The March of Dimes held their second Eau Claire Signature Chef’s Auction on Thursday, November 8 at the Florian Gardens. Read the rest of this entry »

Ed Bohn is a local businessman, volunteer, and member of the Altoona school board. The Altoona Star recently caught up with Bohn to find out how the school system has changed since he began his work there.

IAN JACOBY: How long have you been a member of the school board?
ED BOHN: I’m currently in my 16th year.

JACOBY: Do you remember why you originally ran for the position?
BOHN: I believed then (and still believe) in public service. I felt that there was a void that I could fill on the board. I believed in the ability of the board to set policy that would positively affect the community.

JACOBY: What sorts of changes have come about in policy over the last 16 years?
BOHN: Well, the kids are really night and day back from when I started in 1992. There are so many opportunities and different needs. Back in (1992), we would diagnose children with learning disabilities at a much earlier age, but this has changed. We also have mandates from the federal and state government. That is probably the biggest difference. We get mandates from both (state and federal) levels that equal over a million and a half dollars of our general fund. That has also been the biggest challenge that we have had to meet.

JACOBY: I was going to ask if funding is what takes up the majority of the board’s time.
BOHN: That is the name of the game. We want to look ahead 10 or 15 years and make life easier on that school board. We are setting groundwork for the students in future generations. The funding is the hardest thing, like with the mandates for teacher’s raises. They give us the mandate, but not necessarily the funds to make it happen. Nowadays, you see a lot of school districts getting into trouble, but we have looked toward the future and managed to avoid some of that.

JACOBY: Is there any reason why people without children living in Altoona should care about what goes on in the schools?
BOHN: There sure is! Not only are children our future, but we have to realize that they will be taking care of us someday. My children are already graduated, so I don’t have any ulterior motives. My passion is for the children and the community. Hopefully this comes across to the general public.

Altoona Outdoors was established in 2005 as a local non-profit, whose mission is to work with local companies, government, private donors, and others to accelerate the building of trails in and around Altoona, while encouraging healthy, active lifestyles.

DRAWBERT: I had a lot of different hats. I was on the Altoona Planning Commission for ten years. I raised my kids. I was a stock broker with Merrill Lynch. Basically, I love teaching. I love being with kids. I teach a unit in the spring on disabilities. It focuses on Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism that one of my children has.

DRAWBERT: Well, as a school board member, you are part of a group. Disagreements happen, but they make for a better end product. I’m really proud of our education system. We have a smaller-sized community, but we have a lot more opportunities for kids’ academics and extra-curricular activities. You have teachers who now move here to raise their kids in this district.

DRAWBERT: I come from the standpoint that the main function of the school board is to set policy and let the administrators deal with the day-to-day operations.The school board members are here to listen to people. This can allow for better discussions. That is probably the biggest breakdown between schools and parents. People need to see how the money is being spent.

DRAWBERT: We have visionaries (on the school board). We have increasing enrollment, and we are going to get to a point where the elementary school is already full. We just refinanced a $3 million debt, and through that we saved ourselves 2% on that amount. Those are the things we pride ourselves in… there is no definite time-frame, and that was never our intention. All five of us share a passion to improve student achievements, and part of that is always looking to the future and what we can do to make things easier down the line.

Do you have memories and/or pictures of Einar Pedersen that you would like to share with the community?

If so, please write your memory in the comment box below, email it to info@altoonastar.org, mail it to 704 Bartlett Avenue, Altoona, WI 54720, or stop by our office any time Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

You may email your picture(s) to info@altoonastar.org or visit us at 704 Bartlett Avenue to have your picture uploaded.

In the struggle to pass our state budget, much was left on the floor of the conference committee, trimmed by the sharp knife of compromise. A split legislature – a Republican-controlled Assembly and a Democratic Senate – brought two very different visions of state government to the table. The end result required compromise.

This budget debate will be remembered as one of the longest and most contentious. It also will be remembered as the first serious debate about health care reform.

We cannot sustain rising costs in health insurance. Farmers, families, school boards, local government and especially small businesses are paying too much. Healthy Wisconsin was a reform plan that gave us the strongest dose of cost-control medicine ever considered in Wisconsin. The plan lies, cut out of the budget, on the floor of the conference committee – a casualty of compromise. The Assembly never offered a serious alternative to control health insurance costs.

We must continue the health care debate, understand the issues and work toward solutions that lower health insurance costs and cover everyone. All of us learned from the debate and it is nowhere near over. The Senate will take up Healthy Wisconsin as a separate bill and continue to work toward real reform.

Another change sought by the Senate was a move toward fairer taxes. Large numbers of multi-state and multi-national companies operate here in Wisconsin but pay no state taxes. This creates a disadvantage for Wisconsin-based companies who do pay state taxes. It also means the rest of us have to pay more. When some pay nothing, others have to pick up the slack.

Taxes pay for the services we all use. Large businesses want to locate where the roads are maintained, crime is low, schools are good, the environment is clean, and garbage is picked up. Like everyone else, large businesses should pay for services they consume.

The Senate added several proposals to the budget that would have closed corporate loopholes and moved the state in the direction of fairer taxes. As expected, the state’s largest business lobbying group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, was opposed to the proposals and lobbied hard to destroy them. The arguments went along the line of a “tax hell” that would be created. What went unsaid were the uneven burdens we now bear.

In the end, the only agreement on changing taxes was an increase in the cigarette tax, a tax that hits the poor harder than others. Movement toward a fairer tax system is not over. But like health care, those who now benefit from the current system will not easily allow change.

The casualties of compromise reached into the very heart of the Senate when immediately following the budget vote, the Senate Democrats entered into a caucus debate on leadership.

The Majority Leader in the Senate is the most powerful role among Senators. The Leader brings bills to the floor, assigns senators to committees and can actually take a bill from one committee and assign it to another if they are displeased with what happens to the bill. The Leader provides vision and direction for the Senate Majority.

Our Leader has been Senator Judy Robson, a woman who has governed with wisdom and integrity. She used her power wisely to broker a reasonable budget deal, to empower others and to better our state. Unfortunately, in the rush to cast blame for the budget, she lost her role as leader in a surprise vote. This action divided Senate Democrats and makes solving the issues facing the state more difficult.

Unity among Senate Democrats is yet another casualty of compromise.

It has been nearly eight months since the Governor first unveiled his budget proposal. There has been a lot of debate, a lot of compromise and the Legislature finally passed a new budget. Below is a statement I issued shortly after the vote.

“Throughout this entire process, my top priority has been to pass a budget that taxes and spends within taxpayers’ ability to pay. Today, we passed that budget.

As the budget delay dragged on, it was clear we needed compromise, but not compromise at any cost. Working across the aisle, we eliminated $16.4 billion in proposed tax increases, 98% of the tax hikes originally proposed by the Senate. This clearly didn’t happen overnight, but it needed to happen.

While there are a number of things in this budget that I don’t like, this is a budget that’s good for schools, reforms health care and provides insurance coverage for 98% of Wisconsinites, helps entrepreneurs create good jobs and stands up for the taxpayers. All things considered, this is a win for my constituents.”

Good things in the budget
- Property Tax Freeze: We fought for and obtained a 2% property tax freeze, saving more than $300 million.
- Reduced Senate and Governor’s proposed taxes by 98%
- Healthy Wisconsin Payroll Tax: Eliminated
- Cigarette/Tobacco Tax: Reduced by 25%
- Hospital Tax: Eliminated
- Gas Tax: Eliminated
- Real Estate Transfer Tax: Eliminated
- Nursing Home Bed Tax: Eliminated
- Keeps Spending within the Taxpayers’ ability to pay
- Provides additional funding for higher education
- $2.97 million for NanoSTEM Initiative
- Increased aid for Nursing Education at UWEC
- Grant for CVTC for NanoRite Facility
- Approval for Davies Center Project at UWEC
- Increase in the State Tipping Fees
- Health Care Reform
- BadgerCare Plus implemented
- Makes health insurance premiums tax deductible
- Health Care Information Technology tax credit
- Creates health opportunity accounts within Badger-Care
- Stops raid of nursing home bed tax dollars
- Continues our commitment to education
- Invests more than $500 million in funding for education
- Protects the taxpayers from increases in property taxes
- Protects Wisconsin’s seniors
- Fully funds SeniorCare
- Creates plan to encourage long-term care insurance
- Fully funds and maintains eligibility for Wisconsin GI Bill

With any compromise there is give and take, and in the end, a few things made it in that are not very good. Among the items that bothered me, I felt the transfer from the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund was the worst.

While I wasn’t excited about a good portion of this budget, I am proud of the amount of taxes we took out of this budget, and I’m ready to get back to work fixing these negatives the budget contained. All in all—this budget is a win for my constituents and I sincerely hope the Governor keeps his word and does not veto any important pieces that we worked for.

Budget by the numbers
$0 Tax hikes proposed by the Assembly
$16.4 billion Tax hikes eliminated during negotiations
2% Property tax freeze achieved by Assembly
98% Percent of Senate tax cuts eliminated by Assembly
$400 million Bonding eliminated during negotiations
$608 million Total reduction in structural deficit
98% Percent of Wisconsin residents who will be assured insurance coverage under this budget two-thirds of K12 funding level achieved in this budget, ensuring our schools will continue to have the resources necessary to provide students with an excellent education
$200 million Savings in state bureaucracy
$15.2 billion Payroll tax eliminated
$35 million Nursing home bed tax eliminated
7¢/gallon Gas tax eliminated
$418 million Sick tax eliminated
$131 million Jobs tax eliminated
$12 million Real estate investment tax eliminated
$10 million Sales tax eliminated
$5.6 million Tax tax eliminated
$3.4 million iPod tax eliminated
55% Increase in Tipping Fee to combat out-of-state waste
24 Number of hours per day the most dangerous sex offenders will be monitored for the rest of their lives with the GPS system funded in this budget
$2.97 million grant to fund the Nanotechcenter at UW-Eau Claire & UW-Stout

Was it Worth It?

115 days after the fiscal year ended, Wisconsin has a new taxing and spending plan. The delay was frustrating, for sure, and for me as much as anybody else. But what’s important to keep in mind is this delay was the result of the widely different visions for our state of the legislators who were elected last November.

When one side says we need to raise taxes $18 billion, expanding government by 23%, and the other side says no, government is too big already, we need to hold the line on taxes.

But as frustrating as the budget delay was, we were able to eliminate $16.4 billion, or 98%, of the Senate’s proposed tax increases. That means for every day of the budget impasse, we eliminated $143 million in tax hikes, saving every taxpayer in this state $26 per day.

Was it worth it? While all along I wanted compromise, I just could not accept compromise at any price. I stand by my decision to insist on lower taxes, and I think Wisconsin taxpayers got a better deal for it.