Wisconsin Primary Will Be More Important Than Ever Agri-View: Capitol News

Anyone who thinks it’s not important to cast a ballot in the Wisconsin Presidential Primary on Feb. 19 needs to think again.

Held in conjunction with the nonpartisan spring primary, Wisconsin voters don’t even have to show up at the polls in order to vote. That’s because a law change a few years back allows anyone to request an absentee ballot.

Anyone 18 years of age or older who has resided in the district in which he or she wishes to vote for at least 10 days may vote. To request an absentee ballot, all a person must do is make that request by mail to the office of the municipal clerk no later than 5 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the election. This year that date is Feb. 14. The person making the request must sign the letter.

Anyone wishing to make an absentee ballot request in person may do so up until 5 p.m. on the day preceding the election (Feb. 18).

Too often, we hear the excuse that “my vote doesn’t count” or “I don’t know who to vote for” or, even worse, “I’ve never voted and don’t intend to start now.”

Having heard all three of those lame comments, it seems to me the only rational rebuttal is to ask why they want to live in a free country.

At a question and answer session telecast over C-Span last summer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer offered a thoughtful response to a young person’s query about why and how a person should vote.

Breyer said he couldn’t tell a person he or she had to vote but said he could tell them that the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution had made the assumption that citizens would WANT to vote. (He said it much more elegant terms than I can paraphrase.)

Over the weekend we saw in the South Carolina Primary Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill) receive more than twice the number of votes than Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), the runner-up. John Edwards, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina, was third.

The focus now shifts to Florida and then to Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when many had assumed the likely Democratic and Republican candidates would be known. That may not be the case at all. There’ve been a couple of stories where the Feb. 5 voting day is being called Tsunami Tuesday n because on that day 22 states across the country will hold either caucuses or primaries.

No doubt Obama’s Saturday victory in South Carolina was the impetus for him to announce he would be opening a second office in Wisconsin. That second location will be in Madison n his first office in Milwaukee is already up and running.

After his Saturday victory, Obama received two very important Democratic endorsements. They came from Caroline Kennedy and from her uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)

With ag roots

Nathan Russell, who grew up on the family farm near Shullsburg that has been in the Russell family for more than 150 years, has filed for the 51st Assembly District seat that includes nearly all of Iowa and Lafayette Counties, the southern portion of Sauk County and three townships in Richland County.

Russell, currently an ag lender, is past president of the Wisconsin FFA. He will be running as a Republican.

Kathy Kopp, who grew up on a fourth generation dairy farm outside Platteville, has announced her candidacy for the 49th Assembly District. She is currently the director of the Platteville Chamber of Commerce.

Food safety consolidation

It didn’t take long for Assembly Bill 701, authored by Rep. Al Ott (R-Forest Junction), to be drafted and introduced with bipartisan support from members of both the Assembly and the State Senate.

Ott, who chairs the Assembly Agriculture Committee, had first suggested such a bill during the Jan. 10 committee meeting that had been focused on increases in food and dairy license and re-inspection fees.

The licensing and inspection are part of the work carried on by the Division of Food Safety at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).

During the hearing it was learned that the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) is working on an audit of the food safety program and its fee structure. Ott and other committee members decided they did not want to take action on the proposed fee increases until they’d seen the LAB report. Originally scheduled for completion in March, the LAB agreed to re-arrange its workload comply with the committee’s request.

While lawmakers are eager for the LAB report, they also want to see what savings might be achieved if a single agency handled food safety programs.

Here’s the analysis of AB 701 as prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau:

“Under current law, the DATCP regulates retail food establishments such as grocery stores and the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) regulates restaurants.

“This bill requires DATCP and DHFS to prepare a plan to consolidate their food safety programs into one food safety program.”

Ott says the plan for consolidation of the two food safety programs into a single program “must identify efficiencies and outline any expected savings that may result from consolidation.” The agencies are required to report the plan to the Legislature within one year.

In testimony before the committee, Chuck Warzecha, DHFS director of the bureau of environmental and occupational health, said the agency supports efforts to improve efficiency and minimize financial strain on industry partners. He noted DHFS was already working with DATCP “to eliminate overlap and redundancy in our programs.”

Warzecha pledged to continue to work “with our colleagues at DATCP to increase efficiency where we can find it. If this bill moves forward, we caution that any increases in efficiency that may be found by one program not create increased inefficiency for other industry groups.”

Testifying and/or registering in favor of AB 701 were Jeff Lyon from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation; David Ward and John Manske from the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives; Michelle Kussow from the Wisconsin Grocers Association; Brad Legreid of the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association; Senator Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse); and Mike Carter of Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association.

No one testified against the proposal and only Kathi Kilgore, representing the Wisconsin Innkeepers Association, registered against it.

NR 151 and 153

On Feb. 7, an advisory committee that is looking a proposed revisions to the DNR’s nonpoint rules (NR 151 and NR 153) will meet at the DNR South Central Regional office, 3911 Fish Hatchery Road, Fitchburg. From 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. the committee is expected to focus on NR 151.

The afternoon segment, from 1 to 4 p.m. will look at NR 153.

The meeting room is the Glaciers Edge/Gathering Waters conference room located on the main floor.

Additional information as well as meeting notes, handouts and presentations from the Jan. 7 meeting can be found at http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/rules/nr151/rulerevision.htm.

Global Warming

As the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming prepares its final report, one can’t help but notice a certain irony in this winter’s cold and snowy weather n and a report that will no doubt highlight warming trends many experts have observed.

But not all temperature authorities agree including the one at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) which uses NASA weather satellite data that includes atmospheric temperature records.

Using temps in the lower troposphere (where global warming is said to be most pronounced) the UAH data found readings from Jan. 1998 through Dec. 2007 that indicated a net warming of 0.04 degrees Celsius.

But if one recognizes a generally accepted margin for error (in calculating global average temperature at any given time) n and that figure is about 0.7 degrees Celsius, statisticians can point out that margin for error is more than 17 times the measured warming trend over those 10 years.

While the prospect of global warming certainly needs to be taken seriously and precautions considered just as seriously n one also has to recognize other opinions from legitimate authorities.

In any event, meteorologists and those of us who, since before Thanksgiving, have battled snow-covered driveways, sidewalks and roads will take more than a casual interest in the shadow Sun Prairie’s Jimmy the Groundhog sees or does not see on Saturday.

According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow, he retreats back into his burrow and we’ll see another six weeks of winter. If the critter’s shadow is not evident, he’ll stay outside indicating an early spring.

Recognizing the extra snow removal costs, Rep. Gary Hebl (D-Sun Prairie) is circulating a draft bill that would provide up to $50,000 in grants to local governments to cover those extra expenses. The $500,000 proposal would come from the state’s road fund.

When all is said and done the winter of 2007-08 may just go down in the history books as one of the state’s coldest and snowiest. All of which may mean an extra special welcome on March 20 n the date when spring officially arrives. Incidentally, this year summer officially arrives on June 20; autumn on Sept. 22; and winter on Dec. 21.

(Thanks to the “Condenser,” a publication of the WECA Division of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives for the UAH/NASA statistics.)

Wetlands Reserve Program

Erin O’Brien, wetland policy and conservation specialist for the Wisconsin Wetlands Association (WWA), is praising Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl for his recent stand in the Farm Bill negotiations to correct a problem with the Wetlands Reserve Program appraisal process.

The problem was that millions of federal dollars for wetland restoration on Wisconsin’s private lands went unspent. Landowners had lost interest in the program because recently-revised appraisal formulas added up to below market value offers for wetland restoration easements on their land.

Kohl’s amendment, which corrects the appraisal problem, must still be subjected to the Conference Committee process.

According to Ducks Unlimited, Wisconsin enrollment dropped from 3,000 acres in 2005 to only 588 acres in 2006.

Veterans Job Fair

On Feb. 7 a Veterans Job Fair will be held in Wausau at the VFW Burns Post 388, River Drive. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hosting the event are the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development n Marathon County Job Center, the Marathon County Veterans Service Office, and the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.

On hand to answer veterans’ questions will be area county veterans service officers.

Besides the opportunity to ask questions, veterans will be able to visit with up to 25 local employers about job opportunities and they will be able to leave their resumes or job applications with those employers.

Veterans will be able to have short interviews with employers about their job skills. In addition, area and regional employers will be on hand from such fields as medical, manufacturing, service industry, truck driving, and the insurance industry.

The veterans who attend the Job Fair can also learn about and apply for federal and state benefits and about eligibility for loans, VA health care, and education programs.

Representatives from the Veterans Assistance Program n “Mission: Welcome Home,” and the Wisconsin National Guard Family Assistance Center will have information booths available.

Admission is free.

For more information, contact the Marathon County Job Center at 715-261-7726, the Marathon County Veterans Service Officer at 715-261-1141, or the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, toll free at 800-947-8387.

Capitol Notes:

- Don’t forget the Rural Energy Management Council (REMC) meeting on Feb. 7 from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at DATCP headquarters. In addition to updates on current programs and regulatory issues, the council is expected to discuss its future. Public comments will be accepted at 5 p.m.

- If you missed the Jan. 17 Ag Outlook Forum at UW-Madison campus, there will be opportunities for viewing it at: http://www.cals.wisc.edu and it can also be viewed online by visiting http://www.wisconsineye.org.

- Included in the nation’s energy bill signed into law at the end of 2007, is a study of the nation’s railroad infrastructure and whether it can meet the transportation needs of a growing renewable and biofuels industry. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.Dak) worked to keep that provision in the bill saying it was important to electric cooperatives as they sought to spotlight rail issues and reform shipping rates and quality of service.

- A German study on the potential of biogas in Europe, commissioned by the German Greens Party, came to the conclusion that if current production trends continue, all of Europe’s natural gas imports from Russia cold be covered by locally produced biogas/biomethane within 20 years.

- Earlier this month, it was announced that State Stewardship Fund money would be used to purchase land in Door County near Sturgeon Bay and on Washington and Detroit Islands at the tip of the County. Of the $4.1 million purchase price, $2 million will come from the Stewardship Fund and $2 million will come from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The rest will come from private sources.