Yes. Several 2023 reports ranked Wisconsin among the states with the highest property taxes.
Author Archives: Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch
Tom Kertscher joined as a Wisconsin Watch fact checker in January 2023 and contributes to our collaboration with the The Gigafact Project to fight misinformation online. Kertscher is a former longtime newspaper reporter, including at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who has worked as a self-employed journalist since 2019. His gigs include contributing writer for PolitiFact and sports freelancer for The Associated Press.
Posted inFact briefs
Can 18-year-olds in Wisconsin legally buy a handgun through a private sale?
Yes. Private sales of handguns to individuals age 18 are allowed in Wisconsin, as long as the buyer and seller live in Wisconsin and the buyer is not otherwise prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under federal law.
Posted inFact briefs
Was a voting system used in multiple states including Wisconsin responsible for a vote-tally inaccuracy in Michigan during the 2020 election?
No. Both the Michigan State Department and an independent investigation found that Antrim County’s inaccurate vote tally was the result of human errors, and not a malfunction or manipulation of Dominion Voting Systems’ election equipment.
Posted inFact briefs
Did Sen. Tammy Baldwin propose $25 million to train abortion providers?
Yes. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., announced June 15, 2023, that she introduced a bill to provide $25 million per year for the next five years to fund training in abortion care.
Posted inFact briefs
Are only 2% of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Black?
Yes. In Fall 2022, the latest period reported by the University of Wisconsin System, 2.4% of students at UW-Madison were Black.
Posted inFact briefs
Was a voting system used in multiple states including Wisconsin responsible for a vote-tally inaccuracy in Michigan during the 2020 election?
No. Both the Michigan State Department and an independent investigation found that Antrim County’s inaccurate vote tally was the result of human errors, and not a malfunction or manipulation of Dominion Voting Systems’ election equipment.
Posted inFact briefs
Are Milwaukee’s police and fire departments overseen by a part-time board?
Yes. The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, composed of part-time board members, oversees the city’s fire and police departments.
Posted inFact briefs
Did the US maternal mortality rate double in the past two decades?
No. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest the U.S. maternal mortality rate has increased over the past two decades.
Posted inFact briefs
Did a leading poll indicate that an anti-establishment former sheriff is the most popular US Senate candidate among Wisconsin Republicans?
Yes. Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who describes himself as “outside (the RNC’s) establishment circle,” ranked first among four potential Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling.
Posted inFact briefs
Did pausing student loan repayments cost $5 billion per month?
Yes. Summarizing an analysis by the nonpartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Education Next reported, “The pause of collections on loans, interest, and defaults costs $5 billion per month” — the same amount the U.S. Education Department said was saved by about 40 million student loan borrowers.
Posted inFact briefs
Did a poll show that less than half of Americans have ‘no doubts’ about the existence of God?
Yes. Just under 50% of Americans said they have “no doubts” about the existence of God, according to the 2022 General Social Survey released May 15, 2023.
Posted inFact briefs
Has President Joe Biden only nominated five white men for federal judgeships as of June 2023?
No. As of June 2, 2023, President Joe Biden had nominated 127 people to federal judgeships, including 13 white men, that were confirmed by the Senate.