In fact, I’ve been repeatedly calling for the Assembly to break its vacation and take action on a number of bills designed to create jobs and aid the economic recovery of our state. I feel it is unacceptable for your elected representatives to take a 2 month vacation without addressing the economic hardship that too many families are facing during the holidays this year.
Therefore, I did vote for a motion to consider five pieces of legislation that would improve the business and job creation climate in our state. These bills range from moving up the Jobs Tax Credit so that it can be utilized by businesses now, to increasing small businesses’ flexibility, which would allow them to hire more employees. Although I support these measures, the motion to take action on these important bills unfortunately failed on party lines.
The one bill that the Assembly voted on this week did pass 93-1. The bill, Senate Bill (SB) 66, is a compromise reached by the Assembly and Senate that will result in stricter Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) laws in Wisconsin. Specifically, SB 66 contains the following major provisions: mandatory ignition interlock devices for certain offenders, criminalizes first offense OWI if it there were children present in the vehicle, makes 4th offense OWI a felony, and expands the successful community treatment options for OWI offenders.
While this one piece of legislation is not perfect, I do believe passing it is a positive step towards curbing drunk driving. The bill was already passed by the State Senate and will now go to Governor Doyle for his signature.
Finally, Governor Doyle had recently used his power to call the Legislature into a “special session” to take up a bill regarding Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The legislation, SB 405, would remove control of MPS from the elected school board and instead hand full control of it over to the Mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett. This proposal is supported by Governor Jim Doyle, a handful of Milwaukee area representatives, and, of course, Mayor Barrett himself, who has declared he is running for Governor. The Assembly never did take up the issue and instead adjourned until next year.
One thing is very clear - the status of MPS is unacceptable. Several recent reports have illustrated many troubling issues with MPS. The Nation’s Report Card test results revealed that 65% of eighth graders are below an even basic level of understanding in mathematics. Further, a report last year by America’s Promise Alliance suggested the graduation rate of MPS may actually fall below 50%. This extremely low graduation rate is especially concerning because of those African American males who do not graduate, 70 percent are unemployed and 1 in 4 are in jail, according to a report by Northeastern University.
The status quo cannot be allowed to continue, which means drastic changes must be made to reform MPS. However, simply spending more money is not the answer. Taxpayers already send $1.3 billion, or over $13,000 per child, to MPS, which has been increased steadily over the years, while test scores have flat-lined, and in some subject areas, actually declined.
Last week, I laid out my vision and ideas for MPS, which range from dividing the district up into smaller elected school boards, to implementing a number of programs designed to improve student achievement and teacher evaluation. However, more than anything, I am opposed to blindly handing total control of MPS over to the Mayor of Milwaukee. I am very skeptical of striping the elected school board’s powers away, especially since we have seen no plan or ideas from the Mayor.
Overall, I was disappointed in the lack of action by the Assembly. It is frustrating when measures designed to create jobs and improve Wisconsin’s business climate are not even considered for debate. It is also alarming to see the lack of solutions for reforming MPS. I am hopeful the majority is more open-minded about these topics when they return from their recess. It is vital that we take action on these issues, which have such a great affect upon all Wisconsin families.