Gronemus Was Always Willing to Work Hard to Get Things Done

By Joan Sanstadt News Editor
Thursday, October 9, 2008 7:32 AM CDT

January 2009 will be a bittersweet time for State Representative Barbara Gronemus (D-Whitehall).

Bittersweet because she is retiring from the Legislature where for 26 years she has represented the 91st Assembly District, an area that includes the Western Wisconsin counties of Pierce, Pepin, Buffalo, Trempealeau and Jackson.

In 1987 Gronemus was the first woman to chair the Assembly Committee on Agriculture, a position she held until 1995. Since then she’s continued to serve on the ag committee as the ranking minority member.

What made Gronemus decide to run for the legislature?

“I’d gotten involved with the Democratic Party and worked for Tony Earl.” As the activity director at a nursing home, she came to realize “that government oversight was only interested in how well we filled out the paperwork.”

She ran for the Assembly, won the seat in 1982 and has worked tirelessly for her constituents n many of whom are involved in farming and other agribusinesses n ever since.

There’s nothing Gronemus is more proud of than being a farmer’s daughter. “Agriculture has never left my heart; it has always been my passion. I’ve wanted to be the best hired hand farmers ever sent to Madison,” she told Agri-View.

The oldest of three children and raised on a farm, Gronemus knows all about farm chores and milking. But she also knows about planting, cultivating and harvesting n “and how to do it with a team of horses,” she added with pride.

Yet the lawmaker can still remember the hurt she experienced “when city cousins made fun of us.” But another more pleasant memory is how “on Dec. 25, farmers would give their cows a little extra feed just because it was Christmas.”

She’s always taken agricultural issues seriously, but at the same time kept a sense of humor. It’s that almost irreverent sense of humor that has endeared her to fellow legislators from both sides of the aisle.

Gronemus recalls making Senator Michael Ellis (R-Neenah) a blueberry pie. “He said it was just like his grandmother had made n I ended up making him two more. I was known to have made pies for Republicans,” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Years ago the legislature was not as partisan as it is today. We’d have fights on the floor, but afterwards we’d all go out and eat together. We have so much more in common than we have in differences,” Gronemus attested.

“I’ve worked with Senator Sheila Harsdorf, a Republican, on many issues. We’re both farmers’ daughters and as such, we care about a lot of the same things. Unless we who represent rural Wisconsin will work across the aisle we will never be able to have our voices heard,” Gronemus insists.

“There is nothing wrong with being loyal to your party. But only one person can vote for the people back home and unless you do your job and represent all of the people in your district, those people (of the other party) have no voice,” Gronemus pointed out.

“When you lived on your farm your neighbor was your neighbor n he wasn’t viewed as a Democrat or as a Republican n he was your neighbor,” she emphasized.

Gronemus recalled stirring up things within her own caucus when she found nondairy cream on the table as the meeting was about to begin. “We’re not starting until we have real milk,” she announced. “A page was sent out for real milk n and when he got back with it, we began our meeting. We’ve had the real thing on the table ever since.”

The issue Gronemus found most difficult to work on is that of animal disease. “We’ve cleaned up TB and have gone a long way toward bringing Johne’s Disease under control, but we have a ways to go yet with rabies,” she said.

If she has one regret, it’s that “we couldn’t manage to eliminate stray voltage. I wish we could have had the resources, but the only way to completely resolve it would be to rewire the entire system.

“The stories farmers told about stray voltage just tore your heart out,” she said. “I got calls from farmers with dead cows and those farmers were crying.”

Yet Gronemus believes “we need to increase the amount of electricity being produced. It’s needed for all the new equipment and devices that use electricity. People want Green Energy but in Trempealeau County there is an ordinance that says ‘there shall be no windmills’.

“We need to embrace new technology. We could have nuclear energy, but we need to encourage the feds to get involved because we need federal guidelines,” she said.

“I’m not concerned about the spent fuel left in fuel rods because the amount is so small n it’s not the problem it was years ago, but we still need a place for those spent fuel rods.

“As for coal, it costs more to ship coal than it does to buy it,” she stated.

During the course of the labeling fights over BGH, “I went to visit a Monsanto plant. They thought they were going to see a three-headed heifer, and instead I turned up,” she laughed.

What will retirement mean for Gronemus?

Well, she’s still looking at the bright red Honda motorcycle she bought herself as a 50th birthday present. It’s been sitting in her garage for quite a few years without ever having been ridden.

She just bought herself “a brand new Silverado truck,” that she expects to take fishing and on visits to see her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As to her legacy, Gronemus would like it to be “that I was willing to work to get things done. Republican or Democrat, we were all legislators representing our own districts. To accomplish the most for the State of Wisconsin you have to be willing to accept people as they are and you certainly don’t have to become judgmental.”

One last thing: Gronemus said she was “really looking forward to watching a parade instead of being in one.”

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