Governor Walker Calls Special Session

On Thursday, November 14, Governor Scott Walker called for a delay in transitioning current Medicaid recipients into the Exchange from January 1 to April 1. Governor Walker also announced a three-month extension for the state’s Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Program (HIRSP). Without the extension, the HIRSP program would sunset December 31, 2013. The Governor is calling the Legislature into special session to enact needed statutory changes to implement the delays.

It has been over a month since the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, was rolled out for implementation and first-time enrollment. Since its much anticipated rollout date of October 1st, ObamaCare has enrolled a dismal 106,000 people nationally and a meager 877 individuals here in Wisconsin. In no uncertain terms, this unwanted and extremely expensive plan is a failure and must be dismantled before it does permanent damage to our economy, our healthcare system, and the health and well-being of our citizens.

Before ObamaCare, Wisconsin saw over 90% of its citizens insured through their employers, individual insurance plans, or by programs such as BadgerCare, HIRSP and Medicare. Most of the remaining chose not to carry health insurance or were not aware that they were eligible to sign-up for BadgerCare or another government program aimed at insuring the elderly, high risk patients, or childless adults. Now, due to the failure of ObamaCare nearly 70,000 people are facing insurance limbo and are unsure about how their healthcare will be covered come January 1st.

Governor Walker announced that the State of Wisconsin will continue to cover Wisconsin’s uninsured through our own in-state operational healthcare programs that have proven to be successful. He is doing so, because it is the right thing to do. But I would advise the Governor to decline any invitation to take part in ObamaCare if it ever becomes available and functional. Wisconsin can control its own healthcare system and continue to insure its citizens. We do not need the federal government to mandate how we choose to conduct our business. Governor Walker has my support in finding free market solutions to solve Wisconsin’s healthcare problems.
 

Wisconsin Trust Code Passes Both Houses

Last week, Senate Bill 384, a bi-partisan bill I authored along with Senator Risser (D-Madison) passed both the State Senate and Assembly and is headed to Governor Walker's desk for his signature.

Wisconsin’s trust code has not been substantially changed since 1972 – and a lot has changed since then. Periodically, state statutes must be updated and modernized to account for new technologies, actions by other states, business practices and products. Due to Wisconsin’s current outdated and inflexible trust law, trust business that could and should be done here is migrating to other states with modernized trust laws.

This bipartisan bill is the “Wisconsinized” product of a Uniform Law Commissioners bill. Trust experts from the Wisconsin Bankers Association and the Wisconsin State Bar worked to craft and revise this piece of legislation for the last seven years. About half (25) of all the states have made their own UTC updates. Passing this bill is another step toward making Wisconsin a better place to do business.
 

UW Flex Option Debuts

On Tuesday, November 18th, the University of Wisconsin - Extension began processing admissions for a first-of-its-kind program called the Flexible Option. There are roughly 700,000 people in Wisconsin that have some college credit, but for a myriad of reasons, have not completed their degree.

The pioneering UW Flex Option allows students to complete their education at their own pace in a personalized, convenient and affordable way by allowing them to earn credit for the skills and knowledge they already have. Because programs are not constrained by a typical academic semester, students that do not fit the traditional mold are offered more flexible alternative. Finally, the programs themselves assess mastery of key concepts to measure progress towards a degree - not time spent in a classroom. Students are able to take existing knowledge and immediately apply it towards their degree.

More information can be found here: http://flex.wisconsin.edu/

Journal-Sentinel: UW System flex degree program tries to boost college grads, fill job needs

Please feel free to contact my office with any thoughts or questions you may have. It is a pleasure serving you in the State Senate.