CHICAGO - It will be anything but business as usual at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, this week as protesters continue to make noise about an issue that's catching fire across the country. That issue is workers' rights, and over the past few days nearly 100,000 people have jammed the Wisconsin Capitol grounds to protest, including workers from Illinois and other states.

Tracy Adman is from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union in Chicago. She traveled to Wisconsin to join the protest over Governor Scott Walker's plan to strip most public employees of collective bargaining rights, an idea she's concerned could spread to other states.

"I believe that firefighters and teachers and correctional officers and nurses are entitled to have a good standard of living."

The Democrats say the measure is being rammed through without enough public input, and it would change 50 years of labor practice in the state. Governor Walker says the changes are needed to give state and local governments the power to control costs.

Adman is concerned that this may be the beginning of a nationwide trend of balancing budgets by rolling back workers' rights.

"I'm here to stand with them but also to protect the standard of living that my immigrant father fought for and that I want to provide to my children and my grandchildren."

Fourteen Democratic Wisconsin state senators went into hiding, some of them coming down to Illinois, blocking action on the Republican bill because there wasn't a quorum in the Senate. Assembly Republicans have delayed a vote until Tuesday at the earliest.


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Progress Iowa has launched a website, allowing people to track federal money spent on critical projects in the state.

The group aims to make it easier to search for this information in one place.

Matt Sinovic, executive director of the group, said the first-of-its-kind resource, IowaAtWork.com, allows Iowans to see online exactly where federal tax dollars are being spent in their state.

In Iowa's case, it added up to more than $12 billion in federal aid in the last two years alone, from almost $5 billion on environmental restoration projects to more than $1.5 billion on education. The money is put into the hands of local governments, where Sinovic contended they know best how to spend it.

"They're the ones who can then be in contact with the people who live in those counties and communities much more directly, not somebody in D.C. deciding this," Sinovic asserted. "They're providing flexibility and the partnership for local governments to do what they need to do. And then, they can work directly with businesses, with families, with constituents."

Sinovic pointed out IowaAtWork.com can also serve as a nonpartisan resource for journalists, policymakers, local governments and average citizens to track taxpayer dollars and the progress of the projects they pay for. And it can help local governments determine whether they are eligible for any of the funds.

Theresa Greenfield, Iowa state director of Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said beyond large, high-profile infrastructure projects likes roads, bridges, and broadband access, the federal investments have been beneficial for many smaller sectors of the economy, and transformative for up-and-coming food producers in the state, setting the stage for their future growth.

"Focusing on increasing our meat and poultry processing capacity, here in Iowa and across the country, and then really working hard to create more and better markets for our very small and our medium-sized producers," Greenfield explained.

Greenfield noted in addition to allowing producers to track the investments being made, the website can help small business owners understand how to apply for loans, grants and technical assistance.

After years of grassroots advocacy, Maine will become the 13th state in the nation to adopt a mandatory paid family and medical leave program.

Employers and employees will split a 1% payroll tax to fund the program, allowing many workers to take up to twelve weeks of paid leave each year to care for a newborn or a sick family member.

Bridget Quinn with AARP Maine lauded the new program for its generous definition of "family member," which acknowledges it can sometimes mean a neighbor or even a dear friend.

"It's really important that we recognize that those relationships are just as important as family," Quinn stressed. "It's really lovely that we have that language included."

Quinn pointed out there are an estimated 166,000 unpaid caregivers in Maine who will ultimately benefit from the program. It's also expected to help the state's economy as it faces a critical worker shortage.

Quinn noted women especially take on the burden of caregiving and will no longer face the choice of tending to a loved one or keeping their job.

Gov. Janet Mills penned a newspaper op-ed in which she shared her own struggles of working full-time while caring for her husband following a debilitating stroke as well as her two aging parents. Quinn emphasized it was a familiar story for many Mainers, who also shared the financial and emotional stress of unpaid care.

"Those who came forward with those stories are really the ones who got this over the finish line and I thank every advocate out there for sharing," Mills wrote. "I know that is really a personal thing to share but I think it is really what we needed to hear."

Quinn added she and other advocates for the program feel elated and grateful. The White House also released a statement praising the state's Democratic leadership for passage of the paid family and medical leave program, one which has stalled at the federal level.

There is renewed debate in Congress over the future of programs like Social Security and Medicare, and Wisconsin voices and advocacy groups are worried potential cuts are surfacing again.

In the past, Social Security has been targeted by GOP lawmakers who argued changes are needed to keep it solvent. Now, the House Republican Study Committee is proposing raising the retirement age and reducing benefits for above-average earners.

Jim Poplawski, a retiree from Racine, said he worked a lot of overtime in his career to have a big enough monthly payment from Social Security. He worries about cuts creating harm for those who, like him, have paid into the system.

"We'd put a lot of senior citizens in poverty if they had less Social Security, or worse Medicare or prescription coverage," Poplawski pointed out.

Four members of Wisconsin's congressional delegation sit on the Republican Study Committee, including Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., who represents Poplawski's district. Poplawski is urging them to oppose the plan. The panel's report describes the ideas as "modest adjustments." In addition to opposition from Democrats, some leading GOP presidential hopefuls are resisting the ideas.

Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, said what concerns her is the blueprint would be swept up in House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's desire for a bipartisan commission on spending reductions. She emphasized it could fast-track cuts during 11th-hour budget negotiations without much debate.

"If the commission reached agreement, the recommendations would have to come up in the House and Senate. You could not amend it," Altman cautioned. "It really lends itself for members saying, 'Hey, I didn't like that, but I had to do something. I had to vote up or down, and we have to save Social Security.'"

With the 2024 elections on the horizon, Altman feels the approach gives Republicans too much cover in forcing cuts unpopular in most public polls. Instead, her group backs some Democratic proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy to address future Social Security shortfalls.

"Because what the Democrats are proposing is exactly what the American people want," Altman outlined. "Which is to expand the benefits, no cuts and -- given the income and wealth inequality we've experienced -- require those who are making millions of dollars every year to pay more for Social Security."


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