Transcript

This week marks a year since HSHS closed its doors. Our community was up-ended and the impacts rippled through the western half of Wisconsin. 

It has also been over a year since the Wisconsin Legislature repurposed 15 million dollars to address the closure of these two major hospitals.

Despite requests from area providers, Republicans decided to ignore feedback and restricted the usage of the funds. Thankfully, Governor Evers fixed the bill so area providers could use the money not just for capital costs for emergency rooms, but for other needs such as behavioral health, OB, and other services as well. 

Now it’s been over a year, and the Joint Finance Committee refuses to release that money. The good news is that, as of this session, there are some new members on the committee. 

In fact, four of the sixteen members are new. Including Senator Rob Stafsholt and Representative Karen Hurd from western Wisconsin. 

The Joint Finance Committee has until July 1st to release these funds that are ready to go. Don’t buy the excuses from Republicans that they can’t do this. 

The committee has followed this procedure before. They just refuse to do it now for the Chippewa Valley. Hopefully with the change in membership, we can see some action taken. 

It’s been a tough year for our communities, but we have one last shot to get this money out the door. I hope you join me in asking Joint Finance to do their jobs. 

Stay tuned for more updates. This is Senator Jeff Smith signing off.