Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this Friday, April 19th, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff, here.
And we're welcoming to our WFHR studio on the phone.
We have Wisconsin State Senator Patrick Teston joining us, Wisconsin's Senate District Number 24 representative.
Good morning, sir.
Good afternoon, I should say.
Hey, James, how are you?
Doing good.
How have you been?
Staying busy.
Actually, currently, I'm on my way over to Black River Falls, going to the
The Cranberry Growers Association, they're doing an event over there.
So we're going to be meeting some students who have been working on some research projects and seeing now what we can do to continue to support our great cranberry industry here in the state.
I think that sounds like a great way to start off our next interview next month.
I'm looking forward to talking with you about that and hear how it went.
Safe travels out there.
I hope it goes well.
If you don't mind, I would like to start with the veto of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Modernization Act.
I know this is one that is, I don't want to say a passion project, but I know that you're very passionate about this.
Yeah, I was really disappointed by the veto.
You know, this is legislation that
has been around in some form or fashion for well over a decade and really what it aims to do is actually empower our advanced practice nurses to operate at the highest level of their license.
Right now in the state, roughly one million Wisconsinites live in a shortage area of health care providers and our APRNs help kill that boy.
There are roughly 8,000 advanced practice nurses that practice throughout the state
And this is a profession that has seen a huge increase, roughly 30% since 2018.
So there's a lot of interest in our nurses, you know, get an advanced training to help fill that void and things like mental health, our nurse anesthetist, nurse midwives.
And so last session, it was the first time that this bill had advanced out of both houses and made it to the governor's desk and unfortunately got vetoed.
This session, I was actually a little bit more optimistic because the governor had a
a similar proposal in his proposed budget.
Now, you know, we take all the policy out of the budget, but we still ran a standalone bill and actually moved closer to the governor and tried to compromise, but not compromise to the point where it would have made the bill pointless to pass.
And we had a lot of support, a broad bipartisan support.
This was one of the top issues for our tribal nations here in the state and supported by the
county and association, a number of different medical organizations.
And again, you know, we even picked up votes this time around in both houses and even had a one-on-one conversation with the governor prior to his veto to really try and make the case as to why this bill needs to be enacted.
And unfortunately got vetoed once again.
So I was really frustrated.
You know, obviously the governor
has his purview if he wants to sign or veto bills but i do think this is a huge missed opportunity because right now twenty seven other states have already acted similar legislation and at a time when we're trying to do what we can to attract more providers to come into the state make it easier for them across state lines and practice unfortunately wisconsin will remain an outlier and uh... it's really uh... i think a missed opportunity
You know, there certainly, I don't know anybody that can deny that the need for this and they want to do something about it.
But you know how this works, sir.
There are two sides to this and just covering that Governor Evers vetoed the bill and part it should be noted that the governor's action was supported by the AMA and the Wisconsin Medical Society.
And his reasoning for this was that the bill before me today does not address some of the issues raised by parties in the medical profession that went under undermined during the legislative
process.
Evers wrote that he decided to veto the bill to altering current leisure standards of APRNs, allowing practices functionality equivalent to those of physicians or potentially on-mitting physicians from a patient's care altogether, notwithstanding significant difference in required education, training, and experience.
I think at the end of the day,
We're just, as citizens, wanting something to get done.
You mentioned getting closer and closer on this bill happening.
Do you think the bill is dead?
Do you think that it has a chance to be rewritten and come across and get signed?
What are your hopes and thoughts about this?
Well, my hope is that we will, again, next session, and provided I have the privilege to get another term to serve down in Madison.
I intend to reintroduce this legislation next session.
Now, the organizations that you had cited who were opposed to it, primarily the anesthesiologist, the medical society, you know, we had tried to have conversations with them and it was pretty clear throughout the negotiations that they were always going to be opposed to this bill.
And every time we would meet or sit down with them, they would cite new concerns and it always felt like the goalposts were being moved.
Now, they have always been opposed to this bill and one of the reasons
why they're opposed to this bill that wasn't cited in the governor's veto message are what's called these collaborative agreements.
Now these have been around for roughly about 24 years now and what a collaborative agreement is is that these APRNs who want to have their own independent practice basically have to get a permission slip from a physician and they don't necessarily have to have an actual relationship with this physician.
But they need to have it on file to basically do their jobs.
And it's a hidden tax, because oftentimes these collaborative agreements cost upwards of thousands of dollars per year.
And it could be a physician whose hundreds of miles away are even out of this state, which I think is a huge concern.
But what should be noted in this bill is that we allowed for our hospital systems to, they want to keep these collaborative agreements in place.
Hospital systems have that ability.
But for an APRN that wants to practice independently and put out their own shingle, they shouldn't have to go out and get this permission slip.
The other big component of this as well is that for the first time in state statute that the governor signed this bill into law, we would have been codified in law what an APRN has to do if they encounter something that goes above and beyond their scope of practice.
So establishing guardrails for
patient protections and you know solidifying that relationship now this legislation is not meant to erase what a physician does it's not meant to replace them whatsoever but again given the shortages that we face around the state particularly in rural areas uh... from my standpoint many of those who supported this bill this is going to help address these the shortage areas so from my standpoint for many of the proponents of the legislation
This is really about empowering our workforce.
And I think the organizations that are registering opposition to this bill, I think they're always going to be opposed to it.
Because at the end of the day, this is a sacred cash cow for a lot of individuals.
And they view it as a turf war.
And from my standpoint, for many patient advocates, this is about empowering providers to do the job they're trying to do, which is take care of patients.
it was this bill a uh... or proposal was this a bipartisan proposal
it was in fact the day that uh... not only do we have bipartisan support is so sponsored the legislation even the day that we took took votes on the senate floor i made a last-minute amendment in fact i'd reached out to one of my democratic college senator kelderoy's from the madison area and said look i'm willing to put forward this amendment which again move closer to the governor's position but
I told her, I need assurances that you're going to stick with me.
And to her credit, along with Senator Chris Larson out in Milwaukee, they stuck with me because they see the merits of this bill.
Because even though they represent areas that are far different from the one that I currently represent, they face some challenges within health care providers in their areas.
And so I was thankful for their support.
Nothing's truly ever dead down in Madison.
And there may be an opportunity at some point between now and the end of May that we may come back in and attempt to maybe do a veto override on this bill, which I'm certainly pushing for because this is a bill that I really want to get done.
I would say it was my top legislative priority, both last session and this session.
And if that doesn't happen, again, I hope to reintroduce this next session and see what we can do to hopefully get this enacted into law.
The the main story the main headline here is the most important part But I have to say that there is a story inside the story to me and it's been one that's been going on not only this year and the last couple of years but really the dawn of politics the idea of if this is the case I am just saying if this is the case the idea of not passing a bill because of the party that presents it
We see this all the time.
We see bills not get passed because of this.
It's an election year.
We don't want to okay this because this party is opening it.
The head games or the political games that exist between parties need to stop, need to end.
End of discussion, period.
That's it.
The American people are not looking for politicians to play head games.
to do these things.
And I don't know how you can disagree with that.
No, I agree 100% with you, James.
This is one of these areas where both Republicans and Democrats, when it comes to dealing with health care issues, we've actually been able to set aside differences and we've actually gotten a lot done.
And this was one of the points that I made to Governor Evers when I met with him in his office, myself and my staff.
was that what governor you know actions that you have taken and signed into law whether it's deal with the various medical compacts you know making it easier to transfer they have practitioners cross-state lines is a prime example in it this would be holy in line with actions you've taken and on top of that when you take a look at some of the work that's been done uh... trying to increase oral health care here in the state uh... the governor signing the creation of dental therapist which is the a new
out here in the state of Wisconsin which is above the level of a dental hygienist but below a dentist which is going to allow them to take on some of these cases or case work that will free up dentists to work on more complicated cases and so it was sort of a head scratcher and I get the politics involved but you know it's unfortunate but my hope is we can hopefully continue to work on this and make the case because it's truly one that
not only my very passionate about but i know many of the the nursing groups and others who are involved and again going back to our tribal nations at the state of the tribes address last year uh... this they cited this legislation as one of their their top legislative priorities because obviously our tribal nations they deal with a lot of health care disparities and they see the merit in this as well and so but my hope is will continue to make the case and as i often tell groups organizations that
you know when you have something that you're very passionate about and it doesn't get across the finish line the best thing you can continue to do is educate and advocate to get your policy position across the finish line.
Well, and I'll say the numbers speak for themselves.
The stats are there.
People are tired of the divisiveness, tired of the political head games and a lot of that.
And if people don't listen to what you're saying there, if other politicians don't take that kind of action, that kind of moving forward, they will be replaced.
People are not putting up with that anymore.
We're speaking with Senator Patrick Teston right now.
And, sir, I want to get into a little more positive news, in a way, with some of the bills that have been passed that you've presented, like the SB925 that bans the sale of Confederate and
safe lighters in Wisconsin.
For maybe your average person or people that maybe don't use lighters and everything, they may not see why this is such a important one.
Can we get into that a little bit?
Yeah, I was really, really pleased that the governor signed this bill.
In fact, he actually did so up in Pittsville a couple of weeks ago.
And I really might my head goes off to Chief Jerry Minor over in Pittsville.
So for years, 16 years, he had been working on this bill and the ban
the sale of counterfeit lighters.
And in previous sessions, we took a different approach.
It was a novelty lighter band.
And for whatever reason, it still blows my mind that we were never able to get this done in a previous version of this bill.
But every single session that this bill came up, it would just simply die in just horrific fashion, whether it was late night floor amendments that we get added on the last day of session that happened in the session.
session previous to me joined the legislature uh... it just no pun intended went up in flames and the reason why this is such a big deal and where this bill really originated from was uh... over sixteen years ago there was a case of a house fire where a uh... young child got his hands on a lighter we don't know if it was a novelty light or not but uh... started house fire tragically this individual died in the house the house completely was destroyed
but counterfeit lighters account for billions of dollars in damages nationwide because foreign countries like china indian others you know i i would say bad actors in the space uh... what the market and they still intellectual property and flood the market with products that aren't safe what was really unique about this session is that there was an attorney who represents big big lighters uh... really took a look at this and took it
took a look at this legislation through a different lens and really honed in on, you know, some of the national fire standards and safety requirements that, um, are implemented at national level.
And so, uh, this legislation, uh, you know, we took that approach and thankfully we didn't have a single issue, which just goes to show that you can have a good idea, but sometimes you just have to take a, a different angle or a different approach on it to get it done.
And that's what we did here.
And really,
The credit goes to Chief Jerry Minor.
This was his priority for nearly two decades.
And even at the bill signing, he gave some really great remarks.
And it was so great because we had students from the Pittsville School District in attendance.
And he told the students, sometimes it takes a while.
And it shouldn't always have to take 16 years, but in this particular circumstance it did.
really impressed upon them that if you have an idea, keep fighting for him, keep pushing, and you can make it happen.
And he certainly did this time.
We'd like to also bring attention to the National Guard tuition bill that became law that you recently helped get passed with bipartisan support.
Yeah, this this goes to help with our National Guard.
Wisconsin is one of the best states in the nation as it relates to veterans benefits, really taking notice of their sacrifice and.
And obviously we want to continue to make sure that Wisconsin remains a great place for our veterans and honor their service.
And so it may change as to how their tuition reimbursement gets handled and really streamline in this process and cutting out some of the bureaucratic red tape to make it easier for them to take advantage of the GI bill and the benefits that come with it for those who want to pursue a degree in our higher education institutions throughout the state.
Again, bipartisan support had no opposition whatsoever, and was really glad that we got this done.
If anybody is playing word bingo, bipartisan is the word for today.
Because we've got a couple of these.
One more if I wanted to talk about the bipartisan SB633, the recognizes the legacy of the Ho-Chunk Code Talkers.
This is a really important one on a lot of levels in this state and in this country.
The Ho-Chunk Code Talker Bill, this was one that
Really really just hit home for me.
So I got to attend a Ho-Chunk powwow in May of 2023 and what's so unique about this is that I don't think a lot of people realize that the Ho-Chunk where it played an instrumental role in our efforts in World War two using their native language to basically
Send codes and you know things of enemy movements and help save countless lives because the the Japanese were never able to decipher Their their native language and I think when most people think of code talkers They think of the Navajo and that famous Nicholas Cage will be back in the early 2000s that highlighted this but it was roughly we had a roughly 14 Ho Chi on code talkers and What's so unique about this?
I wasn't until recently in just recent years that through
do an archive research in records that realized that yeah the Ho-Chunk played an intimate role and I had the opportunity to meet with some of the family members of these co-talkers and they didn't know until after their loved one had passed that they were involved in these covert operations because they literally took these secrets to their grave and so this designates a portion of our
Interstate from Tomah to La Crosse the Minnesota border as the Ho-Chunk co-talker Memorial and just a great way to honor their service their legacy their efforts because it can't be stated enough their efforts saved tens of thousands of GI lives in the Pacific Theater and It's one of those we have to honor their legacy and it was really glad we got this this bill passed
Every Thursday, we're fortunately joined around the nine o'clock hour with our friends from the South O'Kiney Humane Society in a pet of the week.
We get to feature, we get to highlight.
We've been doing this for years, and a big thank you to our friends at the Humane Society.
We had Tim come in this week, and usually he's got a bunch of notes.
We pre-game and stuff.
This week he came in, and he was so excited to talk about the On to Job series and having you by, sir.
You really impressed them.
You got right in the dirt and all this, or, you know, to put it for radio, I could say.
But you really, did you have a good time?
with this job.
I know how much you enjoy doing this series and getting out and about.
I had a blast.
This was probably top five fun jobs.
I love dogs, love cats, but the whole reason for this is the show that there's job opportunities out there for anyone in any field and to really get out there and highlight that.
You know, the Southwood County Humane Society is no different.
They've had a lot of turnover and staff over there, and, you know, they need help.
And so I got the opportunity, and Tim does a phenomenal job over there.
And true to form, I rolled up my sleeves.
In fact, the very first thing they had me do, I was like, well, what do you want to do?
I said, I'll do anything.
And they were like, well, would you be willing to clean a dirty litter box?
I said, sure.
crappy job but someone's got to do
it and uh no part of
that you know got started off doing that and then you know obviously got to walk some of the dogs around and and uh you know it is heartbreaking though when you think about it some of these scenarios i think the day prior to me working there they had a instance where nearly uh
A few dozen animals got brought in.
An unfortunate situation, a Horton house and the individual involved wasn't able to properly take care of these animals.
And I'm sure this individual is well intentioned, but making sure that these animals, it's a big responsibility.
And certainly the folks over at the Southwood County Humane Society take that seriously and making sure that they match the right pets to the right people and that they're gonna have good homes because
you know a lot of times these animals are coming from very very awful environments and whether it's abuse neglect and I know from our own our own household you know both of our dogs they're rescues and our youngest dog came from came up from a hoarding fire situation in Texas and
When we first got her, she was very male nourished and had a lot of scarring, so there's probably abuse involved.
But she's really become a treasured household.
And for anyone who's out there who is maybe considering getting a cat or a dog or some other pet,
you know, rescues the way to go, you know, providing homes for these animals and having them become, you know, valued members of your family and it's great organizations like Humane Society that promote that and it was really a great and awesome opportunity and love to go back.
I'll do anything famous last words.
You never know what's coming after that.
As
soon as you say
I'll do anything, you never know what's coming next.
But I really appreciate that you put the time into that that you chose to take on the job series to our Humane Society.
I certainly agree with you.
We've talked a lot about this series of the important of reminding people and showing people the jobs that are available.
It feels like as well, and you know this better in many ways than I do, a lot of our nonprofits, our local nonprofits oftentimes,
get a little looked over or don't get noticed as much.
It's a nice opportunity as well to highlight that and to show the importance and the really vital work that our humane societies are doing locally.
Oh, absolutely.
And again, I think I think you hit the nail on head, James, is that, you know, our nonprofits, they do phenomenal work.
And, you know, I mentioned this at a synergy event, you know, oftentimes, I think one of our biggest challenges is that, you know, here in Central Wisconsin, we're too humble.
We don't like the break about ourselves and the great work that's being done, but we need to.
And, you know, obviously the Humane Society, they do a good job coming on your show, but
You know, anything that we can do to highlight them and give them a little extra push and really prop them up and talk about the great work they're doing.
And that goes for all of our nonprofits here in the area, whether it's ODC or some of the others I can think of, Independent Mid-State and Independent Living.
They do a phenomenal job helping people, helping animals get better homes.
And it's one of those things that highlight what's so great about living here in Central Wisconsin.
And they just do phenomenal work.
Yeah, always a good, transparent, open conversation, sir.
Appreciate the time.
If people have follow-up questions, want to get ahold of you, how can they do that?
Yeah, anyone that wants to get in touch with our office, give us a call anytime at number 608-266-3123.
Drop me an email at scn.testing at legis.wi.gov.
Follow us on social media, and of course, as now that we're transitioning into campaign season,
I'm going to be making the rounds throughout the 24th Senate District going door to door.
In fact, I kicked things off Monday going door to door and new parts of the district over in Northern Juneau County and making the introductions to folks with the new legislative maps.
So I'll be making the rounds between now and November 5th.
Looking forward to talking more next month.
Safe travels out there.
Have a great weekend, sir.
Thanks, James.
We'll be back with more Midday Magazine coming up right here at WFHR.
