Rep. Samba Baldeh

Capitol Report

It was a great honor to sign my name into the ledger containing the names of hundreds of legislators who served before me.

Welcome to The Capitol Report

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

This is my first Capitol Report for the residents of District 48. Having been elected in the first year of Covid-19, my campaign effort was virtual and so except for those residents who I had represented on the Madison Common Council we probably have not met. As such, I’ll briefly introduce myself before my report on what's happening in the legislature.

As you will note from my name, I am an immigrant to the US. My country of origin is the smallest nation in Africa, The Gambia, on the west coast of the continent. A few years after immigrating to the US, I was employed by American Family Insurance and at the same time began my education in Information Technology at MATC and later at UW-Madison. Six years ago, pursuing my life-long interest in politics and public participation, I ran for Common Council and to my surprise, I won. I will continue to serve on the Council until next month.

Last year, the opportunity to serve in state government opened when Melissa Agard ran and won her position as a State Senator. After a spirited campaign, I was honored to be elected in November.

One of the lessons I learned early in my service on the Council was the extraordinary power of the state over many of the most important aspects of city governance such as what we tax and spend, which of our employees can have a union, etc.

I expect to address the issues of importance to district residents, the city and the state as a whole. As you note from issue summaries some of these policies may affect our daily life and well-being.

COVID-19 & Masks

Only last year, a mask was just a mask. Unfortunately, now it is not only a device for preventing a respiratory disease, it has also become a political symbol.

Last August, Governor Evers promulgated a statewide Order that everyone in a public place should wear a mask. At the time, new cases were running about 700-900 per day.

As cases and deaths escalated, the Governor extended the rule until October. Republicans then sued in the Supreme Court to stop the mask rule and the closing of bars. The suit was successful, bars opened and the number of cases skyrocketed.

As soon as the legislature came back into session on January 4^th, the Republican majorities in the Senate and Assembly moved to end the Governor’s Order saying that they simply wanted to protect their legislative powers and that it was not related to their opposition to masks.

Assembly Republicans also proposed barring local health departments from issuing emergency orders, altering funding for school districts, etc. The bill went back and forth with the Senate and in the end it was passed. Hours later the Governor issued another Order on masks.

When I, and other legislators, sponsored a stand-alone measure to require masks in public places, the GOP leadership made it clear that it would not come up for a vote. But they still insisted that they were not opposed to a mask requirement.

At this time, we still have an order for Dane County and Madison for masks. Thus, we have a public health crisis with one set of rules for Dane and Rock counties and another for Columbia and Jefferson counties!

Governor's State of the State

Last month, the Governor delivered his State of the State report which focused on responding to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and fixing the long-ailing Unemployment Compensation (UC) system.

The state has not invested in upgrading the UC system for decades. Also, the agency was staffed to handle a few thousand new claims per week. Suddenly last March when the pandemic hit, it was deluged with tens of thousands of claims per week that it was unable to process. This resulted in an economic hardship for tens of thousands of people that has persisted for almost one year. In response, the Governor asked for a special legislative session to address the deficiencies of the system. This was rejected by the Assembly GOP. Although the state has been able to quickly hire some individuals to process claims, the basic machinery is obsolete and barely able to do the job.

Last month, the legislature voted to establish another study of the problem and to fund a major overhaul of the technology. I supported measures to speed-up the process that were not successful. Now we will have to wait at least another year before we see the kind of changes we need.

The Budget for 2021-2023

These are some of the important new initiatives proposed in Governor Evers’ budget:

Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs: For many, the prescription drugs they need are simply unaffordable. To address this problem, the budget proposes to:

Create a Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board to establish drug spending targets for public sector entities and establishing price limits.

A Prescription Drug Importation Program that would allow the State to import drugs substantial savings for Wisconsin consumers and taxpayers.

A State Prescription Drug Purchasing Entity that would allow state and local governments to leverage purchasing power to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and save taxpayer dollars.

Establish a $50 co-pay cap on insulin to ensure insulin is affordable and create a Safety Net Program to ensure folks never need to choose between rationing insulin and meeting other basic needs.

Helping Nursing Home and At-Home Caregivers: If adopted, the governor’s budget would help the often forgotten 90,000 nursing home residents and the tens of thousands of workers who cared for them throughout the COVID crisis. The budget invests more than $240 million in Wisconsin’s nursing homes as they continue to provide critical care to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites. Additionally, the governor provides more than $150 million in targeted support for Wisconsin’s direct care workforce.

The governor’s proposal also provides critical support for the thousands of Wisconsinites serving as family caregivers by providing more than $200 million in direct support by creating a caregiving tax credit to alleviate caregiving expenses.

Making Quality Childcare Available and Affordable: Many childcare providers in Wisconsin had to close at least temporarily due to COVID-19. This forces parents to stay home, lose income or in some instances their jobs.  A key challenge for providers is recruiting and retaining qualified staff.  Because of providers’ thin margins, childcare workers earn on average between $10 and $13 per hour with few benefits. The low wages have led to very high turnover in the workforce, making it difficult to sustain high-quality programs.

Governor Evers proposes a $106 million investment of new funds for an initiative designed to address quality, affordability, access, and equity for children. This proposal invests in infant and toddler care by providing regulated childcare providers with grant opportunities based on the percentage of infant and toddlers served. At least half of the payments are required to be toward staff salaries and benefits.

Getting Treatment to People with Mental Health Problems: Too many people struggle to access quality, affordable mental health services. Governor Evers’ budget helps Wisconsinites access the care they need by expanding healthcare coverage, investing in our workforce and ensuring that folks have access to flexible and convenient services like telepsychiatry.

Governor Evers proposes investing more than $50 million in school and community-based mental health services for school-aged children. Additionally, the governor proposes treatment for folks with substance use disorders.

Responding to Mental Health Crises: As a member of the Madison Common Council, I learned the major inefficiencies of our mental health crisis system. For example, for certain cases, the city was required must send two police officers to drive to the Winnebago Mental Health Center in Oshkosh, have the person “booked” into the state center and then return.

A more common problem is having police officers respond to calls that are at its root, a mental health crisis. While Madison officers are far more trained than many police forces, the fact is that they are not crisis counselors. The Governor’s budget proposes a number of reforms and financing to better meet the needs of our residents in crisis and the police officers that respond to assist them.

Legalize Marijuana: Governor Evers’ proposes legalizing and taxing marijuana much like we do with alcohol. Many states including Illinois and Michigan have legalized recreational marijuana. A little less than half of the state’s residents live within an hour’s drive to a marijuana store in Illinois.

Legalizing marijuana and taxing it will raise revenue and ensure that dollars that would have otherwise been spent in Wisconsin aren’t going to surrounding states. Legalizing marijuana is expected to generate more than $165 million in taxes, starting in 2022. Governor Evers proposes to reinvest nearly $80 million in communities across the state through the Community Reinvestment Fund and aid to support local rural schools. The governor’s budget proposal also allows medical marijuana users to access the product without paying retail taxes.

City and County Options for Sales Tax:  Cities and counties across Wisconsin are under immense budgetary pressure due to years of underfunding of services like local roads, public safety, etc. State payment of local aids has not been a priority of the legislature. These economic and budgetary pressures have only been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governor Evers is proposing to allow counties to impose an additional 0.5% sales tax, if approved by referendum. Also, municipalities with populations in excess of 30,000 would be allowed to add a 0.5% sales tax if approved by referendum. 

Community

HealthCare.gov will re-open for Americans for health insurance coverage now through May 15, 2021. The subsidies have increased and the premium costs have declined so if you could not afford to participate last year, you might be able to enroll now.

Wisconsinites who missed either the original enrollment deadline or their first payment for their enrolled plan, now have another opportunity to sign up. People who are already enrolled also have another chance to review their plan to make sure it still meets their coverage needs. You may also be able to re-enroll at a lower premium. 

If you missed your opportunity to enroll last fall, you now have another chance to get affordable health insurance for you or your family. You may also still qualify for tax credits that could keep your monthly premiums low.

Most people on a HealthCare.gov plan qualify for financial help that lowers their monthly payment. If you would like to know if they qualify are encouraged to call 2-1-1 or visit WisCovered.com to find free, expert help. These experts can help you understand your coverage, simplify the enrollment process, and help you select a plan that fits your family and your budget.

People’s Map Commission: Under our current system, the legislative majority gets to pick which voters should be in which districts, thus guaranteeing their continuing majority. To ensure their legal case, the GOP leadership appropriated $1 million tax dollars to make their initial map. Some states have done away with this corrupt system.

To reform this system, the Governor picked three retired judges which in turn appointed a nine-member nonpartisan redistricting commission charged with drawing fair, impartial maps for Wisconsin. More information about the Commission, its members, and its activities is available HERE.  

Budget Listening Session

As you can see from the description of the budget proposals, the budget is the most important legislative bill of the two –year session. As such I would like to hear from you on the issues that are important. I expect the budget to be debated through June.

Our listening session is scheduled for Wed. April 28 at 6:30 PM

Passcode  323770 

https://zoom.us/j/94771644796?pwd=VWhoRzkrdUdHVU9mWDZra3VXZjZBdz09