One Wisconsin Now is a liberal issue advocacy group based in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 2007, One Wisconsin Now focuses on state politics and policies, but also branches out into federal policies with national projects such as its “I Am a Student Loan Voter” project calling for taxpayers to forgive student loans.

About

One Wisconsin Now is a project of A Better Wisconsin Together (ABWT). ABWT is a left-progressive state-based research organization that works with other partner organizations to promote left-progressive ideas through digital media and social media outreach. ¹

One Wisconsin Now claims to have referenced in over 15,000 media stories² and have a network of more than 100,000 online supporters with a “vibrant” donor base. ³

Projects

One Wisconsin Now investigates various right-of-center entities throughout the state. The “Bradley Foundation Watch” opposes the projects and highlights financials of the right-of-center Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation Watch features a financial search function where users can look up grants awarded by the Bradley Foundation and the Bradley Impact Fund between 2005 and 2017. ⁴ In 2015, the organization also produced a report, “P is for Payoff,” that claims to have exposed an alleged “coordinated propaganda campaign” in which the Bradley Foundation spent over $108 million across more than 130 organizations in support of its education choice efforts. ⁵

The “Wrong Johnson Archive” is the organization’s project focused on compiling examples of Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) allegedly “embarrassingly out-of-touch record.” ⁶ The project collects various media hits featuring Sen. Johnson and also features original articles about the Senator. ⁷

Similarly, the “Scott Walker Failure Files” tracked former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R-WI) supposed incompetence and cronyism by compiling various media articles and original research projects about the former governor. The organization alleges that Walker “executed his political doctrine to enrich his friends, punish his enemies, and advance his political career.” ⁸ The project reports on Walker’s record on a variety of issues including agriculture, budgets, and environmental issues,⁹ and features an air travel search function detailing the cost of Walker’s flights while criticizing his use of the state airplane while in office. ¹⁰

The “I Am a Student Loan Voter” project advocates for student loan debt reform and includes a pledge to become a “student loan voter” in addition to economic research advocating for taxpayer subsidy to pay off student loans. ¹¹

Litigation

In 2017, One Wisconsin Now filed a federal lawsuit, One Wisconsin Now v. Kremer, et. al., that challenged elected officials on Twitter who blocked One Wisconsin Now’s Twitter account from accessing their tweets. One Wisconsin Now claimed that the officials violated the First Amendment when they blocked One Wisconsin Now’s account by preventing participation in an online public forum as well as access to public information shared only through their offices’ official accounts. The lawsuit specifically named State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), then-State Representative John Nygren (R), and then-State Representative Jesse Kremer (R), all of whom blocked One Wisconsin Now through their offices’ official Twitter accounts. ¹²

In 2019, a federal judge determined that Vos and Nygren infringed on One Wisconsin Now’s First Amendment rights by blocking their Twitter account. Kremer, who did not run for re-election, shut down his office’s official Twitter account and was subsequently dropped from the lawsuit. As a result, state officials agreed to pay $200,000 for One Wisconsin Now’s legal bills. ¹³

Finance

One Wisconsin Now’s total revenue in recent years has fluctuated between $300,000 and just over $500,000. Most of the organization’s recent tax returns show total expenses exceeding total revenue. In 2017, the organization’s tax returns show over $410,000 in total revenue and over $457,000 in total expenses. ¹⁴ The previous year, total revenue was reported as over $532,000 while spending over $423,000 in expenses. ¹⁵ In 2015, One Wisconsin Now reported over $409,000 in total revenue and over $422,000 in total expenses¹⁶ and, in 2014, reported over $360,000 in total revenue and spent over $430,000. ¹⁷

Leadership

Analiese Eicher, who has worked at One Wisconsin Now since 2013, became the executive director of the organization in 2020. ¹⁸ Eicher replaced long-time director Scott Ross, who departed in 2019 to work in the private sector after working with One Wisconsin Now for over 10 years. ¹⁹ Eicher originally joined the organization in 2013 as a program director. ²⁰

1. A Better Wisconsin Together. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://abetterwisconsin.org/.
2. “One Wisconsin Now and Institute Announce New Executive Director.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now, January 30, 2019. https://onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-now-and-institute-announce-new-executive-director/.
3. “One Wisconsin Now and Institute Announce New Executive Director.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now, January 30, 2019. https://onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-now-and-institute-announce-new-executive-director/.
4. “Bradley Foundation Watch.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Institute. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/bradley-foundation/.
5. One Wisconsin Now. Rep. P Is for Payoff. One Wisconsin Now, December 2015. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8LurBVUNQZfbUFxYWJGWDJtX2c/view.
6. “The Wrong Johnson Archive.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/ron-johnson/.
7. “The Wrong Johnson Archive.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/ron-johnson/.
8. “The Scott Walker Failure Files.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/scott-walker/.
9. “The Scott Walker Failure Files.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/scott-walker/.
10. “Scott Walker AIR.” One Wisconsin Now. Accessed May 27, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/scott-walker/air-travel/.
11. ““I Am A Student Loan Voter.” One Wisconsin Institute. One Wisconsin Institute. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://onewisconsinnow.org/institute/student-loan-voter/.
12. “One Wisconsin Now Lawsuit Argues GOP Twitter Blocking Violates First Amendment.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now, November 1, 2017. https://onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-now-lawsuit-argues-republican-state-representatives-vos-nygren-and-kremer-twitter-blocking-violates-first-amendment/.    
13. Marley, Patrick. “Taxpayers to Give up $200,000 Because Republican Lawmakers Blocked a Liberal Group on Twitter.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 16, 2019. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/15/wisconsin-pay-200-000-after-gop-lawmakers-block-group-twitter/2024701001/.
14. One Wisconsin Now Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017
15. One Wisconsin Now Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016
16. One Wisconsin Now Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015
17. One Wisconsin Now Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2015
18. “One Wisconsin Now Lawsuit Argues GOP Twitter Blocking Violates First Amendment.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now, November 1, 2017. https://onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-now-lawsuit-argues-republican-state-representatives-vos-nygren-and-kremer-twitter-blocking-violates-first-amendment/.
19. Schmidt, Mitchell, and Riley Vetterkind. “Former One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross to Join State Ethics Commission.” madison.com, April 24, 2020. https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/former-one-wisconsin-now-executive-director-scot-ross-to-join-state-ethics-commission/article_89cb610e-1725-5529-9d18-dd53197fc4cd.html.
20. “One Wisconsin Now and Institute Announce New Executive Director.” One Wisconsin Now. One Wisconsin Now, January 30, 2019. https://onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-now-and-institute-announce-new-executive-director/.