Progressive Thinking

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the latest phone scam effecting people across the state and provides information about where people can turn if they received such a call and how to register their phones for the Do Not Call List.

ALMA, WI - “I’ve been getting a lot of calls from blocked and private numbers,” Pat from rural Hixton told me. “We called the phone company and asked them to stop those calls, but I’m not sure what else we can do”. Pat told me many of the calls asked her to change her credit cards to a “better deal”.

Pat couldn’t remember the last time she signed up for Wisconsin’s No Call List. “It was a while ago,” she said.

The No Call List protects people from unwanted calls and texts. Frequently these calls come from telemarketing companies. Sometimes the calls are scammers trying to collect personal information to take advantage of the unwary.

Wisconsin’s Bureau of Consumer Protections staff work to protect people from unwanted calls, enforce laws and alert unsuspecting citizens to scams. The Bureau is housed in the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Getting all your phone numbers – including the cell phones of teens and college students – helps cut down on fraud and criminal activity. For those who use the Internet to make calls – called VoIP – you can also protect those numbers.

Big changes came to the No Call List last summer. My legislative colleagues and I passed a law to use the federal Do Not Call List as of August 2014. The big change is that once your phone number is registered, it is permanently on the federal Do Not Call List.

Before this legislative change, phone numbers registered with Wisconsin’s No Call List had to be renewed every two years. As I told Pat, two years goes by fast.

If your numbers were not on the No Call List last summer, the numbers are probably not on the federal Do No Call List now. If you’ve gotten a new number in the past year and a half, you definitely need to sign up now.

Getting your numbers protected is easy. You can do this on-line at https://www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). Be sure to call from the number you want to protect.

You can check to make sure your phone numbers are registered by using the previously mentioned toll-free number or this link: https://www.donotcall.gov/confirm/conf.aspx.

Once your number is registered, telemarketers have 31 days to update their lists. If you receive an unwanted call after 31 days, you should file a complaint at the following link: https://mydatcp.wi.gov/Complaints/complaint/create/1443c589-da19-e511-af89-0050568c06ae

Several details of Pat’s story made me suspicious. For one, it is illegal in Wisconsin to use a blocked number for a telephone marketing call. It is also illegal to not disclose the number from which the telemarketer is calling. You can find more details about the rules at this link: http://datcp.wi.gov/uploads/Consumer/pdf/NoCall-TelemarketerFAQ287.pdf

Recently I received a call from a constituent who received intimidating calls from a person who said he was from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). After research, we discovered the IRS does not notify people of problems by phone. They will contact individuals in the form of an official letter. The IRS will only use the phone to address problems if you agree.

When I checked on credit card phone scams, I learned voice mailboxes across the country were being flooded with offers to lower interest rates. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigates credit card scams. Officials warn people who get robocalls offering lower interest rates to listen to the calls with “extreme skepticism” and delete the calls. The callers will charge a fee to find a lower interest rate, which is something you can do for free.

Be suspicious of any prerecorded call selling something. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. And remember, if you are on the Do Not Call List it’s illegal for a company to solicit your business through a robocall.

Remind your friends and family they should not provide personal or financial information over the phone.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of a credit card scam, report the incident. You can report all kinds of scams – including telemarketing, credit card, Internet shopping at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357 or https://ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1.

A little bit of skepticism goes a long way to protect ourselves. Enjoy the Holiday Season and be safe!

The new “gig economy” has people working as free-lancers or independent contractors. Companies do not have to provide benefits and do not have to follow labor laws. This type of system shifts the risk to workers and the implications for workers and the economy can be great.

ALMA, WI - “If my company followed the rules, they couldn’t survive,” my niece Becky told me as we traveled home from our “Small Business Saturday” shopping trip.

Small retail businesses are owned by local folks and regularly use local workers. The money we spend in our local communities usually stays local.

But in this changing economy, sometimes your small business is not local. Sometimes the company is not even American.

Becky works for a small company that makes “apps” for use on computers or mobile devices.

The company is headquartered in Porta. That’s not a city in Wisconsin but in Portugal. The company hires workers from four continents including Peru, Taiwan, Germany and three employees in the United States.

My niece is a Wisconsinite. She graduated from a Central Wisconsin high school and her folks still live on the farm in Wood County. Becky spent several months in Portugal learning the company business. Now she works out of a Twin Cities co-op type office, which is essentially a basement, converted to free-lancers office space.

She could live and work anywhere in the world that has a good [unlimited data and consistently high speed] Internet connection.

Becky is a free-lancer, a self-employed independent contractor. Her company does not have a Human Resources department because they don’t have employees. Those who work for the company are all on their own. “Internet nomads” Becky says.

What does this mean? And what does Becky’s experience have to do with the way work and workers are changing?

America’s system of work is built on the premise that workers and employers share a social contract: employers gain profits through workers and, in return, workers are compensated and secure through wages, benefits and labor laws.

Health care, unemployment, worker safety protections, sick leave, injured workers’ compensation and retirement savings are all part of this social contract.

But for millions of people who work in the so-called “gig economy” the employer does not hold up their end of the bargain. By dropping benefits and not following labor laws, a company can lower its labor costs – a lot.

Robert Reich, President Clinton’s former Secretary of Labor, recently released a short video describing the problem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Snob8-6xM&app=desktop). “In five years over 40% of the American labor force will be in such uncertain work,” Reich says.

I believe it. Just in my family, over half of the “twenty-somethings” are self-employed or temporary workers.

Reich says the change in the economy “shifts all of the risk to workers. A downturn in demand or sudden change in consumer needs, a personal injury or sickness can make it impossible to pay the bills.”

Becky likes the flexibility of the new economy. She is willing to buy her own health insurance if she gains freedom to work when and where she wants. She argues small digital companies could not survive if they followed the labor laws in each of the various countries that make up their workforce. “They only have three American workers,” Becky said. “Imagine how hard it would be to follow the rules in a dozen different countries.”

Some digital companies are not so small. According to the Washington Post, this year Uber – the new economy’s answer to taxicabs – has over 160,000 workers in the United States.

Author Steven Hill wrote about this phenomenon in a new book and for Salon.com: “In a sense, employers and employees used to be married to each other, and there was a sense of commitment and a joined destiny. Now, employers just want a bunch of one-night stands with their employees, a promiscuousness that promises to be not only fleeting but destabilizing to the broader macro economy.”

The implications are enormous. Our state is struggling with the problems even now. Several proposals have been floated at the Capitol to change the injured workers’ compensation insurance system. However, if more workers were a part of this system, the health of the funds that support the insurance would improve.

As Becky and I grappled with the policy challenges, I realized there was no simple answer. But our conversation did help visualize the goal.

“There has got to be a way,” Becky said. “To keep the flexibility for companies and protect workers.”

This week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout takes a break from the politics of Madison and writes about the joy of being out in the woods – whether deer hunting or simply basking in the beauty of the countryside.

ALMA, WI - Tundra Swans arrived Friday.

These magnificent birds spend a brief time in Buffalo County on their way from the tundra of Canada and Alaska to their wintering grounds on the East Coast.

The brilliant, white birds with a 6 1/2’ wingspan are migrants through our valley. They love the swamps and back waters. And when they gather they are very social.

The swans love to converse. I listened to their excited chatter sitting in my deer blind in the early dawn hours. They sounded like enthusiastic teenagers.

Swans showed up about the same time as dozens of shiny pick-up trucks. Many deer hunters flock to Buffalo County for the nine-day gun hunt.

If you didn’t know these folks weren’t locals, you would know when you met them on the single lane gravel road leading to our farm.

Most locals will at least raise two fingers off the steering wheel, which is the rural driver signal that passes for a friendly wave at someone you don’t know but think you should remember. But these “foreigners” don’t know the signal yet.

Eating, drinking and lodging establishments are full and that is good for the local economy.

Deer hunting lost a bit of its social value this year. The Department of Natural Resources started a new on-line system for registering animals.

Registration often took place at a local convenience store or tavern. Hunters lucky enough to find success in the field take great care to arrange their trophies in the back of the truck before heading to town to register and show off their prize.

There are a few registration stations left – but most deer registration this year happened on-line (www.gamereg.wi.gov) or by phone (844-426-3734). Somehow, logging onto a website did not bring the same satisfaction as gawking neighbors and shirttail relatives crowded around the back of the truck to hear one more story of the hunt.

“My heart was pounding so loud in my ears, I thought the doe could hear it,” said one woman at the Kwik Trip. At least we can still share the story at the local gathering places.

Thanksgiving and deer hunting are social events. The telling of the hunt with good food and a glowing fire in the hearth brings real joy. Friends and relatives we haven’t seen in far too long bring home stories of worlds we can only imagine.

The camaraderie of shared history and experiences strengthen the bonds of friendship and family. And the stories of nature again remind us why we live in Wisconsin.

Every year it seems I learn something new about our farm during deer season. Taking the time to sit in the woods, I see the land and its inhabitants anew.

Big tracks I never noticed in the mud. A deer trail cut though the swamp. Clumps of tall grasses and fallen branches that could be used for the perfect blind. An overgrown trail carved out of the side of the bluff in what must have been a field road of long ago.

And the creatures: seven blue jays and dozens of squirrels; a nuthatch and five different species of woodpeckers. Two bald eagles were looking for breakfast.

As my friend Lisa and I headed back from the woods opening day, she pointed to the night sky over the old granary. “Owls,” she said.

Not just one or two - no it was six owls. The short-eared owls flying and diving were silhouetted in the rose-colored dusk sky.

“In case you woke up this morning hoping that you too might encounter a flock of owls and wondered what to call them,” wrote Jeff of the Chippewa Valley birder group the next morning. “I found they would be a parliament.”

A parliament, I thought. I hope these owls are wiser than our Legislature.

Sending wishes for fun filled Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the Wisconsin State Legislature.

A report published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) tracks statistics reflecting the economy, education and quality of life in Wisconsin. It's not rocket science, there's a lot of room for improvement.

MADISON - “My son’s grades improved at report card time,” Mari told me. Her son struggled in school for many years. “We had a great teacher conference. He got mostly Bs and Cs – which was an improvement.”

Wisconsin recently got its own report card. Our state also got mostly Bs and Cs. Although in several cases, these scores represent benchmarks that are not improving.

The report published by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) tracks statistics reflecting the economy, education and quality of life in Wisconsin.

Our focus on education has historically been a great strength of our state. The report card reviewed education through “workforce readiness” and assigned Bs for all benchmarks measured – the only category to receive this consistent high mark.

More students graduate from high school in Wisconsin than any other Midwest state but Iowa. On national tests (NAEP), our students score better in math than every surrounding state but Minnesota. Wisconsin’s average ACT score beat every surrounding state but Minnesota.

Although Wisconsin’s K-12 students perform better than the national average, we lag the US average, and Minnesota and Illinois, in the number of people over age 25 with a bachelor’s degree. We need more people with a college degree.

Higher education improves income. Wisconsin also has an income problem.

The report card gave a D+ to Wisconsin’s average earnings. Wisconsin’s average earnings have been at least 10% behind the US average in 26 of 32 years between 1983 and 2014. We also lag the US per capita income. All neighboring states have higher per capita income.

Wisconsin also has a job growth problem. WISTAX reports a meager 1% growth per year since 2011. The five-year job growth is less than the national average and any surrounding state.

Traditionally, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate tracks about two percentage points below the national rate. Over the past few years that gap has narrowed. The recent Bureau of Labor Statistics September numbers showed Wisconsin’s unemployment rate less than a percentage point below the US average. Less people are filing for unemployment but job growth is anemic.

Measures of quality of life in the WISTAX report card include those without health insurance, safety as measured by violent crime and poverty.

Wisconsin has traditionally led the Midwest in those covered with insurance. Recently, Minnesota and Iowa edged out Wisconsin in health insurance coverage. The 2015 report card pegged the number of those uninsured at a hair over 9% of Wisconsinites.

The violent crime rate in Wisconsin has generally been steady over the past twenty years. Although our neighbor to the west, Minnesota, has both a historically lower rate and more success in sending that low rate even lower.

Fewer Wisconsinites own homes in 2014 than in even 2013. The roughly two-thirds of Wisconsin residents that own homes is better than the national average but lower than every surrounding state except Illinois.

Poverty has been rising in Wisconsin over the past fifteen years. WISTAX used the federal definition of poverty. For example, in 2014 a family of four with an annual income of $23,850 was at the poverty threshold. About 11% of Wisconsin residents earned less than the poverty threshold in 2013. As a percent of the population, Wisconsin has more residents below the poverty threshold than Minnesota and Iowa but fewer than Illinois or Michigan.

The report card covered several other measures but space limits us.

The WISTAX study isn’t nearly as easy to read or understand progress as your child or grandchild’s report card. The measures have changed over the years and letter grades have replaced an earlier “pass/fail” or “plus/minus” system.

Other factors make historical comparisons difficult. For example, when all students take the ACT college entrance exam, Wisconsin’s numbers are sure to drop.

Value can be achieved, however, in pausing to compare. Using benchmarks – both historical and across states – help us reflect on our progress and our continued challenges.

There is a lot of room for improvement in Wisconsin’s report card. Jobs, increasing wages and the number of college graduates are all on the list of challenges.

Speed and secrecy was the game plan Friday night in Madison as the Senate debated two bills that made significant changes to campaign finance laws and the election and ethics watchdog agency. The bills that finally passed in the wee hours of Saturday morning open the spigot for campaign money and rendered the watchdog toothless and blind.

MADISON - It was Friday night at 5:00 pm.

Most people were leaving work and looking forward to the weekend. Maybe they headed to see friends and family at the fish fry or watch the prep football playoffs.

At that same hour, Senators received details on two very important bills. Legislation that rewrote laws related to elections, campaign finance, lobbying and the ethics of elected officials.

Leaders kept details about changes to the bills secret until the last minute. Details we had not seen; the press had not read; no member of the public had an opportunity to provide comment.

By 7:00 pm, the Senate debate on the two bills began. Final Senate passage happened before the sun came up on Saturday morning. Most Wisconsinites did not hear the debate or see the vote. No TV news cameras observed the Senate. Most reporters had gone home. Senate galleries were mostly empty.

Few realized what happened and Senate Republican leaders wanted it that way.

GOP leaders called an “Extraordinary Session”: extraordinary because the regular fall floor period for final passage of legislation expired the day before.

Senators waited in Madison all week for details of which bills would be up for a vote and how those bills might be amended – changed – before the Senate vote. But, those details didn’t emerge until the sun went down, most of the press had gone home and Wisconsinites were enjoying the start to their week-end.

Big changes were on the way to campaigns and elections. Changes most people would not like – nastier, untruthful campaign ads, shadowy out-of-state groups buying more ads, and less sunlight on campaign donations. A newly created partisan, gridlocked commission would oversee ethics, lobbying and elections. More opportunity for secret deals in the dark.

Democracy needs sunshine. Wisconsin campaign laws should shine light on who donated to whom, when, how much and where that person worked. Groups that want to influence your vote should be required to say where they got their money and how they spent it. Elections must be fair and lobbying transparent.

Laws passed after dark keep voters in the dark. Legislation moving at warp-speed usually means something bad. Friday night in Madison there was certainly enough confusion among Senators about what the bills did and didn’t do which served as a warning that we didn’t know all the answers.

But, slowing things down to get answers and represent voters was not something on the mind of GOP leaders.

It was almost 11:30 pm.

“I didn’t hear a single word about what we’re going to do to help a voter cast a more informed vote,” said Senator Janet Bewley. “But, instead, they [voters] are going to be buffeted by a fire hose of bad information; too many campaign ads, mail, phone calls… This is madness. And it has nothing to do with voters.”

It was now after midnight. The Senate had only begun debating the dismantling of the Government Accountability Board (GAB) – the nonpartisan judges that oversee elections, campaign finance, lobbying and ethics.

Most of the press had gone home. All who remained was a political news service and a single reporter from the local college newspaper.

Supporters of the bill provided no hard evidence to justify dismantling nonpartisan oversight of elections, campaigns and ethics.

Exasperated, the longest serving state legislator in the United States, Senator Fred Risser stood up. He asked the bill’s author, “You just don’t like this agency?”

It was now almost 2:00 AM Saturday morning.

Senator Mark Miller implored the bill’s author. “GAB rose out of the ashes of one of the greatest political scandals our state has faced; created in an equally bipartisan bill. But this bill was created in the dark, brought forth at the last minute. How can we be sure this legislation has the interest of the public at heart?”

When you do not want the world to pay attention to legislation that is not in the public’s best interest, you pass it in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Speed and secrecy: that was the game plan Friday night in Madison.

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about “Canada Day” in the Capitol. The Canadian General Consul visited with state legislators and shared information about the incredible partnership between Wisconsin and Canada.

MADISON - Did you know a third of everything Wisconsin sells to the world we sell to Canada? And more visitors come to Wisconsin from Canada than any other country?

Wisconsin recently celebrated Canada Day at the Capitol. We welcomed Canadian Consul General Roy Norton. He brought along a host of facts about Wisconsin’s relationship with Canada.

Many of us think the ideal summer vacation is going north – this summer my husband and son enjoyed a canoe trip in Canada. Fortunately, Canadians like to head south. Wisconsin welcomed over 300,000 Canadian visitors who spent $65 million last year.

Even Canadians who don’t venture to the Badger state help our economy. Canada is the largest buyer of Wisconsin products. Our state sells more to Canada than we sell to our next six foreign country markets combined. Wisconsin goods bound for Canada include paper, plastics, beverages (including alcohol), electric motors, engines and motor vehicle parts. Nearly 160,000 Wisconsin jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada.

In return, Wisconsin buys plastic, wood pulp and wood products, fertilizer, natural gas, cereals and live animals from Canada. Surprised by live animals? Spend a day at the World Dairy Expo and you will see the importance of Canadian cattle to Wisconsin. The story of dairy cattle breeding is one of Wisconsin ingenuity perfected by Canada and brought back to us.

Like Wisconsin, Canada has a long environmental history. Back in 1911, while the Wisconsin Legislature passed a host of progressive bills including workers compensation legislation and nonpartisan local elections, the Canadian Parliament created the world’s first national park system. Today Canada has a park system that would cover the landmass of the state of New Mexico.

Usually state lawmakers don’t do much by way of international relations, but a few years ago, my legislative colleagues and I worked to pass the Great Lakes Compact. This international agreement updated protections for our Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement added modern concerns including an international approach to controlling invasive species, like Asian Carp, efforts to prevent further loss of habitat and species, and efforts to consider climate change impacts on our shared Great Lakes resources.

Canada continues to do its part worldwide to slow global deforestation. Almost 30% of the world’s boreal – or coniferous- forests are in Canada. The forests absorb carbon dioxide helping to protect our planet from global climate change. Over 90% of forestland is under public stewardship for responsible habitat protection and timber management

Waterways also provide habitat. For nearly thirty years, the U.S and Canada have worked jointly to protect our waterfowl through an agreement known as the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Over the years, various partners conserved 13 million acres of wetlands and raised over $3 billion for conservation efforts

The Consul General came to Wisconsin with a message of shared democracy, gratitude, friendship and cooperation. But, he also reminded us of what Canada prefers in return.

He reminded us that half of Wisconsin’s gasoline comes from Canadian oil. His country contains the world’s third largest oil reserves. Canada would like to see the Keystone XL pipeline built. Mr. Norton told us the pipeline would take eight 100-car oil trains off the rail tracks every day.

Mr. Norton shared with us the importance of Wisconsin to Canadian railroads. Two major Canadian rail companies traverse Wisconsin every day. The lines run north to the Canadian border and then east and west across the Canadian countryside.

One popular Wisconsin program the Consul General did not like was “Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin”. He referred to this type of program as a barrier or preferences’ and said “Buy Wisconsin discriminates against your best customers. You must remember that Canada does not compete with Wisconsin on labor, health, and environmental standards. We value these as much as you.”

Mr. Norton told the Senators, “I think the ‘Buy Wisconsin’ might be aimed at the other country with a name that starts with ‘C’!”

I do not see Wisconsin stopping promotion of Wisconsin products anytime soon. But I did suggest that a “Buy Canadian” campaign might be successful in the Badger state. And I highly recommend buying Canadian winter gear.

Mr. Norton laughed and said, “Yes, we do know winter.”

Bipartisan is not nonpartisan. When the Packers play the Vikings, we don’t want each side to appoint half the referees. Sen. Vinehout reflects on the bills in the Legislature that would change Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws, the Government Accountability Board and ‘John Doe’ process.

MADISON - “Just do the right thing,” my doctor told me. We were discussing politics. We just finished reviewing the x-rays of my new hip replacement. My doctor wanted to offer a little advice to my colleagues in the Senate.

“People want you to think of them,” he said. “They don’t want you to make decisions on what’s best for the party – whoever’s in power. They want you to make the best decision for the people.

“The problem,” I told him, “is that the interest groups are pulling the parties further and further apart. They don’t want to compromise. It’s very hard for the leaders of both parties to say ‘No’ to their favorite interest group.”

Republicans are struggling to round up enough votes to pass a bill that dissolves the Government Accountability Board (GAB) and places elections and ethics under the control of boards appointed by political party leaders. Nonpartisan judges now oversee Wisconsin’s elections, ethics and lobbying. Strongly GOP allied groups, like Americans for Prosperity and Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce are pushing the change.

Conservative groups also support bills that open the door to political jobs in our civil service system, opt political crimes out of ‘John Doe’ criminal investigations and allow unfettered and undisclosed money in campaigns.

Nonpartisan does not mean bipartisan. When the Packers play the Vikings we don’t want half the referees appointed by the Vikings and half by the Packers. They would never agree on what was pass interference. It is the same with elections. We want the calls made by judges in pinstripes, not wearing the colors of the two teams.

‘Do the right thing’ means looking at the facts and acting to fix problems that are identified but not acting to advance one party over the other ‘just because we can’.

Nonpartisan audits did indicate lapses in the GAB’s performance. Seldom is there an audited agency that does not need improvement in performance. Even the best refs make some bad calls.

Wisconsin lived through extraordinary changes in elections in the past few years. The GAB was at the center of effecting these changes. Unprecedented recall elections happened in 2011 and 2012. During this time GAB oversaw a statewide recount; a redrawing of legislative boundaries that ended in court; an on-again, off-again voter ID that also ended in court and the enactment of 31 separate pieces of legislation affected the agency.

Overall, auditors identified a dozen problems in an agency with 154 separate responsibilities. Lawmakers themselves created some of these problems. For example, auditors pointed out the agency did not complete all the administrative rules related to the training of clerks. The GAB responded that the content of the training for clerks kept changing because of 31 new laws. When the GAB asked the legislature and Department of Administration officials for additional staff, they were told, “No”.

Wisconsin has a decentralized election process: 1,853 municipal clerks and 72 county clerks conduct elections. Keeping clerks supported takes time and staff. The GAB used federal grant money to hire staff. The grant is running out. Lawmakers in the majority on the budget writing committee did not extend the positions beyond the current budget – leaving many GAB staff to wonder about their future.

In other controversial legislation, we see a similar pattern: some problems exist, but rather than tweak the law to fix the problems, conservative interest groups are pushing lawmakers to use the opportunity to tilt the system in favor of partisan advantage.

A hundred years of civil service ought to tell us the system should not be disbanded in favor of opening the door to political positions. Wisconsin’s century and a half old “John Doe” process of investigating crimes may need tweaking. But not allowing investigations of political crimes opens the door to corruption. Couple the “John Doe” bill with unfettered, undisclosed money in campaigns – another bill waiting for Senate action- and Wisconsin will return to the big money heydays of the late nineteenth century.

No voter has told me they want that result.

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout focuses on the campaign finance bills currently moving through the Legislature that favor the rich and well-connected candidates, and open the door to “dark money” contributions where who wrote the check is unknown.

MADISON - “This bill strengthens democracy because it allows more citizens to participate,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal. Vos is the lead author of a bill to overhaul the state’s campaign finance law.

Wisconsin was an early leader in campaign finance reforms of 1911 that limited money in campaigns and provided “rigorous penalties” including disqualifying candidates and sending them to prison. Ironically, the effort over 100 years ago was led by legislative Republicans.

Today’s Assembly leader may advocate for more democracy, but the bill he authored favors the rich and those well-connected candidates. I fear the bill’s effect will be more negative ads, less voter knowledge, more out-of-state contributions, more centralized control by legislative leaders, and an increasingly dispirited electorate.

The bill opens the door to so-called “dark money” or contributions not reported by who wrote the check. Loopholes created in the bill make it unclear which political action committees (PAC) or independent expenditure groups must report donors and campaign spending.

Unlimited campaign contributions are allowed in a host of new areas. Unlimited donations can be made to a PAC or to two new political committee types for a recall or a referendum. This makes me concerned more money and outside groups will try to affect local elections and referendum.

Corporations cannot contribute to candidate campaigns but corporations, labor unions and Native American Tribes can make unlimited contributions to independent expenditure groups, a referendum committee or a special fund for non-candidate contribution purposes run by a political party or a legislative committee (run by legislative leaders).

In addition, unlimited dollars can be moved from a political party or legislative campaign committee to a candidate. The latter increases the hold leaders have over legislative members. The former increases the power of the political party to pick candidates.

Donation limits to candidates’ campaigns are doubled. For example, the current limit for a single individual over a four-year Senate term is $1,000. This limit becomes $2,000 under Vos’ bill.

Who benefits from adding more money to campaigns? An analysis by Nick Heynen of the Wisconsin State Journal, shows that since 2008, $17.8 million in donations that reach the maximum limit were contributed to candidates for statewide office. Almost 60% of this money came from outside Wisconsin.

Donors would not be required to report their employer. This makes it difficult to track the relationship between a company that receives grants or tax credits from the state and donations of their employees to candidates.

Removed from the statute is the purpose of campaign finance laws: The legislature finds and declares that our democratic system of government can be maintained only if the electorate is informed. It further finds that excessive spending on campaigns for public office jeopardizes the integrity of elections….When the true source of support or extent of support is not fully disclosed, or when a candidate becomes overly dependent upon large private contributors, the democratic process is subject to a potential corrupting influence.

Perhaps Speaker Vos found his bill a bit in conflict with the real purpose of campaign finance laws. If he truly wants to improve democracy by increasing citizens’ participation in campaigns, I wonder if he’d join me in supporting an amendment to his bill suggested in the testimony of Matt Rothschild, the executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

In a March hearing, Mr. Rothschild cited one way to amplify the voice of small campaign donors was to use public financing to match – by five times – the donation of anyone who gave $175 or less to a candidate. This sounds like a great way to strengthen democracy.

I haven’t met a single voter who thinks we need more out of state or dark money in Wisconsin elections. Without regard to political affiliation, people think there is already too much influence on elections from outside Wisconsin.

Every donation to influence an election needs to be reported in a way citizens can see who is behind the nasty ads. Not only should groups disclose their donors, they should register every patriotic or feel good name used to influence elections.

We don’t need more dark money. We need more democracy and the best way to get that is to let the light shine in.

Republican politicians in Madison want to replace the Government Accountability Board (GAB) with partisan appointed commissions. The GAB has received national recognition and needs to remain non-partisan. The legislation is rapidly moving through the Legislature.

MADISON - “Wisconsin is the only state with a truly nonpartisan board structure,” wrote Professor Daniel Tokaji in 2013. The Ohio State law professor hailed the Government Accountability Board as “America’s Top Model” of nonpartisan elections.

Clean elections and corruption free elected officials are goals most of us share. Yet few states have laws that truly create a nonpartisan watchdog to assure public confidence. Wisconsin is blessed to be a national leader.

“The United States is an outlier among democratic countries when it comes to the institutions charged with running our democratic elections,” Professor Tokaji wrote in the UC Irvine Law Review. He continued, “There is one conspicuous exception to the partisan character of state election administration: Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB).”

The GAB and its staff have received several awards and accolades.

In January of 2014 the Presidential Commission on Election Administration cited the GAB as a model for improving accessibility to polling places for the disabled. Their frequent and unannounced audits of polling places identified 10,488 issues for disabled voters during the study period April 2011 to April 2013 as reported in a 2014 Legislative Audit Bureau report.

In April of 2014 the PEW Charitable Trusts ranked Wisconsin third in the US for election performance. The nonpartisan group measured elections 17 different ways including ballots rejected, post-election audits, voter turnout, registration rate, waiting time to vote, online voter education materials. PEW researchers reported only Minnesota had a higher voter participation rate than Wisconsin in the 2012 presidential race. Researchers also reported Wisconsin had dramatically improved its data since 2008 – the year the GAB began operations.

These accolades are but a few received by the only nonpartisan state watchdog of elections in the United States. Adding further to the evidence of a well-run government accountability agency, the Legislative Audit Bureau recently released an analysis of complaints and investigations conducted by the GAB and found no major concerns with the activities of the agency. Auditors recommended a quicker resolution to complaints and the GAB responded with a new computer system to track complaints.

As a reward for excellent service to the people of the state, two western Wisconsin legislators, Representatives Dean Knutson and Kathy Bernier, introduced legislation to kill the watchdog and fire its long serving administrator. It is widely believed this legislation is partisan “payback” for investigations in which the GAB was involved.

The bill replaces the nonpartisan judges of the GAB with two partisan appointed commissions to control elections and ethics and creates a partisan confirmed administrator of the commissions.

Notably, the bill restricts the ability of the new commissions to initiate investigations including prohibiting any member of the commissions from submitting a sworn complaint to initiate an investigation. The bill limits money to conduct an investigation to that specified by the legislature – and makes no release of funds. The effect of curtailing access to money is to shut down investigations of illegal activities related to elections, ethics and lobbying.

Currently the GAB has access to funds needed to conduct an ethics or elections violation. The bill forces the commissions to come back to the legislature to beg for money needed to investigate – leaving the lawmakers holding the purse and, essentially, starving the watchdog.

Any current employee or investigation would be reviewed by the politically appointed Secretary of Administration who would direct the transition to the new system, deciding which employees, assets, contracts and other matters are transferred to which of the two new commissions.

The proposed law would be in place for the 2016 elections.

In less than a week the bill has gone from invitation for cosponsors to a full joint hearing – providing citizens with what is likely to be the only opportunity for testimony.

Professor Tokaji concluded his article saying, “the GAB’s experience therefore provides a ray of hope for those of us who believe that the United States should move away from its partisan system of election administration.”

The people of Wisconsin now appear to be the last ray of hope remaining to save the GAB. Please let lawmakers know you want to keep our nonpartisan system of elections and ethics. Our democracy is at stake!

Gov. Walker and GOP lawmakers in Madison want to change the state’s civil service system, eliminating objective civil service exams and replacing them with a subjective review of "qualifications" by their appointees. These changes open the door to hiring partisan political hacks and making party loyalty a qualification for a state job, the very hiring practices that civil service was established to root out.

MADISON - “Please do what you can to stop the dismantling of the civil service system,” Mary from Trempealeau County asked me.

Mary is a retired social worker. Her call is one of a number of contacts I received lately from residents unhappy with a bill that would change state employment. Residents expressed concern that government jobs will be filled with political friends and relatives of those in power and will fail to serve its citizens.

A newly introduced bill would do away with examinations for state jobs. Under the bill, every resume for filling 30,000 state positions would go to the behemoth state Department of Administration (DOA) and into the hands of political appointees. The bill would keep employees on probation for two years and use new vague language to fire state employees.

This language includes as grounds for firing “personal conduct” the boss “determines to be inadequate, unsuitable, or inferior”. This ambiguous rule could become a proxy for political retribution. Is recall petition signing “inadequate” for a social worker? Is singing union songs in the Capitol rotunda “unsuitable” activity for a scientist? How about a state employee attending a rally on off time?

The bill opens the door to an employee hiring process completely controlled by politically appointees hired by the Secretary of Administration.

But to understand the context of the newly proposed law, one must step back and look at changes to state employment – especially major changes made just this summer.

Governor Bob La Follette is credited with creation of Wisconsin’s civil service system. La Follette wrote in his 1912 autobiography that public service “has been democratized by a civil service law opening it to men and women on an equal footing independent of everything except qualification and fitness for office…There is no longer any political pull in Wisconsin.”

Major credit for modernizing the system that eliminated “political pull” should go to Democratic Governor Patrick Lucey and Republican Governor Lee Dreyfus.

In 1976, through executive order, Governor Lucey created the Governor’s Employment Relations Study Commission. The Commission recommended a distinct cabinet department, headed by a Secretary appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The Commission reasoned that policies related to personnel must have “accountability to the executive office, protection from the possibility of manipulation and independence from the general bureaucratic structure.”

According to a paper written by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau “after extensive legislative debate” a new law was passed and signed by Governor Dreyfus creating the Department of Employment Relations. In 2003, the legislature made a number of changes to the department including changing its name to the Office of State Employee Relations (OSER).

The independence of a separate office lasted until this summer when Governor Walker’s budget became law. Tucked into the budget was a provision to eliminate OSER and bury its functions in the Department of Administration. I write ‘bury’ because DOA has a $2 billion budget and over 1,000 employees making the new employment process opaque to legislators and the people of the state.

Efforts to politicize employee relations by the current administration began in 2011 with Act 10. This law took 38 civil service positions and made them political appointments. The law also allowed bosses to turn “other managerial positions” into political appointments. Both the 2011-13 budget and the 2013-15 budget added more political appointment positions.

Changes made in 2011 signaled the intention of the administration. But few paid attention to the signs. As an example, here is what I wrote on March 19, 2011:

Yesterday I had in interview with a reporter, and I told her about what the Governor was doing to our civil service put in place by Bob La Follette - how three dozen civil service jobs were made political appointments; how the definition of a political appointment was made so broad the team leader who helps clean the Capitol could be a political appointment. The reporter had no idea this was in the bill.

That bill became Act 10 – known only for stripping public employees of their labor protections, not stripping the citizens of their good government. With the most recent legislation, intentions to politicize state government just became clearer.

This week, Senator Kathleen Vinehout writes about the award winning work of Wisconsin's nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau as it completes 50 years of exceptional work serving as “the steward of the people’s money.”

MADISON - “Fix the broken programs, get rid of the ones that don’t work and fund those that are working.” There’s not a state candidate around that would disagree with this statement.

Yet there are some in the Legislature that would eliminate the very source of information on which programs are a waste of taxpayer dollars and where the broken programs need fixing.

For fifty years, auditors at the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) have assisted legislators and the people of Wisconsin in answering questions about dollars spent. Questions like, “Did we get our money’s worth out of that program?”

Skilled public sector auditors perform financial audits on various funds in state government, like the lottery or the Patient’s Compensation Fund. They examine federal dollars to assure the state is compliant with federal law in the annual Single Audit. Auditors also review state operations in the LAB review of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Audit released near the end of the year.

The National State Auditors Association recently awarded the highest rating possible to the LAB’s financial audit division. Very experienced auditors put the LAB’s programs and policies through a rigorous review. These examinations are conducted every three years. Wisconsin’s LAB has consistently received the highest ratings possible.

But financial audits are only half of the award winning work done by the LAB. Program evaluations, answering questions like did this program meet its goals, is the other half of the work of the Audit Bureau.

While the work of the financial division seldom makes headlines, the program evaluation auditors often find their work under the spotlight. Recently a GOP Assembly proposal called for eliminating the LAB. Capitol rumors said elimination was in retaliation for the embarrassing failures made public in three audits over the past three years of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC).

But far from cause for elimination of the nonpartisan watchdog, the program auditors of the Legislative Audit Bureau were rewarded with national recognition for their work on WEDC and similar critically important program audits.

The National Legislative Program Evaluation Society recognized the work of the LAB with its distinguished Certificate of Impact for the 2013 FoodShare audit; the 2014 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation audit; and the 2015 Supervised Release Placement and Expenditure audit. The recent national accolades should reassure voters and lawmakers of the LAB’s stellar work.

Too often lawmakers say they want to know which programs work and which do not, but their actions tell us otherwise. Recent actions such as cutting funding for an outside evaluation for the Drug Court (Treatment Alternative Diversion) program. Or by budget action creating four or five alternative tests for students in publically funded private school programs, making accurate comparisons between public and private school student achievement extremely difficult.

Facts matter. Facts lead us to conclusions that might are may not always be popular politically. That’s exactly why we need the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau. If we truly care about creating a well-run state government no one should shy away from the facts nonpartisan auditors present to us – regardless of political implications.

This summer the Beloit Daily News editorialized about the importance of independent agencies in state government. The editorial lauded the LAB saying the agency “has earned a strong reputation for impartiality and independence from partisan political influence.”

Nonpartisan agencies like the Audit Bureau, the Fiscal Bureau and the Government Accountability Board play a key role in a well-functioning state government. The Beloit Daily News warns us:

“TAXPAYERS, TAKE NOTE. Agencies like the GAB, the Audit Bureau and the Fiscal Bureau exist under a mandate to serve truth, not politics. That’s in the best interest of the people, if not the politicians.

“Understandably, the powerful object to any outfit they can’t control. But government watchdogs must not be muzzled and broken to the partisan leash.”

Instead, let us laud the work of our nonpartisan agencies. Join me in congratulating the LAB on excellent accomplishments and national recognition.

And wish the agency another 50 years of exceptional work serving as “the steward of the people’s money.”

This week Senator Vinehout writes about a couple of the latest scams reported by the DATCP Division of Consumer Protection.  People who receive suspicious phone calls or emails should report them to Consumer Protection Investigators.

MADISON - “I got a call saying the IRS was taking me to court, but I filed everything on time. What do I do?” Linda asked. We both agreed the phone call sounded fishy, so I reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to learn more.

The Consumer Protection experts explained there has been an explosion in the number of IRS imposters contacting people and demanding their financial information. Tax identity theft can lead to fraudulent tax filings or use of the victim’s Social Security number.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen stated the first contact with the IRS would be official correspondence sent through the mail. Consumer Protection officials advise never to respond to an email or phone call requesting your Social Security number or other financial information.

Every year I am reminded that scammers and thieves prey on Wisconsinites and they become more sophisticated in their tactics. It is important for everyone to know what to watch for and where to get help.

According to DATCP officials, consumer complaint statistics have been on the rise. They report that scammers and thieves have stepped up efforts to steal people’s money or identity. Sandy Chalmers, Division Administrator of Trade and Consumer Protection, noted that many citizens report, “receiving fraudulent calls offering ‘Credit Card Services’, Microsoft tech support and medical equipment.”

One of the latest scams reported by the Consumer Protection Bureau relates to people receiving emails from the “State Court”. The message falsely claims the person must appear in court on a specific date with documents related to “the case.” DATCP officials warn the email and attachments should be deleted because they contain malicious software that can infect your computer with a virus.

This scam has been reported nationwide. The general rule to know is that Wisconsin courts will not send you email unless you are participating in an electronically filed case or consent to receive electronic court notifications.

Consumer Protection officials noted the other most often reported scam is offers that sound too good to be true. Prize scams offer “official” entry numbers, certificates, and envelopes al or like telegrams to lure you into opening the envelope and returning what is inside. Internet scams offer the promise of quick cash or investment schemes.

“You can be sure you won't win any prize with a brand name, cash, or a government bond. Prizes such as jewelry and watches are junk, vacations are actually vacation certificates hardly worth the paper they're printed on, and shopping sprees amount to coupons that are good only when making purchases,” warns the Senior Alert & Advice page on the Consumer Protection website.

They also warn about the late night calls saying your debit card needs to be re-activated and asks that the card number be entered. The other type of call to be wary of is one that offers lower interest rates on mortgages or credit cards. The caller asks for a credit card number so the lower rate can be “processed.”

The bottom line on all of these types of calls is that the caller is trying to lure you into giving away personal information. The rule of thumb is if someone calls asking for your credit card or bank information over the phone, hang up and report the scam.

A few other rules the Consumer Protection folks reminded me to pass on is do not pay a handling fee or provide a credit card number or information about your savings or checking account to win an award. Also, do not wire a payment or send a check through an express courier service without checking references and contacting the Office of Consumer Protection.

Finally, if you do lose money to a fraudulent telemarketer – REPORT IT! Many people are embarrassed and do not report. That allows the swindler to victimize other people in our community. Wisconsin law has serious penalties for those who engage in such illegal behavior. The best way to protect yourself and others is to be informed and to report any suspicious phone calls or email messages. You can call 800-422-7128 to speak with a consumer protection investigator or file a complaint on-line at https://mydatcp.wi.gov/Complaints.

At a recent Joint Audit Committee hearing, legislators asked WEDC officials if they would implement the latest LAB recommendations to improve Governor Walker’s flagship jobs creation agency. Those questions were not answered in a way that indicated WEDC would take the clearest path to improvement and building public confidence.

MADISON - “Are you going to follow the recommendations in the audit?” I asked the Board Chair of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). He crossed his arms, sat back and smiled at me.

A smile that, to me, said I was annoying him.

The clearest path to better outcomes at Governor Walker’s flagship jobs creation agency is to follow the recommendations of the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB).

However, during a recent and very long public hearing investigating the troubled agency, I repeatedly heard obfuscation, deception and disdain for the law.

Legislators serving on the Joint Audit Committee heard familiar problems: grants and loans given without legal or financial vetting; job creation promises never verified by WEDC officials; inadequate follow-up on companies lacking adequate reports.

The third LAB audit report in three years documents that WEDC has made progress. A financial system is in place (at one time the organization lacked even an accounting system). Credit risk managers review files – some of the time. Contracts are based on requirements in the law – part of the time. Plenty of new policies exist – if only staff would consistently follow these policies.

Dan Ariens serves as the Chair of the WEDC board. It’s a new position to Mr. Ariens. He’s been on the board since the creation of WEDC, but this summer he took over as Board Chair when Governor Walker resigned that position. Mr. Ariens runs a business that manufactures snow blowers and lawn tractors. In a seemingly incestuous tangle, he also serves as Board Chair of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC); one of the largest lobbying groups and ranks high on the list of political spending organizations.

Maybe that is why some of my colleagues were hesitant to pressure WEDC officials into a commitment to follow the law. Not so for Senator Alberta Darling.

During questioning, I pointed to the statute book – Wisconsin’s state laws – and identified page after page of laws WEDC did not follow. I asked officials how people could be confident their tax dollars were well spent when WEDC staff failed to verify whether jobs were actually created. Senator Darling followed my questioning adding, “We need to know the answers to Senator Vinehout’s questions.”

Instead lawmakers heard explanations like “we need to make the organization as fluid as possible so we’re not handcuffed by policies.” Never mind that for this quasi-public entity, “policies” serve in place of administrative rules and are designed to carry out the law.

In response to questions by Representative Berceau about contracts that did not follow the law, the Chief Legal Counsel answered, “We are not so arrogant to think the law doesn’t apply to us.” Their actions tell us otherwise.

The recent Audit Committee public hearing provided WEDC’s top brass an opportunity to turn the page. With a sincere apology, they could begin to renew the public’s faith in the organization; address poor decisions head on, improve legislative relations and gain back good will.

Instead, the CEO didn’t even attend the hearing despite the meeting being changed to accommodate his schedule. The Board Chair appeared aloof; his answers were often cagey. The Chief Legal Counsel teetered between whitewashing the truth and denying recent violations by claiming problems were in the past.

The Harvard Business Review might be somewhere in WEDC’s office. After all, the agency touts its ability to operate like a business. I’d suggest the WEDC folks take a look at the most recent issue.

Professors Schweitzer, Brooks and Galinsky offer practical guidelines for when top leadership should apologize. “The bottom line for serious transgressions: Senior leadership must immediately express candor, remorse and a commitment to change in a high profile setting – and make it sincere.”

The recent Audit Committee hearing provided a perfect opportunity for WEDC to come clean and start over. Instead, without a sincere apology, they risk more bad news and yet another scathing audit.

The economic development community wants to turn the page on WEDC’s problems. A simple, unqualified “Yes” to my question about following the LAB recommendations would be a great first step. But without a clear commitment to change and real remorse for actions, WEDC’s redemption appears doubtful.

Sitting by the window and waiting. Elderly and disabled stranded when company did not deliver rides.

MADISON - “Just how many ‘no shows’ are acceptable?” I asked Medicaid Director Kevin Moore at a recent Audit Committee Hearing. “Is 4,154 people left without a ride too many?”

Wisconsin needs a different system for getting seriously ill elderly and disabled to their medical appointments. A recent audit showed poor services provided by a private company contracted to give rides to some elderly and disabled.

A Rock County resident arranged for a wheelchair van. But the vehicle sent did not have a wheelchair lift. The wheelchair bound person missed their appointment. A developmentally disabled Dane County person walked home in a thunderstorm after being stranded at the clinic. A paralyzed Richland County resident could not get a ride to a surgery appointment.

These are just a few of the cases from a recent audit conducted by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau. Auditors wrote, “from August 2013 through June 2014, we found 4,154 instances in which transportation providers did not arrive to provide a scheduled trip and 55,320 instances in which they arrived more than 15 minutes late to take recipients to their appointments.”

The State Medicaid Director has a contract with a private St. Louis-based firm, Medical Transportation Management (MTM), to provide non-emergency medical transportation to almost 70,000 people in Wisconsin. MTM is a “broker” which organizes rides to pick up and deliver Medicaid recipients to medical appointments.

I have received many complaints from families, patients and local transportation companies. One disabled resident in Black River Falls told me about traveling in a van with no heater on a cold Wisconsin winter day. An Eau Claire woman waited more than an hour for a ride with her sick daughter. When constituents tried to complain they ended up getting the run-around.

Medical transportation companies – hired by MTM – were so discouraged that over half of them responding to an Audit Bureau survey said they were dissatisfied or strongly dissatisfied with MTM. Scheduling was one area of concern.

The audit reported on many problems, including examples of poor management. Auditors found that MTM sent faxes to transportation companies requesting a ride after the trip was supposed to be provided. They then charged the company with failing to provide the trip.

The disastrous treatment of Wisconsin transportation companies has led to a huge exodus of companies willing to provide rides for medical visits to Medicaid recipients. Prior to the brokerage system, Janet Zander testified, “Wisconsin had approximately 200 specialized medical vehicle (SMV) providers. Today, there are only about 80 providers operating in the state.” Especially hard hit are rural areas.

Mr. Moore, the Medicaid Director, testified he accepted the auditors’ recommendations and was amending the contract with MTM. “We know there are challenges that we didn’t know before the audit,” he told the committee. “We’ve taken aggressive action.” He also encouraged people to let him know if things were not working. “If we don’t know what’s wrong, we can’t fix it. If they [riders] don’t complain, we won’t know. Please call us.”

Many advocates testified that the system was not set up to succeed. “The broker is paid for all rides, regardless of whether the ride shows up or gets a rider to their destination late,” said one advocate. This system creates a “perverse incentive” that encourages MTM to skimp on providing services. When they skimp, others sometimes pick up the cost. Molly Nolte from Rock County told of services so poor the county dipped into its own limited funds to provide rides.

Ms. Zander and many other advocates told committee members that without an adequate transportation system for the elderly and disabled to get to medical appointment, more folks would end up sicker, in the hospital, with the state spending more.

“We need a complete overhaul of this system,” testified Representative Peter Barca who spearheaded efforts to approve the audit. He listed several ways in which the current system rewards MTM to discourage riders and pay for fewer rides. “We need to look at a different type of contract.”

I agree. Even majority party members of the Joint Finance Committee agree. They added a pilot study to explore a new system into the state budget. The governor vetoed the idea.

This week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the lack of K-12 Teachers in Wisconsin.

PLUM CITY, WI - “Please sound the alarm,” Superintendent Mary Baier wrote to me. “We are not able to find people to fill positions in Wisconsin.” She needed a special education teacher and only one applicant had applied to her rural Plum City district.

When the school bells ring across Wisconsin, parents expect classrooms to be filled with qualified teachers. But a dramatic decline in education majors at university-based programs and an exodus of both newly minted and experienced teachers have left Wisconsin parents asking, “Who will teach our children?”

The “impending crisis” is here.

Schools are scrambling to find qualified teachers. For example, less than a month before school started, News 8 WKBT reported the La Crosse district needed to fill 23 positions.

Districts have done more with less for years. Existing teachers covered more classes and received cross training. Districts asked current teachers to go back to school and obtain certification in different subjects. Local schools already share many teachers, guidance counselors and other staff. Teachers move between schools, between districts and even across state lines during the course of their workweek.

Some districts use special “waivers,” or permission to bend the rules on teacher certification, allowing a district to place an unqualified teacher in a position as long as that teacher seeks proper certification.

But the teacher shortage is growing and it affects urban, suburban and rural schools.

Christine Hedstrom works in Human Resources for the Waukesha School District. She told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “You could technically start a school year without an administrator in place, but you need to have a teacher in the classroom.”

But rural schools are particularly hard hit.

Rural schools often have fewer options and already greatly diminished choices for students. They’ve already combined, shared, downsized and cross-trained. Having a teacher in the classroom may not even be possible in some local rural classrooms.

A rural western Wisconsin district board member told me, “We are starting the school year with two positions unfilled”- one of the positions was a Spanish language teacher. “I guess we’ll have to use some type of video/distance learning option,” the board member told me. “But that’s not a good way for students to learn a language.” Spanish is the only foreign language available to students in this rural district.

When I asked folks why we had a teacher shortage, I heard several comments over and over. “Fewer students going into teaching.” “New graduates not staying in Wisconsin.” “More teachers retiring or leaving the profession.” “Teaching is no longer a valued profession.”

The Wisconsin Budget Project reported over the last eight years the number of teachers in Wisconsin public schools fell by nearly 3,000 even as school enrollment increased.

They also reported on a troubling decline in experienced teachers. "In the 2013-14 school year, teaching staff of 39% of school districts had an average of 15 or more years of experience. That share has fallen dramatically since the 2004-05 school year, when 58% of school districts has a teaching staff with an average of 15 or more years or more of experience.”

Not surprisingly, fewer students are entering the education profession. Statistics from the United States Department of Education show a dramatic drop in the number of university students learning to be teachers in Wisconsin. In 2011, 12,624 education majors were enrolled in all types of university-based programs. By 2014, this number had dropped by almost a quarter to 9,563 education majors.

Of course, in 2011, we saw the passage of anti-public employee legislation in Act 10 and the largest cut to public education in Wisconsin’s history. It’s not hard to imagine why a college student might decide to change majors following the words and actions of many elected leaders.

The future troubles many education professionals with whom I spoke. Just who will teach the children born in 2020?

“As we move forward, my largest concern is the quality of teachers. We have become a state that doesn’t value quality education. Why would anyone go into teaching?” Superintendent Baier asked.

I remind my colleagues who voted for Act 10 and the budgets that created this problem just what my mother told me eons ago as I answered that first school bell.

Actions have consequences.

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about Gov. Scott Walker’s recently revealed health care plan, what the Affordable Care Act (ACA) does for all of us, and how the governor contradicts himself.

ALMA, WI - “ObamaCare must be repealed immediately,” begins Governor Walker’s health plan for America.

Recently the governor unveiled his health plan to eliminate the Affordable Care Act (ACA). He chose Minnesota as the backdrop - a state whose state-based marketplace offers health premiums to families that are over three hundred dollars less a month than Wisconsin’s federal marketplace according to research by the Commonwealth Fund.

In his new plan, the governor would give states the ability to create high-risk insurance pools – something Wisconsin had and Walker repealed in his 2013 budget. If we had kept this high-risk pool for a few more years, premiums in Wisconsin – for those who buy insurance on their own or as a small business – would have likely been lower.

Walker’s new plan would allow farmers and others to band together in health insurance cooperatives – something Wisconsin law and the Affordable Care Act already allow.

The governor says his plan would encourage flexibility in state insurance laws and “allow plans to be sold across state lines”. However, “selling plans across state lines” is really insurance industry code words for eliminating state regulation. You cannot both increase state regulations and get rid of them.

Walker’s team wrote, “My plan would give states increased flexibility. For example, it is likely many states would choose to extend rules allowing young people to stay on their parents’ plan. Some states, including Wisconsin, extended this option to young people before ObamaCare’s federal mandate.”

This statement is in direct conflict with his actions. When the governor signed his 2011 budget, he repealed the state law I authored to keep adult children on their parents plan until age 27.

The governor ended his proposal by calling out Democrats and then taking credit for the BadgerCare coverage expanded under Democrats.

The good news – for those of us enthusiastic about health care for all – is that health was the first major policy proposal put forth by the governor-want-to-be-president.

Governor Walker knows health is still a top political issue.

But repealing ObamaCare may not be the best political wagon upon which to hitch your presidential campaign. In a recent poll of 1,200 adults, Kaiser Family Foundation found people are about evenly split on attitudes toward the health law (44% favorable, 41% unfavorable) but are overwhelmingly concerned about prescription drugs. Respondents, including a large majority of Republicans, say drug costs are unreasonable (72%), drug companies put profits before people (74%). Respondents agree with requiring drug companies to release to the public how they set their prices (86%) and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices (83%).

Only 28% of the 1,200 adults responding to the August poll said they want the Affordable Care Act repealed.

People like covering their adult children on their insurance until age 26. They don’t want 19 million people to lose health insurance. Most people think women should not be charged higher premiums than men. People like the preventive services now covered by Medicare and don’t want to pay exorbitant drug costs when they fall into Medicare’s ‘doughnut hole’. And most people don’t think a friend diagnosed with cancer should lose his or her health insurance.

People want Congress and those at the statehouses to solve problems, not play politics. If I heard this once at the local fairs, I heard it a hundred times. When I wrote to constituents that the governor’s just-signed state budget included health provisions that would likely break federal law, I also heard back from folks saying they did not want the governor’s political ambitions to drive the state budget.

Over the next year, the state will apply for several “waivers” or special permission from the feds to change programs for those of modest means - BadgerCare and long-term care for frail elderly and disabled folks - FamilyCare and IRIS.

New drug testing requirements, dropping BadgerCare recipients after 48 months (for those without children at home) and giving disabled and frail elderly no other option than a for-profit HMO might make good political fodder but probably don’t jive with federal law.

Governor Walker makes a lot of health care promises, but we must question if his proposals put health insurance companies ahead of people’s health.

This week Sen. Vinehout writes about broadband access and the frustrations of people that live in rural areas that are not served or the service is very poor. This impacts not only people’s homes but also businesses. The way territories are carved out and companies have exclusive territories makes what one person describes as “little pockets of nowhere”.

LA CROSSE, WI - “It’s pedal to the metal on broadband policy—for both consumers and competitors,” said Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler at a recent address to the Brookings Institute as reported on a Brookings website.

Internet in rural Wisconsin is closer to Pony Express than “pedal to the metal.”

That’s the general consensus of folks at the Pierce County Fair.

“AT&T is the largest carrier in the world and they won’t come to my house,” Tammy Tollefson told me. AT&T provided phone service to her rural Pierce County residence but not broadband. “We are literally the last mile,” she said.

The family has tried everything: dial up, hot spots, “ISBN” a system that used two phone lines, “Nextera” wireless, satellite. Nothing provided the service Tammy needed for her job – working for a nonprofit based out of her home. “We use Sococo, a virtual office where you can go into someone’s office and have a private conversation or set up a meeting in a virtual conference room.”

Tammy is not alone. Many people in rural Wisconsin work from their homes. They deal with the frustrations of broadband – or lack thereof – every day. My next-door neighbor left rural Alma because he didn’t have Internet speeds to run his furniture design business. He ended up moving to South Africa.

When Tammy heard I was interested in finding a solution, she put together a map of Pierce County and asked fairgoers to mark their location on the map with sticky stars of different colors depending on their Internet satisfaction.

What we learned was striking. Folks in River Falls had excellent service. But right outside River Falls – in a rural stretch of land heading toward Hudson – folks had AT&T cables running near them but could not get broadband.

“I’ve got AT &T cables running through my front yard,” a father of young children told me, “but they won’t serve me. My Internet service is really bad.”

Whole areas in the county appeared to be completely unserved. For example, the entire area around Beldenville was filled with red and orange stars – signifying poor or no Internet service.

I spoke with two county board members who were working the booth next to me. One of them said, “It’s like electricity territories. The FCC set up where telephone companies originally put their lines and that company totally controls that territory.” These territories don’t follow any natural or political subdivision borders – different companies could serve people in the same township. I learned that seven different companies serve Pierce County. Tammy described this piecemeal system as creating “little pockets of nowhere.”

Why do phone companies that control a certain territory not provide Internet service to their customers? The county board members told me, “AT&T has no interest in expanding.”

Problems are so great that a year ago University of Wisconsin - River Falls teamed with local economic development folks to do a survey of Internet service. The survey results showed half of the respondents were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with their current Internet provider. Half of businesses surveyed did not have broadband service. The vast majority of these businesses were interested in obtaining fiber optic access. The UWRF team estimated about 13% of households and 16% of businesses responded to the survey.

I learned the town of Troy used stimulus money to lay fiber optic cable to every house in the Township. A recent FCC ruling may allow municipalities to cross the “walls” marking territory and build out into neighboring territory.

Broadband service isn’t the only modern convenience lacking in Wisconsin. Our fair booth Internet map was so popular, we ran out of material. Just calling Tammy to ask for more supplies was one “Can you hear me now?” after another as I moved around the fairgrounds in Ellsworth to get a cell phone signal.

The folks watching me laughed as I planted myself to deliver a few sentences. “Maybe you need a cell phone map too,” one of them said.

“God bless you for trying to solve this problem,” Tammy told me. “Of all the modern conveniences – we are so far behind other countries all over Europe, South America, even Korea of all places.”

This week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the WEDC and problems plaguing this entity. The Legislative Joint Audit Committee will be meeting to discuss the latest LAB audit findings which show WEDC still has work to do to improve.

MADISON - Imagine how private firms do business with the State of Wisconsin. The companies provide something of value for taxpayers and, in return, receive state money.

This happens all the time in state government: private companies build roads, computer systems, pay Medicaid bills, and even educate children.

What if the sole reason tax dollars went to a company was to create jobs?

Recognizing that taxpayers would want to know companies were actually creating jobs, lawmakers wrote state law requiring verification of information sent by businesses applying for tax dollars. Not really a whole lot different than making sure road builders actually poured the required amount of concrete on our roads.

But the public accountability is a lot less when it comes to job creation.

In 2011, Governor Walker established the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), which administers 29 economic development programs funded almost entirely with state money.

WEDC’s name is misleading – it is not a corporation. It is a state ‘authority’ and is – or should be – accountable to taxpayers for dollars it spends. That’s why the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has been auditing WEDC since its creation.

Findings from the LAB May 2015 audit revealed that WEDC awarded grants and loans to companies to create or retain jobs, but WEDC staff did not require those companies to submit payroll or other records showing that jobs were actually created or retained.

WEDC staff wrote off some loans not collected, deferred payments due and forgave loans. Program reports did not contain clear, accurate or complete information on outcomes. In some cases, the WEDC Board actually created policies in direct conflict with state law.

Evidence in several audits show WEDC broke state and federal laws. Illegal action in approving Community Development Block Grants led to fines that are still being paid by taxpayers.

During its first three and one half years, WEDC staff didn’t independently verify the job creation or retention information by annually reviewing a sample of grant and loan recipients, as required by state law. They allocated tax credits to projects that started before the company actually contracted with WEDC to start the project. WEDC staff did not consistently collect companies’ verified financial statements for recipients of certain grants and loans.

So, what is the answer to questions about job creation or if the 29 programs were successful? The answer is “We don’t know.” Early in WEDC’s existence, zero jobs were independently verified – which was in direct conflict with state law.

The May 2015 audit is the fourth in two years reporting similar findings.

If a program in any other part of state government failed to follow state laws and failed to deliver goods and services bought with state tax dollars, the public and the press would hound lawmakers until they shut down the program or made massive changes.

It is not so with WEDC. Only recently, after pressure from legislators did the Joint Legislative Audit Committee Co-Chairs schedule a public hearing on the May audit. During this public hearing, scheduled for September 2nd, I expect WEDC officials to try to discredit the stellar work of the nonpartisan LAB.

Two concepts are important to remember in reading any news account of the upcoming hearing. What does it mean to verify or make sure jobs were actually created? Is WEDC required to follow state law on when and how to award state tax dollars?

WEDC officials claim that asking a company to sign a “progress report” form is measure enough the company has created the jobs. They also argue laws were not broken even though auditors reported numerous instances when contracts were written or amended and even board policies were created in violation of state law.

In any other part of state government executives would be fired and programs eliminated with the type of negative results found in just one audit – not four audits in two years.

WEDC officials claim they created a ‘business friendly’ environment and placing too many restrictions on businesses receiving state money might discourage the business from applying for grants or tax credits in the first place.

But, if we can’t ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent, why do we have these programs?

August is a time for all of us to step back from politics and enjoy the world around us. So this week Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the annual tradition of the county fairs and shares details about what she saw and heard at them.

ALMA, WI - “We were working on a peach pie at 11:00 pm last night,” a 4-H mom whispered. “We were working on brownies at 2:00 am,” said another mom who overhead the conversation.

We were outside the 4-H food judging at the Pepin County Fair. You could have heard a pin drop inside the room as the judges sampled the entries. “What a great job,” I thought. “Dessert judge at the county fair.”

County fairs have a deep tradition in our state. Thousands of families, FFA members, 4-Hers and other youth poured their time, energy, talent and creativity into projects exhibited at Wisconsin’s many county fairs.

“Did you see the chicken made of egg shells?” the superintendent of crafts and woodworking at the Trempealeau County Fair asked as I walked through the craft building. He led me over to the top prizewinners on special display.

Indeed, there was a chicken made of broken brown eggshells. Each flawlessly placed shell piece matched the shade and shape of the shells around it and covered the perfectly shaped chicken.

“How did she get the beak to fit together?” I wondered out loud. “It’s a Styrofoam mold underneath that she carved,” the superintendent explained. I very much admired her amazingly detailed work.

“Over here,” the superintendent showed me the woodworking and mechanical-type entries. Beautiful hardwood tables were finished to a shine. He showed me an incredibly large doghouse, complete with shingles and a gutter system that filled up the dog’s water bowl - ingenious.

“His dad helped him design and build the house,” the superintendent said. “How did he transport it?” I asked. “It’s got wheels. He just rolled it in.”

“Transport problems? You ought to see this.” He led me over to the mechanical toys. In the corner was a huge contraption. It is hard to describe the contraption except that it was over five feet tall and had what looked like lots of Ferris wheels connected to each other with all kinds of other mechanisms attached.

“It really works,” the superintendent told me. “The young man who built it had it running for the judge. But you should have seen the family get it here. Dad drove the truck with the trailer and the young man and grandpa held it steady in the trailer.”

I marveled at the complexity of this mechanistic wonder - gears, flags, wheels, and poles – very small, intricate mechanical parts.

Amazing work was also done by youth showing cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, rabbits, chickens, and llamas.

At the Eau Claire County Youth Fair, the beef judge complemented the 4th through 6th graders that bravely led market weight steers and full-grown cows.

“This youngster has been in the show ring all day,” said the judge. “She’s doing a marvelous job with that steer. He goes where she wants and he’s 12 times her size.”

Fairs are also a great way to catch up with your neighbors and extended family. All the relatives come out to see the youngsters show; and neighbors provide a friendly rivalry whether it is with the cattle or the corn.

I enjoy the fairs for so many reasons. One reason is the relaxed, friendly, rural environment of the fair helps folks more freely share what’s really on their mind.

“Just for the record,” the man at the Jackson County Fair told me “we shouldn’t finance that stadium for the Bucks. The money should have gone into the roads. The Jackson County roads are a mess.”

Indeed. Jackson County is turning some asphalt roads back into gravel. The growing sand mines are adding exponentially more wear and tear to the rural roads.

One man followed me from the Trempealeau County Fair to the Jackson County Fair and finally to the Buffalo County Fair before he caught up with me. “I waited an hour here to see you,” he told me. I was impressed.

Many folks had issues with some form of government they wanted help resolving. That’s good. Others just wanted someone like me to hear their opinions. That’s good too.

Miss me at the fair? I’m headed to Pierce County next. See you there!

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about the 50th birthday of Medicare and Medicaid. These health programs provide access for the elderly and people without the means to purchase health insurance. Medicare moved many elderly out of poverty and Medicaid is important not only to those covered but the health providers which serve them.

ALMA, WI - “Whatever you do,” the elderly woman in Gilmanton told me a few years ago, “Keep your government-run hands off my Medicare.”

Medicare and Medicaid turned 50 years old on July 30, 2015. After decades of political leaders grappling on the issue of health care, it was in 1965, that then President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law.

Today we take for granted what was a seminal political accomplishment. Medicare, a federally run program, provides health care for those over 65 through a Social Security payroll tax. Medicaid, a state and federally administered health program, provides aid for the poor. Both are government-run.

The Center for Medicaid Advocacy reported that before Medicare, less than 50% of elders had health insurance and 35% lived in poverty. By the 1970s, 96% of seniors were covered.

In our current era of health care controversy, we often forget the past political struggles. President Johnson sent “Medicare” bills to Congress in 1961 and 1962. Congress did not even give the bill a hearing until 1963.

Success in Medicare and Medicaid legislation was finally achieved through political compromise. Medicare “Part A” benefited hospitals. “Part B” benefited the oppositional Medical Society.

The concept of a ‘fiscal intermediary’ or the ‘moneyman in the middle’ that paid providers was a nod to hospitals and especially physicians who worried the legislation would open the door to ‘socialized medicine’, which they feared would drive down physicians’ salaries. To address this fear, Medicare paid physicians ‘usual’ and ‘customary’ fees; and what began as a creation of the hospitals and the doctors: Blue Cross (hospital insurance) and Blue Shield (physician coverage) pay providers of Medicare coverage.

While Medicare for all elderly – not just poor elderly – was a victory for Johnson, Medicaid – care of the poor – benefited those without the means for health care as well as doctors and hospitals.

Many hospitals have their genesis in care of the poor. Religious organizations served the poor through “hostels” during the Middle Ages. Wealthy individuals could afford private doctors and live-in nurses. Poor folks had no choice but charity.

In the mid-twentieth century, unions had raised wages and benefits. Health care became a standard benefit. However, left out were the elderly (who worked prior to the strength of unions) and the poor who worked in ‘day-labor’ without union representation.

Hospitals continued charity care but realized the benefits of a program that covered poorer folks. About the time of the first hearing on Johnson’s ‘Medicare’ bill, the Hospital Association dropped its opposition because they realized the potential benefits of Medicare and Medicaid.

The original compromise that created Medicare and Medicaid was never designed to control health costs or to cover preventive or maintenance of health care. Johnson’s compromise was designed to pass the legislation.

Over the years, health costs have grown and government has put in place a number of ‘cost savings’ measures. Blue Cross and Blue Shield eventually divested themselves of their founders: the hospitals and physicians. They even divested of their non-profit roots in Wisconsin and many other places. Medicare moved toward a plethora of for-profit insurance plans - with mixed results.

Within states, the mechanisms for administering Medicaid increasingly involved contracts with for-profit companies. In Wisconsin, these costs more than doubled in the last 5 years. The budget just passed provided a 20% cost increase for health administration contracts with private companies.

Medicare and Medicaid continue to struggle balancing costs and quality care. In Wisconsin Medicaid takes up 32% of the total (all funds) state budget and is growing faster than any other program. About 80% of the over $2 billion increase in state spending went to Medicaid.

Increases in costs and the number of elders caused some to speak of “phasing out” Medicare. Do we really want to go back to a world where 35 out of 100 seniors live in poverty?

Future generations will grapple with balancing health costs, high quality and access. There are answers. One of the unsung successes of the Affordable Care Act is the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Using science and best practices in health care can help manage costs and provide high quality coverage for generations to come.