Citizen Action Weekend ’26 Newsletter, Memorial Day Weekend
Work for Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Join us for the 2026 Citizen Action Annual Membership Meeting, Saturday, June 6th, 10am
Join us on Saturday, May 6th, 10am – 11:30am, as we continue to work and build a progressive base of leaders across the state to garner the power we need to elect a Governor and a Legislature committed to tackling the affordability crisis.
If we work together it is within our grasp to elect leaders who will transform our healthcare system, fight climate change, lower utility costs, raise wages, and defend our democracy. Join us for our 2026 Annual Meeting to get engaged and lead the way for the change we need!
This annual meeting is taking place virtually. Once you sign up, you’ll receive a confirmation email. You will receive the Zoom link via email on the morning of the annual meeting.
Citizen Action members in Eau Claire protest Van Orden and Tiffany on healthcare.
Citizen Action’s Northwest WI Organizing Co-op was a partner in a protest in Eau Claire, led by Chippewa Valley Indivisible and other partners, aimed at holding Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Rep. Tom Tiffany accountable for their votes last summer to cut Medicaid and Medicare.
Citizen Action member Mary Canales (pictured above), says “Hands Off Medicaid” at the Eau Claire rally.
Join our healthcare organizing, contact: Kristie.Tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Attend Citizen Action virtual statewide climate strategy session
Citizen Action is inviting Citizen Action members to join a Climate Strategy Session on Wednesday, June 10 from 5:45–7:15 PM via Zoom.
As Kat Klawes transitions out of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, we are bringing leaders together to help shape the next 2 years of statewide climate work, including data center fight work, utility affordability, the 2% utility rate cap, and opportunities connected to the upcoming election.
We are looking for at least one representative from each co-op to join the conversation, help guide what comes next, and build a stronger statewide team ready to take action.
To join the session, please email Kat Klawes at kat.klawes@citizenactionwi.org.
Citizen Action Driftless Region Update: National Eyes Are on Us, And We’re Ready!
This month, our Driftless Region Healthcare Action Team got a visit that reminded us just how much our work matters, not just here at home, but across the country.
Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Families USA and one of the most respected healthcare consumer advocates in the nation, joined our monthly Healthcare Action Team meeting to share what he’s seeing from the national level. His message was clear: Wisconsin is being watched. The state’s elections, including the 3rd Congressional District, are on the radar of national organizers and advocates who understand that what happens here shapes what happens everywhere.
The Big Beautiful Bill is already law. It’s already being implemented. And some of its most devastating consequences, cuts to SNAP benefits, Medicaid work requirements, and more, are still coming. The worst of it is timed to hit after the midterms. Don’t look now, but things are about to get significantly harder for working families across Wisconsin.
That’s exactly why Anthony’s message wasn’t just a warning; it was a call to action. We can’t only play defense. We need an affirmative agenda that fights for affordable healthcare, reins in hospital and drug prices, and expands coverage. The BadgerCare Public Option is that agenda.
Anthony shared a fun fact that should fuel every one of us: Medicaid has never lost on the ballot. Not once. When voters get a direct say on expanding healthcare coverage, they choose it every time. That’s not a coincidence, that’s a mandate.
Want to be part of this? Join our Healthcare Action Team and help us fight for the BadgerCare Public Option. Email Aron at aron.newberry@citizenactionwi.org to get involved, and email your legislator today, urging them to support the BadgerCare Public Option. The national spotlight is on Wisconsin. Let’s show them what we’re made of.
Support workers organizing a union at Anodyne in the Milwaukee area.
On April 14th, 2025, Anodyne workers demanded recognition for their union, with 100% support from workers.
FairWave, the out-of-state, private equity-backed owners of Anodyne coffee shops, has been delaying the Anodyne workers’ fight for a fair union contract for over a year.
Before Anodyne workers unionized, FairWave had cut barista starting wages by $3 per hour.
FairWave’s current proposal to their workers: keeping those $3 wage cuts in place with only 18 CENT raises on Jan 1 of 2027 and 2028. Workers are justifiably insulted by this proposal.
We are asking you to help these workers win a decent contract by putting pressure on Fairwave in 2 ways:
- Join with the Anodyne workers support committee on Saturday, May 23rd at Anodyne’s Public Market location (400 N Water St, MKE; southwest corner of public market) from 10 am to noon.
2) Send this electronic message to FairWave telling it to quit stalling and treat Anodyne workers fairly.
3) Tell your friends about Saturday’s picket (do not post directly on social media) and forward the electronic message (also attached) to them and ask them to fill it out.
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Northeast Wisconsin Co-op members led a protest against GOP Congressman (and Gubernatorial nominee) Tom Tiffany for supporting slashing cuts to Medicaid (BadgerCare in Wisconsin). See coverage from ABC TV 2, Fox 11, WGBW 97.9, WIXX Radio and WTAQ Radio
Citizen Action was also part of a coalition protest against Derrick Van Ordin and Tom Tiffany in Eau Claire for their support of massive Medicaid Cuts. See coverage from NBC 13 Eau Claire.
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig did a deep dive into why health care is so expensive in Wisconsin and the U.S. (spoiler alert, it’s monopoly pricing) on the Earl Ingram Show on Civic Media Radio Network. Watch the whole interview here.
Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show to dissect the latest Trump Regime attacks on the 2026 election, and the stunning reversal of the Voting Rights Act and the return of Jim Crow style redistricting in the South. Watch here (@ 1 hour 34 minutes mark of the video).
Listen to Special Interview with State Representative Christian Phelps: Funding public schools in the next state budget.
This Memorial Weekend we open with Robert’s tick report, which finds the nation experiencing a surge in tick bites and news that half of deer ticks tested in Sconie carry Lyme disease.
After touching on the spectacular crash and burn of the Evers/Vos budget surplus debacle, we dig in with State Representative Christian Phelps, one of the most knowledgeable lawmakers on public education funding. We discuss what he sees as the necessary funding for public schools in the 2027-28 state budget to start fixing the damage done by nearly two decades of under-investment.
We debrief the GOP State convention where the party got 100% behind election denier Tom Tiffany and decided it was smart to attack the successful and prosperous state of Minnesota. And more data center backlash, as Milwaukee Common Council votes to ban large data centers and regulate smaller ones, and Wrightsville residents fight potential data centers in their village.
Listen to the show.
