Conservatively Speaking

Today Wisconsin taxpayers received more bad news. The Tax Foundation in Washington D.C. has released its annual study on Tax Freedom Day. America’s Tax Freedom Day will fall on April 30 in 2007, two days later than last year. Tax Freedom Day in Wisconsin doesn’t arrive until May 2, the thirteenth latest Tax Freedom Day among all the states.

That means Wisconsinites will work more than four months of the year, from January 1 to May 2, before they have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels.

According to the Tax Foundation, "Americans will work longer to pay for government (120 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (105 days). Since 1986 taxes have cost more than these basic necessities. In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone (79 days) than they will to afford housing (62 days).

In 2007 Americans will work another 41 days to afford their state and local taxes. That makes taxation a bigger financial burden than housing and household operation (62 days), health and medical care (52 days), food (30 days), transportation (30 days), recreation (22 days), or clothing and accessories (13 days).”

You can read more here.

Reminder: Town Hall meetings


MONDAY, MARCH 26

MUSKEGO 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Muskego Public Library • S73 W16663 Janesville Rd.



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28

WAUKESHA 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Waukesha Town Hall • W250 S3567 Center Rd.



THURSDAY, MARCH 29

FRANKLIN 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Franklin Public Library • 9151 West Loomis Rd.

Senior citizens came by the dozens for 22 years, three days a week, to the Cream City Cafeteria inside the Boston Store at Southridge. They plunked down their $6.95 so in return they could get an early bird dinner special.

Each diner also got seven free bingo cards. They ate at 4:00 p.m., played bingo at 5:00, and were on their way home by 7:00. The seniors descended upon Boston Store, not so much for the baked chicken, or the tea towel set they might win playing bingo, but for the socialization and camaraderie.

For over two decades, the bingo games commenced unimpeded. Last month, Greendale authorities, under orders from the state Division of Gaming, ordered that the games be shut down. Someone had complained to the state. Suddenly, bingo games that didn’t cause a stir for 22 years were now illegal.

Fully aware that the state sanctions a lottery and is deeply involved in casino gaming, bingo players contacted me, amazed that state bureaucrats had so much time on their hands to allow them to sabotage senior citizen games played for trinkets.

Illegal bingo must include three things; a prize, chance, and pay to play. Bingo is defined as a chance game and, because the Boston Store patrons must buy food and receive a minimal prize, games played at Southridge are technically illegal.

The state reacted in a swift and heavy-handed manner that may have been unnecessary. A better solution would have been to work with Boston Store to tweak its policy so that seniors could still enjoy a hot meal, bingo, and companionship.

I have had and continue to have conversations with the state Division of Gaming and Boston Store Corporate executives about a possible way to bring the bingo games back to the Boston Store. The Greendale community and Southridge strive to keep the mall a safe, pleasant place to shop. We must do everything we can to keep seniors returning to the mall. I am hopeful a solution can be reached that will allow bingo to be played again at Boston Store, providing an outstanding community service by staging the games.

It’s especially ironic to see how seriously the state is treating a group of senior citizens at the same time the Dane County District Attorney is announcing he will no longer issue criminal charges against individuals possessing less than 25 grams of marijuana, the equivalent of two dozen joints. The message from Madison is that it’s okay to possess drugs, but senior citizens better not play bingo at their favorite mall.

Something is very wrong when the Wisconsin Constitution will not allow free bingo with an inexpensive meal at Boston Store, but will allow Indian gaming bingo.

Governor Doyle is at it again. The Governor’s proposed state budget raids the Patient Compensation Fund of $175-million. The Governor attempted a similar raid of $180-million in the 2005-07 state budget. The Legislative Audit Bureau says the fund “insures participating physicians and other health care providers in Wisconsin against medical malpractice claims that exceed the coverage limits of their primary malpractice insurance.”

In a report issued today, the Legislative Audit Bureau says, “The Governor’s 2007-09 Biennial Budget Proposal includes a one-time transfer of $175.0 million from the Fund to a newly created heath care quality fund. This new fund would support a variety of health care quality improvement activities, including the Governor’s E-Health initiative. However, we caution that such a transfer would place the Fund in a deficit accounting position and may result in future increases in provider assessment rates. The Legislature will also need to evaluate whether the proposed uses of the transfer meet the purposes and uses of the Fund set forth in s. 655.27(6), Wis. Stats., which states that the Fund is “held in irrevocable trust for the sole benefit of health care providers participating in the fund and proper claimants.”

I voted against the Governor’s proposed raid of $180-million from the fund in May 2005 as a member of the Joint Finance Committee. I argued such a transfer would be fiscally unwise. The vote by the committee to reject the transfer was 14-2. You can hear my comments during the May 2005 Joint Finance Committee meeting here.

The Governor should not be allowed to raid the Patient Compensation Fund. The fund has contributed to quality health care in Wisconsin, is responsible for a healthy relationship between the business community and physicians, and has been instrumental in preventing Wisconsin from becoming a state in medical malpractice crisis and a state with even higher health care costs.

Here is the Legislative Audit Bureau’s report.

The Legislature’s most powerful committee, the Joint Finance Committee, has begun its series of public hearings in various locations around the state. The first hearing was held in Milwaukee Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Crafting the biennial state budget is the single most important job performed by state legislators. Your thoughts on the budget are critical to the process. Here is the list and locations of the remaining Joint Finance Committee hearings:


De Forest Area 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 21.
Arlington Agricultural Research Station
Public Events Facility
N695 Hopkins Road
Arlington, WI 53911


Chippewa Falls 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 27.
Chippewa Falls County Courthouse
Assembly Room (Lower Level - Rooms 1 & 3)
711 North Bridge Street
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729


Prairie du Chien 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 4.
Prairie du Chien High School
Auditorium
800 E. Crawford Street
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821


Rhinelander 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 11.
Nicolet College
Learning Resource Center -- Theatre
5634 College Drive (Off of County Hwy. G)
Rhinelander, WI 54501


Green Bay 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Thursday, April 12.
National Railroad Museum
Lenfestey Center
2285 South Broadway
Green Bay, WI 54304


If you are unable to attend any of the hearings, you are encouraged to inform your elected officials about your budget opinions by telephone, e-mail, or letter. The Manitowoc Herald Times-Reporter has an excellent editorial explaining the budget process and why it’s important for citizens to get involved. Here is their editorial.

The state Senate and Assembly Education Committee meets at the state Capitol in Madison Thursday. I’m a member of the committee. The agenda includes a presentation by State Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Libby Burmaster. Burmaster is expected to tout the education portion of the Governor’s proposed state budget.

Here is the meeting notice for the Senate and Assembly Health Committee.

Your trips to the grocery store are going to get more expensive, thanks to the frenzy over ethanol production.

The United States Agriculture Department (USDA) in its monthly crop report says the huge demand for corn from ethanol plants will cause an increase in meat, pork, and chicken prices. Corn is the primary feed for livestock and the price of corn has skyrocketed due to ethanol. Producers of meat and poultry, facing higher feed costs, will reduce production.

Poultry producers have no choice. The National Chicken Council says the cost of feeding chickens has gone up 40 percent. Chicken, the meat most preferred by consumers, will certainly cost more and consumers will be the losers. Tyson Foods Chief Executive Dick Bond said, “Companies will be forced to pass along rising costs to their customers, meaning consumers will pay significantly more for food.”

The culprit is ethanol. Ethanol chewed up 20 percent of last year’s corn crop and is expected to take up 25 percent of this year’s crop. Corn costs $3.20 per bushel, up from $2 per bushel last year.

I wrote in a column February 2, 2007, “Excitement over ethanol, a renewable fuel made with corn, has reached such a high level that there has been a virtual rush on corn. The effects have been devastating, especially in Mexico with a society, culture, and way of life dominated by the tortilla. Tortillas make up 40 percent of the diet for poor Mexicans, and with corn prices quadrupling in Mexico since last summer, Mexico is suffering through its worst tortilla crisis.

Exorbitant tortilla costs created by the buzz about ethanol have left few alternatives in Mexico. Mexicans who can afford food are bypassing tortillas for options that are less healthy, so they are gaining weight. The poor are eating less, eating less healthy, or going hungry.”

We’ve learned the problems created by the ethanol buzz are even worse than the crisis south of the border. America will now produce less meat, poultry and chicken. Shoppers will have to pay more at the grocery stores in order to feed their families.

Governor Doyle is proposing what he calls a $40-million investment in renewable energy. The Governor’s enthusiasm to spend more on ethanol, an unproven fuel that costs more, harms the environment, and reduces gas mileage, will directly contribute to a reduced and more expensive food supply.

On February 9, 2007, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved a new admissions policy for freshmen students in the UW System that is very troubling. The policy uses race and ethnicity as factors in the process of selecting and rejecting applicants at 26 UW campuses. This policy is already in use for the fall 2007 semester.

I have signed on to a letter sent to Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen from several state legislators, requesting the Attorney General give a formal opinion on the new admissions policy.

In our letter, we state that the new policy is “a matter of grave concern to the families of Wisconsin” The policy approved by the Board of Regents includes both requirements and criteria to be used in a holistic review of every applicant to the UW System. The new policy specifically identifies the use of race and ethnicity as criteria in the decision-making process for admissions.

An admissions policy based on race and ethnicity may violate Wisconsin law. Wisconsin State Statute 36.11(3)(a) was established in 1973 and states:


36.11(3)(a)

(3) Admission of applicants.

(a) The board shall establish the policies for admission within the system and within these policies each institution shall establish specific requirements for admission to its courses of instruction. No sectarian or partisan tests or any tests based upon race, religion, national origin of U.S. citizens or sex shall ever be allowed in the admission of students thereto.

An admissions policy based on race and ethnicity may send the wrong message to parents and their children that classroom performance and student achievement are less important.

In our letter, we told Attorney General Van Hollen, “This matter needs your urgent review, since applicants will soon be receiving decision notifications from the UW System. It is clear that under the new policy, some applicants will be denied admissions and others will be admitted based on their race and ethnicity. The new UW System admissions policy will harm students and families based on factors completely outside of their control, namely race and ethnicity.”

Any application process for the UW System must be fair and balanced. The new policy approved by the Board of Regents and now in place for the fall 2007 semester is unfair and unbalanced and should be struck down.

The state Legislature’s budget-writing committee, the Joint Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on the biennial state budget Tuesday, March 20, 2007 in Milwaukee. The hearing will be held at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Student Union in the Wisconsin Room on the 2nd Floor, 2200 East Kenwood Boulevard. It is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. -4:30 p.m. but will probably run longer to accommodate a likely large crowd.

I encourage you to attend this public hearing. At the very least you will get an education about the state budget process. My years of experience in the Legislature tell me Tuesday’s Joint Finance Committee session will have the same pattern of past public hearings. If you attend, watch as nearly 90 percent of the testimony will be petitioning the Legislature to spend more money. Committee members get a distorted view of the public’s true sentiments on the budget. The faction of the public vehemently opposed to increased spending and the Governor’s proposed increase of $1.74 billion in taxes and fees is not represented because they are working to pay the bills, and unable to attend the hearing to express opposition to a bloated budget.

I encourage you to attend the hearing and testify. If you cannot attend, please make sure to voice your budget concerns to me and other state elected officials by phone, e-mail, or a letter. It’s important because the overwhelming majority of the people testifying before the Joint Finance Committee will be asking lawmakers to spend more of your money. If that idea is of concern to you, then it’s critical you get involved and present legislators the taxpayer’s view to consider.

I am co-author of a bill to prevent abortion trauma. My article appears in today’s Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel. You can read it here.

Wisconsin is firmly in the grips of March Madness. The Badger State was fortunate to have two of its men’s college basketball teams selected to compete in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament.

Securing a bid to the annual tournament, one of the most heavily watched sporting events of the year, is an honor and a source of great pride for the schools, their alumni, and fans. Playing against other top college teams from around the country brings additional revenue to the schools and a wealth of attention and prestige.

For most college basketball observers, the tournament is an outlet filled with harmless fun and emotion. Too many fans, however, will be drawn into the dark and gloomy side of March Madness and succumb to problem gambling.

The NCAA tournament is highly visible. It is everywhere, from television to radio to CBS Sports offering free online viewing of tournament games. A Chicago-based consulting firm estimates the tournament will cost employers $1.2 billion in productivity over the course of the 19-day event. Hundreds of basketball observers in Wisconsin could lose earnings, savings, their families, and homes because March Madness will lead them to gamble.

Telephones at the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling (1-800-GAMBLE-5) are unfortunately busy year-round. However, they especially heat up around college basketball tournament time. The Executive Director of the Council on Problem Gambling Rose Gruber says March tends to be a record-setting month for people calling in to seek help for addictive gambling. During 2005, the hotline recorded 10,049 calls, with 10% or 1,095 coming in March. Numbers for March 2006 are unavailable, but leading up to March Madness, February 2006 the Hotline recorded over 1100 calls.

Total calls received in 2006 were 9200, down from 10, 049 the prior year. That’s the good news. Gruber says the bad news is the severity of the calls is getting worse with more and more callers considering suicide or suffering devastating bankruptcies.

Gruber also says the disturbing trend of more young people becoming addicted to gambling continues. The entire atmosphere surrounding March Madness with its elimination tournament for college teams naturally becomes more popular with young crowds. The remainder of the year, young gamblers are lured by poker and betting on the Internet. Gruber says six to 20 percent of teens in Wisconsin are at risk of becoming addicted to gambling.

This is cause for great concern. Unlike the casual gambler with bets that do not interfere with daily life functions, the problem gambler cannot seem to stop. The more the problem gambler bets, the more betting becomes a quest, not just to win, but to recover lost money. Bigger and bigger risks are taken and the debts grow larger and larger.

There are tremendous costs to the families of troubled gamblers. There are financial loses. Serious problem gamblers lose or quit their jobs, steal money to support their gambling habit, think about and actually plan suicide, and some even make suicide attempts. Children of problem gamblers develop behavior and adjustment problems suffering from depression, anxiety, and cynicism.

The social costs of gambling to the state of Wisconsin are significant. The Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling Helpline Executive Director Rose Gruber says the average debt of callers to her hotline is $43,000, up from 37,000 last year. Wisconsin has 332,000 serious problem gamblers, up from 265,000 last year, a significant increase.

A Wisconsin Policy Research Institute study in 1996 reported the average serious problem gambler imposed costs close to $10,000 upon Wisconsin each year with a total annual social cost impact of over $307 million. The same study reports the average serious problem casino gambler imposed costs of over $10,000 upon Wisconsin each year with a total annual social cost impact of over $138 million.

Wisconsin certainly has enough gambling and does not need any expansion. The social costs far outweigh the gaming revenue payments the state receives. The immense visibility of March Madness should be a wake-up reminder that gambling remains a serious problem in Wisconsin, and one that is growing by luring in younger players.

Today the state Senate reconfirmed the appointment of Frank Busalacchi as Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT). I voted to send his appointment back to the Senate Transportation Committee for further review.

I stated on the floor of the state Senate that Busalacchi has worked well with a number of Senators on many road projects. However, some new information has come to light that I believe warranted further discussion on Busalacchi’s appointment.

There are unanswered questions about Busalacchi’s use of DOT officials to resolve tax disputes in other states for Dennis Troha, a Kenosha businessman and large campaign donor to Governor Doyle who has been indicted. News stories about Busalacchi’s involvement have created public unrest. Until this matter is resolved, I thought the courteous action to take would have been to delay a vote on Busalacchi’s appointment.

The motion to send Busalacchi’s appointment back to committee failed, 18-15. I then voted against confirmation. Busalacchi’s appointment was confirmed, 27-6.

The state Senate will be in session today, Tuesday, March 13. One of the items on the agenda will be the confirmation of Frank Busalacchi as Secretary of the state Department of Transportation. Another item is Senate Joint Resolution 3 honoring the life and military service of Captain Rhett W. Schiller. Captain Schiller's parents live in the 28th Senate District and will be present. Here is the official calendar for the state Senate session:


First Order. Call of Roll.

Second Order. Chief clerk's entries.

Third Order. Introduction, first reading and reference of proposals; reference of appointments.

Fourth Order. Report of committees.

Fifth Order. Petitions and communications.

Sixth Order. Advice and consent of the Senate.

QUESTION: Shall the appointment be confirmed?

Beers, Stephen, of Fontana, as a member of the Real Estate Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2010. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Brennan, James, of Milwaukee, as a member of the Public Defender Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2010. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Judiciary and Corrections, Ayes 5, Noes 0)

Busalacchi, Frank, of Brookfield, as Secretary of the Department of Transportation, to serve for the term ending at the pleasure of the Governor. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Transportation, Tourism and Insurance, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Drengler, William, of Wausau, as a member of the Public Defender Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2009. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Judiciary and Corrections, Ayes 5, Noes 0)

Dueholm, Robert, of Luck, as a member of the Real Estate Board, for the term ending July 1, 2009. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Frank, Matthew J., of Madison, as a member of the Prison Industries Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2008. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Judiciary and Corrections, Ayes 5, Noes 0)

Greenberg, Martin, of Milwaukee, as a member of the State Fair Park Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2012. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Transportation, Tourism and Insurance, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Hanson, Martin, of Eau Claire, as a member of the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers and Land Surveyors, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2009. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Hook, Steven, of Milwaukee, as a member of the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers and Land Surveyors, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2010. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Jackson, Celia, of Madison, as Secretary of the Department of Regulation and Licensing, to serve for the term ending at the pleasure of the Governor. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Kamps, George, of Green Bay, as a member of the Family Therapy Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2009. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Klippel, Ryan, of Sun Prairie, as a member of the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers and Land Surveyors, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2009. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Lee, Daniel, of Waunakee, as a member of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, to serve for the term ending January 1, 2011. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Morales, Jennifer, of Milwaukee, as a member of the Judicial Commission, to serve for the term ending August 1, 2007. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Judiciary and Corrections, Ayes 5, Noes 0)

Schroeder, Ryan, of Delavan, as a member of the Real Estate Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2006. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing, Ayes 7, Noes 0)

Schroeder, Ryan, of Delavan, as a member of the Real Estate Board, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2010. (Report confirmation recommended by committee on Economic Development, Job Crea

The non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau has completed an analysis of the tax and fee increases in Governor Doyle’s state budget proposal.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau concludes that the Governor's budget would increase taxes and fees by $1.74 billion dollars. That is the figure I have cited in previous blogs about the budget.

You can read the entire Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis here.

During his state budget address, Governor Doyle said the following about funding education:

“I know property taxes on homeowners are still too high in Wisconsin. Tonight, building on the progress of the last two years, I am proposing an aggressive plan to hold down property taxes without hurting schools or endangering public safety.

First, under my budget, two-thirds of every dollar for our schools will come from the state – taking the burden off property taxpayers. “

Only a few weeks later, we learn that’s not true. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau analyzed the Governor’s budget and found that he’s $100-million short of keeping his promise of having the state pay for two-thirds of public education.

Governor Doyle’s state budget proposal is loaded with tax and fee increases totaling approximately $1.75-billion.

His budget contains a brand new fee: anyone who logs in to access the public records of the Consolidated Court Automation Programs, better known as CCAP, would have to pay a fee under the Governor’s budget proposal.

The CCAP website “provides access to certain public records of the circuit courts of Wisconsin. The information displayed is an exact copy of the case information entered into the CCAP case management system by court staff in the counties where the case files are located. The court record summaries viewed are all public records under Wisconsin open records law.”

It’s a popular tool utilized by employers and others in conducting background checks. Governor Doyle wants to charge you to use CCAP.

On page eight of the Governor’s proposed budget, in the Summary section, it states, “This bill authorizes the Director of State Courts to establish and collect fees for use of the circuit court automated information systems.”

Later in the budget bill, on page 1612, it states, “SECTION 3708. 758.19 (4m) of the statutes is created to read:758.19 (4m) The director of state courts may establish and charge fees for use of the circuit court automated information systems created under this section. The secretary of administration shall credit all moneys collected under this subsection to the appropriation account under s. 20.680 (2) (j).”

The state Legislature’s budget-writing committee, the Joint Finance Committee has announced the cities, dates, times and sites for the committee’s six public hearings on the biennial state budget.

A hearing is scheduled in Milwaukee on March 20, 2007.

Hearings will be held in the following cities and locations during the following dates and times:


Milwaukee 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 20.
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Student Union -- Wisconsin Room (2nd Floor)
2200 East Kenwood Boulevard
Milwaukee, WI 53201


De Forest Area 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 21.
Arlington Agricultural Research Station
Public Events Facility
N695 Hopkins Road
Arlington, WI 53911


Chippewa Falls 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 27.
Chippewa Falls County Courthouse
Assembly Room (Lower Level - Rooms 1 & 3)
711 North Bridge Street
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729


Prairie du Chien 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 4.
Prairie du Chien High School
Auditorium
800 E. Crawford Street
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821


Rhinelander 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 11.
Nicolet College
Learning Resource Center -- Theatre
5634 College Drive (Off of County Hwy. G)
Rhinelander, WI 54501


Green Bay 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Thursday, April 12.
National Railroad Museum
Lenfestey Center
2285 South Broadway
Green Bay, WI 54304

It is rare that a state governor will be offered a grant from the federal government, and turn it down. That is exactly what Governor Doyle has done.

Only five states rejected the federal grant. Wisconsin is one of them.

Grant money would have been used by school districts that teach abstinence-only courses. Governor Doyle's rejection of $602, 958 in federal money will hurt efforts to instruct Wisconsin teenagers that abstinence is, and this is indisputable, the only method guaranteed to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases.

Acceptance of the federal grant money would not have cost the state. Doyle's rejection does cost the state.

According to the Wisconsin Abstinence Coalition, the federal dollars pay for the salary, benefits, and expenses of a state Abstinence Title V Program Consultant in the Department of Health and Family Services. The grant also pays for four of every seven dollars expected to be spent within a state's Title V program. There is a match requirement of three dollars for every federally awarded four dollars that Wisconsin passes on to the sub-grantees. Matching funds could come from State dollars, local government dollars, private sector dollars or in-kind support. Therefore, the target population in Wisconsin is losing $1,051,680 in program dollars.

UW-Madison sociology professor John DeLamater admits in the article linked above that as many as 12 percent of 13-year-olds have had sexual intercourse. I submit that is reason alone to teach abstinence.

I authored a bill that was signed into law last session that requires school districts that provide sex education to present abstinence as the most effective way to prevent pregnancy. It is shameful and somewhat hypocritical that the Governor would refuse to accept federal money that could provide much-needed public health information to Wisconsin youth.

The Wisconsin Legislative Council wrote the following to me about the federal grant:

The attached federal statute appears to be the source of the funding. The criteria under which the funding is to be spent are described in 42 USC 710 (b) (2), which in part provides that abstinence education has as its exclusive purpose teaching about the gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity and teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems.

As the Daily Cardinal article indicates, the executive branch is refusing the funding because it does not want to be locked into one approach to the problems of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases--it wants to use multiple approaches. Presumably, if the state took the funds and nevertheless taught multiple approaches to these problems, the state could be forced to repay the funds.

42 USC § 710. Separate program for abstinence education

(a) For the purpose described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall, for fiscal year 1998 and each subsequent fiscal year, allot to each State which has transmitted an application for the fiscal year under section 505(a) [42 USCS § 705(a)] an amount equal to the product of--
(1) the amount appropriated in subsection (d) for the fiscal year; and
(2) the percentage determined for the State under section 502(c)(1)(B)(ii) [42 USCS § 702(c)(1)(B)].

(b) (1) The purpose of an allotment under subsection (a) to a State is to enable the State to provide abstinence education, and at the option of the State, where appropriate, mentoring, counseling, and adult supervision to promote abstinence from sexual activity, with a focus on those groups which are most likely to bear children out-of-wedlock.
(2) For purposes of this section, the term "abstinence education" means an educational or motivational program which--
(A) has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;
(B) teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children;
(C) teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;
(D) teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity;
(E) teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;
(F) teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;
(G) teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increases vulnerability to sexual advances; and
(H) teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.

(c) (1) Sections 503, 507, and 508 [42 USCS §§ 703, 707, 708] apply to allotments under subsection (a) to the same extent and in the same manner as such sections apply to allotments under section 502(c) [42 USCS § 702(c)].
(2) Sections 505 and 506 [42 USCS §§ 705, 706] apply to allotments under subsection (a) to the extent determined by the Secretary to be appropriate.

(d) For the purpose of allotments under subsection (a), there is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an additional $ 50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2003. The appropriation under the preceding sentence for a fiscal year is made on October 1 of the fiscal year.

During the Sunday morning Channel 12 News about the bingo games that have been cancelled at the Boston Store cafeteria at Southridge, I was interviewed live in the WISN-TV studios. Southridge is in the Senate district that I represent.

I have had and continue to have conversations with the state Division of Gaming and Boston Store Corporate executives about a possible way to bring the bingo games back to the Boston Store. Southridge is a wonderful place for seniors to visit, shop, and meet friends and we must do everything we can to keep seniors returning to the mall. I am hopeful a solution can be reached that will allow bingo to be played again at Boston Store, providing an outstanding community service by staging the games.

I will be a guest today on the Mark Belling program on Newstalk 1130 WISN to discuss the bingo games at the Cream City Cafeteria at Boston Store at Southridge. I'll talk live with WISN's Jay Weber at 5:06 this afternoon.