You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.
I'm Melissa Kaye, bringing you news in our community.
During this interview, I'm talking with Senator Patrick Teston on Friday, March 20th.
Thank you for joining me, Patrick, to bring the community an update from the 24th Senate District.
Hey, thanks for having me.
It's great to be on.
You've had some recent wins here with the Wisconsin State Senate with the passage of five legislative proposals.
I'd like to talk through these bills with you, Patrick, and ask you to break them down in layman terms for myself and for our listeners.
So let's start with Assembly Bill 813, which has to do with attracting and promoting opportunities and events in the state.
From what I can see, no one lobbied against this bill.
It seems pretty popular all around.
What will this bill do if signed into law?
Yeah, so this is a bill that we worked with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation that I am proud to be a board member of that makes some technical changes.
So, you know, we've been very fortunate in the last couple of years to have drawn some major events here in the state, whether it was the NFL draft or the senior open that was hosted right in our backyard at Century World and Stevens Point and.
What it aims to do is make some tweaks to how these grant dollars are awarded.
So we are providing more flexibility for WEDC to go out and promote and attract more large events to come into the state of Wisconsin.
And as we saw most recently with the NFL Draft in Green Bay, it drew in hundreds of thousands of people and was a huge economic driver.
you know, as we look forward to future opportunities, this is going to provide more flexibility for us to, as a state and for various communities to really go out and promote and attract more of these large scale events to come into the state of Wisconsin.
So it's, I'm quite confident this one's going to get signed into law as you sort of teed it off.
There was no opposition whatsoever and received.
Broad bipartisan support in both houses and I'm really excited that this is one that has the potential to attract more of these large scale events here in the state.
And as I've often said before on this show and others is that I think one of the biggest challenges that we have here in the state is that we're just too humble.
And so we've got an opportunity here to promote ourselves and put Wisconsin on the map as a great state for these large scale events, whether it's the draft, whether it's.
golfing events, whether it's, you know, the RNC or DNC conventions.
And so, you know, this is going to, this is going to go a long way to promote tourism here in the state and hopefully be an economic driver moving forward.
That's really great.
And are there any, if you had, I'm going to ask you to look into your crystal ball for a moment, or your, or your waitlist, if you could have one event come to the state, what would it be?
You know, I think that's a great question.
I mean, you know, with the what we did in this last day budget to create a state film, film office, you know, when you take a look at some of the big shows that have been out there in recent years, whether it's shows like Yellowstone or others, states have done a remarkable job around the country of trying to attract, you know, these types of shows and events.
And so we've got a great opportunity here.
And so I'm hoping that, you know, Wisconsin is going to become a destination for, you know, the film industry and others.
And again, with Century World and Sand Valley and Kohler, we've become a Gulf destination.
So we've got a lot to hold our hat on and be proud of.
And so, you know, I think the sky's the limit at this point.
And so anything that we can do to
generate and promote our state to put us in the best position possible to entice film producers and others to come into the state.
That's a win-win for Wisconsin.
Well, and we do have a lot of talent in this state.
That if the next big blockbuster wanted to film here, you've got a lot of extras willing to jump in.
I'll bet you anything.
Hey, throw myself in that conversation too.
Yeah, there we go.
Well, now let's dive into Assembly Bill 662, which prohibits any state agency or local government from contracting with businesses or organizations tied to foreign adversaries of the United States.
And in this bill, it specifically defines foreign countries of concern.
um as China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Iraq, and Venezuela under the regime of Nicolas Maduro um with we know that that we don't make like computer chips and and all of the things that our electronics run on here in the United States for the most part they're they're made outside of of the US how will this
affect local businesses that rely on those foreign made goods.
So this was part of a package of bills and this was one of several bills that were sent to the governor.
I believe there was a total of six.
Five were passed out of both houses and this was really brought to our attention from an organization called State Armor based out of Texas which is comprised of a number of national security experts because
I think by and large, most people, when you think of national security, most people would typically look to the federal government.
And while that is their primary role, what's been absolutely fascinating and to a certain extent sort of scary is that foreign adversaries like the CCP, the Communist Party, they have turned to the soft underbelly.
of state governments, local units of government, higher institutions of education to flex their influence in many ways, whether it's dealing with transnational repression, whether it's undermining steel intellectual property.
And what this particular bill aims to do is to ensure that state tax dollars are not going to companies domiciled in these foreign adversary states that are not in our best interest.
And what's really fascinating, and I would encourage any of the listeners out there to go to State Armour's website where they have a 60-page document that talks about the threat assessments and just how some of these countries and these bad actors are promoting their influence here in various states.
And so we partnered with them, and a number of my colleagues and I
uh led the charge to really make sure that Wisconsin is a national leader and and ensuring that our state tax dollars on our are not going to foreign adversaries plain and simple because these are countries that do not share our values they do not share the democratic practices that we hold dear and are the bedrock and foundation of our of our country
And so I'm hopeful.
We don't know if the governor's going to sign all these bills or not, but I think it's a step in the right direction and proving that Wisconsin can be a leader on this front.
And I was proud to stand with my colleagues and stand with the experts at State Armour to spearhead this effort.
And I'm hopeful the governor signs them and we'll see what he does.
Well, and if I'm looking at who is lobbying for and against this or neutral, yes, state armor action is for it.
Companies like Lenovo are against it.
HP Incorporated are kind of neutral, but they did weigh in.
So companies that need this technology are against it.
As you mentioned, state armor action is looking out in the best interests of us is for it.
Do you think that
in enacting this bill would drive up prices for some of these technologies that we rely on day to day?
No, I don't necessarily think that that's the driving motivator here.
I think primarily what it aims to do is to ensure that when the state goes out for a request for a proposal and RFP that we're doing it with the best interest in mind that
And ideally, we're going to contract with American domicile companies and not foreign adversaries because again, if individuals get the opportunity to read the threat assessment, a lot of these technologies and some of these companies that are domiciled in states that are adversarial to the United States, there is technologies and equipment in place that
allows for things like kill switches for them to basically hack into various softwares It's it's quite frankly, it's frightening and to be honest when it was first brought to my attention I thought By and large a lot of the seem like conspiracy theory, but truth be told it is absolutely happening and there have been a number of cases especially in our area of the state when
food processors, they've had their computers hijacked and basically held ransom.
And that's scary.
And when we talk about things like our food supply chain, when we talk about the intellectual property and the research that's being done in various universities around the state, whether it's at UW Madison or Milwaukee, we just want to make sure that we are safeguarding that as best as humanly possible.
And again, ensuring that state tax dollars are not going to...
companies and countries that don't have our best interests in mind.
Well this is a great place for us to take just a short pause to hear from our sponsors.
I'm Melissa Kay talking with Senator Patrick Teston and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.
975 FM WFHR.
You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.
I'm Alyssa Kaye bringing you news in our community.
I'm speaking with Senator Patrick Teston and where we left off we were going over some of the bills that have passed the assembly floor and are now at the governor's desk to sign.
One I want to touch on briefly is the assembly bill.
Do you call it 10.05 or 1,005?
Either or.
Either or, okay.
And that requires all universities across Wisconsin to use college entrance exams or similar objective testing measures as a predominant criteria for undergraduate admissions.
What is the driving force behind this bill and why is it needed?
So one of the reasons why we, myself and Representative Nate Gustafson introduced this bill is we saw during the...
During the COVID pandemic, a number of universities basically waive the requirements of college entrance exams like the ACT and SAT scores.
And what this aims to do is build on some of the reforms that we did from last session, where allowing individuals who are in the top 5% of their class to be admitted into places like UW Madison and giving those in the top percent of their in their class the opportunity to have.
guaranteed admissions to any of our state universities here in the state.
Now, what this bill aims to do is to work in tandem with that reform and put back in place merit-based college entrance exam.
So, you know, we are raising the bar, not lowering the bar as it relates to our institutions of higher education here in the state and many states.
many universities, not just here in the state, but others have been reinstituting these policies.
And I think it's imperative that we do so.
And there was actually one tweak.
Initially, what the bill was aimed to do was to have this be for the entire universities of Wisconsin system.
In order to get it through the assembly, it was amended to just include our flagship university, which is UW Madison.
I would have preferred to have it be for the entire system, but sometimes you've got to take baby steps to have incremental change.
I think this is a stepping right direction and this is one as well that we're not sure if the governor is going to sign it, but I think it sends a strong message that we want to erase standards here in the state because I am quite confident when we do that.
our students are going to rise to that challenge.
Again, we want to ensure that we're not lowering the bar as it relates to higher education here in the state.
We want to raise it and allow our students to meet those challenges and meet the need.
I hope and I remain ever optimistic that the governor will sign it, but time will tell.
That's his call now.
We've made our decision and it got voted out of both houses and so eagerly awaiting his signature.
From my just basically my reading of this introduction here, the analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau, you said that the top 10% or top 5% for UW Madison, they're generally eligible for guaranteed admission.
Does this.
You said it raises the bar, but it also then takes into account their entire scholastic journey up to this point, not just based off of testing.
Am I reading that accurately?
Yeah, so I mean, this is still, you know, we're still working with the reform that was enacted in the last budget, the Badger State promise.
you know, just making sure that we have merit based applications when it comes to college admissions.
And with the amendment that was enacted and agreed upon between both houses, this only applies to UW Madison.
I'm hopeful that if it does get signed into law that this will give us sort of a roadmap moving forward that then hopefully we can take a look at all of our institutions of higher education here in the state.
And again, doing what we can to
promote the great academic greatness that we have within our university system here in the state.
And again, trying to get back to merit based admissions as it relates to higher education.
Okay.
And then let's let's jump ahead here.
You've got the this is the end of the session.
Do you want to talk about that a little bit here?
Sure.
Yeah.
So it is the
Both houses have now gaveled out for the end of session.
There are still opportunities for us to come back.
There are still ongoing conversations being had right now between legislative leadership, between the Speaker of the Assembly, the Senate Majority Leader, as well as the Governor's Office, because we find ourselves in a position where the state is looking at a roughly $2.5 billion surplus.
Much of this is one-time money due to increases in the capital gains tax and others.
But we also recognize that a lot of individuals throughout the entire state when they got the property tax bills in December, there are some significant sticker shock and for a number of different reasons.
And so we're hoping and optimistic that there might be an opportunity for us to come back in a extraordinary session.
That's when there is a agreed upon schedule and calendar between both houses.
to enact legislation.
We want to try and get money out the door.
Now, there are a lot of different proposals that are being floated out there right now.
You know, the Senate Republicans, one of the things that we have pitched is providing rebate checks back to all tax filers for a married couple that files jointly upwards of $1,000 for single filers upwards of $500.
That can go towards a lot of different things, whether that's
paying property taxes whether that's you know as we look look ahead to the next school year for back school shopping things of that nature and then some of the other ideas that have been floated and have been discussed between the legislature and governor evers is trying to live up to the commitment that we had agreed upon and negotiated within the state budget which was providing increased reimbursements to school districts for
uh special education which uh initially what we had agreed upon in the state budget was a 42 percent reimbursement in the first year of the budget a 45 percent increase in the second year of the budget and a 90 percent reimbursement for uh higher special education reimbursement now
In actuality, we didn't live up to that commitment to that 42 and 45% reimbursement increase due to some figures that were submitted by the Department of Public Instruction to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
And so that is one area that I think all parties agree would go a long way to providing some relief to school districts because they oftentimes have to take that out of their general fund.
And that oftentimes means it's taken away from
their general budget, which funds their their classroom education.
And so those conversations are ongoing.
I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get a deal done with a governor.
I think it's imperative as policymakers when you're sitting on a two and a half billion dollar surplus, we want to get that relief back out to those individuals who have been hit hardest.
And that's our intended goal right now.
Well, and
a $500 check, that that's not going to go very far right now.
It's a nice little chunk, not going to lie, but it does seem kind of not like a lot.
Well, I mean, for some individuals, $500 can be a game changer.
When you take a look at, for myself in particular, my property tax bill went up around 13.5%.
And so, you know, when you have an escrow account and then all of a sudden you've got an additional $400 to $500 that you have to pay for your property tax bill, that can provide a lot of relief, especially for those individuals who are on fixed incomes.
And I think that's from our standpoint and conversations that we've had internally within our respective houses and our respective caucuses.
We want to recognize that, yes, property taxes are a concern.
We want to try and get that money out the door and empower individuals to do what's best with their money because we've taken in more than what government actually needs.
We want to get that back out to those who helped create that surplus.
Those are all good things.
We have had quite a few.
People in public office announced that they are no longer going to be running for re-election.
Robin Voss made a statement.
Devin Lemmehu just recently here made a statement.
So it's going to be an interesting time leading up to November here.
It is.
And certainly I want to thank all of my colleagues who are making a very difficult decision for one reason or another not to run for re-election in the state legislature as well as
Governor Evers, you know, despite the differences that we've had and, you know, public service is sometimes a thankless job.
But, you know, this also is an opportunity for new leaders to step up and take the helm.
And so it's going to be, I think, an exciting time.
And obviously, as contentious as Wisconsin elections have been in recent years, and I'm sure they're going to be as we gear up.
and get ready for a very busy campaign season.
Now, we have a huge opportunity here for new leadership changes in both houses as well as we're going to have a new governor regardless of how things shake out, whether it's Congressman Tom Tiffany or a number of the Democrats who are running for governor on that side.
So regardless, you are going to have new leadership across the board in both houses as well as in the east wing of the state capitol.
And so I'm excited.
I really am.
And again, I can't think enough the leadership of both Speaker Voss, Leader Lemihew, and also Governor Evers, because these are thankless jobs and it takes a toll on everyone and with your personal lives.
But it's a job that I firmly believe in and it is worth, the state's worth it.
And I'm excited about the prospects of what's to come.
And I'm also with conversations with Representative Scott Krug, who is on the elections committee, I believe, or helping oversee elections and really digging into that.
He feels strongly that our elections here in the state of Wisconsin are safe.
They're accurate.
They're efficient.
Our clerks do a really...
Really good job from what I've heard from him and from everybody and my own personal experience of voting here in Wisconsin has been very, very positive.
Yeah, I sure that sentiment and you know, to all of our local clerks throughout the entire state, they do a phenomenal job.
I know.
For my own experience, going back to the April elections back in 2020 in the midst of the COVID pandemic, which was a very hectic time, I got to work the polls at my township in the town hall and got to see firsthand how it plays out.
And, you know, we want to ensure that we have safe, secure elections and most importantly, encourage individuals to exercise their constitutional right to cast the ballot for every.
every elected office from the president all the way down to your local school board and town board.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you know, Patrick, we have run out of time and there's so much more we could talk about, but I'm Melissa Kay speaking with Senator Patrick Kestin representing the 24 Senate District.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today, Patrick.
Hey, happy to.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective, 1320 AM, 975 FM, WFHR.
