Parkside Students, Kenosha Native Show off their Research in the Rotunda
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The Wirch Report
Dear Friend,
Welcome to my e-newsletter. I will use this to update you on issues in the Capitol and around the state, as well as events taking place in our community. I hope you find it interesting and informative. As always, don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance or just to share your thoughts.
Thaddeus "Tip" McGuire won a special election on Tuesday, April 30, to fill the vacant 64th Assembly District. The 64th Assembly district includes the northern and western parts of the city of Kenosha, the eastern part of the village of Somers, the southeast part of the village of Mount Pleasant, parts of the southwest side of the city of Racine, and the village of Elmwood Park. After holding the seat for almost a decade, Peter Barca was appointed by Governor Tony Evers to serve as Secretary of the Department of Revenue; McGuire will serve the remainder of Barca's term before facing re-election. "Tip" was born and raised in Somers, worked as a legislative aide to Barca from 2009 to 2014, and is currently a Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney. Congratulations to "Tip" McGuire; I look forward to working with him.
Racine Named One of Five National "Smart Cities"
The city of Racine has been selected as one of five winners nationwide in the "Smart Cities Readiness Challenge". As part of the Challenge, cities compete for a year-long Readiness Program to help enact their "smart city" visions. The win came about following a year's collaboration between local government, education and business, including Gateway Technical College and UW Parkside. The win provides the city access to resource like experts and grants to help put in place technology and infrastructure throughout the city. More than 100 cities throughout North America applied as part of the Challenge, and Racine is the smallest city ever chosen, which is quite an honor. Well done to Mayor Mason and the entire team. You can read more about smart cities and what it means to win the Challenge from the Smart Cities Council.
Strengthening BadgerCare Through Medicaid Expansion Makes Sense for Kenosha, Racine, State
The Kenosha and Racine areas, and in fact the entire state, stand to benefit greatly from strengthening BadgerCare by accepting a federal Medicaid expansion. Wisconsin is currently one of just fourteen states to not take some form of Medicaid expansion for low-income families. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that has already cost the state $1.1 billion in federal dollars. In his budget proposal, Governor Tony Evers plans to change that. His plan calls for accepting full Medicaid expansion, which would enable approximately 82,000 of our most needy friends and neighbors to gain healthcare coverage; it would also save the state $324.5 million over the next two years. The benefits are just as good for Kenosha and Racine Counties. In Kenosha County, Medicaid expansion would provide healthcare coverage to an additional 2,637 citizens, and when combined with other initiatives in the Governor's budget, would result in an additional $63 million of new investments in the county. In Racine County, those numbers are an additional 3,294 citizens and $100 million in new investments. Expanding BadgerCare Medicaid coverage is the fair and moral thing to do, but it would also given an economic boost to our communities. The public agrees; the most recent Marquette University Law Poll found that seventy percent of Wisconsinites support taking federal Medicaid funds. Read more about the impacts of Medicaid expansion here and here, and see the results of the full Marquette University Law School poll here.
Parkside Students, Kenosha Native Present Their "Research in the Rotunda"
Parkside Student Nik Chapman shows off her project
Kenosha Native, UW River Falls Student Taylor Soto demonstrates her project
On Wednesday, April 17, the first floor rotunda of the Wisconsin State Capitol was filled with activity as some of the state's best and brightest young people presented their research projects during the UW System's 16th Annual Research in the Rotunda event. Undergraduate students from across the UW System and their advisers stood next to brightly colored posters containing information on their projects, some the result of years of research. The Kenosha area was well-represented. The project of Kenosha's Taylor Soto, now a student at UW River Falls, involved testing the DNA of coyotes in different parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota to see if there had been hybridization between Gray wolves and Western coyotes. Her interest in this topic came about from a documentary that she watched several years ago, Meet the Coywolf. Parkside student Nik Chapman presented on the work she and others had done in developing technology that will allow "amateur taxonomists" to easily identify the genus and species of creatures the see in the wild. Parkside's Trevor Gott, Nicholas Cina, Elizabeth Jackson, Zachary Bryhtan, Brittany Dobrowski, Maxwell Bachochin and Sydney Schoone also presented on their research. You can read more about Research in the Rotunda and view pictures through the UW System website.
Track specific legislation, see the latest bills to be introduced, or found out how your legislators voted on a bill through the Wisconsin State Legislature'slegislation page.
Constituent Services
No responsibility that I have directly affects the lives of the average person, or gives me as much satisfaction, as that of constituent services. These can come in many different forms. Some people contact me because there is a problem with their unemployment benefits; it could be a delay in receiving a tax refund; or maybe someone is having difficulty in getting a state-issued occupational license. These are sometime simple fixes. Then there are more complex problems: things like health care issues; disputes with utility or insurance companies; or problems with a mortgage lender. Whatever the issue is, big or small, I am happy to help or point you in the right direction.
State Senator Bob Wirch 127 South, State Capitol PO Box 7882 Madison, WI 53707-7882 (608)267-8979 or (888)769-4724 sen.wirch@legis.wisconsin.gov||