Budget Battles

After a few hours of public hearings in the major population centers of Rhinelander, Whitewater and Menomonie, the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF-the very powerful budget-writing committee) decided to reject, in total, the budget proposal presented by Governor Evers.

Cut out of the budget was the initiative to expand Badger Care to include an additional 90,000 people. This would have allowed the state to draw $1.6 billion from federal government to increase benefits and support the expansion. This was rejected by the JCF with the explanation that there is no “coverage gap” for the uninsured.

Also removed were close to 400 other proposals ranging from legalization of marijuana to criminal justice reform to numerous proposals to improve K-12 education and strengthen our public health system. The GOP majority has not made it known if it has a plan beyond doing nothing. This is not a serious proposal for governing our state. If “doing the same thing” we’ve done for the last two years is their plan for the next two years the Governor will have no choice but to veto it and start all over.

I have supported the specific items and overall budget proposal offered by the Governor. Realistically, I understood that not all of the measures were going to survive the budget process but that overall, it reflects the values and priorities of the residents of our state and my district of the east and north communities of Madison.

I have heard from advocates for public education, prison reform, advocates for protecting the environment and the natural world.  I’ve heard from senior citizens who need support for their care-givers and parents who need child care. They have asked me to support the Governor’s efforts to move the state forward and I have assured them that I fight will until we have passed a fair budget before the due date of June 30.

Ending Gerrymandering

The decennial reapportioning legislative and congressional districts is due to begin this fall. Even before the local census data has been released, the Republican leadership has hired two law firms and went to the State Supreme Court to demand that it- instead of lower courts- should be the first to hear a case on redistricting. The Assembly leaders spent $7 million to draw and then defend its maps after the 2010 census. They have an unlimited checkbook of the taxpayer’s so the sky is the limit

Obviously, the Republican leadership believes that they will be sued as a result of their legislative plan. After losing the Governor’s race two years ago, a Senate race and the Presidential contest, they want to keep overwhelming majorities in both legislative houses and the only sure-fire way to do it is by gerrymandering district lines.

Legislation with broad public support such as expanding Medicaid (see above), background checks for buyers of firearms, increasing the shamefully low minimum wage of $7.25/hr. and of course, having an impartial, non-partisan commission establish voting districts have all been trashed and ignored.

Once again, this session, we have introduced legislation to create a fair process. Instead of a “blue-ribbon commission” which will always be open to attack, our legislative proposal directs the esteemed Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) to draw the lines. Having the LRB- a legislative agency that researches and actually writes the laws- draw the district lines addresses the phony defense of the Speaker that a commission cannot draw the maps because the state constitution requires the legislature to create a new map.

The Speaker regularly repeats this mantra while out-sourcing the gerrymandering to private law firms. In 2012, these law firms so thoroughly controlled the redistricting process that Republican legislators had to sign a pledge of confidentiality before they could see the map of their new district!

PFAS Problems

Everyday brings additional news about the widespread presence of PFAS in the environment. It seems if you test for it, you’ll find it (it was recently found on sites on Mt. Everest). The Governor proposed a series of measures in the budget to address this complex problem. Fearing that the GOP would quickly remove it, Senator Agard and I have authored a “stand-alone” bill that has many of the same provisions.

There are three main parts to the bill. First, stop using it for fire-fighting, or coating kitchenware, carpets, dishes, etc. And stop selling items that are coated in it which will wind up in a land-fill and then decay into the ground-water.

Second, set limits on the amount of allowable parts per trillion in water and air. Using the increasing knowledge base on the effects of the chemicals on animals and humans, many states and hopefully soon the federal government have set standards. This new standard would be part of the overall water-quality testing program conducted by water utilities, sewerage systems, etc.

Third, the bill contain funds to conduct tests and a small fund ($10 million) to mitigate the contamination in water systems. Once testing begins on a statewide basis, these funds will be quickly sought after and exhausted. For example, the estimate to filter the water at Well 15 at Truax would be about $800,000 for installation and $50-250,000 per year for the filters.

Because PFAS, like many other pollutants, is indifferent to political party affiliation, there are at least as many Republican districts with known PFAS as there are in Democratic districts. This may force their leadership to show some flexibility this year and not simply reject this in its entirety.

This is a priority for Senator Agard and myself as well as many members of the legislature.

Construction Projects at Mendota

The State Building Commission gave the greenlight to begin planning for two major projects at Mendota Health Institute campus. The projects are a Juvenile Treatment Center and renovation of the food services building.

The Juvenile Treatment Center should serve a long-standing need for a comprehensive psychological treatment program for children with acute mental illness. Most of the state have few resources for mentally ill children, especially for those kids whose illness results in them “acting out” towards themselves or others. Governor Evers had hoped that there would be regional centers but this has not come to fruition.

As a result of the counties lack of cooperation, the plan for this state center has expanded. The current budget for the new facility is $70 million.

The other major project is for the renovation of the food services facility for the MMHI. This is not a kitchen renovation requiring a new stove and sink. This is a $26 million undertaking providing new power sources, ventilation, roof and probably a few new stoves and sinks.

These projects represent the state’s commitment to providing up-to-date facilities that are efficient and safe for these patients, who are among the most vulnerable in our society and have the greatest need for our oversight and care.  These projects will also improve the working conditions for the hundreds of employees who work night and day to provide necessary services.

It’s Time to Roll Up Your Sleeve

Maybe you’ve heard that Dane County has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the state- and even the nation. About 70% of the county (above the age of 12) is vaccinated.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that many areas of the district- particularly on the Northside have vaccination rates below 50%!

Many people have the mistaken belief that the pandemic is over. That’s far from the case. In the last two weeks there were 142 cases of COVID in Dane County for people between the ages of 18-39! For people between 40-59 years old there were 66 cases.

That’s a big decline from when we were seeing hundreds per day. The numbers went down for two reasons: 70% of us were vaccinated and 10% already had it.

So those folks who are getting the virus are among the 20% who are holding out and thinking that they won’t get sick or if they do, it won’t be too bad.

The fact is that the disease is still as bad as it ever was for those who are not vaccinated.

Do yourself and everyone else a favor and get a shot today.

To find  where to get a free vaccine go to https://www.vaccines.gov/search/

New Staff Member

I am very pleased to welcome Jason Glomp to the Assembly District 48 office.  Jason joined my staff as a Legislative Aide on May 10th. Jason and his fiancé Ramy are residents of the district and recently purchased a home near Warner Park. Previously, Jason served as both President and Business Manager of Union Cab of Madison, a local worker-owned taxi cooperative headquartered on the north side.  While at Union Cab, Jason led the cooperative through a challenging period as the rideshare giants Uber and Lyft upended Madison’s market. Under Glomp’s leadership the cooperative successfully navigated the upheaval by re-organizing the business, reaching out to the community for support, and re-focusing their business to provide services for Dane County’s Family Care program. Jason is also no stranger to the stress and challenges that come along with running an office focused on the needs of its constituents. As President of Union Cab he oversaw the coop’s governance structure which is elected by its 250 worker-owners.

In 2007 he co-founded Cab Drivers for Madison Safety a grass roots advocacy group that organized taxi workers to advocate on taxi related issues at City and State Committees. The group championed several successful ordinance changes at the City level including an effort to regulate rideshares . This city legislation was later pre-empted (repealed) by the State Legislature. After eighteen years in the taxi industry Jason was admitted to UW-Madison as part of the inaugural class of the Badger Ready Program which assists returning adults into the University. Jason earned his degree in political science and a certificate in public policy in only two years while earning a spot on the Dean’s List in multiple semesters. In his final semester, Jason interned in our office. During his internship he did research about the high costs of phone calls in Wisconsin’s prisons and jails. His hard work and dedication to that project led me to offer him a staff position upon his graduation in May. The project also led me to draft legislation to address this issue. Welcome Jason!

Capitol is Now Open

After a shutdown for more than a year, our beautiful State Capitol is now open to the public- on a limited basis. However, no tours are available.

My Committees

• Committee on Local Government
• Committee on Regulatory Licensing Reform 
• Committee on Rules 
• Committee on Science, Technology, and Broadband
• Committee on Small Business Development
• Committee on Information Policy and Technology

Contacting My Office

My Capitol office is here to help you with general inquiries as well as questions and concerns regarding legislative matters. Feel free to contact me or my staff. We are always ready to assist you in your needs. Please visit my website for press releases and other Capitol updates.