Celebrating 35 years of advancing freedom in Wisconsin

Viewpoint: Business dispute docket helps all Wisconsinites

by Patrick McIlheran

Jim Morrison, a circuit court judge in Marinette County, explains the stakes of certain cases by relating a story about a colleague, a judge in Appleton. 

One Fox Valley hospital sued another hospital in a January dispute concerning emergency staffing. The judge got the case on a Friday. He ignored media pressure to decide it instantly and instead used a restraining order to get the hospitals to reach a deal satisfactory to the law and to the staffers caught in the middle. 

The matter was resolved the following Monday. 

In between, Morrison got a text from the judge, who was stuck in weekend traffic jammed up by a crash. A medevac helicopter coming to the rescue of the crash victims bore the name of one of the disputing hospitals – a reminder, says Morrison, of how urgent and important such disputes can be. 

“I’m glad that helicopter was in the sky that day,” says Morrison, and it was in the sky in part because a colleague with sufficient background in arcane business disputes kept such a dispute from tying up two hospitals and hindering the work they do.

Resolving businesses’ legal fights swiftly is clearly good for businesses themselves. But proponents of Wisconsin’s relatively new Commercial Docket Pilot Project – the state’s effort to develop swifter, better-informed resolutions of specified business-vs.-business disputes – say it is also a public good.  

Not everyone agrees. 

Continue reading the Viewpoint.

New Policy Paper: Unemployment (Over)compensation

The Badger Institute's latest policy report finds that extended supplemental unemployment benefits did deter people from returning to work. We now know the real impact of the governor’s decision to extend supplemental benefits in Wisconsin even when so many other states had decided enough was enough. 

If Wisconsin had opted out of the supplement in June of last year, the total unemployment would have dropped faster than it did. By September, the authors estimate, there would have been about 28,000 fewer unemployed. 

Read the full report.

At a Glance

58% of Wisconsinites support extending school vouchers statewide without income limits for families 

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New Free Exchange Podcast: Federalism and Think Tanks With Paul Teller

How can local ideas lead to national impact? Paul Teller, the executive director for Advancing American Freedom, explains the role think tanks play in developing ideas that create statewide laboratories of innovation. The policies that produce the best results help to reinvigorate the vision of federalism where states and communities – not the federal government – find the best solutions to local challenges.

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As the Badger Institute celebrates 35 years of advancing freedom Wisconsin, our work in promoting free markets, opportunity and prosperity in the Badger State is only made possible by generous donations from our supporters. We never have, and never will, accept government funding. Donate online or email Angela Smith, Vice President of Development. The Badger Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization.