Bill on the Issues
Public School Financing
As a member of the New Glarus School Board, including the past five years as Board President, I have worked closely with my board colleagues and School District Administration to balance the financial needs of our school district with the financial burdens placed on district taxpayers. The State of Wisconsin has imposed revenue limits on Wisconsin’s public school districts. This state policy limits how much money school districts get from general state aid and property taxes. The Wisconsin Legislature’s continuing failure to increase the state-imposed revenue limits consistent with inflation, since 2009, have led to Wisconsin’s public school districts continually going to voters in local operating referendums. General school district revenues per pupil now lag inflation by more than $3,300 since 2009. Why is this such a challenge? Because school district costs continue to increase -- whether inflation, rapidly increasing healthcare premiums, transportation and utilities – and continue to outpace state funding. In short, the Wisconsin Legislature is continuing to shift the cost of operating public schools onto local taxpayers just to keep their school district financially afloat.
In addition, the Wisconsin Legislature has continually failed to fund special education programs. In 2024-2025, state funding only paid an estimated 30.5% cost of special education with the remainder having to be paid by local taxpayers. The public school funding challenge is heightened by the increasing levels of state support for private school vouchers. Wisconsin now ranks third in the nation for the level of support for private schools. Total state spending for private schools, largely in Southeast Wisconsin, was more than $768 million in 2024-2025 and comes at the expense of rural school districts, including those across the 50th Assembly District.
I am proud of what we have been able to achieve in the New Glarus School District despite the continuing state funding challenge. We earned a five star rating of “Significantly Exceeds Expectations in the Fall 2025 State Report Cards, placing our district in the top seven percent of districts across the state and as the highest scoring district in Dane and Green counties. Our public schools are recognized as some of America’s leading schools by U.S. News and World Report, by Niche.com, and by GreatSchools.org. I am grateful to district taxpayers for approving all three operating and building referendums in our district since I joined the School Board. However, constantly going to referendum is not the way to fund public schools.
As your state representative, I will work hard to obtain increased state financial support for our public schools. This includes increases in per-pupil and special education aids. Strong public schools build great communities.
Creating Affordable Housing Opportunities
My wife and I, along with several other families, worked hard to build Prairie Haus in New Glarus in 2022, a 40-unit affordable apartment building for working families, adults with disabilities, and retired senior citizens. Prairie Haus provides our community with housing options for those who cannot afford single family housing or who want to stay in our community following retirement. Prairie Haus obtained state financial support from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), funding support instrumental to Prairie Haus’ construction. Even through Prairie Haus was not constructed with village financial support, it is a key property tax contributor to the village, school district and county.
As your state representative, I will work to increase state funding support at WHEDA for affordable workforce, disability and senior housing. Where possible, I will also work to ensure these projects are cooperatively-owned by the residents to ensure there is community and a continuing pride of ownership.
Working for a Strong Agricultural Community
I have spent much of my professional career working in agriculture, including service as the senior Trade and Consumer Protection leader at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and as Deputy Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner (while living in Wisconsin). In both positions, I helped to lead efforts to ensure the Federal Milk Marketing Order System did not discriminate against Wisconsin dairy producers and to prevent other regions of the country from creating trade barriers to Wisconsin milk, over 85% of which is exported to other parts of the country and the world.
I have been serving on boards governing the cooperatively-owned $500 Billion Farm Credit System since 2004.
As President and CEO of Cooperative Network from 2001-2015, the state trade association for member-owned cooperatives, I was one of the primary authors of the Wisconsin Dairy Investment Tax Credit (DITC). The DITC is credited for generating over $2 Billion in re-investment in our state’s critically important $52.8 Billion dairy industry, an industry which supports over 120,000 Wisconsin jobs.
Working to Provide Affordable Childcare for Working Families
Affordable and available childcare is essential to our state’s economy and workforce participation. Reliable, affordable care allows parents to work, supports early childhood development, and strengthens the surrounding community. However, childcare educators face serious challenges: rising operating costs, workforce shortages, low wages for childcare workers, regulatory complexity, and the expiration of federal pandemic stabilization funds. Many families struggle with high childcare costs and limited availability, including across the 50th Assembly District.
As your state representative, I will work to increase the state investment in childcare, support wage enhancements for childcare works, reduce regulatory burdens where appropriate, and strengthen public-private partnerships such as those between school districts and childcare educators.
Working to Provide Affordable Quality Healthcare
As the former Chair of the Board of the Monroe Clinic and as Board Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair of Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, I worked hard with my board colleagues, administration, medical professionals, and support staff to ensure we were the lowest priced healthcare provider in the Dane and Green counties, respectively, while providing that care at a high level of quality.
Health care and insurance costs are rising at rates that are not sustainable and are certainly not affordable for healthcare consumers across the 50th Assembly District. I will work closely with my legislative colleagues to develop strategies for reforming healthcare to ensure the focus is less on profit and more on quality.
Supporting Disability Opportunities
Supporting our disabled community is vital to ensuring equal opportunity, community inclusion, and economic participation. As a parent of a disabled adult child, I know that strong disability services enable individuals to live independently , pursue education and employment, and meaningfully contribute to their communities. However, the support system faces significant challenges, including workforce shortages among direct care providers, long waitlists for services, rising housing and healthcare costs, and complex eligibility requirements. Families often shoulder heavy financial and caregiving burdens.
As your state representative, I will work to increase funding for long-term care programs that are a less expensive alternative to intensive care at nursing homes, raising wages for care workers, expanding accessible affordable housing options, improving transportation options, streamlining regulatory processes, and strengthening partnerships between state agencies, nonprofits and local communities.