to Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin Abigail Swetz about the White House's position on gender affirming care for minors.
Why it's concerning.
Let's put it that way.
Very, very, very concerning.
You're listening to Matt Nair on air on the Civic Media Radio Network.
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