State Headlines From Wisconsin Public Radio, September 9
Debate Over Increased Manufacturing Training Grants
By Shamane Mills, Wisconsin Public Radio
There's a bill to spend $800,000 more on manufacturing training grants in Wisconsin. But one lawmaker says if the state's going to spend more on that, it should cut somewhere else.
Workforce Advancement Training Grants are state money given to technical colleges to help businesses train existing employees. The grants are predominantly used in manufacturing, which has evolved to the point that some workers need to learn new skills, says Morna Foy of the Wisconsin Technical College System.
"Manufacturing is no longer individuals standing along a line, doing one single thing at all times," she says. "People who are working in manufacturing, even if they're in a processing plant, have to have computer skills. They have to understand supply chain and inventory control systems"
Keith Ripp, a Republican representative from Lodi, is sponsoring a bill that would help employees expand their work skills so manufacturers can stay competitive. Ripp's legislation would increase advanced manufacturing grants by $800,000 over the biennium.
He says, "With the economic difficulties still facing Wisconsin, training programs are d more now than ever. This bill keeps with Wi's long held belief that its best assets are its people to keep them trained for tomorrow's economic development."
Fellow Republican Dean Knudson of Hudson doesn't dispute the need for more manufacturing training grants, but at a public hearing he expressed a desire to keep state spending down and asked how the additional money could be offset with reductions in other areas.
Wisconsin National Guard Starts Storm Damage Clean Up
By Mike Simonson, Wisconsin Public Radio
Soldiers of the Wisconsin National Guard are coming to the rescue of storm-damaged northwestern Wisconsin...as lumberjacks.
Fifty-nine members of the 724th Engineer Battalion are starting to clear roads and trails of trees downed from storms that hit July 1. They're concentrating on Burnett and Douglas Counties. Burnett County Emergency Management Director Bobbi Sichta hopes they can get lots done in the three weeks they're clearing the debris.
"I wish we had them for about three months but I know it's not possible."
Sichta says it's a public safety issue so cars don't have to dodge broken trees, snow plowers have a place to put snow this winter, and dried out timber doesn't create a fire hazard next spring.
"It's such a widespread area," he says. "That's the hard part. I mean, it hit 18 townships in the county and that's well over 75 percent of the county to some degree or another."
While towns and landowners are doing the best they can with private loggers, Douglas County Emergency Management Director Keith Kesler says they need some old-fashioned National Guard muscle. "The way it's all intertwined and inter-tangled with each other, getting through it with heavy equipment is almost impossible," he says.
Army National Guard Captain Paul Cusick says they'll work at 11 towns. "In the Army National Guard we do a crawl, walk, run," he says. "So right now we're doing some training. We're going over what our tasks are going to be. Safety is on the forefront of our minds. We're spending a lot of time on that."
Ironically, these soldiers just returned from the deserts of Iraq earlier this year. Now, Cusick says he's looking forward to a different way to serve his country, by serving his neighbors.
Les Paul Monument To Be Unveiled
By Chuck Quirmbach, Wisconsin Public Radio
A graveside ceremony on Sept. 9 will unveil a 500 square-foot monument honoring Waukesha native Les Paul.
Paul died two years ago, and according to Sue Baker of the Les Paul foundation, the musician and inventor left no grand plan for what would be at his gravesite.
"He basically said, you guys figure it out, which we did," Baker said.
So the foundation and Paul's family got together and chose a granite monument that includes slabs containing Paul's biography and list of his major awards. There will also be some benches that Paul did request before he passed away, so people can sit and reflect. The memorial will be dedicated this Saturday at the Prairie Home cemetery in Waukesha, where the man born as Lester Polfuss was laid to rest next to his mother.
Baker says the monument may not draw the number of fans that come to where some rock and roll legends are buried. but she says many people will visit because Paul remained very accessible to his fans.
Baker says Paul's memorial is at a road intersection within the cemetery and away from other graves. Saturday morning's dedication is open to the public.
Concern Over New Voter ID Law
By Shawn Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio
A Republican legislator who supported Wisconsin's new voter ID law says he has significant concerns with the state's decision not to tell people they can get free IDs to vote.
A Division of Motor Vehicles memo publicized this week specifically instructed employees not to offer free ID's to customers who don't ask for them. In a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb, Whitewater Republican Evan Wynn said providing free identification to those who want it to vote is the very foundation of voter ID. Wynn said in an interview he thinks the state needs to tell people it's available, not wait for them to ask.
"I compare it to if you go to the store and you don't realize something's on sale," he says. "The clerk doesn't tell you, you get and you find out it's on sale. You would be upset too. I would be upset. And I see it as the same thing."
Wynn says placing barriers to a free ID undermines elections. He says he's a supporter of voter ID because he thinks it's important the state know who is voting.
"But I think it's important that we also let the people know these IDs are free for them, and that was the whole intent of the letter. Not to have somebody in the bureaucracy say, well, we're not going to tell anybody," he says.
People who need a photo ID to vote and don't specifically ask for for it to be free are currently charged the usual $28.
NewPage Bankruptcy Threatens Wisconsin Jobs
By Glen Moberg, Wisconsin Public Radio
The NewPage Corporation has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in both U.S. and Canadian courts. Local lawmakers are hoping the action will not lead to job losses at the company's central Wisconsin paper mills.
In a news release, NewPage CEO George Martin said, "We expect to continue to run safe and efficient operations, be candid with all of our stakeholders and act as a responsible community member both during and after our financial restructuring." The company employs more than 1700 workers at its mills in Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point and Birin. State Representative Scott Krug says saving those jobs is a big concern.
"The big fear is that especially in Wisconsin Rapids we're down thousands of jobs already over the last couple of decades," he says. " This would kind of put us over the top I think, and really put us is some really severe financial stress in Wisconsin Rapids. So it's maintaining those jobs first and foremost."
Krug says the Governor's office has been contacted about a possible meeting with NewPage officials.
"We've got to first of all sit down at the table with NewPage and decide first and foremost what it is they might need from us before we can make an offer," he says. "But I know the Governor has been very supportive."
Krug, a Republican from Wisconsin Rapids, is working on a coordinated response with Democratic State Representative Louis Molepske of Stevens Point. Molepske says the union workers at the plants should not be targeted because of the bankruptcy.
He says, "A lot of very high wage jobs, a lot of jobs that people have been in for many, many decades, with benefits. Restructuring as I see it, should not mean that workers bear the brunt of this."
NewPage closed two central Wisconsin mills... in Whiting and Kimberly... last year.
Proposed Patient Bill Of Rights For Wisconsin
By Shamane Mills, Wisconsin Public Radio
Two Democrats are proposing a Patient Bill of Rights for Wisconsin. The bill would prohibit what one health care advocate calls the worst abuses of the insurance industry.
The Patient Bill of Rights has some of the same consumer protections found in the federal Affordable Care Act. That's not just coincidence. Bill co-sponsor, Representative Jon Richards of Milwaukee, points out that some lower courts have ruled against reform. And, if the U.S. Supreme Court does likewise, it's an all-or-nothing proposition.
He says, "The federal law is written without a severability clause. So if one part is struck down its all struck down. "
The federal law's being challenged for making people buy insurance. The consumer protection provisions are not part of the court battle and weren't as controversial, says Robert Kraig of Wisconsin Citizen Action. Those supporting patients rights hope this bill will mobilize consumers to pressure lawmakers for protections.
"If politicians in the legislature believe that it is immoral to discriminate based on preexisting conditions; to deny coverage, to carve out pieces of the policy to charge discriminatory rates, than they should vote for this bill," he says. "Otherwise they are siding with the health insurance industry."
Gail Sulha doesn't want to lose coverage. The Sun Prairie woman says the family's medical bills forced them into bankruptcy before.
"My husband has multiple conditions starting with asthma," she says. "The lung condition also made him susceptible to pneumonia. He ended up being in the hospital for six months and he is now disabled."
Wisconsin is among the states challenging the Affordable Care Act. The state attorney general filed suit, with the support of Governor Walker. Richards says he hopes demand for consumer protections and the governor's promised bipartisanship will overcome opposition.
Supreme Court Hears Arguments Against Campaign Finance Law
By Shawn Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio
A lawyer for conservative groups told the state Supreme Court this week that a plan aimed at disclosing more campaign donors would discourage speech. But the director of the state's elections agency says the plan is straightforward and the lawsuit challenging it is misguided.
The case involves a rule advanced by the Government Accountability Board more than a year ago that was temporarily halted by the court while this lawsuit proceeded. It would give the board more latitude to regulate campaign ads, even if they don't use words like "vote for" or "vote against."
But Attorney Rick Esenberg told the court that would end up discouraging speech, especially at the grassroots level. He called it an overreach by the board, "Because particularly grassroots speakers, people that are making t-shirts, painting barns, putting together signs, don't have and shouldn't be required, the United State Supreme Court made clear, to lawyer up."
But board director Kevin Kennedy told reporters afterward that the rule in question doesn't change any rules for reporting political advocacy outside of a campaign and it doesn't change any thresholds. He says it merely recognizes that there are other ways to advocate for and against candidates without expressly saying so--and that the public should know who pays for those ads, "The legislature recognized that you're best judged by the company you keep. The people who support you tells an awful lot about your positions and what kind of elected official you're going to be. The people that oppose you send the same message."
Justice David Prosser recused himself from this case under public pressure because it was scheduled to be argued by Jim Troupis, Prosser's friend and an attorney in his successful recount earlier this year. Troupis was not in court for arguments. That could leave the court with a 3-3 split, which would allow the rule to go forward.
Anniversary Of First Workers' Compensation Program
By Glen Moberg, Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin is celebrating the anniversary of one of the first forms of social insurance in American history. The nation's very first workers compensation policy was issued 100 years ago this month in Wausau.
On September 1st, 1911, the company that would later become Wausau Insurance issued the first workers compensation policy to the company that would later become Wausau Paper. Former Wausau Insurance senior vice president John Jones says that first policy addressed a serious problem in the turn of the century workplace, "It was very difficult for an injured worker to seek wage replacement, medical attention. There were old English standards that really prohibited an ease of suing the employer. With workers compensation, it became a no fault system."
For the first time, workers were covered for injuries on the job, while companies were protected from lawsuits. That first Wisconsin workers compensation law was born in a contentious era that pitted socialists in the legislature against capitalist businessmen. UW-Green Bay labor historian Andy Kersten says the "great compromise" was drawn up by the state's progressives, "That compromise was not quite the socialists in the state wanted. They wanted something more. But progressives were great compromisers. It's lasted for a century."
Ron Kent, a former AFSCME executive, says the law is still working well for Wisconsin workers and business owners today, "It provided the foundation for the present law that we have in the state, trying to balance the interests of labor and the employers in some rational way."
That first workers compensation law, drawn up 100 years ago, still serves as the model for similar laws in other states.
Wisconsin Tax Collections Down
By Teresa Shipley, Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin's tax collections were below expectations last year, but not by much.
Tax revenues brought in $12.9 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30. That's about $13 million less than the Legislative Fiscal Bureau expected.
Of the total, corporate taxes brought in three percent less than expected - a $27 million dollar drop.
Andrew Reschovsky is an economist at UW-Madison. He says it's not surprising that corporate tax estimates were off, "Corporations, the way the laws are written, are given lots of options to shift their taxes, when they pay, how much they pay, whether they pay in Wisconsin or somewhere else. So they are notoriously difficult to forecast."
Tax revenue from cigarettes was about $15 million less than the Fiscal Bureau thought would come in - a 2.5 percent drop. Reschovsky says that could be due to the economy, as in fewer people can afford to buy cigarettes, or it could be tax avoidance, "They may turn to buying on the internet or buying from Indian reservations or buying counterfeit cigarettes."
Wisconsin did collect more taxes than anticipated in a few areas. Taxes from individuals, sales, utilities and insurance together brought in revenues about 1.5 percent higher than expected, or about $32 million more.
Adjusting for inflation, Wisconsin is collecting about 5 percent less in tax revenue since the recession started in 2008.
First Statewide Homeless Advocacy Group Forms
By Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio
Homeless service providers across Wisconsin have banded together to create the first-ever, statewide homeless advocacy group. The goal is to better share strategies between providers and give a unified voice to those less fortunate.
There are more than 100 homeless service providers in Wisconsin. Currently, they're lumped into what are called Continuums of Care that serve geographic areas. But until this summer, there was no one voice that spoke for the lot. Enter the Wisconsin Coalition to End Homelessness. It officially registered as a nonprofit in June, hired a lobbyist and is forming a board of directors. Joe Volk, CEO of Milwaukee Community Advocates is president of the board. He says the coalition is giving the state's homeless a legislative voice, "Homeless people, homeless families don't have a voice in Madison amongst policy makers, homeless people and families are too busy just trying to survive and yet they have interests in state programs and decisions that the state makes."
Volk says an added benefit is more communication between homeless providers across the state. He says you'd be surprised at how little idea sharing there is between continuums of care, "Everyone is so busy running their own programs, running their own continuum of care that unfortunately there's not always a lot of time to do the kind of sharing, to do the kind of cross systems management one would like to do unless it's structured some way."
Volk says providers in urban and rural areas can learn a lot from each other and now have a clearinghouse to do that. He says the coalition is still growing and will be reaching out to homeless service providers across the state over the next year.
School Boards Replace Union Contracts With Employee Handbooks
By Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio
School boards across Wisconsin are coming out with employee handbooks to replace union contracts after the elimination of most collective bargaining powers for teachers. Some major trends include elimination of seniority protection and just cause for teacher non-renewal.
Cadott School District Administrator Joe Zydowsky says the school board has been working since spring on the employee handbook that will set the work rules for district personnel. Zydowsky says they did solicit comments from teachers and staff while writing the book, "We tried to have as much input as possible but ultimately it came down to being the responsibility of the school board."
The finished product eliminates layoff protections based on seniority and a provision that the district provide just cause for not renewing a teacher's contract. Zydowsky says those changes give the district flexibility in personnel matters, "Sometimes that might mean that we have to make a reduction in staff. Sometimes that might mean we need to make a change in staff and the new employment policies of our school district will make it easier for us to make those changes when they're necessary."
Barry Forbes is co-director of legal services for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. He says around 275 school districts didn't extend union contracts and are now working on their own rules. He says the changes at the Cadott School District are part of a bigger trend, "We're seeing most school boards move away from seniority as the sole criteria for selecting employees for layoff and most of the handbooks that I've looked at have eliminated just cause protections for teacher non-renewal."
But Christina Brey, spokeswoman for the state's largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council says some districts are disregarding teachers and staff while crafting new rules and that hurts all parties.
Farmers Continue To Send Hay To Oklahoma
By Teresa Shipley, Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin farmers continue to send hay to drought-stricken Oklahoma to help farmers keep their animals from starving.
Severe drought and wildfires have plagued Oklahoma this summer, destroying both crops and homes. In August, the majority of the counties in the state were declared a disaster area.
The situation has been so bad for some farmers they've been forced to sell off part of their herds. But now auction houses are so full they can't accept more animals.
The Wisconsin-based group Family Farm Defenders is helping send hay to the Oklahoma farmers to keep their animals alive.
John Kinsman is an organic dairy farmer near Reedsburg who's helping coordinate the effort. He says two semi trucks full of hay have reached Oklahoma with more on the way, "And we do have about eight or nine semi loads here to go. It's very good."
An Oklahoma farm representative estimated about 50 family farms were on the brink of losing their operations to the drought. He said each farm's herd would need at least a bale of hay each day to survive.
Study Shows On-Campus Living Results In Better Academics
By Steve Roisum, Wisconsin Public Radio
It's the time of year when students move into the dorms through the University of Wisconsin system. One Wisconsin researcher says those who live on campus tend to do better academically.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse assistant professor James Murray says a study of approximately 360 Indiana University-Purdue University college students found those who lived on campus had a GPA on average three to nine tenths higher than those who didn't. Murray says the study also found those who lived on campus then moved off campus, still had a higher GPA than those who never lived on campus. On average three to five tenths higher. He says a second study looked at why students who lived at least a year on campus, seemed to do better than their peers, "Years later they were more likely to study with their classmates, they were less likely to engage in alcohol use."
UW-La Crosse Senior Mackenzie Watzka is studying biology. She spent her freshman year on campus. She says success lies in the student, and not where the student lives, "I think it's kind of just the type of student you are, and if you're willing to put in the effort, you'll get it done, I think the library is open to everyone and I find this is easier to study in my room in my apartment, in a dorm there's so many people around you."
Murray co-authored the two studies on the impact campus living has on grade point averages. The first study was published in the Economics Bulletin, and second in the American Journal of Business education.