Hello world, welcome to WFHR's rapid support for this Monday, October 27th, 2025, say a big
thank you to our friends at Crockett Sceptics sponsoring the segment, joining us right now
our good friend Senator Patrick Teston, good to see you Pat.
James, great to be in studio.
Great to have you in studio man, we don't get to do this very often when we have a great
connection so we really can hear you and have a good conversation here and got a bunch
of different things I want to talk about.
One of the kick things off, just wrapping things up with the coolest thing in Wisconsin.
That was a fun contest that they did, they do a great job of this every year.
Yeah, this is put on by WMC and it's an opportunity highlight some of the great manufacturers
that we have all throughout the state of Wisconsin.
We always try and nominate one or two from the right here in the 24th Senate District
and I believe they just wrapped it up and to be honest James, I can't remember who actually
won the final.
That's all right because I had to double check myself.
You were not alone on that one but I did see that 1,000 Island Air Boats earned the victory.
Great one, a great one, a great local one and a great opportunity to highlight some of
our smaller businesses oftentimes that people may not know about and everything.
It's such a fun contest.
It really is and it just goes the show just what great employers that we have throughout
the entire state and glad that some Air Boats won.
I have never been on one so maybe that will be an on the job for a future date.
Oh, that's a yes.
Make a note of that one.
Recently you testified in front of the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term
Care on a bipartisan bill that will help our first responders better treat those suffering.
Can we get into that a little bit how that went?
Yeah, and I think we've discussed this in the past but it was before the Assembly
Health Committee and stemmed from a very tragic story that happened right here in the
Wisconsin Rapids area with the Miller family where their young son had no idea he had
a peanut allergy and it was about roughly around this time last year, right around
Thanksgiving that he had purchased some peanut butter M&Ms and went into anaphylaxis
shock and had no idea.
And so by the time the first responders had arrived it was too late.
He was brain dead.
The parents had to make a very difficult decision to pull the plug.
And they've been on a crusade ever since to ensure that all of our first responders have
the ability and our train to deliver epinephrine.
And so I know Sheriff Becker, the police chiefs in Grand Rapids, Port Edwards and Acusa,
Wisconsin Rapids have all taken upon themselves to do this, which is a great starting point.
But we want to make sure this goes statewide so we don't have another tragic case like this
round the state of Wisconsin.
One of the things that I have appreciated working with you over the years, you are very
good at the job.
You're well spoken.
You do a great job answering things.
I've never thrown you a curve ball.
You always knock them out.
But it's also something else and I hope the audience noticed it with that.
The change in tone, you've been doing this job for a while and there are certainly things
that are going to be, you know, get you this emotion or this emotion out.
But so often a part of your job is talking to constituents and talking to families that
have been through, maybe the most horrible hard thing that they've ever been through and
working with them through that, trying to find ways to make sure it doesn't happen again.
How do you handle that at the end of the day?
How do you take that all in?
I mean, it's tough and there are certainly, and this is a prime example where you find
yourself, it's basically an emotional gut punch, to be honest with you, when I was
first contacted by Andrew's father, it was two days before Christmas of last year.
And here he is, just lost his son about a month ago and two days before Christmas
he gives me a call.
I mean, how do you not act on something like that?
And so I immediately reached out to Representative Scott Krueger and we had the conversation
and said, you know what, let's run legislation.
You know, what I find so incredibly inspiring in these tragic circumstances is that here's
this grieving family who are taking time out of their schedules to come down to Madison
to testify in front of state senators, state representatives and to do it with such grace
and such elegance and strength.
That gives me the strength to power forward and carry their torch and their banner and
their son's honor and legacy.
You know, it's interesting.
I've talked to Sheriff Becker about this quite a bit and other police officers and everything.
I've talked to people, psychiatrists about this, the job and the taxiness of the job.
I don't think that we talk enough about it with politicians.
And I think it's a very no worthy thing as far as what a good or a bad politician that's
everybody has got their own definitions of that.
But for me, that is a big part of it and that empathy, that understanding, that being
able to connect to your constituents, it's vital in what you do.
And I would imagine the longer you do it, the easier it is to get numb to a job like
that.
Again, talk to officers, psychiatrists about this.
I admire so much of those that still feel and as silly as that might sound, I really
do.
It's very easy to get numb in life, it's very easy to tune out to some of these things.
It seems like this is almost as if the first time this has happened to you when you're
talking about it.
So I appreciate that and I certainly appreciate you sharing that.
And Floor sessions this past week, you and your colleagues passed more than 40 pieces
of legislation.
A number of those bills are about affordable health care throughout Wisconsin.
Can we give some highlights of some of those?
Well, I don't want to make you go through every single one, but I'll keep you here too
long.
Yeah.
I mean, both the State Assembly as well as the State Senate were on the floors in the
last couple of weeks and passed a number of pieces of legislation and one of the pieces
I really want to highlight.
So just a little bit further to the west if you're over in the Chippewa Valley, where
we saw some hospital closures that provided some major disruptions in health care delivery
when HSHS and Prevea Health basically pulled the plug and just uprooted their operations.
What's been really encouraging an organization, Roger's behavioral health has stepped in
and with some investments that we mean the State budget, they're going to come in and
feel that void in that gap because even though it's a little bit further to the west,
it has had ripple effects in some of the systems that serve our area, whether it's marshal
clinic or aspires.
And so addressing some of those challenges has gone, it's taken a step in their direction.
And so there's still a lot more work to be done.
In fact, you know, the State Senate is going to be on the floor next week or in the next
couple of weeks.
And we're looking to finish out the session strong.
And before, you know, those who are for reelection get thrown back out to the wolves and
to go out and make the case because as we know here in Wisconsin, our politics never
stop.
Our elections never cease to end, but there's still a lot of work that needs to get accomplished
before we wrap up and and rest assured both houses we are.
We've got our foot on the gas pedal.
It seems like, you know, we used to joke that the NFL, you know, it's offseason and now
we know it has no offseason politics is very similar to that as no offseason anymore.
It's certainly important to it's part of the job passing these bills, doing these things.
It's great to be able to say that 40, you know, some bills pass some of these things.
That's especially important when it comes to talking about health care and some of that
that's being able to spread out.
And a lot of these things, of course, almost all of these things come from constituents.
You people coming out mentioning these, you touched on that earlier a reference of that.
It's just another reminder to people out there.
You're sitting there and you're thinking, well, who's going to care about this?
Who would want to be, you know, there's no bill that could be passed about this or something.
Speak up, be heard.
We want to know about those things.
Oh, absolutely.
And that's why it's so critically important to reach out and have relationships with
your elected officials at every level of government, whether talking to the federal, state,
county, local all the way down to your school board, because there are oftentimes issues
that arise that we might not know even exist.
And making sure that, you know, when issues pop up, not that that would ever happen in
state government, but when they do, you know, that we're made aware of what's going on.
And so, you know, a prime example, whether it's dealing with the Miller family and their
tragic loss or, you know, the justice past week, we heard, I was able to testify on another
piece of legislation that I authored that would create a medical cannabis program.
And, you know, we got to hear testimony from families all across the state who talked
about the importance and the need for this.
I shared, and it was a very emotional for me to share my own personal story, my family
story about this.
And, you know, I think oftentimes I'd share in those experiences and those stories with
people who might not necessarily been through the exact same circumstances is what helps
move and shape public policy in the right direction.
There's a lot of us and a lot of needs, and the more of us speak up, the more that we
have addressing those things, the more we can cover.
And you and I have been doing this so long that we're, that's how good we are, sir, because
that's the next topic I wanted to bring up, because you were part of that testified in
front of the Senate Health Committee on this bill that would legalize medical marijuana
and Wisconsin.
I generally think, and this is hard to say, because if you, if you asked the five biggest
topics in Wisconsin, you're going to get five different things from everybody.
But I generally think this is one of the bigger ones we need to address in this state
right now, in part because it leads into so many other things, whether it's helping people
dealing with these struggles that they're, you know, from cancer, any of that's that
can help with that.
But then there's our ag industry and what that would have benefit that would have jolt
this could be to the ag industry.
And if for anything else, among all these other things that are very, very important,
we're so behind on this one.
We've got a lot of other states that have already jumped into the game on this.
And it's not to say, well, they're doing it, so we should do it.
This is no different than, well, his parents let, let him do this.
Why can't I?
I don't mean it like that.
But when we're talking about economies and we're talking about the other states around
us have already been, have, have a jump on this one and are certainly making an income.
And if another thing about this, you have people from Wisconsin going to these other
states to purchase these products legally, it's something that we're behind on and something
that I immediately think of our ag industry.
When it comes to this topic, I imagine this is a mixed bag behind the scenes with you
and your colleagues.
Well, it certainly is, but what, what I'm encouraged by James is the fact that 40 states have been
able to figure this out in some form of fashion.
Shocker, they're not just blue states, they're red states.
Most recently in the state of Texas, one of the most conservative run states in the entire
nation was able to figure out and implement a medical cannabis program.
Meanwhile here in the state of Wisconsin, we have individuals who are making very personal
decisions to go outside the law to get medicine, what, that they can't currently get here in
the state, or they want to find safer alternatives as opposed to being put on prescription opioids
that have helped fuel a epidemic not just in the state, but across the entire country.
And so, you know, what I'm encouraged by, so when I first introduced a version of this
bill back in 2019, it was dead on arrival.
In fact, the day it got released, I got a call from the former Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald at the time and he said, that bill's dead.
And I said, I get it.
You're not there.
A number of our colleagues aren't there.
But it's important for me as I've shared, and when I testified in committee and I think
as I've shared on the show and many other outlets, is that back in the late 90s, my grandfather
was diagnosed with lung cancer and metastasized in the bone cancer.
And you were a watching a guy who was a large man basically wither away to nothing because
of the chemotherapy that he was on.
It was gut wrenching, it was heartbreaking.
So at that time, and this was 25 plus years ago, my family made the very difficult decision
that they were going to go outside the law and purchase marijuana for him.
It gave him his appetite back.
It gave him time back.
And that story is not unique to my family.
We've heard this from countless families all across the state.
In fact, shortly after we testified, there was a young girl, her name's Nora.
She has a very rare genetic condition, ret syndrome.
And with the use of audio technology and computer technology, she testified 17-year-old
girl talking about how her friends and other states can get medicine that gives them relief.
And we heard from veterans.
We hear from other individuals who are dealing with conditions from cancer, AIDS, you name
it.
So I don't understand why we wouldn't give patients choice and opportunity to allow them
to make that decision between themselves and their provider to get the relief that an
alternative is as opposed to being put on opioid drugs, which have been FDA-approved and
have ravaged people's lives.
They have destroyed families.
And I just think it's time that Wisconsin joined the 40 other states that have been able
to figure this out.
You know, I come from a family of addiction.
I do not take this topic lightly by any means.
And when it comes to people being helped, that's where I fall on this one.
I don't think that anything can necessarily be taken lightly, but it feels like so much
of this comes from misunderstanding and just a fear and not understanding necessarily what
this is.
You know, the old movie, Refer Madness and some of that stuff and some of those things
that really are attached to this topic.
When anything can be bad and used too much of or some of those things, all of the things
that you've brought up there along with the obvious economic impact that this can have,
the way it can help our ag industry.
And first and foremost, helping people in pain.
I really appreciate what you share there and appreciate you pushing on this one and
not letting this topic go and everything among your constituents.
Well, and I'm really your colleague's.
I'm really encouraged too.
So, you know, going back in the way back machine, you know, just seven, eight years ago,
we went from introducing a bill to its debt on arrival.
Fast forward the 2025 public perception, especially on folks on my side of the aisle has changed
dramatically to the point where there is much more of an openness and a willingness to at
least entertain the conversation.
The fact that this bill was actually heard, because last time this bill was, or version
of this bill was heard was back in 2022 and it was after the legislative session had ended.
So we have an opportunity and I think the state Senate is actually going to be in the
driver seat on this one to hopefully, I don't want to say put pressure, but hopefully
persuade and, you know, get the push that we need to get this through both houses.
And like I told some of the advocates or in the lead up to some of the advocates who
I knew we're going to testify in opposition to the bill because I think it doesn't go
far enough.
We don't have a medical cannabis program here in the state of Wisconsin right now.
So isn't something better than nothing and this is a step in the right direction and
the fact that you've got Republicans who are actually willing to entertain in the conversation.
That is a far cry from where we were just a few years ago.
We're speaking with Senator Patrick Teston right now and you and Representative Crew recently
were kind of clearing the air on the community solar project.
I wanted to give you a chance to touch on that if you wanted to.
Yeah, so obviously the central sands and, you know, central Wisconsin had become sort
of ground zero for these mega solar projects and developments which, you know, they have
every right to go through this process to the public service commission.
For the longest time, I've sort of been like Switzerland because for me, it's been a balance
in that because you've got a lot of these farmers who are getting towards retirement age
that are looking for an income generator for themselves because they don't have the
next generation and take up the family farm, take up that torch.
And so, you know, they have every opportunity to sign up with these contracts and leases
to, you know, lease out some of their land for these solar developments.
But at the same time, we are losing out on tens of thousands of acres of high valued
agricultural land right here in the central sands.
So I teamed up with Representative Scott Crew for the Community Solar Program which provides
smaller developments and more importantly provides local control, which currently there
is zero local control when it comes to these massive mega solar projects.
You know, obviously for the folks down on town or own with that development, we've had
a number of constituents reach out in opposition to that.
There is literally nothing I can do about a James.
It's all run through the public service commission.
But this off ramp that we've provided with the Community Solar Program, which has been
wildly successful in place like Minnesota and other states provides that local input, provides
local feedback and more importantly provides a better alternative.
Now the large utilities, they hate this legislation.
They absolutely hate it.
They are foment at the mouth that this is bad public policy is not bad public policy.
They hate it because it takes away their current monopoly.
And at a time when we have seen our utility rights skyrocket, we are the highest in the
Midwest.
We should be having a all of the above approach.
If they want to go for the large scale utility, let them go for the large scale utility.
For those smaller developers, I mean, we've got construction companies here in the state
of Wisconsin that can't do business in the state of Wisconsin.
There's a company up in Ashland where they're sending their guys all the way down to Illinois
to work on these projects because they can't currently do it here because the large utilities
have an iron grip and a fist on these projects.
I appreciate your passion on this one, especially because it's fighting for the something that
I think is so important no matter what we're talking about in options and it's such a big
part of the so many other factors we're getting into.
I have no doubt that this is the topic we'll be talking about again coming up.
Something else that I think we'll be talking about quite a bit and I wanted to make sure
to get to before I wrap up today and everything is our agricultural roads and improving those.
This program, this agricultural roads improvement program, ARP, the ARIP application period
I wanted to let everybody know about is a thing and that is going on until December 15th.
You can submit if you know a road that you think needs to be worked on a little bit more
or something along those lines.
Am I giving a little bit of a cliff notes version of this, sir?
Am I hitting it right?
Yeah, so this is a program that was first created in the last eight budget where we set
aside.
I think it was over $100 million for the A-Rip.
That's where I was saying $150 million, $150 million in the last budget.
To help with our heavy, egg-used roads, basically what I call our farm and market roads.
So over the last several budgets, we have made significant investments in our mega projects,
our state highway system, but the most frequent complaint that we have heard from our
rural communities is that that's great, but when do we get our share?
And so through the work of RepsMTrannel and Senator Howard Marklin, the co-chair of the
Joint Finance Committee, we created this new program last budget.
It was so popular, James, of the $150 million in grants that we set aside in the Joint
Finance Committee and got approved in the budget.
We saw over half a billion dollars in grants come in for request.
So during this budget, again, just hearing the feedback from how widely utilized or overutilized
this program was, we re-enumerated another $150 million.
I suspect if history is any prior indication, my guess is we'll probably see more than
half a billion dollars in grants coming forward.
So that just goes to show what a huge need it is out there.
And we want to beef up these roads because often many of these roads were built over a hundred
years ago.
And if you take a look at it, farm equipment from a hundred years ago to today, you're
going to know something looks a little different.
Egg equipment today is much more heavier, just because the economy scale needed to be
profitable, profitable.
So at the same time, you've got this equipment that is going down roads that were designed
over a hundred years ago that can't handle the equipment.
So we want to beef up these roads and provide communities the opportunity to apply for
these grant dollars, but the 90-10 split, 90 percent coming from the state, 10 percent
from the local union government that gets awarded this application.
And so for any of our communities in that first 150 million, I think I was my district
either was number one or number two in the number of grants that got approved.
We want to continue to that trend moving forward.
And so if there's any local officials out there, you've got a heavy egg user home.
You need a letter of support, reach out to my office, and we're happy to lend a help
in hand to get that money out the door more importantly, hopefully get some of it right
here in the 24th Senate district.
I think of this as a very one of the more relatable topics we've talked about, whether
you are in the ag industry or not, you know you've experienced these roads, you've been
down them before and everything.
But I didn't realize how stretched this is among the state up and down this past weekend.
I thought I knew Madison like the back of my hand.
There are so many parts of Madison, I had no idea, especially the surrounding areas.
I'd never been to Argyle before.
My sister is a place over there right now, she's got a couple cows, really likes it.
It is a nightmare getting there.
Those roads, I thought I was going down that specific road in San Francisco or something
like that at certain points and everything.
And then you have the other big farm equipment coming the other side of the way.
It's just not enough room.
The roads are built, you know the paths are fine.
They just need the work and they work on them.
And I also think that when it comes to the benefits of this one, there's no downside to
this one.
Again, even if you're not in the ag industry, you might be taking these roads yourself.
A lot of us like to take back roads, especially this time of year seeing the trees and everything.
So it's a real win-win kind of topic right there.
I appreciate that, sir.
As we're wrapping up, I know you are currently already on the job.
You're hanging out with us here at the studios and really do appreciate the time as always.
Do you have something in the future coming up for the series?
You know, I'm not sure what we've got on this schedule yet for November, but I'm sure
my staff is working something, I guess something that works right now.
But, you know, if there is any employer out there that is looking to have me come in and
do my on the job series where I literally I get hands on.
This one, I suspect my hands are going to get too dirty today, but, you know, there's
no job I won't do, and it's just a great opportunity to highlight your business.
We put production behind this now, make a short video, do a quick interview.
Last month I was at Lycon, Concrete here in Wisconsin, Rapid, which was a ton of fun.
I got to be on job sites.
So if anyone wants to take me up on that offer, put me to work for a day, get me out of Madison
so I can do a real job.
Reach out to my office, our office number 608-266-3123.
Shoot us an email at sen.mylastnametestin at legis.wi.gov, follow us on social media, and
of course, as always, as, you know, we're in the middle of fall session, looking towards
the tail end and wrap up of the legislative session, as bills come up, lend your comments,
your concerns, input, and if you see me out and about in the community, never hesitate
to stop me, pull me aside, and have a chat with me.
Always good talking with you, sir.
Thank you so much for the time.
Enjoy the rest of the day.
We'll try not to work you too hard.
I'm looking forward to it.
Thank you again.
And thank you, everyone, for joining us for another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
