Doyle Hails Success of BadgerCare Plus; Others Question Cost Overrun

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 9:03 PM CDT

Joan Sanstadt, News Editor

How is the cost of a program best determined? Is it by the number of people it serves; or is it by its cost?

For the farm families who finally qualified for BadgerCare Plus, it’s a boon.

But for lawmakers who must deal with a budget already stretched and that may not get much better, a program that has cost $25 million more than projected, it’s a bust.

Last week Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) asked state health department officials to come up with answers for the extended costs. Senator Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) promptly called for a legislative audit of the program.

News of the additional $25 million in expenses probably couldn’t have come at a worse time n just as financial markets were struggling and Washington was trying to come up with a strategy that would address the problems in the market and not be called a bailout.

There’s no way I could argue with the actions of either Huebsch or Cowles. They are doing their jobs and I do not interpret their calls for greater accountability as begrudging farm families or low income families access to health insurance.

It should be noted that Cowles, a member of the Joint Committee on Audit, has been consistent in looking for ways to make government programs more efficient and more accountable to taxpayers. It was Cowles who successfully pushed for audits of the state’s large computer projects and of the state car fleet, which both resulted in savings to taxpayers of millions of dollars.

One of the reasons n and it certainly isn’t a secret n for the additional cost of BadgerCare Plus is that for the first time depreciation was eliminated from the income formula when determining farmer eligibility. For many farm families, when depreciation was added to their W-2 or other income statements, they no longer fell within the parameters of eligibility. Now they do.

Many rural lawmakers, including Rep. Mary Hubler (D-Rice Lake), had fought for this change over many legislative sessions.

To Gov. Jim Doyle the increase in the number of families now eligible for the popular program “is a story of incredible success.” In his interview with Agri-View, the governor cited the change in the depreciation provision in the plan as a major reason for the greater participation.

“We projected about 100,000 people n mostly children n would move into the program. The first six or eight weeks, 72,000 enrolled. Thank God we’re covering them earlier than we thought we would,” was his stance on the subject.

“I think we need to keep those articles (about audits and answers) in perspective,” Doyle said. “Its $16 million for those newly eligible out of a Medicaid budget of $8 billion n we’ll manage it fine.”

Bipartisanship

As an avowed news junkie, it’s getting harder and harder to listen to radio talk shows and evening news programs n it seems no one is listening to what others are saying because they’re too busy talking themselves. They talk over one another, with voices becoming ever more shrill.

There are a few RARE voices of reason that seem willing to venture an opinion or suggest an answer that is outside of those argued by the many. Those are the ones I’m listening for.

Earlier, Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl was quoted as saying whoever won on Nov. 4 would have to exercise bipartisanship for work to get done in Washington.

During our interview with Gov. Doyle, the issue of bipartisanship arose. We asked him for additional comments and here’s what he had to say:

“There are times when obviously very clear differences between the parties exist and neither side should give in on their basic principles. But there are also times, no doubt, when you could work out agreements in the middle. In recent times, leadership in the Wisconsin Legislature has been very reluctant to sit down and work out compromises,” the governor said.

“But I can also show you where things have really worked well and probably the best example is agriculture. Together, we’ve passed extraordinary things n Democrats and Republicans working together. In fact, we probably agree on 90 percent. Agriculture is a good example of where we’ve been able to move on, but we’ve fought on other things,” Doyle said.

A couple of years ago, Senator Luther Olson (R-Ripon) said virtually the same thing to me and in a recent interview with soon-to-be-retired Rep. Barbara Gronemus (D-Whitehall) a similar sentiment was expressed.

Education is clearly a big issue for the governor and he said he is “not willing to cut hundreds of millions of dollars, as the Republicans want n I’m not going to do that.”

Yet to this reporter, Gov. Doyle did not give the impression he was unwilling to discuss education or any other controversial issues.

The governor called compromises made in agriculture and renewable energy legislation “shining examples of what you can do when you focus on common areas.”

No one will ever make me believe that one party more than the other, has a greater desire for good health care or for good education.

Maybe n just maybe when all the hoop-a-la about the debates and the election is over n some new voices will be added to the mix and some new ideas might be brought forward n and that may make those common areas more easily seen.

It’s a little early for New Year’s resolutions, but I’m going to consciously look for examples of bipartisanship being exercised n and I promise to share those with our readers. Gov. Doyle has also promised to contribute to a special column on bipartisanship.

Animal rights

You can look for more activity regarding animal rights and it will be originating from right here in Wisconsin.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has assigned Alyson Bodai to Madison where she will be that organization’s first state director.

She is expected to work to pass “humane legislation” in Wisconsin n which means efforts to end puppy mills and animal fighting.

The example to care for animals was set by her mother and as a high school student she volunteered to work with a wildlife rehabilitator.

After earning bachelor and graduate degrees at Texas universities, she worked as an academic advisor in 2003 at the University of Iowa. That’s when she founded the Farm Animal Welfare Network there n where her focus was public education on abuses at “factory farms.”

She got the U of Iowa to use only cage-free eggs and coordinated rescue trips after Hurricane Katrina. After receiving awards from Farm Sanctuary as its Outstanding Activist and from HSUS for Excellence in Animal Advocacy she was hired by HSUS.

Industrial hemp news

There’s a brand new pamphlet about industrial hemp hot off the presses. The one-page tri-fold brochure titled “The Plant, The Law & The Solution” is published by the North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC).

Growing the crop is illegal in the United States because the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) says so. It’s as simple as that.

Therefore, although the legislatures of North Dakota and Vermont have already acted to legalize the crop and 24 other states have pending legislation n it still cannot be grown unless the DEA changes its mind.

When U.S. industries want to use hemp and its byproducts, such as fiber, oil and seed, it must import what is needed from Europe, Asia or Canada where it can be legally grown.

At a time when our country, and Wisconsin in particular, are encouraging renewable energy in many forms it seems to me that the biomass associated with hemp stalks would be an answer to a real need. Its inner stalk could be a source of cellulosic ethanol or even animal bedding.

Not only does the stalk have value for biomass energy, it has proven to be valuable as construction materials.

“Significant portions of European autos, including the German-made Mercedes, are made from industrial hemp,” the brochure states.

Carpet manufacturers have often said they would like to have access to hemp fibers in their facilities.

Rep. Gene Hahn (R-Cambria), who has repeatedly introduced industrial hemp legislation, is retiring the Wisconsin Legislature at the end of the year.

It will be interesting to see which lawmaker will be willing to author a similar measure in the upcoming session. While the idea of re-introducing the crop (it was successfully grown in Wisconsin prior to WWII) has drawn plenty of negative comments, what also needs to be emphasized is the fact hemp products are biodegradable and can be recycled. The crop can be grown without the use of chemicals.

For more information or to receive a copy of the brochure, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Erwin A. Sholts, 4549 County A, Oregon, WI 53575. Sholts is the chair of the NAIHC board.

Livestock siting info

Does your county or town regulate new and expanding livestock operations? Do you know if you are doing it according to state law?

It may be time to give livestock facility siting ordinances a second look. The September livestock facility siting newsletter reviews how over 50 local governments are successfully implementing the state siting law, while others need to act if they want to require new permits, or modify old permits for larger livestock farms.

The newsletter is posted on the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) website at: http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/arm/agriculture/land-water/livestock_siting/latest_news.jsp

Fore more information, contact Mike Murray, DATCP’s Livestock Facility Siting Program Manager at 608-224-4613 or at Michael.Murray@wisconsin.gov or check out http://livestocksiting.wi.gov.

Capitol Notes:

- Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have passed the Great Lakes Compact. It’s being sent to the president for his promised signature.

- Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl and U.S. Representatives Dave Obey and Steve Kagen, all Democrats, have been recognized by the American Farm Bureau Federation as “Friends of Farm Bureau” for their support of Farm Bureau priorities during the 110th Congress.

- If you live in Madison on a single lot and have a building size of four units or less, you can keep up to four chickens.

- The Ho-Chunk tribe agreed earlier this month to immediately pay the state $60 million. The payment was to resolve a dispute involving a gaming compact. Originally, the state said the amount owed was $72 million.

- Former State Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) not only has his law license back, he’s been hired by Madison’s Channel 3 (WISC-TV) to comment on politics for its web-only programming. Chvala was convicted of misconduct in office in the caucus scandal in 2005.

- Congratulations to Will Allen, co-founder and CEO of Growing Power in Milwaukee, who has been awarded a $500,000 “genius grant” by the MacArthur Foundation. Several years ago, Allen was the subject of a Back Forty feature in Agri-View. Highlighted was his effort to teach urban youths how to grow their own food and become self-sufficient.

- ABC’s nightly news program will air from Racine on Oct. 9. This is part of the network’s efforts to broadcast from this year’s “Battleground States.”

Editor’s note: This column is being written on Friday morning to meet an early deadline. That deadline is necessary because of staff involvement in World Dairy Expo.

Therefore it does not reflect any action Congress and the President may take regarding the financial crisis, nor does it deal with Friday night’s debate.

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