Larson Weekly Report - October 7, 2011

WI Senator Chris Larson - 7th District

Governor Turns Back on Most Vulnerable
Just one week ago, Governor Walker’s administration announced it would cut $554 million from Wisconsin’s health safety net that children, working families and seniors desperately need. Gutting funding from this vital state program will trigger an immediate and unexpected health care catastrophe for many Wisconsinites. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) anticipates that 50,000 people will have their coverage suddenly taken away completely, while at least an additional 200,000 individuals will see a dramatic decrease in their quality of coverage.

Kicking the Unemployed While They're Down
The number of individuals enrolled in the state's Medicaid programs has been steadily increasing in recent years due to the ongoing recession, making it one of the worst times to consider additional cuts to our health safety net. Those who lose their jobs, and as a result their health insurance, generally only have three options -- purchase private insurance, apply for Medicaid or go without insurance. Unfortunately, for most unemployed individuals the last two choices are usually the only viable options. Wisconsin owes it to our dislocated workers to support the programs that they currently rely on during their job search.

Introducing the Wisconsin Jobs Initiative
I am introducing legislation called the Wisconsin Jobs Initiative, which is aimed at getting at least 35,000 Wisconsinites back to work. This legislation will replace the $34.2 million that Governor Walker cut from the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) in the 2011-2013 biennial budget. It also provides $35.8 million for grants to our technical colleges for programs that reduce unemployment and put people back to work. Areas with the greatest unemployment rates will be given preference for receiving these grants.

Governor Walker's 30% cuts to our state's technical colleges forced these schools to scale back important job training programs. This has resulted in waitlists of one to six years for most, if not all, of our job training programs, including those for nursing, welding, automotive maintenance, and accounting.

As a result, local businesses in our community have family-supporting jobs available but lack the qualified skilled workers to fill them. Many local business leaders, including those at Caterpillar and Molded Dimensions, believe that investing in our technical colleges will help workers that are skilled enough to fill the vacant positions these companies currently have.

Wisconsin currently has a 7.9% unemployment rate and has moved backwards in recent months while trying to recover the 171,400 jobs that were lost between January of 2008 and January of 2010. Even though enrollment is at an all-time high for these programs, Governor Walker’s misguided budget eliminated $34.2 million from the WTCS.

We need to get Wisconsinites back to work immediately, which is exactly what the Wisconsin Jobs Initiative aims to do. This legislation will help in the short-term by providing Wisconsinites with vital job training to get our neighbors back to work and provide our local businesses long-term with the qualified, skilled applicants they need for years to come.

CLICK HERE to view a copy of the Wisconsin Jobs Initiative.
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For More of Senator Larson's report (chronic illnesses, a pattern of apathy, public health protection, go to: www.SenatorChrisLarson.com