Elected Officials Opinion Columns

31st District Report - Senator Kathleen Vinehout
91st Assembly Report - Representative Barbara Gronemus
Wisconsin Governor Report - Governor Jim Doyle


31st Senate District Report - Senator Kathleen Vinehout

Living in a changing world: part one
August 27, 2008

“We have $47 million in inventory here today,” the plant manager told me. “We have twenty acres under one roof.”

Goods are stacked high up on racks. Workers move quickly on carts; gathering up loads delivered by over 2,500 semis a week and sending groceries on to stores all across the upper Midwest.

Last Friday I visited the Wal-Mart grocery distribution center - right in our Senate District. I learned Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States.

I also learned Wal-Mart is the largest employer in Wisconsin. The center in Tomah has more employees than any other Wal-Mart distribution center in the country. Almost 1,000 people work there.

The plant manager seemed to know the name of every one of his employees. He greeted each one of them as I toured the plant.

The Wal-Mart folks told me about their efforts to help their communities and the environment. Each Wal-Mart store has a budget of around $35,000 to donate for community service programs. The entire company has a focus on recycling and reducing waste and helps employees better understand how to conserve energy and live sustainably.

As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart has more in sales - $378.8 billion in 2007- than most states have in total gross domestic product. This is more than one and a half times the entire of economy of the state of Wisconsin. Wal-Mart’s economic activity would rank it as the twelfth largest state.

Wal-Mart is part of the story of how our entire world has changed. And our world in rural Western Wisconsin is changing faster than ever before.

Every farmer who listens to the crop report realizes what happens in Brazil is important to the decision of when to sell beans. We live in an interdependent world, more than ever before in our history.

Whether it is changes in agriculture as farms grow larger and hire more immigrant labor or changes in manufacturing as some companies leave and other companies dramatically transform to survive. Workers feel the change as real wages stagnate or fall and jobs move south; to South Carolina, or Mexico; and then to China.

Now I hear jobs are leaving China and moving to Vietnam. Wage rates are lower in Vietnam.

I live in a community that used to have five gas stations, a hardware and a grocery store, two car dealers, a co-op and of course, four churches and maybe ten taverns. We still have the churches and taverns. But the rest, except for Kwik Trip, are gone.

In Alma, folks like to think they don’t need the rest of the world. It doesn’t really matter what happens in the rest of the world, we’ll do just fine, thank you.

In part, it is true. Alma has strong community organizations. Most of the store fronts on Main Street are open for business. And everyone donates more than their share of time volunteering to keep the community thriving.

But our population is not growing. Our school leads the state in declining enrollment. And not having a hardware is makes it hard on farmers who need just one bolt to fix that chopper.

As much as we don’t want to admit it, what happens in India, in China and in Tomah, does have an effect on Alma.

What can we do? How do we adapt? In the next few weeks I will be exploring how Western Wisconsin is affected by our changing economy and what we can do to thrive as the world changes around us.

Got a story about changing times in your neighborhood? Got an idea on what might work to grow Western Wisconsin? Let me know!
 

Contact me in Black River Falls at (715) 284-1730; or in Madison at (877) 763-6636 (toll free); or write: State Capitol; P.O. Box 7882 Madison, WI 53707-7882 or email Sen.Vinehout@legis.wisconsin.gov
 

Past Kathleen Vinehout 31st Senate District columns

August 20, 2008 Steps toward health care reform: part two
August 13, 2008 Steps toward health care reform: part one
August 6, 2008 Fixing health care? Learning from other states
July 30, 2008 State legislators gather to solve problems
July 23, 2008 Will lower taxes on business make the state's economy grow?
July 16, 2008 How do we improve tax fairness?
July 9, 2008 Feeling squeezed?
July 2, 2008 Why do I feel squeezed?
June 25, 2008 Moving beyond fear and innuendo
June 18, 2008 Failing grades for Wisconsin: protecting health insurance consumers
June 11, 2008 One bridge changes many lives
June 4, 2008 Thank a dairy farmer!
May 28, 2008 The will of the people
May 21, 2008 Good health starts with health insurance
May 14, 2008 Curbing drunk driving
 


91st Assembly Report - Representative Barbara Gronemus

Where's the dam money?
Arcadia News-Leader, August 21, 2008

As you have probably seen on the TV, heard on the radio, or read in the newspaper, dams around the state are in need of maintenance and repairs. After the flooding this summer, many people are wondering: What's going on with Wisconsin dams?

According to state law, the Wisconsin DNR is required to inspect dams every 10 years to help ensure they won't fail or fall during flooding like we had earlier this summer. At the same time it became known that inspection of dams were behind inspection schedule. At least 230 dams as of last August had not been inspected since 1997 and 67 of them were classified as "high or significant hazard." Currently, the DNR has caught up on all of the state's "high hazard" dams, but still has 32 "significant hazard" and 143 "low hazard" dams to inspect. So now that counties and local governments know what dams need to be repaired there is an even bigger problem-there is no money repairs.

In the 1989-91 biennial budget the state legislature created the Dam Repair Fund, and it was to pay for grants to local governments that were ordered, by the state DNR, to do work on their dams. Twelve million dollars was made available, through borrowing, up through the 2001-03 budget, but since then only about $150,000 was left for grants, which probably is as effective as sticking one's finger in a hole in a dike. In 2001 the Wisconsin DNR sought $2 million, and in 2003 requested $150,000 to keep the program going, but did not receive any in the final budgets. In the 2005-07 and 2007-09 budgets the Wisconsin DNR did not even request any money for the fund. With no grant money available for counties to cut the cost of repairing dams, a lot of counties and local governments are forced to delay or not start certain projects.

What does all this mean? No ifs ands, or buts, the 2009 session of the legislature had better get serious about refilling the fund, in my humble opinion!

Now that I said my opinion on the subject, do you have one?
 

As always, comments can be shared with me in person; by writing me at home at PO Box 676, Whitehall, WI 54773 or at the Capitol in Madison at PO Box 8952, State Capitol, Madison, WI 53708; giving me a buzz Toll Free in Madison at 1-888-534-0091 or in Whitehall at 715-538-4130; sending a FAX to me in Madison at 608-282-3691 or at home at 715-538-2119; or via my legislative e-mail of rep.gronemus@legis.state/wi.us

Best wishes.
Your State Representative

Barbara Gronemus
 

Past Barbara Gronemus 91st Assembly District columns

August 14, 2008 Restoring home owners' rights
August 7, 2008 Committee to tackle energy issues
July 31, 2008 Child care for student parents?
July 24, 2008 Protecting your tax money
July 17, 2008 Four new consumer scams
July 10, 2008 Is the lottery and gaming credit worth it?
July 3, 2008 'Americanism'
June 26, 2008 I.D. to operate a boat?
June 19, 2008 Is your pier legal?
June 12, 2008 New rules for amusement rides
June 5, 2008 The 'real' importance of June dairy month
May 29, 2008 Victim's rights program explained
May 22, 2008 Eulogy for a veteran
May 15, 2008 Are special plates becoming less special?
 


Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle columns

Great Lakes compact will protect important natural resource
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Carla Vigue, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162

 

The Great Lakes are one of the world’s most precious natural resources. From the majestic shores of Lake Michigan to the brutal and beautiful waters of Lakes Superior, the Great Lakes are not just part of our heritage, but part of who we are. They are the reason why so many people choose to live in the Midwest, take a vacation here, or locate their business here.

As Governor, I’ve taken aggressive action to protect these resources and have worked hard to reach a bipartisan agreement. Two years ago, eight governors and two Canadian premiers representing the Great Lakes states came together in Milwaukee to endorse the Great Lakes Compact.

Today, I am proud to say, we are one step closer to making this agreement a reality. Earlier this month, I signed April 2008 Special Session Senate Bill 1, ratifying the Compact and creating unprecedented protections for the Great Lakes and ensuring their continued availability for regional economic growth. It will ban long-distance diversions and provide a framework for ensuring sustainable water use in the Great Lakes basin.

In order to become law, each state legislature must ratify the compact and Congress must give its consent. Wisconsin joins Minnesota, Illinois, New York and Indiana in completing their legislative approval. Quebec and Ontario have also approved the agreement, while legislation is pending in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

From our farmers to our industries to our environmental stewards, I appreciate everyone who contributed to getting this done. This agreement has broad and bipartisan support. It passed the Wisconsin legislature overwhelmingly, 32-1 in the Senate and 96-1 in the Assembly.

The Great Lakes Compact not only protects these resources for generations to come, but presents a great economic opportunity for Wisconsin, where we have the second largest amount of Great Lakes shoreline of anyone. One of our greatest competitive advantages in a 21st Century global economy is our water - water that will help Wisconsin businesses grow and draw new businesses to our state.

As water sources in metropolitan areas across the country dry up, our sparkling blue waters will look better than they ever have. It’s imperative we keep that water here in the Midwest, not in faraway deserts in other corners of the country.

If some city in another state wants to drain the Great Lakes, Wisconsin’s Governor should be able to stand up, say no, and prevent that from happening. One state veto power protects Wisconsin communities. And federal law already allows it. The Great Lakes Compact not only keeps this important provision in place, but does so in a way that sets standards for sustainable management of our waters. It sets up a reliable system for communities near the basin, cities like Waukesha and New Berlin, to receive Great Lakes water.

Our national economy depends on the Great Lakes. More than 35 million Americans live, work, and recreate in, on or by the waters of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes generate $55 billion in tourism for the region and create nearly $377 million in personal income from wages and salaries. In Wisconsin alone, the Great Lakes support more than 11,000 jobs in the state's ports.

Protecting these Lakes is critical, not only for the governors and the millions of citizens who call the Great Lakes home, but for the entire nation. And I am happy to say that here in Wisconsin we have signed an agreement that protects these resources and ensures that our children and grandchildren have the same opportunities to enjoy the Great Lakes that we have today.

For the Great Lakes are not only Wisconsin’s greatest natural resource,
 

Office of the Governor
115 East State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
608-266-1212
608-267-6790 (TTY)
608-267-8983 (FAX)
 

Past Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle columns

May 14, 2008 Working together to address climate change
April 23, 2008 Wisconsin Covenant - A Path to Higher Education
 

If you have any suggestions, corrections, contributions or anything you would like to comment on, please email me.

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