jONline

An electronic newsletter from Senator Jon Erpenbach 1-4-08

Happy New Year! I hope you and your family had a safe and happy new year. As the Legislature gears up for the last three months of the 2007-2008 session, I am hopeful we will make serious progress on a number of issues I have heard are priorities for the people of the 27^th Senate District.

Health Care: Healthy Wisconsin will be reintroduced with improvements in the next few weeks. Meanwhile we still wait for any plan from opponents of Healthy Wisconsin to help Wisconsinites with access to affordable health care. I continue to be ready to sit down at the table and negotiate on this issue.

Campaign Finance Reform: The Governor’s call for special session is an opportunity for us to move ahead with the fair and comprehensive campaign finance reform we all know is needed. I will continue to lobby my colleagues from both sides of the isle to move ahead with reform like Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 171.

Regulation of Traveling Sales Crews: The national neighborhood violent crime toll from unregulated door to door sales crews continues to rise. I am hopeful the Assembly will move ahead with Senate Bill 80 before the end of session.

School Financing: I have been working on a plan to overhaul the way Wisconsin schools are funded. The result would be a system of fairer taxation and a stable source of revenue for the future that is not balanced on the backs of property taxpayers. While I may not have all of the answers on this, I think it is time to roll up our sleeves and consider all of our options. Please share your thoughts about these, or any other Legislative issues. Our best work is done together. Thank you for another year of open communication and the chance to represent you in the Senate.

Doyle Announces Flood Assistance for Green County: Green County homeowners and residents from four other counties were granted assistance from the State of Wisconsin for flooding sustained last August. Counties will utilize funds administered by the Department of Commerce to rehabilitate homes owned by low and moderate income families that were damaged by flooding. In some cases, where the homes are at risk of future flooding, the funds will help relocate families to safe housing outside the floodplain.

Minimum Wage Increase and Indexing to be Voted on In Committee: The Senate Committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs will vote Tuesday January 8^th on a bill to increase the state minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. All other minimum wage regulated areas are increased as well. In addition, Senate Bill 130 requires that the Wisconsin minimum wage be increased every year by the Department of Workforce Development using the consumer price index as the measurement. The indexing of the minimum wage would be a significant quality of life improvement for our states lowest workers and I am supportive of this plan.

State Elections Board Settles with Accenture Over Voter File: Federal law changes required Wisconsin to create a statewide electronic voter database. This unfunded federal mandate has been a tumultuous journey for Wisconsin elections. While we are able to run accurate elections, we have not been able to run the required reports for the federal mandates nor have the local clerks been able to receive contractually required reports. The dispute between the state and the contract company, Accenture was finally resolved last week. According to the Associated Press story, the state will receive the source codes to the program, not pay the remaining $2million in contractual agreement, and the state will be refunded $4million from Accenture to avoid a lawsuit. Here is a summary of the controversy from Accenture critics the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

This Week the People Say: This week constituents of the 27^th Senate District contacted the office to say, “Take action to stop global warming”.