Raising the Minimum Wage
Fighting for the middle class was a big part of my campaign.  To make good on that promise, the first thing I did was introduce a bill to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 and index it to inflation annually.  Too many families struggle to get by on the minimum wage in Wisconsin.  The proposal would mean a raise for more than 200,000 workers in Wisconsin.  You can read the bill by clicking here.  I was invited to debate the issue on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio with Joy Cardin on August 22nd.  You can listen if you search their archive here.

Campaign Finance Reform
As my Democratic freshman colleagues and I came out of what was the nastiest and most expensive year to run for the state Assembly, we thought it would be a good start for us as a group to push for campaign finance reform.  We introduced a bill to regulate the "issue ads" that run around the election that aren't considered election ads under current law because they say something like: "Call candidate so and so and tell them to change their mind about the things we don't like about them."  It is usually paid for by a benign sounding group that bears no indication of who is paying for the ad.  This technically passes as education and not electioneering. 

The bill would have required all groups to report where their money comes from and to fall under election laws.  You can read the bill by going here.  The US Supreme Court had a decision this summer that may render the idea moot.  However, we remain committed as a group to fixing the way campaign and elections are financed and the public's right to know.  The Wisconsin Radio Network ran a nice story about it here.

Open Government
As a Freshman, you get to see how the Legislature works "behind the curtain" so to speak.  When the Legislature meets, shortly after opening formalities they break up by party and go into closed room meetings.  I thought the closed door nature of these meetings were an unreasonable infringement on open government, so I introduced a bill requiring the legislature to follow the same open meetings law it imposes on local government.  You can read the bill by going here.  I wrote a commentary about it in the Racine Journal Times.  You can read it here.  The Capital Times made mention of it at the end of the article here.

Health Care Town Hall Meeting
The issue about which voters continue to be the most concerned is health care.  Specifically, the cost of it being so expensive and the access of it being unattainable for too many in our community.  Southeast Wisconsin has some of the most expensive health care in the country.  Everyone from business owners to union members are calling for change.  I believe that as a community we have a moral obligation to provide every citizen health care that they can easily access and readily afford.  The current health care system hurts the health of our families and the economic viability of our business community.

It was one of my great disappointments of this year that we could not accomplish real health care reform that would address health care in a substantive way.  I think that every citizen deserves access to health care as good as what we as Legislators afford ourselves.  Republicans continue to demagogue what Senate Democrats proposed would lead to 'Canadian style' health care.  I don't know if their proposal was perfect, but to describe it as a Canadian style single payer plan is simply untrue.  Republicans continue to offer solutions that defer more cost to consumers (tax savings accounts) and call for more transparency in health care costs.  Neither of these ideas are all bad, but they do little to nothing in the long term to address the ever rising costs of health care or the ever increasing number of citizens who have cannot afford health care.

My first town hall meeting was in April 23rd on this issue.  We brought in experts who proposed various plans to reform the system. Over 100 people came to the Racine Public Library to hear what they had to offer.  You can read about the meeting in an article in the Racine Journal Times if you click here.

Infant Mortality Crisis
The  Racine Journal Times began a series early in the year about the infant mortality crisis in Racine.  Racine has the highest infant mortality rate in the state, and the highest African American infant mortality rate in the USA.  If we were a country, our infant mortality rate would fall between Nicaragua and Kazakhstan.  I began meeting with the Racine Infant Mortality Coalition to develop a proposal to reduce this disturbing trend.  Racine's Public Health Department will now receive $250,000 annually to address the issue.  A report will be submitted annually to address the progress we are making.  It is probably the most concrete thing I can point to as an accomplishment. 

But the reason it was successful was because the community was so involved; because the UW-Madison School of Public Health assigned a Fellow to my office, Matt Landis, to research and develop the  proposal; and because state Senator John Lehman was willing to work hard to pass it through the powerful Committee on Joint Finance.  It passed the committee unanimously, but then the Republicans in the state Assembly removed it from the budget.  Given their "pro-life" position I was surprised that they would do that.  In the end the Democrats fought hard in the conference committee to have the item placed back into the budget.  I arranged a town hall meeting with the Deaprtment of Health and Family Services in June.  You can read the article about it in the Racine Journal Times here.  The issue was the one I chose to give my 'maiden speech'  on the floor of the state Assembly.  I was also invited to discuss the issue on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio with Joy Cardin on June 27th.  You can listen if you search their archive here.

Saving Senior Care
Senior Care, the very popular state administered prescription drug plan, was threatened to be eliminated by the Republicans this year.  The Republicans in Congress created a prescription plan called Medicare Part D that made it illegal to negotiate cheaper prices for large scale purchases.  Wisconsin's plan had no such restriction, and was saving taxpayers millions.  This made the Republican plan look foolish and expensive by comparison.  Working with Representative Bob Turner and Senator John Lehman to save the plan was one of the best things I did this year. 

Ultimately its reprieve was due to the outpouring of support of the more than 100,000 Wisconsin seniors who depend on Senior Care and Congressman Dave Obey who ensured its extension at least beyond the Bush presidency.

The State Budget Battles
I knew the state Budget would be contentious because the Assembly is controlled by the Republicans and the Senate is controlled by the Democrats.  Any time you have different political leadership in the two houses, consensus is going to be more difficult.  What I did not anticipate was how contentious it would be.  Republicans offered a budget that made millions in cuts to local schools, shared revenue, and job training.  All of which would disproportionately hurt the Racine property taxpayers and threaten the quality of life in our community.  Democrats offered plans on health care reform, an assessment on hospitals to bring in more Federal Medicaid money to lower health care costs, and a cigarette tax to help people quite smoking and defer some smoking-related health care costs.

In the end, the cigarette tax made it through and all the draconian cuts and property tax increases the Republicans were offering were jettisoned.  The infant mortality grant was adopted, BadgerCare was adopted to offer health care to more middle class families, and the income tax on Social Security income was eliminated.  Even though state statute requires the budget to be done by July 1st, it was around Halloween before the budget was finished.  There has got to be a better way.

Great Lakes Odyssey
Protecting the waters of the Great Lakes has been an issue that I have given considerable attention to this year.  There is a compact that has been negotiated by the eight Great Lakes States' Governors that needs to be adopted into law in every Legislature.  The Great Lake Compact, as it is called, would ban (with some very narrow exceptions) diversions outside the Great Lakes Basin and monitor the amount of water used within the basin.  The need for the Compact became most acute when Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico announced this year that he, as a candidate for president, though that places like Wisconsin were "awash with water" and that a federal program should be discussed on sharing some of this water resource with the rest of the country.  He back tracked pretty quickly after the statement, but in underscores the need to protect the Great Lakes from thirsty communities outside the basin near and far.

While leadership from both parties was refusing to negotiate the Budget, I took a ten day trip around the Great Lakes to talk to Legislators, advocates, and educators about the need for the Great Lakes Compact.  I am even making a little documentary film on the Compact and my trip that will be out early next year.  I got some nice press on the issue when I was in Cleveland; the abstract of which you can read by going here.  What I learned on the trip is that near and far, people love the lakes and want to see them protected.  It was an inspiring trip that made me better understand a complex legislative matter and really affirmed my belief in the good-natured character of people in the Midwest.

The issue is one that will have bipartisan support when a bill is introduced early next year.  You can get a sense of that by this article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here and the one in the Green Bay Press Gazette here.

It is also one that adheres to a basic Wisconsin value: protecting our Great Lakes.  Senator Jauch and I circulated a statement of principles about the Great Lakes that you can read about here in the Capital Times.

Root River Council
On waters closer to home, I have been working with the River Alliance of Wisconsin to develop a plan for the Root River within the city limits.  We received a Coastal Management Grant to conduct the effort and should wrap up our work by midsummer.  It has been a nice blend of my experience as a grassroots organizer and my role as a Commissioner on the City of Racine Redevelopment Authority.  We also took a paddle down the River in April with 40 canoe enthusiasts, including the Secretary of the DNR, from Lincoln Park to the mouth of the Root downtown.  We are looking forward to making it an annual event.

BP Proposes Toxic Dumping in Lake Michigan
This summer also saw a proposal by BP oil company to increase its dumping of toxic chemicals into Lake Michigan at its facility in Indiana.  I was proud to lead the effort in Wisconsin to oppose the BP proposal.  The Shepherd Express wrote a nice article about it here, as did the Racine Journal Times here.  The issue underscored two very important things: people want the Great Lakes protected and they see the Lake as a shared ecosystem that effects all the states that are adjacent to it.

Feingold stumps for Mason!
In what can only be described as a great honor, US Senator Russ Feingold was the featured guest at a fundraiser for me in September.  Feingold is one of the most progressive, courageous, and admired lawmakers of our day.  I was delighted to have his support, encouragement, and advice.  Nearly 200 people came to hear the Senator speak on my behalf.  Thanks Russ!

Education Series and the Wisconsin Idea
In an effort to better understand how the state's school finance system works, I turned to a mentor of mine, Professor Harry Brighouse, at the UW's Education Policy Studies and Philosophy Departments.  It occurred to us that there were a lot of complex issues regarding education that the Legislature will need to fix if it hopes to improve student achievement.  We also hoped to invoke the tradition of the Wisconsin Idea; a tradition which included an exchange of ideas between the Legislature and the University.  Starting in October, we began a series of hearings on educational issues.  So far we have focused on the school funding side.  Next year we will move into closing the achievement gap and early childhood education, among other issues.  The series is informal, and is open to Legislators and staff in both houses and both parties.  Professor Brighouse and I were invited to discuss the issue on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio on the Joy Cardin Show on October 2nd.  You can listen if you search their archive here.

Compassionate Care
Sometimes I am amazed by what qualifies as controversial in the Legislature.  Earlier this month we spent hours debating whether or not a victim of rape or incest should have guaranteed access to emergency contraception in all hospitals.  To me this was a clear and easy decision.  The bill ultimately passed on a bipartisan vote with more than ten Republicans voting with all but one Democrat. It was one of the bills I was proud to cast a "yes" vote for this year.  I cannot imagine the trauma a woman faces after a rape or incest; the least the state can do is ensure that a woman has access to the health care she needs.  The bill will soon be law in Wisconsin.

Toxic Toys
As the holiday season was approaching I kept hearing more and more about toxic and unsafe toys.  One report said 80% of all toys had some toxic chemical and 35% had lead paint.  The federal government has really dropped the ball on this issue, and several states are taking measures to support stronger standards to ensure that our kids are safe when they play with toys.  I decided Wisconsin should follow suit and proposed a bill based on Maine's law.  The Racine Journal Times ran a story about it here, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a story about it here, the Racine Post ran a really nice article here, and the Wisconsin Radio Network did a story you can listen to here.

Senator John Lehman: Teacher and Mentor
I would be remiss if I did not offer a special word of thanks to John Lehman for his support.  I first met John Lehman 20 years ago when I was his student at Walden Middle School.  He is not just my predecessor; he continues to be a teacher, mentor, and friend. Because of him I have become, I hope, a better state Representative.  He makes himself available for advice, shares his experiences, and is one of the most decent people I have ever known.  Thanks John!