Waukesha Times

One of the honors of holding public office is hearing from constituents about what issues are most important to them, issues they have on their minds because their lives are affected by them every day.

More specifically, “THESE” are the issues we should prioritize on a bipartisan basis: Taxes, Healthcare, Education, Safety, and the Economy.

Taxes

Wisconsin has a higher combined local and state tax burden than 31 other states, according to the Tax Foundation’s 2022 report. Lowering that burden must continue to be a top priority. This past session we successfully eliminated the state’s personal property tax, which is meaningful relief for businesses. But we must do more.

Governor Evers vetoed three rounds of tax cuts, including significant income tax cuts for middle-income workers and eliminating taxes on retirement income. Especially now, Wisconsin citizens need more relief from our state’s unnecessarily high taxes.

Healthcare

Wisconsin has the 5th highest healthcare costs in the entire country, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Costs continue to rise and shortages of healthcare professionals continue to grow. While many factors contribute, one of them is that healthcare is not truly a free market with robust competitive forces reacting to consumer demands.

I was glad to co-sponsor a healthcare cost transparency bill in the last session. Next session, we must continue the work of injecting market-based reforms into healthcare so consumers have options to find affordable, accessible, high-quality care.

Education

Just 12% of low-income students in the state’s five largest school districts are proficient in reading and just 10% are proficient in math. In Milwaukee, there are nine schools with zero children proficient in math, according to an Institute for Reforming Government review of DPI data.

Wisconsin has many excellent public schools but clearly too many kids are being left behind. Statewide, Wisconsin is in the bottom 11 among all states for reading; tied for last in history and civics; and dead last in math for Black students—highlighting our shameful racial achievement gap—the worst in the country. This is despite $644 million more in the 2021-23 budget and $1 billion more in 2023-25 for K-12 education and billions in federal Covid aid.

One of my top priorities has been modernizing our higher education systems. With future declining enrollment and rapid changes in workforce needs and student preferences, our siloed approach to career preparation must be reformed and streamlined to offer students at all points in their lives as many options as possible to get the skills they need to prosper.

Our children and young adults are quite literally the future—they rely on state leaders to come up with real solutions—not just argue over how much more money to put into failing and outdated systems.

Safety

As of this writing, there have been 46 homicides in Milwaukee this year. Milwaukee was the eighth-worst city for vehicle thefts nationwide in 2021. Thankfully these numbers are down markedly but it comes after several straight years of record-breaking violence; car thefts remain 38% higher than before the pandemic threw society into chaos.

Police staffing levels remain a real concern but Governor Evers recently vetoed a commonsense bill aimed at improving a key source of turnover. He also vetoed legislation intended to slow down revolving-door justice by preventing prosecutors from letting violent criminals off easily.

There have been some bipartisan agreements but I know we can—and must—do better at keeping individuals intent on victimizing others off our streets so people can feel safe going about their lives.

Economy

The economy remains one of Wisconsinites' top concerns. The price of basic necessities has surged making it difficult for many citizens to buy gas or groceries without checking their bank balance or tapping into retirement savings.

Major utilities plan significant rate hikes partly attributable to transitions toward less-reliable costlier wind-and-solar energy sources; Wisconsin's gas tax ranks as 22nd highest nationally at 30.9 cents per gallon; property value reassessments along with spiking home/rent costs make living expenses dramatically worse—most harming those least able-to-afford-it all while inflation driven largely by runaway spending/costly regulations federally continues spreading economic pain via raised interest rates affecting everyone from credit card holders-to-homebuyers alike yet certain steps taken locally could ease necessity-cost burdens somewhat: repealing price-increasing Minimum Markup law resisting renewable-energy mandates worsening rate hikes scrutinizing every element within-state spending holding-the-line against-tax-hikes across-all-levels—all would help start easing living costs improving long-term economic prospects while sectors like construction/manufacturing remain strong addressing challenges ensures best positioning-for-future prosperity overall hopefully next-session members both-parties agree sensible solutions tackling THESE everyday-Wisconsin-citizen issues empowering people instead-of well-connected Madison interests.

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