Last year you passed tax incentives for manufacturers. Now join with me and Representatives Al Ott and Bobbie Gronemus to help small and medium-sized dairy farmers afford the investments to make their farms more competitive.
Over the past two weeks, I've held town halls on the State of our State - and from Monona to Milwaukee, from Stevens Point to Superior, one of the top issues on people's minds is the rising cost of health care.
Last year, Wisconsin took a number of innovative steps to rein in health care costs for our government. For the first time, we negotiated contracts that require state employees to pay a portion of their health premiums, like workers in the private sector.
Working with a new Wisconsin company, we formed a prescription drug buying pool - BadgerRx - to bargain for lower prices for the state.
Starting in July, BadgerRx will be available to businesses, from the largest to the smallest. A small business in Oshkosh that pays to insure its 25 employees and their families will now have the market power of 600,000 people in buying prescriptions.
By joining with us, most employers could save up to 10 percent on prescription drug costs. This is a great example of government doing something that doesn't cost much, but helps lower people's health care costs.
We've also passed legislation to empower farm families to join health care co-ops that will reduce premiums, improve coverage, and expand insurance to those who can't afford it now.
Not long ago, I got a letter from a social worker in Osseo who works with a woman who can afford to buy only one roast a month because her prescription drugs cost so much. She divides into small pieces, so she can have a little meat every few days.
Our seniors should not have to choose between food and medicine.
There is one thing the federal government could do tomorrow to bring down the health care costs of every American who is taking prescription drugs - allow individuals and states to buy safe prescription drugs from Canada.
Tonight, I am announcing that we have launched a new website -- DrugSavings.wi.gov - that will give our citizens information on how to find lower price prescriptions, what the new Medicare bill means for them, and how to take advantage of SeniorCare.
I am asking the Food and Drug Administration for their approval to expand this website, giving our citizens the power to buy prescription drugs directly from Canada - from pharmacies our state verifies are reputable, reliable, and safe.
Tonight, I ask for support from the people of Wisconsin. Log onto DrugSavings.wi.gov. Register your support on our petition to the FDA.
I also seek support from the Legislature. Pass a joint resolution urging the federal government to use their existing authority to allow the reimportation of safe, U.S.-made and approved prescription drugs from Canada. Let's send a united message to the federal government as well as to the drug companies - this is an issue that won't go away, and Wisconsin's citizens need action.
I also ask for your help in another fight. The new Medicare law leaves the future of SeniorCare uncertain, and more than 90,000 Wisconsin seniors in limbo. Let's work together to save SeniorCare.
From the businesses and providers who are working together through a new effort called the Collaborative … to the disease management initiatives underway at the Marshfield Clinic … to the great work of Epic Systems and GE Medical, Wisconsin is a pioneer in health care quality.
But we can do even more.
Most hospitals still write out prescriptions and medical records by hand. Too frequently, poor penmanship leads to poor medicine, bad record keeping leads to bad drug interactions, and in some cases, disastrous effects on the patient's health. Every year, 98,000 people die in hospitals nationwide as a result of medical errors - more than from AIDS, car accidents, or breast cancer.
A solution can be found in technology that is being advanced right here in Wisconsin, called computerized physician order entry. It catches errors when they most commonly occur - when prescriptions are ordered -- reducing medical mistakes by up to 70 percent.
We should provide hospitals with extra Medicaid funding if they move to this system. The cost to the state is just $2 million, backed up by additional federal revenue. But the benefits will be measured in the care that is improved and the lives that are saved.
The bill is authored by Representative Sheldon Wasserman, who is also a doctor. Dr. Wasserman, thank you for your leadership, and let's get this bill passed together.
We all agree property taxes are too high. But let's be honest. Bumper sticker solutions and quick fixes won't work. They will devastate our schools, bring economic development projects all over the state to a halt, and destroy Wisconsin's tradition of local control.
Finger pointing and press releases won't lower property taxes; the only answer is to roll up our sleeves, and work together to reduce the costs of local government.
Let me give you an example of what works.
We're joined tonight by Mayor Joe Laux of Menasha who worked together with his colleague, Mayor George Scherck of Neenah, to hold down property taxes. Now, I understand that Neenah and Menasha would probably never agree to consolidate their high school football teams, but when faced with difficult economic times, they consolidated their two fire departments.
130 years ago, the two cities tried to consolidate - and it ended in a fistfight. This time, it ended up saving taxpayers $2 million.
Like most communities around the state, Neenah and Menasha held the line on property taxes. In fact -- contrary to all the dire predictions we heard - Wisconsin had the lowest increase in local property taxes in four years.
But there is more we can do.
First, we will continue to support shared revenue, keeping our commitment to local communities.
S563
Second, we will find workable financial incentives in the shared revenue formula to reward fiscal responsibility and consolidation at the local level.
Third, from health care and prescription drugs to police vehicles and information technology, we are using the resources and buying power of the state to help local governments reduce their costs.
And fifth, reforming the school finance system is the single most important thing we can do to hold down property taxes, and I hope we'll all work together to get it done.
In Wisconsin, we recognize that clean air and water are the cornerstones of a strong economy.
Tonight, I'm calling on Democrats and Republicans to pass legislation to protect our groundwater against withdrawals that significantly damage our rivers, lakes, wetlands, and springs. I applaud Representatives DuWayne Johnsrud and Louis Molepske as well as Senator Neal Kedzie for their efforts to find a bipartisan solution.
This year will mark a milestone in the long effort to clean up the Fox River, as the first PCBs are finally removed from the Fox River. It is a downpayment on what will be the largest river cleanup effort in the nation.
We also must preserve and protect the Great Lakes - the largest body of fresh water in the world. Let's fight to keep the beaches open, go after invasive species, and most of all, preserve these waters for Wisconsin citizens, instead of diverting them to Phoenix or Las Vegas.
We have in our state a great national treasure - but it is at risk. Our Ice Age Trail follows the path of the last glacier that cut its way through Wisconsin thousands of years ago. When completed, it will be Wisconsin's version of the Appalachian Trail.
Over the past 45 years, 400 miles of the trail have been protected for future generations, thanks in no small part to the Stewardship program. But unless we take aggressive action now, we will lose forever our chance to complete the trail.
And so tonight, I am setting the goal to permanently protect the next 400 miles of the Ice Age Trail within the next decade.
As a first step, I'm announcing that the Stewardship Program, with the help of the federal government and the leadership of Congressman Dave Obey, has purchased 207 acres in Chippewa County to help expand the Ice Age Trail.
There are other challenges as well.
We need to toughen our laws against sex predators.
We need to get the big money out of politics, and pass campaign finance reform. I am working with Senators Jon Erpenbach and Mike Ellis to do just that. There's one thing we all should agree on. Groups that run phony issue ads should have the same reporting and contribution requirements as everyone else.
Our state employees make outstanding contributions to our state in so many ways. One of those employees, Jim Larson, joins us tonight with his family.
Jim serves our state as a member of the State Patrol, and as a member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard. While on active duty last year in Kuwait, he suffered a financial penalty, because like many employees, his military salary is less than his civilian one.
A bipartisan bill - authored by Representative Terry Musser - would eliminate this penalty, but the bill has been stalled since September. It's time for the State of Wisconsin, as an employer, to join with companies like American Family, Miller Brewing, Schneider International, Rockwell Automation and many others, and provide a differential pay benefit to all state employees who serve our country.
I've recognized a number of outstanding individuals here tonight.
But I'd also like to honor those who couldn't be here.
Early last year, Wisconsin lost one of our own, Dr. Laurel Clark, who perished with her fellow explorers aboard the Shuttle Columbia.
Throughout the year, thousands of Wisconsin's young men and women left home to do their duty in Iraq when their country called. Nine of them never returned.
Sergeant Kirk Straseskie.
Major Mathew Schram.
Sergeant Daniel Gabrielson.
Specialist Paul Sturino.
Private Rachel Bosveld.
Sergeant Warren Hansen.
Specialist Eugene Uhl.
Lieutenant Jeremy Wolfe.
And Major Christopher Splinter.
They are a roster of heroes. They make Wisconsin proud. And we will never forget them.
In honor of those nine families, we're joined tonight by Julie and Marvin Bosveld, whose daughter Rachel became the first Wisconsin woman killed in action in Iraq. Rachel was an incredibly courageous 19 year-old who enlisted right after high school because she loved her country and wanted to serve.
Mr. and Mrs. Bosveld, this state owes you a profound debt of gratitude, for you truly raised a hero.
Tonight, let us also salute the men and women of our Wisconsin National Guard.
More than 2,000 of them were deployed last year, the most since the Berlin Crisis in 1961. They sustained the first combat injuries for the Wisconsin Guard since World War II, and were awarded more than 20 Purple Hearts.
Won't you join me in recognizing Major General Al Wilkening and members of our Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard.
Last spring, I had the opportunity to help release a bald eagle back into the wild. Its wings had been injured, and it had been found lying on the ground, unable to fly. The family that found it brought it to the DNR, and they got it to Marge Gibson, Executive Director of the Raptor Education Group, who slowly nursed the eagle back to health.
Months later, we stood with Ms. Gibson, high on the banks of the Wisconsin River. As she handed me the eagle, I asked her what would happen to it.
She explained that within a day, it would find its nest again. And more than likely, its lifelong mate would be waiting for it.
And so I threw the eagle up in the air, and as I did, it took one beat of its wings. It rose up about 10 feet, took one more beat of its wings, and began soaring again, high above the Wisconsin River.
Wisconsin is that eagle, strong and proud. We've taken a few hits, and we had fallen from where we should have been, but like that eagle, we have always found our way home.
We've worked hard to lift this state up, and now, Wisconsin is ready to soar again.
Let all of us who love this state come together to make Wisconsin a place full of hope, full of promise, full of opportunity for all who seek it.
I am humbled and honored to be your Governor.
On Wisconsin.
The Joint Convention arose at 8:15 P.M.
__________________
10:00 A.M.
The Senate reconvened.
Senator A. Lasee in the chair.
The Chair noted the possible lack of a quorum.
The roll was called and the following Senators answered to their names:
Senators Brown, Carpenter, Chvala, Coggs, Darling, Ellis, Erpenbach, Hansen, Kanavas, Kedzie, A. Lasee, Lazich, Plale, Reynolds, Risser, Robson, Stepp, Welch, Wirch and Zien - 20.
Absent - Senators Breske, Cowles, Decker, Fitzgerald, Harsdorf, Jauch, Lassa, Leibham, Meyer, Moore, Panzer, Roessler and Schultz - 13.
Absent with leave - None.
__________________
