An interview by Heidi Heron of WI Voices.

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January 3, 2012

I want to believe the pain of the Medicaid shortfall is not as bad as the Governor told us last spring but I need to see the numbers.

Last week the Governor announced he had the $80 million necessary to remove the cap on Family Care. Today, in an amazing announcement, the Department of Health Services Secretary tells us the Medicaid shortfall is scaled back by $300 million.

But the announcement came with little detail. In his letter the Secretary mentions several factors but only details $18 million of the total $300 million. The lack of transparency and accountability makes me very cautious about telling my constituents the hurt won’t be as bad.

Medicaid is a vital program to many Wisconsin families.  I want to be confident about the decisions we make regarding Medicaid changes. I renew my call for the Governor and his administration to lay out the fiscal details necessary to make those decisions.

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Vinehout: Show me the numbers

Now we know the Governor is taking credit for lifting the cap of Family Care when it was an action ordered by the federal government. The Governor must show us how he will fund removing the cap so families are confident their loved ones will get the care and services they need.

I find it highly unlikely $80 million was simply found at the Department of Health Services. If this money can be shifted around without additional Legislative appropriation how do we know the whole $219.5 million in state dollars needed to repair the Medicaid budget can’t be found?

I ask the Governor to sit down with the Legislature and stakeholders to lay out a detailed fiscal plan for how we address Family Care and the other critical Medicaid programs.

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Kathleen’s Alternative Budget Papers for 2011-2013

Legislative Fiscal Bureau Budget Papers for 2011-2013

Below is a statement from State Senator Kathleen Vinehout in response to Governor Walker’s State of the State Address

The Governor should give our neighboring governors thanks for more Wisconsinites working now than a year ago.

State employment numbers show 21,000 more Wisconsinites working this December than last December. Only 3,000 of these jobs were created in Wisconsin. The rest of our people had to go out-of-state to find work. The governors of our neighboring states were six times more successful than Governor Walker in creating jobs for Wisconsinites. We should thank them.

Governor Walker also takes credit for the unemployment rate coming down. What he does not say is the unemployment rate over the past year came down twice as fast across the nation. While Wisconsin’s rate dropped a half a percent, the rest of the nation dropped a full percentage point. If this were a race, the Governor is saying “Look at me, I made it half way around the track. Don’t pay attention to all the other states running ahead of us. And don’t pay attention to the fact the neighboring governors carried me 85% of the way.”

Our Governor should not take credit for what other governors have done. Governor Walker’s plan is not working. The first year report card on achieving his goal of 250,000 jobs in four years is 3,000 down, 247,000 to go. I’d give him an ‘F’ for Failure to Progress.

January 23, 2012

Citizens across western Wisconsin contact me concerned about the siting of sand mines in their neighborhoods. Frac sand mining has become Wisconsin’s “gold rush.”

Wisconsin’s hills and bluffs are filled with a very special type of sand.  It has the exact hardness, shape, and purity the oil and natural gas exploration industry needs; plus it is easy to extract.

Sand mines have co-existed with their neighbors in western Wisconsin for thirty years. But the dramatic increase in demand for Wisconsin sand has caused existing mines to ramp up production and caused a growing number of new mines. 

January 18, 2012

“Why do we have a recall law?” the man asked me. Many citizens have asked about the history of Wisconsin’s recall laws and the process of a recall.

In the early twentieth century, it was the beliefs of the Progressive movement that drove the recall law. The people believed voters should have “a direct voice in the affairs of government. As a 1954 state publication wrote, “The best cure for the ills of democracy, it was said, is more democracy.”

Citizens ask why officials can be recalled for the dissatisfaction of voters. This is part of the tradition around our recall laws. As explained in a 1980 publication of the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB):

“The principle underlying the recall of public officers has been defined as an effective speedy remedy to remove an official who is not giving satisfaction to the public and whom the electors do not want to remain in office, regardless of whether he is discharging his full duty to the best of his ability and as his conscience dictates.”