logo
Republican lawmakers propose sweeping deregulation

Republican lawmakers propose sweeping deregulation

Yahoo05-05-2025

Rep. Nate Gustafson said his bill would implement a 'net zero' rule process. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are introducing bills to review every statewide administrative rule and impose new limits on the rulemaking process, saying there are too many regulations currently and they put operational obstacles and financial burdens on businesses.
GOP Lawmakers have raised objections to agencies' administrative rulemaking process — and the power of the executive branch — for many years and have taken action to exert more control over the process and to limit the authority of state agencies and the governor. The REINS Act, signed into law by former Gov. Scott Walker in 2017, for example, required lawmakers' approval for regulations that might cost more than $10 million over a two-year period.
'A lot of what's been done in the past has looked at when you're implementing new rules — what is the process? Who is writing the rules?' Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee), who introduced the bill that became 2017 Wisconsin Act 57, said at a press conference last week.
'What [the] REINS Act is not able to do is go back and reset it all,' Neylon added. 'We're looking at the stack of rules that have accumulated over the years that are piling up… We need a reset.'
One of four GOP bills would require agencies to make cuts to offset the cost associated with new regulations.
Under the bill, coauthored by Rep. Nate Gustafson (R-Fox Crossing) and Sen. Julian Bradley (R-New Berlin), agencies with a new rule proposal would have to stop work on the process until they've figured out how to eliminate the cost of a new regulation, or, alternatively, until a different rule reduces the costs to businesses, local governmental units and individuals over any two-year period.
Gustafson calls it a 'net zero' rule process. 'So if there's an existing regulation or rule output that is of equal cost or greater, you're going to have to cut that rule if you want to implement a new one.'
Another of the four bills — coauthored by Neylon and Sen. Steve Nass — would put an expiration date on every administrative rule seven years after implementation. Currently, administrative rules are in effect indefinitely unless repealed, amended by the agency or suspended by the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR).
JCRAR is a 10-member committee responsible for reviewing proposed administrative rules to ensure they align with state law. Lawmakers on the committee have the ability to approve, suspend, or request modifications to proposed rules.
Under the new measure, the year before a rule expires an agency would need to send notice to JCRAR about its intention to readopt the rule. If there is no objection by a lawmaker on the committee, then the rule would be considered readopted, but if there is an objection, then the rule would expire unless the agency goes through the rulemaking process again.
Neylon said the point is to create a more modern process and do away with 'outdated or duplicative rules, creating unnecessary burdens on businesses.'
Another bill — coauthored by Sen. Rob Hutton and Reps. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) and Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) — would limit scope statements, the first step in the rulemaking process, so they could only be used for one proposed rule and would set a six month expiration date when a scope statement can be used for an emergency rule.
Currently, people can challenge the validity of an administrative rule in court. The final bill — coauthored by Rep. Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) and Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) — would award people who challenge a rule attorney fees and costs if a court declares a rule invalid.
The bill package is based on a report from the right-wing Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), which also launched a webpage about the effort to cut 'red tape' on Wednesday.
WILL states in the report that Wisconsin is the 13th most regulated state in the country and lays out proposals similar to the new GOP bills. WILL said the actions would build off steps taken in other states, including Idaho, Ohio, Nebraska and Oklahoma, to reduce regulations.
Neylon said WILL provided research and worked with lawmakers' offices on the legislation. But, he added, 'these are issues that we've all worked on for a lot of years, issues that we care deeply about. This is our initiative… and nobody else's.'
Economist Michael Rosen told the Examiner that the bills come out of Republicans' 'national playbook,' and that the research from WILL is based on the idea that 'any regulation impedes economic growth.'
'It has been a cornerstone of Republican policy since the election of Ronald Reagan to deregulate, get rid of regulation, and [to insist] that getting rid of regulation promotes economic growth,' Rosen said. He calls that theory 'nonsense.'
Rosen points out that some of the most heavily regulated states — including California and New York — are also the most prosperous. He noted that the majority of the states cited in WILL' s research are those with Republican-dominated government.
'All regulations really are the rules under which the market operates,' Rosen said, adding, 'there have to be rules that govern the behavior of the buyers and sellers. That's what regulation is. It's very simple, and what they're arguing is to get rid of them.'
Rosen challenges broad assertions in WILL's research, including WILL's finding that a 36% cut to regulations across the board in Wisconsin could grow the economy by 1 percentage point annually.
That analysis fails to take into account 'negative externalities,' Rosen says — actions by companies that impose a cost on people who are not directly involved. He pointed to environmental regulations as an example of how these costs are paid by the public.
'In economic terms, companies that pollute… part of the cost of production should be disposing of the waste that a company produces…. If there aren't any rules, the cheapest way to dispose of your waste is to release it into the atmosphere or release it into the rivers and streams,' Rosen said. 'That's what we had in this country at the beginning of the 20th century, when we didn't have any environmental regulations, and rivers, like the Milwaukee River, and streams and lakes were polluted by manufacturers because that was the cheapest way for them to dispose of their waste.'
Rosen said that some might argue that rules meant to protect the environment impede growth because they impose an additional cost on a company, however, he said that rules can ensure they aren't passing on that cost to the public.
Since passage in 2017, the REINS Act has posed an obstacle to proposed environmental protection rules in Wisconsin.
Without the regulations, Rosen said, people would have 'no assurance' about the products they buy — 'whether it's a can of tuna fish, whether it's an automobile, whether it's a ride on an airplane.'
'Is it impeding economic growth that we have regulations on air travel? No, because if we didn't have the regulation of the airline industry, we would have far more accidents and many fewer people would want to travel on airplanes,' Rosen said. 'These are all regulations that we take for granted,' but assure people they can trust the products and services they purchase, 'and we won't crash and die.'
A better way to address onerous or outdated rules, Rosen said, is to take them up one at a time, rather than through the sweeping anti-regulatory bill package Wisconsin Republicans are proposing.
'Are there some regulations that maybe are antiquated? I'm not going to sit here and tell you there might not be,' Rosen said. 'But rather than pass sweeping legislation, which is ideologically driven and could have catastrophic consequences, people should raise the particular regulation.'
Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) said that she is excited for the bills to go through the Assembly Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency (GOAT) committee, which she chairs. The committee was created this session, inspired by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency project, which has sought to remake the federal government by unilaterally firing employees and making deep cuts to federal agencies.
'Excessive regulations have serious economic consequences. They slow economic growth. They increase costs for businesses and consumers and they stifle innovation, all while the compliance costs put the greatest burden on our small businesses and working families,' Nedweski said.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) said the bills are another action from the 'tired Republican playbook' and compared them to the actions being taken by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
'These bills are an attempt at a power grab, akin to what we are seeing from the Trump-Musk administration,' Hesselbein said. 'The bills would, among other things, undermine the fundamental democratic principle of separation of powers. They are unnecessary, anti-democratic, and wholly wrong for Wisconsin.'
Republicans in the Senate and Assembly, who hold majorities, could pass the bills without support from Democratic lawmakers, however, they would need Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' sign-off to become law. Neylon conceded that it's unlikely Evers will support them.
'Unfortunately Gov. Evers makes a lot of mistakes,' Neylon said. 'He's showing to be a failure as a governor, and I'm not optimistic he'll make the right decision here, but I think that we're doing the best we can to try to reform the regulatory process, and we think that it's time for a reset.'
Evers' office hasn't responded to a request for comment.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Live updates: Pritzker testifies before Congress on Illinois sanctuary laws
Live updates: Pritzker testifies before Congress on Illinois sanctuary laws

Yahoo

time31 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Live updates: Pritzker testifies before Congress on Illinois sanctuary laws

The Brief Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is testifying Thursday morning in front of a House committee about the state's sanctuary laws. Pritzker has said some GOP committee members want to question him "for a dog-and-pony show." The hearing could serve as another opportunity for Pritzker to position himself as a top contender in the Democratic Party. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Gov. JB Pritzker is set to testify before a U.S. House committee on Thursday morning about the state's "sanctuary" laws aimed at limiting local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Pritzker, along with fellow Democratic governors Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York, appeared in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The entire hearing is being streamed live in the media player at the top of this story. 9:34 a.m. - Pritzker addresses the busloads of migrants that Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas sent to Chicago starting in August 2022. "Illinois chose a different path. Faced with a humanitarian crisis, our state made sure children and families did not go hungry or freeze to death," Pritzker said. 9:30 a.m. - Pritzker begins opening remarks: "I have seen firsthand how states have had to shoulder the consequences of a broken immigration system. I'm proud of how we've and compassionate immigration policies I believe are vital." Pritzker then recounted his family history, the arrival of his great-grandfather escaping pogroms and coming to Chicago. It feels like Pritzker might utilize this moment to introduce himself to a national audience who might not be familiar with him. 9:24 a.m. - Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), similar to his role in the Brandon Johnson hearing, hyped up Pritzker's investments and leadership in Illinois. 9:21 a.m. - During Lynch's opening remarks, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for Governor there, walks out and puts his finger to his head, mouthing the word "crazy." The political context of these hearings is inescapable: Chairman Comer is running as a Republican for Governor of Kentucky. Donald is running in Florida. Pritzker and Walz may be running for president. There will be fundraising pitches based upon the content today. 9:15 a.m. - Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) follows Chairman Comer, condemning the Trump administration's mass deportation policies. Lynch used his opening remarks to tie the hearing to the "militarization of American cities" under Trump and the administration's deportation of young U.S. citizens with undocumented parents. 9:07 a.m. - Hearing begins as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer opens the meeting with opening statements on "dangerous sanctuary policies." "Let me clear, sanctuary policies don't protect Americans. They protect criminal illegals," Comer said. 8:56 a.m. - Pritzker has entered the building. 8:50 a.m. - Members of the Illinois House Freedom Caucus are in attendance for Pritzker's remarks. 8:40 a.m. 8:25 a.m. - Pritzker's office released his planned remarks hours ahead of the hearing. Among his talking points, Pritzker highlighted how Illinois mobilized quickly to offer shelter, food and services to over 50,000 migrants sent from the southern border without warning. Pritzker blamed both parties in Congress and the federal government for their failure to act. He also said that Illinois cooperates with federal authorities on criminal matters but won't misuse state resources for immigration enforcement that doesn't serve public safety. 8:12 a.m. - We are less than an hour away from the opening gavel. Pritzker, Walz and Hochul are expected to kick off the hearing with planned opening remarks. FOX 32's Paris Schutz laid out what he expects to hear from Pritzker's testimony. Hours ahead of the hearing, Pritzker released his planned opening remarks, which touched on how Illinois is handling the influx of immigrants and prioritizing public safety. Read his full remarks here. What we know The governor has said he believes some GOP members want to question him "for a dog-and-pony show" and who "simply want to grandstand in front of the cameras." He added, "I'm going there in a serious matter to give them my views about how we're managing through a problem that's been created for the state by the federal government." In a statement, Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) said, "The governors of these states must explain why they are prioritizing the protection of criminal illegal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, and they must be held accountable." Back in March, the same committee hosted Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with the mayors of Boston, Denver, and New York, to testify about the city's sanctuary policies. The national spotlight could also serve as a chance for Pritzker to further cement his status as a top potential contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028. The 60-year-old has not yet said if he'll run for re-election to the governorship in 2026. Pritzker has been garnering national headlines from calling out "do nothing Democrats" during a speech in New Hampshire, a key primary state, to appearing on late night talk shows. The governor, who is worth $3.7 billion per Forbes, is seen as a top contender for his party's nomination in 2028. He boasts a long list of progressive accomplishments in Illinois since he first took office in 2019, including codifying abortion rights, banning assault weapons, a big infrastructure funding plan, the legalization of recreational marijuana, and stabilizing the state's notoriously shaky finances. Dig deeper In 2017, Illinois enacted the TRUST Act under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. The law bans local police from complying with federal requests to detain or arrest a person in the country illegally, unless ordered by a judge. Local law enforcement also cannot stop, search, or arrest anyone based solely on their immigration or citizenship status. In 2021, the state legislature passed laws expanding protections for immigrants in Illinois. The updated laws required local officials to end partnerships with ICE to detain immigrants. Lawmakers also prohibited officials from inquiring about the citizenship or immigration status of an individual in custody, unless they're presented with a federal criminal warrant. Among other measures, the state legislature also required state and local law enforcement agencies to report requests from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Despite the moves to protect migrants from potential arrests and deportations, Republicans have criticized the policies. U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, a Republican who represents much of the rural cental parts of the state, called on local sheriffs earlier this year to defy the state's sanctuary laws. She said such policies have turned Illinois into a "cesspool of crime and drugs."

Arnold Schwarzenegger wades in on government response to ICE protests in LA
Arnold Schwarzenegger wades in on government response to ICE protests in LA

Yahoo

time32 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Arnold Schwarzenegger wades in on government response to ICE protests in LA

Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has weighed in on the recent Los Angeles immigration protests that have since sparked similar movements across the nation. Speaking to Access Hollywood at Wednesday's season two premiere of his Netflix action series FUBAR, the former Republican politician, 77, was asked his thoughts on the 'current unrest happening in Los Angeles.' 'I hope that the locals and the state and the federal government work together,' Schwarzenegger said, calling on bipartisan cooperation to bring immigration reform. 'That the democrats and the republicans work together to solve this issue because I think we need immigration reform, and I think they can do it,' he added. 'If there's a will there's a way. I just encourage them to work this out.' During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that aired the same day, Schwarzenegger argued that 'the democrats and the Republican's have no interest in solving this problem [immigration] because they use that to raise money and so what they do is they just keep pointing the finger at each other and then they're surpised if all of a sudden we are using our 'middle finger' on them.' 'This wouldn't happen if the politicians would do their work. Think about it,' he said of the protests. 'It's all bogus because I think we can do better than that.' The Austrian-born Terminator star added: 'The whole thing is to do with deportation. Of course, this is a very sensitive subject for me because when I came over to this country, I was living in fear of being deported.' Schwarzenegger, who endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, served as the Republican Governor of California from 2003 to 2011. 'I will always be an American before I am a Republican,' he declared. Over the weekend, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conducted raids in LA, anti-ICE protests erupted across the city, causing days of civil unrest. To quell the protests, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard, a decision that he is now being sued for by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who claims Trump acted 'illegally.' While LA remains the epicenter of unrest, The Independent found that demonstrations had flared up in at least 37 cities across the U.S. Hundreds of arrests had been made nationwide by Thursday. Approximately 60 protesters, including juveniles, were arrested Sunday in San Fransico after a group began to vandalize property. Over on the East Coast, around 20 anti-ICE protesters were also led away by police in New York, following demonstrations in lower Manhattan.

Bentz defends Republican tax and spending bill, despite costs and cuts impacting his district
Bentz defends Republican tax and spending bill, despite costs and cuts impacting his district

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Bentz defends Republican tax and spending bill, despite costs and cuts impacting his district

Oregon Rep. Cliff Bentz, center, voted for a proposal to cut Medicaid funding. The state's lone Republican congresman said the tax bill he and House Republicans put forward will make people "very happy." () Oregon's lone Republican Congressman, Cliff Bentz, represents more than 705,000 Oregonians — about 16% of the state's population — who will feel disproportionately the cuts in the Republican tax and spending bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate and that passed the U.S. House in May. Bentz's 2nd Congressional District spans two-thirds of the state east of the Willamette Valley and is home to mostly rural communities with higher average rates of poverty, food insecurity, unemployment and Medicaid enrollment than the rest of the state and nation. The bill, which Bentz voted for, would cut spending on Medicaid and on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, funding meant to ensure low-income Americans have food. In a 45-minute phone interview with the Capital Chronicle last Friday, Bentz defended the Republican tax and spending bill, adding that middle and low-income families, small businesses and the timber industry would be particularly pleased. 'I'll just say that there's a lot of really, really, really good things in this bill that I think people are going to be very, very happy for,' he said, pointing to the bill's lowering or ending taxes on certain wages, such as overtime and tips, and costs, such as car loans. He dismissed questions about the possible impacts Medicaid cuts could have on rural medical clinics that cannot turn patients away regardless of insurance, saying 'If I may, this is supposed to be an interview, not an interrogation or an argument.' Instead, Bentz said, the bill reflects fiscal responsibility. 'The most important thing that I was focused on is our economy, and making sure that we don't damage the economy, while at the same time trying to reduce the deficit,' he said. In fact, according to analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill if implemented would add trillions to the national deficit and the national debt. That growing debt would be driven not just by spending but by extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed during President Donald Trump's first term that brought the federal corporate income tax rate and income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans to historic lows. A year after the act passed — for the first time in history — America's billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than the bottom half of American households, according to analysis by economists at the University of California at Berkeley. Bentz said without extending the 2017 tax cuts, the average American family would see their income taxes rise by about $1,700 and up to 7 million jobs could be lost. Those figures come from the Council of Economic Advisers, a three-member, president-appointed agency within the Executive Branch that recommends economic policies. The Capital Chronicle received nearly three dozen questions for Bentz submitted by readers. The bulk of those questions, and the interview, covered provisions of the bill that would impact access to health insurance under Medicaid, cuts to federal jobs and clean energy tax credits, tax cuts for the wealthy and the power President Donald Trump has over the Republican Party. An annotated and full transcript of the interview can be read here. To reduce federal spending, Republicans have focused on adding new work and citizenship requirements to Medicaid eligibility that could result in about 7.6 million people losing coverage over the next decade, or a bit less than 10% of everyone in the country who relies on Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It would result in $76 billion to $88 billion a year not being spent on the program, according to Bentz's analysis of Congressional Budget Office data. The group of 7.6 million includes immigrants at risk of deportations and people who might be receiving Medicaid despite higher than reported income. But the bulk of the 7.6 million — more than 60% — are what Bentz calls the 'able-bodied adults choosing not to work.' Analysis of 2024 U.S. Census Bureau surveys finds they are mostly in school, are parents, caretakers or disabled Americans. Bentz, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee responsible for the Medicaid cuts proposed in the bill, said that he consulted closely with former Democratic Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a doctor, for weeks on the bill, and called him 'a genius' in a recent interview on Oregon Public Broadcasting. But Kitzhaber told the Capital Chronicle that there was 'nothing morally defensible in the bill' following a May 22 virtual town hall Bentz hosted the day the Republican tax and spending bill passed the House. 'We advised him on how the program works, and I warned him over and over again that the impact of this was not going to be good, especially for people in his part of the state,' Kitzhaber said. About one in three Oregonians relies on Medicaid for their health insurance. But in the 20 counties in Bentz's district, the numbers are even higher. In Malheur, Klamath and Josephine counties, more than 40% of residents rely on Medicaid, according to the Oregon Health Authority. In Jefferson County, where Bentz is from, half of all residents are covered by Medicaid. Bentz said he couldn't work all of Kitzhaber's recommendations into the bill, including his warnings that it would be overburdensome to rural clinics to take health insurance away from people who will seek medical care they cannot pay for, anyway. Bentz said he understands why Kitzhaber would bemoan it: 'Well, he's a doctor.' 'He is going to be on the side of the patient at all times,' Bentz said. 'Anything that does not provide coverage for everybody, he's going to be concerned about it.' Bentz says he's been worried about the U.S. budget deficit, or the gap between how much revenue the federal government brings in against how much it spends, since before joining Congress in 2021. Bentz has been quoted in the past saying he won't vote for a bill that raises the deficit. The Republican tax bill would raise the national deficit by $3.6 trillion over the next decade and would add $2.4 trillion of debt to the nation's $35 trillion debt, according to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. It would also raise the debt ceiling — a legal limit to the amount of money the federal government can borrow — by $4 trillion. Asked why Bentz voted for it given his past statements, he said he had to. 'The fact of the matter is, we have to raise the debt ceiling to avoid defaulting on debt incurred way before I got here, and we are not going to default,' he said. Indeed, during Trump's first term from January 2017 to December 2020, the growth in the U.S.'s annual deficit was the third-largest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to reporting by ProPublica and The Washington Post. Even before the COVID pandemic hit in late 2019, Trump was on track to add close to $10 trillion to the nation's debt by 2025 — $3 trillion more than his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. The version of the Republican tax bill that Bentz voted for before it got to the Senate included a provision that would have transferred and privatized 500,000 acres of public land in Nevada and Utah. Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, of Montana's 1st Congressional District, ended up getting the provision killed following pressure from hunting and fishing groups in his state. Bentz said he does not support selling off public land to the private sector, but that he does support trading it for the right purposes. He said most of the 500,000 acres slated for transfer in the bill were going to be made in a trade, not a handover. He said he was surprised Zinke caved and that he believes some of the 'movie stars and whatnot who have moved up there,' to Montana, played a role in getting Zinke to axe the transfer. 'There are really good reasons many times in the West, where there are literally tens and hundreds of millions of acres of public land, to transfer a small portion of it so that we can actually grow and perhaps address, oh I don't know, housing issues? Since everybody knows that we are desperately short of housing,' he said. 'Why in the world would we try to preserve land for hunting when people are living under a tree someplace?' Reporting in the Oregonian found Bentz's district has about $10 billion in committed investment in solar, wind and energy projects spurred by tax incentives and investments in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Among them is Sunstone Solar, which would be Oregon's largest approved solar and storage project on 10,000 acres of farmland in Morrow County. Many of the projects committed so far are incomplete or haven't broken ground. Bentz, who did not vote for the bill in 2022, said he was not worried about losing those projects, and that he thought the clean energy tax credits were bad policy. 'These incentives are all tax-driven incentives, which allow folks to avoid paying taxes in return for investing in a certain type of activity in this case,' he said. Bentz, a career lawyer before becoming a politician, said he is not concerned about Trump or his advisers' defiance and disinterest in judicial review. He said Trump's continued appeals to higher and higher courts when he loses in lawsuits brought against him and his policies are his legal right, and if he 'bumps into a judge that he doesn't appreciate the opinion of, he has every opportunity and right to appeal it.' Bentz said he believes Trump is simply using the full scope of the legal system to his advantage, and that he would not support Trump defying the Supreme Court. 'I would not support anyone ignoring the Supreme Court. That's not how our system works,' Bentz said. As for whether Republicans will fall into line on all of Trump's orders, Bentz said it's not because of pressure, but because they agree with what the president stands for. He said having power in the majority is a new experience for him after 12 years in the Oregon Legislature, led by Democrats. 'I was never one day in the majority, not even one day. And as a result, when I got here and found that I had all Republican control across the scope of the three branches of government, it's been a huge and welcome change,' he said. Bentz said he was unaware of constituent concerns about several topics but will 'look into' issues. On the well-publicized departure of the superintendent of Oregon's only national park because of staffing concerns: 'The person's (former Crater Lake National Park Superintendent Kevin Heatley) concern may be well founded. It may not. Until I know the facts better, I'm not going to take a position on it, but now that you've raised an issue, we'll look into it.' On federal cuts to the National Weather Service office in Pendleton that ended overnight weather forecasts for Central Oregon, as reported by The Bulletin in Bend: 'No one has come to me with that concern, staff or otherwise, but now that you've raised it, we'll look into it.' And in response to a question from a reader who wanted to know whether Bentz would do anything to ensure the display of a plaque made with taxpayer money to commemorate the 140 law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol and the lawmakers in it from insurrectionists on Jan. 6, 2021: 'I think it's safe to say that you're the first one to raise that issue. We'll check it out.' A May 23 article in The Washington Post found the plaque sitting in a utility room in the Capitol basement three years after Congress approved it because the current House Republicans haven't instructed the Architect of the Capitol to install it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store