Progressive Thinking

Senator Smith explores new opportunities for Republicans and Democrats to work together for solving Wisconsin’s challenges.

MADISON - The New Year is a time to look ahead, set goals, and make changes for the better. The best way forward is to glance backward, taking stock of what went well and what can be improved. Then, with last year in the rearview mirror, we can focus on how to make big impacts for the year ahead.

Last week I wrote about some of the bipartisan highlights we experienced throughout 2023. The first of our two-year biennial session is complete and the end of session is quickly approaching in May. There’s so much more to accomplish before legislators hit the road for campaign season.

Child care continues to remain the most pressing issue our growing families face each day. Without long term investments in programs like Child Care Counts, our economy will spiral out of control. Child Care Counts was a successful program borne out of the pandemic that helped child care workers earn a better wage and employers to retain quality early-childhood educators all while keeping the costs lower for families. Child Care Counts kept parents in the workforce and money in the pockets of the people who were spending it in our local economy.

Republicans have had numerous chances to extend the program and a multi-billion dollar surplus leaves us no excuse to not make this critical investment in our workforce and the development of our youngest. Thankfully Governor Tony Evers (D) was able to use $170 million in emergency funding until June 2025. Our kids deserve better than a patch job. Wisconsin needs a long term solution for parents to stay in the workforce and for kids to have the early education they need to excel in life. We can get the job done, but it’ll take a big bipartisan lift in the years ahead.

There’s been a seismic shift in Wisconsin and nationally how we utilize renewable energy. Partisan disagreement is fading when it comes to climate-friendly energy alternatives. Businesses enjoy a better bottom line, residents can breathe better air quality and we can make the improvements needed to curb climate change now for our future generations. Our new energy infrastructure is coming from numerous sources spread over a wider area. That means infrastructure investments to transfer power from solar fields to subdivisions will need to be made.

The bill called, “Right of First Refusal” (ROFR) is making its way through the legislature. ROFR ensures that investments going to Wisconsin’s grid are done by energy providers we’ve trusted for decades instead of opening the door to out-of-state companies that are more interested in turning a profit than properly and efficiently serving customers. ROFR has bipartisan support and there’s a good chance it can pass into law before the end of session in May.

Another New Year opportunity that’s gaining traction is Final Five Voting. A couple weeks ago I spelled out the advantages for adopting Final Five Voting in our federal U.S. Senate and House of Representative elections. Simply put, this bill allows voters to vote for one person in the primary, regardless of political party. During the general election, voters can list their preference for the candidates as first, second, third, fourth and fifth. An instant runoff occurs and the lowest performing candidates are eliminated, each person’s votes goes to the next pick on their ballot until only two candidates are left. The candidate with the most votes wins.

This bill is a great opportunity for voters to have candidates more interested in them instead of trashing their opponents. In addition to a more civil dialogue, it might even encourage ordinary citizens to run for office. It’ll be tough to get it done this session, but we will continue to push for a better alternative for voters to have their voices heard.

We’ve accomplished a lot last year and we have so many opportunities to build on our bipartisan work. There will undoubtedly be plenty of partisan squawking from legislators on each side of the aisle. However, if last year is was an indicator for what we can accomplish together, then Wisconsin is in store for some big opportunities in the New Year.

Senator Smith represents District 31 in the Wisconsin State Senate. The 31st Senate District includes all of Buffalo, Pepin and Trempealeau counties and portions of Pierce, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson and St. Croix counties.

Senator Smith looks back at the bipartisan achievements of 2023 and the hope for continued collaboration in the New Year. Have a happy holidays!

BRUNSWICK, WI - While this is the time of year for reflection, it’s also a time when we should look forward. Families may have celebrated weddings, births and other life changing events – these are the hallmarks of our past year. In the political sphere, headlines usually focus on events that are not so positive. Constructive bipartisan accomplishments are worth commemorating and remembering as we start the New Year.

Wisconsin has a biennial legislative session, so in the odd-numbered year, the legislature and governor go right to work on the next biennial budget. Certainly many of us would have liked a final budget that reflected priorities Governor Evers had placed in his proposal. But, like each budget presented by the governor since winning his election in 2018, the Republican-led Joint Committee on Finance rejected it and crafted their own version.

Trashing the Governor’s budget wasn’t the best way to start bipartisanship this year, however, both Democrats and Republicans got the job done for UW-Eau Claire’s Science and Health Sciences building. That’s huge for the UWEC, the Eau Claire community, the Chippewa Valley region and our state. It’s an investment we can truly tout as a positive, bipartisan accomplishment. I hope you can be as excited as I am to see how the unique partnership between Mayo Clinic and UWEC plays out for our region being a leader in rural healthcare.

For decades towns, villages and cities saw their share of state revenue declining. Revenue limits made it impossible for communities to keep up with inflation. Year after year, it became harder for local governments to meet the needs and expectations of their citizens. During the 2022 campaign, incumbents and challengers alike promised that shared revenue would be a top priority. We all know how campaign promises don’t always pan out, but this bipartisan effort to fix shared revenue became real in 2023. In fact, the shared revenue bill was finished before the budget. This bipartisan achievement will pay dividends for our local communities for years to come.

A real headline grabber was state funding to upgrade the Brewers stadium. It captured the attention and imagination of the press and public. Opinions were all over the place about why public money should go toward a professional sports stadium. The state of Wisconsin is the owner and landlord of the property, and we have the responsibility to maintain it. I’m proud of the fact that, when the bill came to the Senate, we were able to foster a bipartisan partnership to protect our state’s interests, fulfill our obligations and keep the Brewers in Wisconsin. On top of it all, we found a way to direct more resources to communities in every corner of Wisconsin and up the contribution by the Brewers to fund the final deal.

Another bipartisan effort to highlight that will pay off for rural Wisconsin was the creation of the Agricultural Road Improvement Program. This program offers a one-time $150 million investment to fix and upgrade deteriorating infrastructure to benefit agriculture. Keeping agricultural goods flowing through Wisconsin benefits everyone in our state.

Before we broke for the holidays, Republicans and Democrats teamed up again to modernize Wisconsin’s alcohol regulations. This overhaul legislation makes many changes to Wisconsin current alcohol regulations and creates a new state office to implement and oversee them. Some of the beneficial changes are allowing wineries to stay open as long as bars and local brewers can now sell out-of-state beer and own off-site locations. This bill was good for enhancing oversight while also creating new opportunities for our local wineries and craft brewers.

Democrats and Republicans may fight like cats and dogs at times, but when we work together, we can accomplish great things. Here’s to hoping 2023 was the bipartisan bedrock we can build on moving into 2024.

Senator Smith represents District 31 in the Wisconsin State Senate. The 31st Senate District includes all of Buffalo, Pepin and Trempealeau counties and portions of Pierce, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson and St. Croix counties.

Senator Smith writes about his bipartisan bill to create final five voting for U.S. Senate and Representative elections.

MADISON - Under the current lay of the land, the political parties are in control – that means the most important part of the U.S. Senate and House of Representative elections occurs during the primary election. Senators and representatives run further to the right or left to appease their base electorate to get out of the primary as the winner rather than what might be best for the general public. Elections are too important to have a partisan primary voting system that forces voters to choose only between two candidates for the general election.

Final five voting offers voters choices and it will force candidates and your elected officials to be more responsive to you. I’ve introduced this bipartisan bill (2023 Senate Bill 528) with Senator Jesse James (R-Altoona), Representative Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee) and Representative Ron Tusler (R-Harrison).

This is how it works:

1. All candidates who fulfill the expectations to run for office are listed together on the same ballot in the primary, regardless of party affiliation. The five candidates who receive the most votes will advance to the general election.

2. On the general election ballot, voters will rank their choices of the final five. A voter’s top choice would be number one, then he or she may select a 2^nd choice, 3^rd choice, 4^th choice and 5^th choice. After all the votes are cast, an instant runoff occurs. It will eliminate the lowest performing candidates and automatically transfer the voter’s vote to next highest ranked candidate until only two candidates remain. The candidate with the most votes between the two remaining candidates wins.

Some politicians fear changes such as rank choice voting. Answering to voters is oftentimes their main concern. Just last week, legislators circulated a constitutional amendment to ban ranked choice voting from becoming an option in Wisconsin.

Opponents claim rank choice voting can be complicated and clumsy. For instance, without the open primary like we used in SB 528, there might be 35 candidates on the ballot which voters would need to rank. Yes, simply using rank choice voting without the primary to whittle it down to 5 candidates would be messy like it has been in some locales. The key is the open primary where the voter only votes for one candidate of their choice to advance to the general election.

The La Crosse Tribune recently wrote an editorial supporting final five voting. Their sentiment hit the nail on the head when they wrote, “The problem is that the voters are losing. Solution-based legislation is losing. Good governance is losing. Democracy is losing. Who is winning? Special-interest groups that fund the extremes and count on the gridlock of status quo to paralyze responsible governance.”

Under final five voting, candidates for federal office must be more responsive to the voters from the start. As lawmakers in Washington they must listen to the public. They must spend less time and resources bashing other candidates or their ideas because they may need that 2^nd or 3^rd choice from supporters of their rival. A more civil and constructive campaign happens. Radical agendas lose and civil candidates can win.

While voters get more civil engagement, ordinary citizens may also feel more compelled to run for office. Voters may see more idea sharing in campaigns and, once elected, your elected officials should be more willing to work with everyone across all political stripes. They will become less interested in their political party and special interests and more interested in you. The voters become the winners under final five voting.

As Republican U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin’s 8th District said, “At a time of intense partisanship, we’re in dire need of solutions. This idea is not just a good place to start, but a way for our state to revitalize its rich history in political innovation.”

Something must change, but nothing changes if we don’t try.

Senator Smith represents District 31 in the Wisconsin State Senate. The 31st Senate District includes all of Buffalo, Pepin and Trempealeau counties and portions of Pierce, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson and St. Croix counties.

Senator Smith writes about Speaker Robin Vos and the Republicans’ attempt to ransom UW employee pay raises and scrub DEI initiatives from the University of Wisconsin campuses.

MADISON - In September I wrote about Republicans gaslighting students into thinking they are being indoctrinated by universities. In other words, students are being told they are wrong for owning their vision of what the future holds for them and how they are shaping our society.

Over the weekend, the Board of Regents for the University of Wisconsin rejected Speaker Robin Vos’ (R-Burlington) attempt to ransom pay raises for UW employees and a new engineering building at UW-Madison for pushing his conservative ideals across all our campuses. It was a brave move to reject this false choice between funding and striving for diverse, equitable and inclusive campuses and initiatives. Speaker Vos’ rhetoric about the UW System has been mean-spirited and inaccurate. We are long overdue for someone to stand up against his tyrannical approach to governance.

The UW’s primary job is to help young adults become ready to face the world they plan to live in, work in and participate as an adult. The foundation of the University of Wisconsin is the Wisconsin Idea. It goes beyond just the classroom. The university system shapes our identity as a state, contributes to our nation and builds up our communities with students knowledgeable and capable to make a difference in our society.

DEI is a huge part of that mission – lifting up and offering access to everyone regardless of race, ability or sexual orientation ensures everyone has an opportunity to play a role in how our society looks today and in the future. It isn’t just happening in Wisconsin, we’ve come to learn over decades that our country is stronger when everyone plays a part and has the opportunity to participate. Communities and businesses are finding DEI initiatives to be a core philosophy for progress. It should come to no one’s surprise our UW schools are joining the movement.

Students must be ready and our universities are geared to meet the demand we are seeing across the country and the world…despite what Speaker Robin Vos wants. Wisconsin students have the most to lose from Republicans’ misguided war on DEI, making students less prepared for the workforce and our progress closing the achievement gap will suffer. Our state contributes a lot of money for our universities and students pay far too much to not be prepared for what they need to be ready for.

Republicans desperately want a “win” by using the UW as their petri dish for conservative thought at the expense of students and university employees being used as bargaining chips. It isn’t just about DEI. They’ve already used $3 million in taxpayer money to create the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership (Speaker Vos is a member of their board) to expand conservative thought at UW-Madison. Now, one of Speaker Vos’ demands states that he wants UW-Madison to seek philanthropic support to create an endowed chair to focus on conservative political thought, classical economic theory, or classical liberalism. For someone who continually says students are being indoctrinated, he certainly does his fair share of pushing his conservative agenda at our UW-System.

Wisconsin deserves better than someone hell-bent on holding UW hostage over his tirade about DEI. Regardless of how anyone sees the issue politically, the actions Speaker Vos has taken are similar to that of Senator Joe McCarthy when he was censured by the U.S. Senate for his baseless allegations against communists in the 1950s. In fact, in June of this year, Speaker Vos said he is embarrassed to be an alum of the UW-System. We should all be embarrassed by Speaker Vos tilting at windmills over DEI.

On the other side of this saga, students will continue to shape our society and we will reinvest in our diversity to strengthen our state and communities. We will unfortunately have to endure narrowmindedness and hatred, but we will endure.

My thoughts go out to our university employees and their families. Brave acts are not without consequences. I sincerely hope we can move past this and uplift our universities and the Wisconsin Idea they fiercely defend and promote.

Senator Smith represents District 31 in the Wisconsin State Senate. The 31st Senate District includes all of Buffalo, Pepin and Trempealeau counties and portions of Pierce, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson and St. Croix counties.

Senator Smith writes about the wealth of opportunities for winter recreation we have right here in Wisconsin.

Early winter is a magical time. Wisconsinites are blessed with four beautiful seasons and all the recreational opportunities that come with them. Before the doldrums of winter set in, when the season is fresh and new, it’s a great time to get back to the winter activities that truly make our state a winter wonderland. Rather than being stuck in the house, there’s a whole world outside to enjoy.

At the beginning of the holiday season, I think fondly of my time as a youngster growing up on the north side of Eau Claire. When I wasn’t building snow forts and sliding down big hills with my friends, we’d sling our skates over our shoulders and hike down to the city park. The park’s skating rink would be full of friends, and there’d be a crackling bonfire to warm us up. If we were feeling really ambitious, we’d catch a ride to Half Moon Lake to punch holes in the ice and take our chances at hooking some fish to bring home.

When it comes to the snow, necessity is the mother of invention. Prior to 1900, Wisconsinites were experimenting with vehicles to make travel over snow easier. Early attempts ranged from bicycles on runners to steam-propelled sleighs and even modified Model T Fords. But in a shed behind a pub in Sayner, Wisconsin, Carl Eliason made innovations that led to the development of the snowmobile as we know it today.

Eliason could not wear skis or snowshoes due to a foot disability, leaving him frustrated in the winter when he could not keep up with his friends. So in the early 1920s he mounted some old skis, parts from a Model T Ford, a boat motor and his bicycle to a long toboggan to build his prototype “motor toboggan,” which was patented in 1927 and improved throughout the decades. In under a century, we’ve gone from a cobbled-together toboggan to the modern snowmobiles of today. What a leap!

When I was a teenager, my dad bought a snowmobile. We spent many days and nights exploring the trails. Once I was able to drive and load our machines up, we rode trails that took us through woods and up hills I’d never been before. Later came downhill skiing, which added to my enjoyment of winter in beautiful western Wisconsin.

The list of activities one can do on a Wisconsin winter day is endless, and the recreational options in Wisconsin have continued growing since I was young. Cross-country skiing has become one of the most popular sports for so many, and our woodland trails are the perfect place to enjoy some time outside.

In fact, cross-country skiing has put Wisconsin winter sports on the map. The American Birkebeiner (or “Birkie”) is held every February between Cable and Hayward, Wisconsin. In 1973, thirty-five skiers held the first Birkie and now, as an annual event, it attracts both professional and amateur skiers from around the world.

February marked the 50^th anniversary of the first Birkie, and this year a record 12,986 skiers are signed up to participate in the four major ski events, with thousands more participating in the youth ski tour, the ParaBirkie, the Barkie Birkie Skijor and the Birkie Giant Ski Event.

If peace and quiet are your thing, many hiking trails are open throughout the winter. With a pair of snowshoes, you can walk these snowy trails and enjoy the fresh beauty of the winter scenery. Hiking is a great opportunity to see a whole new side of our state’s glorious ecosystem at a slower pace.

With all this winter fun available to us, the final thing I’ll say I’m grateful for at the end of a winter day spent outdoors is a nice toasty fire and a hot chocolate. Stay safe and warm out there, and enjoy this wonderful time to live in Wisconsin.

Senator Smith represents District 31 in the Wisconsin State Senate. The 31st Senate District includes all of Buffalo, Pepin and Trempealeau counties and portions of Pierce, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson and St. Croix counties.

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