Citizen Action Weekend ’26 Newsletter, Friday, June 12th
Work for Citizen Action of Wisconsin
- Statewide Climate Action Coordinator.
- Southeast Wisconsin Organizer.
- North Central Wisconsin Organizer.
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Citizen Action Statewide Healthcare Action Team Update
Member Spotlight: Linda Murphy, SE Healthcare Action Team
Newer SE Healthcare Action Team member Linda Murphy (pictured on right) has emerged as a powerful champion for our BadgerCare Public Option campaign, embracing petition collection as a tactic for our BCPO phase 1 work. Linda even created her own signs to spark conversations about Wisconsin’s healthcare crisis and the need for statewide solutions as a stepping stone to Universal Healthcare. Her initiative paid off—she collected nearly 100 petition signatures at the No Kings protest, local parks, and other community events.
These signatures represent far more than names on a page. During Phase 2 of our BadgerCare Public Option strategic campaign, they will be used at in-district meetings with legislators to demonstrate growing public support for BCPO. Our Co-Op organizers and member leaders will also follow up with these supporters, inviting them into our organizing work to help build lasting people power.
Linda’s leadership demonstrates what is possible when members take ownership of the campaign. If just four members from each Citizen Action Healthcare Co-Op followed her example, we would generate more than 2,400 supporters—thousands of people we could engage in our movement and thousands of constituent voices legislators could no longer ignore.
Linda shared a little bit about herself and how she came to this work:
My name is Linda Murphy. About 45 years ago, after graduating with a masters in Social Work, my career in the world of long-term care began. My career started as a social worker in a nursing home and ended in my oversight of a case management department in an insurance company. The highlight of my career was my position as a Chief Operations Officer for a state sponsored program named Family Care. I worked in the Family Care, Pace and Partnership programs over 35 of my working years. All of the members I worked with were served by Medicaid, the Health Insurance Marketplace or Medicare. I have recently retired and enjoy the pleasantries that time brings. My recent involvement with Citizen Action has allowed me to take action in my quest to address the disparities in our world that have become a part of everyday life.
Thank you Linda and our other healthcare action team members for your work on the BadgerCare Public Option Campaign!
You can take action today:
- Email your state legislators and urge them to co-sponsor the BadgerCare Public Option bill
- Attend your local Co-Op Healthcare team meeting
- Ask your local Co-Op organizer or Kristie Tweed, Healthcare Action Coordinator for petitions you can take to events
- Use this simple form to share your healthcare story – stories about rising cost of your healthcare, medical debt, importance of medicaid in your life all help us in our work. We won’t share your story without reaching out to you first!
For more information or to get involved, contact:Kristie Tweed, Healthcare Action Coordinator; 📞 608-317-1331; ✉️ kristie.tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Together, we can build a healthcare system that truly works for Wisconsin families and small businesses.
Learn more about the bill.
Email to your state legislators urging they support the bill.
Attend a $20 Minimum Wage Town Hall.
- FOND DU LAC: Monday, June 22 at 6pm – Fond du Lac Labor Temple, 50 E Bank Street.
- MADISON : Thursday, July 2 at 6pm – Madison Labor Temple, 1621 S Park Street.
- MILWAUKEE : Monday, July 13 at 6pm – Turner Hall, 1040 N. Vel R. Phillips, Milwaukee.
- ST. FRANCIS: Thursday, September 10 at 6pm – La Finca Coffeehouse, 3558 E. Sivyer Ave, St. Francis.
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Attend Governor Candidate Forum in Waukesha at WCTC, Monday June 22nd, 6pm.
Live in the Waukesha/Milwaukee area? Join our partner WISDOM for a governor candidate forum, Monday, June 22nd, 6pm.
Watch Citizen Action’s governor candidate forum in April.
Attend Governor Candidate Forum in Milwaukee at North Division High School, Saturday, June 27th, 10am.
Join our partners Walnut Way, 350 Wisconsin, Healthy Climate Wisconsin, Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods for a governor candidate forum on fighting climate change and creating good new jobs, high utility rates, and other issues facing our community.
Listen to podcast discussing Walnut Way and the forum.
Watch Citizen Action’s governor candidate forum in April.
Lower your utility bills
Do you or anyone you know could use some help lowering your utility bills? Would you like to make your home a healthy safe place to live in? IRA Grants are currently available for homeowners and renters throughout Wisconsin.
JOIN North Side Rising Co op of Citizen Action of Wisconsin and become a member today!
For more information please contact Keviea Guiden (414)841-3839 or via email Keviea.guiden@citizenactionwi.org
FREE event for new or expectant moms and dads in the Milwaukee area
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Kristie Tweed did an interview with CBS TV 8 La Crosse on the devastating impact of the last minute Trump Administration rule that will subject many people with serious conditions like cancer to Medicaid work requirements.
You can read the story and watch the interview here.
To learn more about the latest MAGA effort to take health care away from people who need it the most read the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities policy brief here.
Listen to “Climate Justice at Walnut Way: Special Interview with Bryan Rogers” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
Following the Tick Report, Robert updates us on Trump’s pattern in Iran of threatening escalation and then pulling back.
Wisconsin unveiled its new procedures for dealing with BadgerCare work requirements in the Big Ugly Bill. But the Trump/Kennedy HHS’s last minute changes to the final rule makes it much worse than the language of the bill, risking coverage for people with serious conditions such as life threatening cancer. With health care at risk for hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites, including people too frail to work, is Wisconsin prepared? We revisit the last minute budget gimmick engineered by the big hospital lobby, Evers, and Vos but disallowed by the Trump Regime.
We dive into a new Brookings Report finding 45.5% of U.S. households did not earn enough to make ends meet. The report concludes that moving the needle on affordability requires action on both sides of the equation: lowering costs of living and dramatically increasing household incomes. We preview 4 newly scheduled $20 Wage Town Halls in Fond du Lac, Madison, and two in the Milwaukee area
We close with an in-depth interview with Bryan Rogers, the environmental justice director at Milwaukee’s Walnut Way. Bryan, who is a regular podcast listener, tells us more about Walnut Way and discusses why they are co-hosting a governor candidate forum on Saturday, June 27th, 10am at North Division High School. Bryan explains why their members are so deeply involved in fighting climate change and higher utility costs that fall disproportionately on predominantly Black neighborhoods in Milwaukee.
Listen to the show.
