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Much of the work completed in the last week of the legislative
session didn’t make headlines. It wasn’t big and glitzy, but it makes a
difference for all of us.
“We made history twice with this legislation - totally new legislation that
allows creative thinking and did it all within an unbelievable time frame
too,” Pam Semb wrote in her email.
Pam serves as Administrator of Lakeview Health Center in West Salem. The
health center provides care for developmentally disabled and other
vulnerable people. About half of the Center’s patients are from La Crosse
County. The other half come from surrounding counties that don’t operate
such a facility.
I worked with Representative Schilling to pass legislation ensuring that
counties have the authority to establish multi-county nursing home
collaboration. For example, La Crosse County has collaborated with other
counties to have their residents placed at Lakeview and these counties help
cover the costs of providing care.
Allowing counties to join together in operating and funding county nursing
homes is critical to maintaining access to the high level of care provided
in these specialized facilities.
Another much needed bill that passed without much fanfare came out of our
Rural Caucus meeting with rural school administrators. Many rural schools
are struggling to keep class sizes small as they face space and staffing
problems.
Schools participating in the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education or
SAGE program must keep class sizes to 15 students per teacher. But the 15:1
student/teacher ratio makes it difficult for many rural schools to stay in
the program without building more classrooms or hiring more teachers;
options they cannot afford. These districts are forced to drop the SAGE
program and go back to classrooms of thirty students or larger.
Research shows investing in small class sizes pays off with higher student
achievement down the road. I joined my fellow rural legislators in crafting
a bill that creates flexibility in the SAGE program. Our bill increases the
student/teacher ratio to 18:1 in a classroom. Several rural school
administrators said this bill saved the SAGE program.
Another bill providing flexibility will make a huge difference for one of
our local communities. Before the session ended we were able to complete
action on a bill that gives the Village of Warrens the needed flexibility to
restructure their tax increment financing district (TID).
Village residents and county taxpayers were concerned about who would be
responsible for the debt created by the bankruptcy of the Three Bears Lodge
and the downturn in the economy.
Representative Radcliffe and I successfully negotiated and passed a bill
that allows communities facing severe financial problems to restructure
their TIDs. Warrens will now have time to work with state officials on how
best to address their financial issues without putting the burden on county
property taxpayers.
A bill that didn’t make headlines will allow local communities to use
electric vehicles for city business. I worked with Whitehall Mayor Rod Moen
to change the law prohibiting these golf cart-like vehicles from operating
on state highways; which in many of our rural communities doubles as Main
Street.
Keeping our roadways safe was the goal behind a bill expanding the state’s
Safe Ride program. With the strong support of hundreds of tavern owners
across our district and the state, I was able to pass a bill increasing
state funding for the Safe Ride to 80% of transportation costs. This change
is paid for by an increased fine on drunken driving convictions and means
16,000 more bar patrons will get a free, safe ride home.
These bills are small victories and not the headline grabbers. But they
remind me of what one seldom hears - people working together to get
something done without much fanfare but with big results for better services
and savings to taxpayers.
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