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, June 19th.
Thank you for joining me, Patrick, to bring the community an update from the 24th Senate District.
Great to be with you.
And it's a beautiful day today here on Friday.
One of the things that we were hoping to talk about today is where things are with the surplus tax relief package that's got stalled.
I believe last month, correct me if I'm wrong.
And where are things at with that now?
Yeah, so back in January, the Nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau announced that the state was going to be looking at roughly two and a half billion dollar surplus.
And in the wake of that announcement, conversations began.
between legislative leadership, so Speaker Voss, Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemme-Hugh, and Governor Evers on how to best get that money back out to the taxpayers.
And so through the course of several months and rigorous negotiations, I think we landed on what I would consider a pretty good compromise.
It wasn't a perfect deal by any means.
I don't think if it was just up to the legislature, it would have been the deal that we would have crafted.
and divided government, it was the best deal that we could get given the circumstances.
And part of the proposal was to provide rate checks for joint tax filers upwards of $600, $300 for individuals who file, file singly.
And then providing property tax relief, recognizing that when everyone got their property tax bills last December, there was a lot thicker shock.
And then providing more money for special education reimbursement, which helps free up the general fund account for our school districts.
And then through the other components in here, we're just absolutely winners.
No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, providing property tax relief for disabled veterans and their surviving spouses.
And then also providing assistance relief for communities that have been devastated by recent floods in southeast Wisconsin and other parts of the state.
You know, sadly, when it came to the state senate.
All 15 Senate Democrats voted no against this proposal and three of our Republican colleagues.
And it was really a missed opportunity.
And my hope is, is that we can continue to have the conversations.
I think it's imperative that we get this money back out to the taxpayers.
They are the ones that created the surplus.
Most of the surplus is one time money from increases in the capital gains tax as well as.
corporate taxes.
And so we should get that money out the door, provide property tax relief, help out our school districts, and more importantly, help out everyday families who are struggling with rising costs right now.
Well, the legislature is not in session right now.
You guys are technically off.
How is work going to be happening during this season?
Yeah, so I mean, even though we are technically out of set.
There are still two mechanisms in which the legislature can reconvene.
One is for the governor to call a special session.
Now, that doesn't mean the legislature has to come in and act.
In some cases, throughout Governor Evers' tenure, when he is called special sessions, we have gabbled in and gabbled out.
For this tax proposal, we actually agreed to come in.
And then the other avenue is for an extraordinary session when both houses of the legislature agreed to come back for a specific...
That and I know just you cut out there Patrick
could you go over that again and a special extraordinary session?
What does that mean?
So a special session is when the governor calls the legislature to come in and act.
Now we don't have to if we choose not to.
We did under the surplus deal.
The governor called it.
We came in.
Unfortunately the deal fell short in the state senate and then the other avenue for us to act on is through an extraordinary session when both houses of the
which were agreed on a proposal, and then we can come back.
So we still have mechanisms and avenues for us to come back if we can find two more votes in the state Senate.
So that would require either two of our three Republican colleagues who voted no to agree to come back, or if we could find an avenue to get two of the Senate Democrats to come back.
Leader Lemmy Hu put out a release about a week and a half ago and said, look, if I can find two more votes,
We will come back and get this deal done.
So if that were to happen, what would then happen if it passed?
Well, if it would pass, depending on if the deal, if there's any changes to the deal, I mean, we're looking at property tax relief.
We're looking at no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, rebate checks.
and then also a special education reimbursement, which, you know, when we were going around the state as members of the Joint Finance Committee in the lead up to working on the state budget, we heard from school board members, district administrators, principals, educators who all said unilaterally, please increase the special education reimbursement because it is providing a huge strain on our budgets.
for our general fund.
And so, you know, we tried to, we increased that reimbursement in the state budget.
Now, based on some data that was given to the fiscal bureau from the department of public instruction, we didn't reach the intended goal of what we had initially intended of going up to 40, 42% special education, excuse me, 45% special education reimbursement in this budget under the
surplus deal that was negotiated between the legislature and Governor Evers.
We were actually looking to go up 45% of special education reimbursement in the first year of the budget and 50% in the second year of the budget, which would go a long way to helping a lot of our districts throughout the state.
Hmm well on the topic of school funding We recently had someone come into the community here at Port Edwards and talk about the school voucher system and and the push for for this group the Wisconsin Education Network is to have taxpayer
transparency, transparency for taxpayers on their tax bills to see where their funding is going.
And as you know, more and more of our public school funding taxpayer dollars is going towards voucher schools.
I know that there was an attempt to have the legislature require that on all tax bills across the state.
That didn't happen.
Can you talk about that a little bit?
Well it's a proposal that's never going to go anywhere and I don't support it.
I am a strong proponent and always will be of allowing parents to send their sons and daughters to a school system that works best for them and by and large this narrative that we are funding to school systems it's completely erroneous.
because when you take a look at the choice and charter programs, per pupil, they actually spend less than the average student in our K-12 education classrooms, and yet they are under script or scrutiny.
They get audited more than their counterparts in the public K-12 system, and yet at the same time, their results are oftentimes better than their peers in the public education system.
I think it's imperative that we continue to fund this.
Wisconsin has been a leader on this front, going back to Governor Tommy Thompson, when this was actually a bipartisan, supportive proposal, back when Democrats actually believed in providing options for students, especially in places like Milwaukee and Racine, Kenosha, and it's a program that has continued to expand statewide.
And when you take a look at some of the great success stories, especially here in places like Central Wisconsin, I look at the Bachelorette Catholic School System.
Assumption and others, they are doing a phenomenal job.
And we should be doing everything that we can to provide parents pathways and opportunities for their students to get the best education as humanly possible.
Except that private schools don't have the same requirements as public schools do to report to their parents.
They don't have the same teacher licensing requirements.
And the funding, I'm confused why you don't think taxpayers deserve to know where their funding is going.
In Port Edward School
District,
for example, the funding from taxpayers was over 2.5 million, but 422,000 of those dollars didn't go to Port Edward Schools.
It went to other schools.
Well, I would push back and say that
All curriculums have to be approved by the public construction.
They get audited more than the public schools do.
And so this idea that somehow these are unaccountable, that's just, that's erroneous.
And I don't believe that.
Well, I can speak from personal experience, Senator Teston, because I attended a private school when I was a student, when I was in grade school.
And then I taught at a private school for three years.
from age 19 to 22.
And I wasn't licensed.
So it does happen.
OK.
Just speaking for personal experience.
So I and I don't.
I just I just want you to know that it does happen.
OK.
Well, let's take a brief pause here to hear from our sponsors.
I'm Melissa K, talking with Senator Patrick Teston, and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.
97.5 FM WFHR.
Welcome, you're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 a.m.
97.5 FM.
I'm Melissa K, bringing you news in our community.
I'm speaking with Senator Patrick Teston.
And when we left off, we were talking about the school voucher system.
And I have a different personal experience than you have had growing up in the state.
And it's OK for us to have differences and talk about them.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, let's dive into now a happy topic, June Dairy Month.
It is the time of the year where we celebrate all things dairy.
And I suffer over here with my lactose intolerance.
But that's OK.
What do you like about June Dairy Month, Senator Teston?
Well, what I love about June Dairy Month is it's our opportunity to show our thanks for the hard-working men and women who support our dairy industry.
It's why Wisconsin is America's dairy land.
It contributes nearly $55 billion annually to our state's economy.
And that doesn't even count for all the ancillary jobs and support industries that help it.
And so it's really an opportunity to
If you get the opportunity to go out to a dairy breakfast, I know the dairy berry breakfast happened today here in Wisconsin Rapids.
We got the cranberry blossom parade, which, you know, another time to hop first, which I'll be at the parade on Sunday in Wisconsin Rapids.
It's a great time to arm in the communities to learn more about the dairy industry.
And, you know, this is certainly an industry as well that has faced significant challenges in recent years.
and hopefully if we can get some young kids out there and maybe it might spark an interest and we might have our the next generation of Wisconsin dairy farmers coming up through the ranks and making sure that we continue to hold strong to that moniker that were America's Dairyland.
And those dairy breakfasts are just they're excellent.
Most of them are just
their pancakes, you get your full service breakfast, obviously lots of dairy choices, some of them even have cheese curds, and what is your favorite thing to have at a dairy breakfast?
You know, you can't beat fresh cheese curds, although I have to say, especially during June, when we're in the midst of parade season and it's hot and things are heating up out there, I am a sucker for ice cream and frozen custard.
Aren't we all?
Some of us are much upset digestive systems, but that's okay.
It's worth it, honestly.
Another thing that you like to do and I don't I do do this once a month these on-the-job stops
Yeah, so once a month I've been doing my on-the-job series almost once a month sometimes we have to take a little break here and there depending on the schedule but Going out and work a different job in the district for a day and and I just got to do one on Monday.
I was Working with a hood cleaning company so badger mobile cleaning
The owner of the company, he started this company about three years ago, services companies all across the state of Wisconsin.
He's NFPA certified, one of the only ones in the entire state.
And I don't think a lot of people realize, you know, how vital and critical these hood units are in commercial kitchens.
I mean, they are what extract the grease.
which is why it's so critically important to make sure that they are properly cleaned and maintained to help reduce the potential risk of grease fires.
And so this was actually probably one of the dirtier jobs that I've done.
I get to throw on.
basically a raincoat in gloves and goggles and got the power washer and degreaser and it was it was messy and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I definitely smelled like a french fry by the end of the day.
I imagine so and and yeah that would be a very dirty but but
crucial and important job.
When you said hoods, I was I was picturing like car hoods.
Like, oh, you special cleaners for those?
No, these are the hoods that are like you said, are in a commercial kitchen, extracting the grease, making sure that that their kitchen is safe.
And you said they travel all over the state.
Yeah, this particular company, they go statewide.
And it's pretty remarkable given the fact that the owner of this company, I mean, his background was in sales.
He had done a number of different jobs over the course of his career and decided to do something different.
And what's really great about these on-the-job series is that one gives me ends on experience in different jobs.
But more importantly, when we wrapped up and got the opportunity to sit down over lunch,
He actually brought forward an ideal that I think is actually probably one that we should pursue.
So in Wisconsin, we are one of the few states in the entire country that doesn't license and certify commercial.
uh hood cleaners which uh you know I hadn't thought about that but he had mentioned that you know this is a big deal and a lot of people who aren't certified uh just as with any business there are some bad actors out there and you know from an insurance perspective for insurance companies that underwrite uh you know restaurants and anyone who has a commercial kitchen that you know it is a huge liability and so he's actually
going down to the Wisconsin Dells in the next couple of weeks here to talk to all the fire marshals from around the state to see if, uh, depending on how thin shake out, potentially an X session that potentially run a bill to maybe license these guys and making sure that, um, you know, we're protecting small businesses and hopefully cutting down on the risk of grease fires and other types of, uh, issues that arise when you don't have the best operators operating in that
space.
Well, because if you don't require licenses and certifications, like you said, things, corners can be cut, improper chemicals can be used.
And yeah, that would be a fire risk for sure, because nobody wants a grease fire.
No, not at all.
Well, another thing that you've been working on hard here, I believe you got voluntold to be on the campaigns committee.
Help me understand what you're doing with campaigns right now.
Yeah, yeah.
So back in March, the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Devin Lemieux from the Loosburg area over on the eastern side of the state announced that he was not going to seek reelection.
And so historically, it's always been the Senate Majority Leader that sort of gets asked during campaign season to oversee the committee to elect a Republican Senate, which is the campaign arm for our caucus.
So they're charged with recruiting candidates, raising funds,
uh, developing the strategy, the campaign messaging.
And so in the wake of his announcement, uh, our caucus decided that they wanted to, um, appoint someone out on next session, regardless of how it can shake out in the November election.
And I guess you can say I drew the short straw.
So I have a new job that pays me no money.
And, uh, I'd be joking if I said there's no stress involved,
but
it's, um,
you know obviously we're going into what's going to be a very raucous campaign season it seems like that's just the modus operandi now for the state of Wisconsin and the state that's relatively 50-50 and you know I'm really excited though at the prospect because while we've had six retirements announced in the state senate
I think it provides an opportunity to get new voices, new leadership, new perspectives to come into the Senate.
And I'm ever optimistic that with the team that we have in place and the candidates that we have.
who are up for reelection and running in some of these seats, that we've got some of the strongest candidates I've seen in my tenure in the state senate.
And so it's going to be a very busy summer.
In fact, after I got elected into this new role, I joked with my wife, although I don't think it was actually probably a good joke that I'm going to be living out of a suitcase for the next several months.
as I, Chris Cross, have stayed helping our team and our candidates, but it worked and done and I'm excited and looking forward to this opportunity to test our medals and hopefully do what we can to have a successful November election season.
And you mentioned that it seems to be how it is now that these election cycles have to be, that they're just, they're
For lack of a better word, it's a lot of mud slinging and nastiness.
Do you ever see that changing?
You know, I would love to be honest with you because it does wear on people and I think everyone gets a little bit of fatigue that especially when we get into September and October and of course the final weeks of the campaign where, you know, people are just being inundated with ads and digital messages and mailers and
radio, TV.
I mean, you can't go anywhere without hearing about campaign season.
And oftentimes, as you alluded to, it can get ugly.
But what we're trying to do and what we're trying to focus on are the issues at hand.
What are we hearing from voters directly within their communities?
And how can we create and tailor a message that resonates with those individuals, weighing out a, hopefully, a positive vision for where the state
can and should be going and then, you know, letting the ideas play out and hopefully our candidates are out working, going door to door within their respective districts and communities, making the rounds and presenting themselves and sharing their thoughts and opinions.
But more importantly, the most important thing for any candidate is to go out and listen to the voters they hope to, they hope to represent.
Well, how can people get in touch with you, Senator Teston?
Yeah, so for folks who want to get in touch with me, and honestly, this is a really great time of year to get in touch.
Even though we are not in session, there are still work being done down in Madison, working on ideas and bills for next session.
Obviously, if people had not that this would ever happen, if anyone's having any issues with different agencies or departments within the Madison bureaucracy, feel free to give my office a call at 608-266-3123.
Follow us on social media, sign up for my E update that goes out every Thursday.
And of course, if you sue me out and about, like I said, I'll be in the parade in Wisconsin Rapids on Sunday.
Feel free to pull me aside and have a chat.
More than happy to meet people where they are.
And as always, let me know what's on your mind, what's working, what's not, and what can we do better or differently.
Wonderful.
While I'm Melissa Kaye, speaking with Senator Patrick Teston, representing the 24th Senate District, thank you for taking the time to talk with me today, Patrick.
Absolutely.
Anytime.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 A.M.
97-5 FM WFHR.
