Hello and welcome all to WFHR's Rapids Report for this May 16th, 2025.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here and welcoming on the phone lines our good friend,
Senator Patrick Teston.
Good afternoon, sir.
How you doing?
I'm doing great, James, yourself.
Doing well.
Doing well.
We appreciate the time, especially, you guys, you representative crew, you guys are always
very busy, but especially lately, it feels like you guys have been extra busy, even more
so.
You, in fact, speaking of Mr. Crewg, you and him drafted a Senate Bill 156 that would
require all first responders to carry, be trained to administer, at the, at the delivery
systems.
I saw that this was, anytime I see you two teaming up or working together on something,
I know how important not only it is, but especially to our area.
Sure.
Yeah, and this is a piece of legislation that really can do us from constituents in the
Grand Rapids area, from a just absolutely tragic and heartbreaking story, the Mueller family
of their son, unfortunately passed away this past November, two days before Thanksgiving.
And for most of his, his entire life that was cut short, far too early, avoided peanuts.
And he had a peanut allergy and unbeknownst to him, he had purchased some peanut butter
M&Ms, began going into anaphylactic shock.
And unfortunately, the first responders on scene were long-forced and they didn't have
epinephrine.
And by the time paramedics arrived on scene and were able to administer epinephrine, it
was too late.
And unfortunately, this young man's life was cut tragically short, but a huge shout out
to his parents who really have stepped up in a big way.
In fact, I had a conversation with Andrew's father two days before Christmas and he shared
his gut wrenching story.
And immediately I said, okay, well, we'll step up into what we can help.
So he actually had provided us the model language and legislation that would allow all first
responders to carry epinephrine to avoid tragedies such as the one of their son.
And to me, it just makes sense when you think about all the things that have been done
especially on the opioid crisis where most law enforcement now carries Narcan.
I think this just goes hand in hand and providing our first responders another tool and
resource to avoid a tragedy such as this.
And so unfortunately, this legislation wasn't there and wasn't available for their son,
Andrew, but they're continuing his legacy and fighting for him and his story and hoping
to ensure that tragedies like this don't occur across the state.
And so the bill was heard in the Senate Health Committee a couple of weeks ago.
I thought the testimony was incredible and very impactful.
And I'm hopeful that as we work with our colleagues through this process that we can get this
one across the finish line and ensure that his story and legacy lives on.
Are you seeing by part?
I know that I mentioned I'm seeing it's a bipartisan bill.
Are you seeing that support with this?
I am and that's what's been so great about this is that Republican and Democrats come
on the table to tackle this issue.
And you know, there are some things that we have to iron out.
There is a cost component to this that, you know, some stakeholders have reshown
express concern over and we're working with the Department of Health and Human Services
and other stakeholders to see what can be done.
I hear whether it's in the state budget or as a standalone appropriation to help lower
some of those costs, but I think by and large, everyone's an agreement.
This is the right thing to do and it's just, you know, trying to thread the needle
to hopefully get this and get this to become law.
Well, earlier this week on the report, we had Carolyn Sailor and Sheriff Sean Becker
in to talk about bluegrass at the lake.
And it's another reminder of me of one of the, I think one of the more amazing things
that human beings can do when there is personal tragedy and unspeakable tragedy and when
you can take that and do some good with it, do something beautiful with it, that's only
human beings are capable of that and it really is remarkable whenever it happens on that
level or this level, whatever it might be, appreciate the work on that one, sir.
We talked about this in the last conversation, Wisconsin Senate passed the bipartisan bill
that will help ensure our state remains a national leader in the production of potatoes,
especially going into the weekend here, one of the touch on this one with you.
Yeah, so this, this was kind of a throwback for me because one of the first bills I
offered when I first got elected back in 2016 at the Goths in January 2017 was making
improvements to our seed certification program for our potato industry, which Wisconsin
is the third largest potato producing state in the country.
We're also one of the largest certified seed growers in the country as well.
And our potato crop was valued added over $325 million last year alone and our certified
seeds were valued at over 75 million.
Now we've had a certified seed program on the book since 1913, so over 100 years this
program has been in existence.
And the issue that got brought up is that we, we provide our Department of Agriculture
Training Consumer Protection under Statute, the authority to make sure that anyone who
plants potatoes more than five acres that they use certified seed, they ensure that we
have pathogen-free potatoes because potatoes are versatile, susceptible to disease and
thinning like weight blight, which can wipe out an entire crop.
And with many of our growers who are on contracts with very well-known and large company, like
free to lay in others, it's critically important to ensure that we have and know what's
waiting in the ground to ensure that we have a safe and secure food supply chain.
Now what had happened was there were a couple of actors up in Northern Wisconsin, up in
the old night on Langley County area, who planted uncertified seed and basically when
the department reached out to them, said, hey, that wasn't certified, you need to remove
these from your field.
They basically ran the numbers and said, you know what, we'll just pay the fine, no big
deal, just a slap on the wrist.
Well, that's really concerning.
And so we worked with the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Grow Association along with the
Department of Agriculture Training Consumer Protection to not add on more regulation,
but just to provide them more teeth and enforcement to ensure that any potential bad actors that
there's going to be a stiffer penalty to ensure that, you know, we don't have uncertified
seed going into the ground, which can threaten the entire stock that we have here in the
state.
So I was very happy to see that one pass unanimously out of both houses.
And we're just waiting the governor's signature on it.
I understand the ag industry in our state, how vital, how important it is and how,
you know, so much of this might be common knowledge for some people.
I have to say it wasn't until talking with you and UW's Matt Lippert gave me a little
info on this one, but really diving into that, not only how well we do with potatoes
in this state, but the worry of contamination, like you're talking about there with some
of these other ones and everything, it really is important and it truly does have a trickle
down effect with this and a domino effect with it, where how it affects other farmers.
So great to hear that that one is progressing and here's how I'm hoping to get signed.
One of the take a moment to talk about Senate Bill 204 with you.
This is a bipartisan legislation that is attempting to encourage more video game production
companies to locate in Wisconsin.
I find this very encouraging and very interesting, sir, and I want you to dive into it, but
I mentioned Matt Lippert before.
It wasn't until really talking with him and some of our UW Extension people that I understood
how hand in hand our ag industry and our tech world are.
I really was late to the party on this one and understanding how much the two worlds
not only work together, but need each other, and we certainly have seen our state being
hit hard, whether it's not getting enough snow up north, so our people up north have
more resources and more, you know, can make more sail than that way.
Just looking at, you know, other ways to, in other avenues to bring people to our state
and to create more economy in our state, one of the biggest growing industries in our
whole lifetimes, no matter what age we are, and you are out there, is the video game industry.
It's, you know, you look at things and look at stock or things that you can count on.
It's crazy to think that that fantasy sports, some of these things that we would have never
guessed as kids, are very important to economies.
A bill like this seems to have a lot of legs.
Yeah, so this is one of the cool parts of my job, and I've got to do a shameless plug
here, because, you know, I play video games my entire life, I still do, when I get, you
know, a moment of free time, that I'm kind of unwind and place a matter, or call it duty,
name it, but it turns out that actually Wisconsin has become an a hub for video game production.
And I had no idea until I was approached, so for instance, we've got a number of studios
here in the state, like Brave and Studios, we make a lot of very well-known and widely
popular games, because the issue is many of these developers that are currently housed
in places like California are looking to get out of California and come to states like
Wisconsin, and so this would actually incentivize more of these developers to set up shop here
by providing them tax credits, and so, you know, when we talk about what we can do to market
Wisconsin to be more competitive, it's things like this that do just that, trying to attract
more businesses to come into the state, which means they bring in more people, families
relocate here, they set up shop, and this is how we expand our tax base, and at the
same time, this is an industry that has seen tremendous growth over the last 20, 30
years.
I mean, you think about how far we've come from the days of, you know, playing, you know,
basic Nintendo, you know, you've got virtual reality games, and so I'm actually really excited
about this, because Brave and Studios, they have a facility in Middleton that I'm going
to be taking tour of, and I know my co-author in the Assembly Representative Nate Gustus
and took this about a year ago, and absolutely raved about it, how cool it was, because
they immerse you in, you know, the whole body imaging, and, you know, the animatronics
and everything else that goes along with that, so I'm really excited to see just some
of the technology that goes into this, because it's super high tech, and you talked about
some of the tie-in with, you know, the egg industry, it's pretty remarkable.
I met with an organization just about two weeks ago now that are using virtual reality
to basically help up-skill individuals within our correction system, so, you know, as they
get ready for their earned release, they have some knowledgeable skills and useful tools
that they can take with them to apply to the real world and cut down on recidivism rates.
So just goes to show that, you know, you may think of video games as a leisure, but in practicality,
it's actually being used to up-skill and train people and give them skills that they can
apply in the real world, and hopefully get good-paying jobs as a result of it.
Yeah, I think the idea of what video games are and where it's growing and changing all
the time, just between you and I, sir, is this the real reason you got in the politics?
Just to do the video game thing, I won't tell anybody, I didn't, I wouldn't blame you,
I wouldn't.
And I'm with you.
If you haven't played the new NCAA College Football game, it's amazing, it's amazing,
I can't get over how great it is.
And this is good for a lot of the reasons, not only that you mentioned there, but as we,
and other states, certainly are looking to bring people to our state.
One of the things, and I don't have a ton of people that I know in Silicon Valley, but
my time in California, I ran into and know a couple of friends that I still talk to.
One of the more consistent things they're talking about is what you said earlier, people
wanted to get out of the valley, and they have this skill set, so they want to use it,
they want to work in the tech industry, but they want a rural life, they want to, you
know, a more, you know, just down home kind of life, and they want the best of both worlds
essentially is the way that it's been told to me.
Wisconsin offers that, Wisconsin that offers that all over the state.
Doing this is not only a win-win for our state in our economy and the jobs it can create,
but also the opportunities that I think it can create in the industry, because the other
thing I hear is, you know, there's spending time in California, so you see a lot of games
that have a lot of California base or, you know, intentions and stuff.
The Midwest is gigantic with the video game industry.
It only makes sense to be making more games here, and more games along those lines of
things that, you know, are going to bring people through their councils and stuff.
And I think that the, oh, so go ahead.
Well, I mean, that's a perfect time, too, and reason why we got a bill that was just
released on Monday that deals with talent attraction grants through an organization called
Make My Move that would provide grants through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
to provide to communities, nonprofits, and other and tribal organizations to really create
plans to then go out and attract professionals to their communities.
And so, you know, again, this is about doing what we can, the best position ourselves to
attract new opportunities, new people, new companies in the state of Wisconsin.
And so this approach has been used in other states, this organization, so essentially,
they create these plans with the end goal of having new construction, having new families
move in, and it provides communities who are oftentimes cash strapped because everyone's
budgets are tight right now.
And so this one time investment, you know, we're hoping to get it incorporated into the
state budget as the standalone bill works its way through the process.
And if it's successful, then that gives us a perfect roadmap and a marker to build upon
moving forward.
Because I've said this countless times is that the way I view it, we are in competition
with 49 other states.
And I think one of our biggest struggles in Wisconsin and I think the Midwest in particular
is that we're Midwestern nights, we're too humble.
We don't like to be breakadocious, but we have to be out there telling our stories and
highlighting what great communities that we have all throughout the state.
And so whether it's in places like Stevens Point, Wisconsin, or Athens, or Athens, or
Crosse, Green Bay, or anywhere in between, having tools like these that are disposal to
help local communities and organizations go out and I don't want to say poach, but make
the case like hey, we've got a lot to offer and you hit the nail on the head James, our
work life balance here in the state, the quality of life that we have, the low cost of living,
that's highly appealing and attractive.
But a lot of people don't know that story because we're not always the best at telling
our story.
And so I hope this is legislation that I've offered with Representative Armstrong up in the
Barron County Rice Lake area that we can get to the governor, that we can have a sign
in the law.
It's another bipartisan bill.
And that's what's still refreshing is that we've got Republicans and Democrats realize
and look, we've got demographic challenges here in the state.
We're projected to lose about over 220,000 people here in the state of Wisconsin by the
year 2040 and that's a major concern.
On top of that, you know, we've had roughly anywhere between 100 to 140,000 jobs available.
So we aren't meeting the maximum output that our economy could have.
And so by enticing individual from outside of the state to come in here, we're going
to hopefully grow our economy and expand opportunities here in the badger state.
It's something that I appreciate the way you put this to because you're not only, yes,
we are competing with foreign and other states.
We're also in better off looking at it that way, I think, and the idea of welcoming people
to the state and being better about that.
And up and down the state, there are events in different ways of doing this.
I know here in Wisconsin rapids for decades, the state water ski show tournament, I think
is a great example of this.
Since I've lived in this area, it's not just that the water ski show tournament is coming
to town.
It's okay, everybody on their best behavior, everybody be treating, you know, people
coming from out of the city, out of state, well, that seems to be a common thing up and
down to state.
So when we're doing these things and having like a grant program like this, I feel like
Wisconsin is almost built for this already.
The grant is only going to enhance and help that out that much more.
And certainly there's information and things that this organization knows that, you know,
I wouldn't have any idea of or something like that and that could be very beneficial too.
And I can't speak for you, but I don't know, one of my favorite words, and it's just more
and more becoming it by partisan, that is becoming one of my more and more favorite things to
hear.
So anytime that we hear that is always encouraging and that these bills might get passed
and everything.
I wanted to take a moment to talk about just a couple of other things with you before
we get to our on the job series.
Recently you spoke, you were speaking at the official dedication ceremony for the new
Ho Chiang World War II code talkers Memorial Highway.
You and I have talked about the code talkers quite a bit.
This felt like a almost full circle moment for these great individuals in this great
topic.
It was, it was an incredible ceremony and a credit to all the folks within Ho Chiang
Nation who really went through hours upon hours of records because these were classified
missions.
The code talkers, the native code talkers who served in World War I as well as World
War II used their native language to basically send communications that thankfully the enemy
combatants in both World Wars were never able to decipher and it saved countless lives.
But what's even more remarkable about this is that these individuals, the 14 Ho Chiang
Code talkers, they took their jobs and what they did in their service to this country to
their graves.
And so it was brought to our attention a couple of years ago.
We did a, I had the opportunity to present the citation recognizing the Ho Chiang Code
talkers at Memorial Day Palo outside Black River Falls two years ago and it was just such
a remarkable experience.
And then we were approached again by the Ho Chiang Nation and they're like, hey, you know,
what would be really great is if we could have a highway memorial between Toma and all
the way to the border with Minnesota over and across.
And so we ran the legislation, again, unanimous support and then a couple of weeks ago had
the opportunity to unveil the Memorial Highway sign alongside many of the descendants and
relatives of these Ho Chiang Code talkers and got to stand side by side with Governor
Evers, Congressman Van Orden and other elected officials who had a hand to play in this and
just recognizing the efforts and the service and sacrifice that these individuals made and
the pay tribute to their service.
And so it's going to serve as a reminder every time you're making that trip on the interstate
from Toma to across that, you know what, here in Wisconsin, we recognize those who stepped
up and served in such a remarkable way and was really just a very moving ceremony.
It's a real part of our culture here in the state and something wonderful to highlight.
We appreciate those individuals and certainly appreciate the work you and the colleagues
have done to make this happen.
One of the wrap up talking a little bit about you're on the job series, not only have
you been busy in Madison and Washington, sir, but you've been pretty busy up and down
to state.
You've had a couple of on the jobs since last time we've talked.
Yeah, so the last one we had last week, I had the opportunity to work construction with
Hartland homes based out of Clover.
They build houses and they work alongside a number of great contractors in the area of
Drexel for instance out of Amherst and what was so cool about this project, cool about
this project was the fact that when I got on site, basically what they had, they had the
foundation board, you know, the basement and by the time we were done, we had the entire
first floor, you know, all framed up, all the outside walls were put in place and what
was super neat too was that the couple who is building this home and buying this home,
a couple, they're retiring shortly here in the near future.
They lived in the Chicago area and they were looking for places to relocate to and they
had several options between Tennessee, here in a couple other spots and they decided,
you know what, they fell in love with Central Wisconsin in Northern Adams County and it
was so great getting a chance to talk and sit down with them and you know, here's their
backstory of how they're coming to Wisconsin and how they're looking forward to becoming
future chiefs heads and more importantly, I mean, the guys that got to work alongside,
I mean, they were just awesome, awesome guys, I mean, we had a great time, I'll be honest
so I, they kicked my butt a little bit, I was pretty sore after the day but it was fun
because the way they construct these houses, that's not pre-modular but basically pre-manufactured
so, you know, some of my truck shows up and it's basically plug in place, everything
and it's so efficient and what that's been able to do for them on cutting down waste and
more efficiencies and just, it really was a neat process and so again, you know, Heartland
Homes, Tough From Homes, Drexel Construction, not too great Central Wisconsin companies
and again, just highlighting the different job opportunities are out there and as I often
joke and say, it was an opportunity for me to get out of Madison for a day which I feel
like I'm a prisoner of now about four or five days a week especially in the middle of
the budget to get outside do some real work and you know, I have a great time doing it.
My batter reminds me every day of the years I put into construction, I hear you and some
great workers over there, it's also as you were touching on there, I think it might be
interesting and cool to the audience for those who don't know that much about how much
home building and home improvement has changed over the years and how much they've been
able to, the construction industry is such a great example of America to me and the resilience
and you don't, you haven't heard a lot of people saying, well, we're losing people in
this industry or anything like that in part because they've just adapted, they just
roll with things and figure out ways to, okay, well, these houses got to get built.
Let's figure out how to do it and some of the things that you've to noted there are
some of the cool techniques and different things that they're doing to do that.
Shout out to all of our builders out there and a big thank you to you, sir, for always
putting up with my questions and hanging out with us for a half an hour every month.
You'd be safe out there and if people have follow up questions, we'd like to reach out
to you.
How can they do that?
Yeah.
If anyone needs to get in touch with my office, feel free to drop us a call at 608-266-3123.
Shoot us an email at sen.mylastingtesting.legis.wi.gov, follow us on social media, sign up
for our e-updates.
And really, as I've said before, it is the time to be in contact with your elected officials
as we are in the process of working through and creating the next two-year state budget.
So you've got comments, ideas, questions, concerns.
Feel free to reach up to my office and our doors are always open.
Always appreciate the time.
Have a great weekend.
We'll talk again next month.
Before we do, James, thank you.
And a big thank you to you for joining the conversation out there.
Today we appreciate you joining us here at WFHR's Rapids Report.
