Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this Friday, July 19th, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff with you.
At 430 today, we're going to welcome in Lacey Ailing, events and engagement director
with our Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.
But joining us right now on the phone, Wisconsin State Senator Patrick Teston is with us
right now.
Sir, too many asses.
Uh, struggle with that.
Would I apologize?
But we do appreciate the time, as always, certain.
You're, uh, actually just getting a wrapping up with something really fun over there.
Yeah, so I just left Fort McCoy.
So they had their change of command ceremony.
So after two years, colonel Steve and messin' your bling push to his command over to, uh,
the incoming Fort McCoy commander, colonel Shayla, by his Ramirez.
And it's always great to, uh, get on Fort McCoy because it has such an incredible impact
in Western Wisconsin and this, be part of that ceremony.
It really is a unique experience and certainly wish colonel messenger a, uh,
you know, best wishes on his next deployment where he'll be teaching at the War College
Elton, Pennsylvania.
So he's been a great partner to work with over the last two years and I look forward
to working with the new post commander.
You've done a number of things like this over the years and in your, uh, time in the
Senate, sir, but I have to imagine it every time it hits the heart, every time it means
something more doing, uh, being a part of something like that.
Well, absolutely.
And again, you know, hats off to our brave men and women who, who volunteer to serve
in our armed forces and, you know, Fort McCoy certainly has a unique footprint.
It is the gem of our army reserves where, you know, every year they train upwards of 70,000
troops from around the country that come in and it really is a state of the art facility.
And if anyone gets the opportunity to take a tour, I strongly encourage it because it's
one of those that, you know, I don't think a lot of people think about unless you've actually
been on there, but it does have a tremendous economic impact for our, for our state, roughly
four billion dollars annually.
And, um, you know, we want to do everything we can to support the installation and their
mission, which is to prepare our troops for any, uh, engagement or any sort of, uh, relief
mission that may arise.
One of the things I respect and appreciate about our friendship, our, our conversations
on the air, they're always transparent, uh, on air, off air, you and I treat each other
the same.
We don't agree on something we treat each other like adults and with respect.
And we don't shy away from things.
So, uh, almost a week ago now, it's crazy to think of with, uh, um, the political, uh,
way these things go and the timeline of things and 21st seven news cycles and everything,
but we're almost a week removed from the assassination attempt on, uh, former president
Donald Trump.
This is the first time our country has really faced something like this since Ronald Reagan
back in 1981.
Um, your thoughts on what happened last, uh, Saturday, sir?
I was absolutely stunned and shocked and horrified, but at the same time, we, we, that, uh,
president Trump survived an assassination attempt.
In fact, I had just gotten home from a parade over in Juno County and I was down on my
basement office when one of my colleagues had sent me the clip and my stomach dropped.
And immediately I ran upstairs and was glued to the TV and, you know, it is no question
in my mind.
An absolute miracle that, uh, president Trump is still with us today.
And unfortunately, though, that can't be said for the firefighter, the father that we lost
and the two that were particularly injured.
But thankfully, we're in law enforcement and the secret surface that were right there
next to the president.
They did their jobs remarkably and protected him and it just goes to show that, you know,
every day on the surface, a gift and it's amazing how just one subtle movement, uh, could
have changed the, the course of US history and it's, um, I'm glad he's okay.
But this really is a, a moment and an opportunity for us to realize that while we do have political
differences in this country and while we are a, uh, polarized, this is one of these moments
where I think we need to gauge the temperature, tone down the rhetoric, focus on the issues
and not the politics of personality.
And always remember that while we can't political differences, we settle those differences
at the ballot box, not violence.
Going back to Andrew Jackson in 1835, of course, Lincoln in 65, uh, Kennedy in 63.
And as I mentioned, Reagan in 81, this is in the first time our country is dealt with this.
But one thing that we have shown after these incidences is, uh, an ability to unify an
ability to come together, uh, where maybe we weren't as close before.
And I'm a huge, huge believer in silver linings in life.
And if there is even a slight chance of us being a little less divided and a little more
unified, um, that is one silver lining we can take from this situation.
We can't change the situation.
It happened, uh, but we can choose how we handle it coming out afterwards.
And of course, this happening right on the cusp of the RNC and we have wrapped it up by
now with, uh, with that, uh, the RNC in Milwaukee.
I want to segue into that, sir.
Did you, uh, I know what I saw, uh, but I don't, this isn't about me in my opinions or thoughts.
I'm curious from you, not only, uh, what we saw on the TV screen or anything, but behind
the scenes and among your colleagues, are you hearing unity among the Republican party
or unity politically, unity as a country?
Well, I think it's a little bit of both.
I mean, I think what we saw play out at the RNC is that this is a new Republican party.
And while there have been different factions and divisions within the party, uh, I saw
something that I haven't seen in a very long time, where the unification, where we realize
that, you know, we're all in this together.
And I think Trump echoed this last night talking about while we have differences, we have
one common theme and one common denominator and that's rural Americans.
You know, I think he's definitely been changed by this experience based on just my observations.
And I think he did a decent job of laying out a vision on where this country could go when
we work together. And even calling on Democrats, realizing that while we have different ways of
advancing how we want to have our nation progress, there, there are certain areas where I think
we can find common ground. And I'm always reminded of that, uh, quote by Bill Clinton, who's a
inaugural, inaugural dress in 1992 that there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by
what is right with America. And I still believe that holds true today. And my hope is now that we
concluded the RNC convention, we await what's going to happen at the DNC convention and Chicago that
we can really start talking about the issues again and get away from the politics of personal
destruction. And what this have, what this be a competition between the two parties and their
two visions and then no matter what comes in November when dust settles. As I've often said before,
it's time to put back on our policy caps and roll past sleeves and do its best for the people we
represent both at the national and state level. One of the things I feel like it's lost in the
political cycle oftentimes, especially as we get this close to November is yes, you are voting for
these individuals, but you're not just voting for the individual. These, these people don't do the
job themselves. They've got a lot of people in their cabinet, a lot of people that they bring in.
You're not just voting for a particular person, but the particular people that they will hire
and bring into the fold. And we saw some of those people at the RNC this week. What are some of the
highlights to you? Did you get a chance to take in any of the events or any of that?
I was actually down Monday night for an event down on walk. It wasn't at the Pfizer forum,
but it was for RSLC, which is a Republican leadership legislative campaign committee.
And you know, got to meet with some of my colleagues from different states around the country.
And I think by and large, but we're seeing play out as that, you know, we understand and we hear
it on the ground day in and day out, especially right now as individuals such as myself and others
are going out and talking to voters directly at their doorstep is that, you know, there are some
significant challenges right now that people's earnings have been eaten up with inflation.
There's concern with our southern border. I mean, when fentanyl is now the number one cause of death
for young people ages 18 to 35, that's that's that's startling. And I think a lot of people
recognize is that we can do better and we need to do better as a country. And, you know,
based on what I heard from some of these speakers, those were themes that were echo throughout.
I mean, inflation's a real deal. In fact, not that long ago, I was going to order a door and
discussing our appets and had a conversation with a wonderful man who still works is on a fixed
income and literally told me that there are days that she has to make decision. Do you put gas
in your tank so you can get the work or do you put food on the table? Regardless of what
anyone's politics are, I think we can all agree that in 2024, that's just unacceptable. And so
my hope is is that as we as the campaigns continue to progress, both that the national level and
state level that we can continue to go out there and lay out a positive vision on where our
state or our country can go, which is really to lift all people up regardless of their social
economic backgrounds and provide opportunities and really put our country back on the right track
and do what we can to get out of this malaise that so many people have been in over the last
couple of years. And I think we can do better and we are going to do better.
We're speaking with Wisconsin State District 24 Representative Senator Patrick Testin.
And sir, you've been making the rounds in that district. How has that been going? What are some
of the things that you've been hearing and highlights you've seen? It's been great. I honestly,
you know, it's funny. If you were to ask some of my other colleagues what their least favorite
thing is about the campaign season, oftentimes they'll hear them say going door to door, but
I've always enjoyed it. In fact, yesterday I walked about 10 miles going door to door in Jackson
County and all the center and Merillian and these be a new parts of the district under the
newly enacted maps. I enjoy it because it's an opportunity to go out there and meet new
individuals, meet new constituents and really to hear what's on their mind. And like I just
mentioned, a lot of what I'm hearing is that, you know, people are concerned that their dollar
doesn't go as far as it once did. People are capping into their savings in their 401Ks to get by.
And so I think anything that we can do moving forward to provide tax relief individuals is going
to be a main priority for us going into the next biennium. But then also, again, making sure that in
our rural areas that we're doing what we can and make sure we get our fair share of road funding
coming back to our local communities, doing what we can to increase access to rural health care,
especially in light and wake of the two hospital closures over the old square area,
we're feeling those ripple effects in places like Jackson County and others where we just don't
have those providers and we need to do what we can to get more providers into the state of Wisconsin,
make it easier for providers outside of the state to practice here in Wisconsin. And those are
going to be a lot of things that I'm going to continue to work on if I had the privilege to come
back and serve the 24 senate district come January of next year. I love a good transition and you've
been setting me up so good so far today. It's great. Appreciate that and great notes by you.
You recently hosted an event to talk about the elections and what it can mean for our health
care in in Wisconsin. What did what came of that conversation? Yeah, so recently I was down
to Madison and took part in place with the Wisconsin Health News Network and we had a panel
health care experts, folks in the insurance industry, hospitals, myself and then my colleague
Senator LeConney Johnson, the Democrat from Milwaukee, and you know a lot of it focused on
national issues and trying to project what could or might happen if there's another Trump
administration or vice versa. There's another Biden administration. But I think the key thing is
doing what we can to increase access and on the survey areas, doing things both at the national
and state level to help drive down prices and really empower our providers to operate the highest
level of their their license. Now one one thing that continued to pop up on this panel on this panel
and the conversation and I thought it was a very good healthy conversation is you know some of the
challenges that we face at the state level as it relates to Medicaid reimbursements and that's
one of the primary reasons why we saw the two hospital closures up in the nuclear areas because
they have a very heavy Medicaid population which our Medicaid reimbursement rates are similar
lowest in the country despite the fact that in the last several budgets we've made significant
increases. And so as we move forward one of the things that I really want to try and focus on
and we're having these discussions now with myself and a couple of my senate colleagues and
the joint finance committee along with the Department of Health and Human Services working with
Bill Hannah our state Medicaid director is as it relates to the relationship between our long-term
care providers and those who operate in the adult adult daycare space providing these home-based
care models where really the struggle is that compensation for some of these workers it's relatively
low and and the conversations we're having right now is we need to set a minimum rate ban where we
have a floor on where these healthcare workers can get compensated. What's happened in the last
couple budgets is that we've increased significant we put money into the budget but because of the
uncertainty oftentimes what was meant to go for wage increases are one-time bonuses so that
doesn't provide the certainty needed for these providers to carry out the jobs for our elderly
are disabled those who need it most and so my hope is as we gear up for the next state budget that
this is going to be a top of the conversation that we continue because from my standpoint it needs
to happen just given our our aging demographics here in the state especially in our rural areas such
as wood county and others. You recently presented a legislative citation to Mory Rice for his
involvement in establishing the Porting County Legal Aid Society how did that go? It was great so
Mory Rice truly when you think of a public servant and someone who basically spent his entire
law career helping those who needed assistance he established the Porting County Legal Aid Society
30 years ago and so we got to present a citation to Mory for all his work I alongside I represent
Shankland and really just a public servant and reflects what's so great about our area here in
central Wisconsin that we're so blessed to have so many people that truly believe in giving back
and Mory the testament of that and what was so great when Mory gave his remarks he now was in
lacrosse and made the trip up is that he made it a point to thank those who worked alongside them
and it was never about him it was about helping those who needed it most oftentimes if you need a
lawyer you're probably not in a in a favorable situation and you may be going through a lot of
things but be sure to a lot of great stories and and highlighted some of some of those cases that
were most impactful to him and helping those people that needed it most at a time when they could
least afford it and Mory was in air for also I don't know how much this was covered so I just
wanted to bring attention to this like you did we want to congratulate the Wisconsin Veterans
Museum for receiving an award of excellence for their American Association for the state and
local history for its exhibit souvenirs of service the things they kept you were able to take
in this great exhibit I from what I understand yeah and I know we talked about this while back
shortly after I did but about the time last year I got to tour our Veterans Museum Archives and
again I didn't know what to expect when I was going when we set up this tour I figured okay they're
gonna walk around but I immediately I was blown away I learned that we have the third largest
Veterans Museum Archives in the nation and it's truly breathtaking and seeing regimental banners
that were carried in the Civil War that are still riddled with musket balls and and you know every
single artifact that they had which is just shy of a hundred thousand artifacts has a story and
they have done remarkable job over the years of reaching out to veterans to get their oral histories
and and it just I could spend days down there and I really and anyone can go on their website and
proves the archives and see the artifacts themselves online and read the stories behind them and
it's truly remarkable just knowing the fact that Wisconsin veterans going back to the Civil War have
been in the thick of it from Appomattox Courthouse to Gettysburg to D-Day to the Korean War Vietnam
all the way to the our present day conflicts and it just really makes you so reflective and so
appreciative that you know we live in a state where so many individuals have played critical roles
and in our nation's history and world history you recently spent some time at Western technical college
how did that go it was great you know I think when you take a look at the technical colleges that I
have within my senate district mid-state and western tech these are two examples of great great
institutions that are really put in their best foot forward to not only train up our future
workforce but also help individuals retool and again this was an opportunity for me to go through
one of their newer facilities where they've expanded in key areas such as nursing and others
where again go and pack that at healthcare issue we've got a huge workforce shortage within healthcare
and they're training the the next generation of of nurses and and and technicians that are going
to help provide some of the best level of healthcare not just in the state but in the country
but beyond that the the work that they're doing in the trades it's really exciting and it just
goes to show that the investments that we have made to help our technical colleges have gone a
long way to helping not just those future workers but our employers in the region which again we
continue to struggle with the workforce shortage you can't go through any community right now I'm
sitting in tooma and right beside the strip mall and every single store I'm looking at as a
help one sign in front of it so everything that we can do to provide people a pathway in a career
whether it's in the trades I'm getting to continue to be a strong advocate for and you know me this
comes up and I bring up minimum wage is this something that you your colleagues you think the state
will be addressing well I don't know we necessarily need to raise a minimum wage at this point because
market demand you even jobs that just five years ago you know high school kid that would normally
make seven twenty five flipping burgers their first their first job at a fast food restaurant are now
paying sixteen seventeen eighteen bucks an hour because our our employers are starved for workers and
so jobs that were once considered entry level they're they're paying considerably higher wages but
you you're we're putting it on businesses to be in charge of this and I I we I'm a little weary
of that I hear what you're saying but I do think that this is one of those cases where this is where
we ask what we ask of our government to set a standard to set a tone it is there is no
mathematician that can make it work where any individual can live on the current minimum wage if
we're asking our businesses to be in charge of this and them to kind of told the line it seems like
not only a lot to ask of them but I don't I don't distrust businesses but I also know that a
business is only going to stay alive as much of a profit they can make so they're going to cut
corners where they can it seems like an issue that are are sooner than later our state is
going to have to address it whether they want to kick the can or not it's something that is
going to have to be addressed one way or another but it's not going to be solved in the last two
minutes of our conversation that's for sure I did want to jump to your on the job series before
we wrap up how is that going do you have a job coming up well we're we're getting something
lined up it's a little bit more difficult so there's a a quirky little state statute that
kind of hinders us for those who are on the ballot this fall that we we're only limited and
you'll probably notice this too even in our official post on social media is that we're limited
to the number of things that we can actually do from the official standpoint so we're trying
to work around that to see what can be done if they have I have to transition it to the campaign
side until after the election but we're still getting things lined up and regardless it's still
something I'm very passionate about we're going to continue to keep doing because for me it is
a ton of fun to actually go out there and experience something different for a day because I can't
tell you how many times just from my on the job series when legislations come up you know
it gives me much better perspective on how that impacts prime example when I worked at doer
clean in Wisconsin Rapids last last fall there's a legislation that was introduced that would have
made industrial longeries part of the ag-manufacturing tax credit and that first thought I thought
there's no way this makes any sense you know the not going to qualify because I do my own
longer but haven't spent the day there when you see these uniforms and borrowings that come in
matter absolutely disgusting I think and there's no chance these are ever going to become clean
and have it walked through that process it was an altering it for me and you know that was
legislation ended up becoming law right before my radio days I worked at a business much like that
G&K here in Rapids and yeah you see those uniforms and you don't know how they get cleaned but
somehow it happens and a big thank you to those kind of workers out there before you wrap up
you and I talked about the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison did want to encourage people to
check that out next time you're in Madtown and you can find out more at wisvetmuseum.com that's
wisvetmuseum.com always appreciate the time sir thanks so much for joining us so people want
to follow questions want to know more or just reach out to you how can they do that yeah if anyone
needs to get a hold of me feel free to give my office a call at 608 266 3123 shoot us an email at
scn dot my last name testing at legs.wi.gov follow us on social media and of course as everyone
knows it's Wisconsin's favorite season and I don't mean summer it's campaign season I know it's
a really bad joke but if you see me out in the community feel free to stop me and we'll be
taking our campaign your door near you soon. You're a dad you can tell those jokes as a father I know
a dad joke when I hear what we can tell dad jokes we can get away with it that was a good one sir
we appreciate the time safe travels out there have a great weekend.
We'll have more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM WFHR locally grown
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