56th Assembly District

Includes portions of northern Winnebago County and southern Outagamie County, including Winneconne and the towns of Neenah, Menasha, Grand Chute and Greenville

Roger Roth - Republican
Candidate Susan Garcia Franz - Democrat did not respond

Question 1: Economic development professional have long identified regulatory burdens as one of the challenges to attracting and retaining businesses in Wisconsin. In just the past few years, several thousand paper and other manufacturing jobs have left northeast Wisconsin for other states and other countries. What can the legislature do to make Wisconsin a more attractive place to do business, create jobs, and generate tax revenue for local government?

Roth: There are a number of things the Legislature can do to make Wisconsin a more attractive place to do business, create jobs, and generate tax revenues.  There are four areas that will allow all of these goals to be met.  First of all, our workforce in Wisconsin is well-educated, reflecting our on average excellent K-12 schools, the University of Wisconsin System, and the state’s technical colleges.  The second thing is that we need to guarantee that there will be a reliable source of energy that’s not too costly.  Third, our state and local regulatory framework must not be too burdensome.  And finally, our rates of taxation must be reasonable.
While there are more things we can do to continue improving all areas of education, we are in a great position there.  Similarly, we have enough power generation ability to meet our immediate needs, but must be cognizant of future growth in demand.  The two areas the Legislature can have the most impact right now are streamlining regulations and reducing the state’s tax burden.

Question 2: More than ever before, local government officials are facing the dilemma of cutting jobs and services while still remaining under revenue caps. In recent years, state legislators have proposed various local government spending and taxing measures intended to hold down property taxes, including both the so-called Taxpayers Bill of Rights and the Taxpayer Protection Amendment. As this crisis continues to become problematic, how should the legislature address local government taxing initiatives?

Roth: There are four local units of governments that levy property taxes in Wisconsin:  K-12 school districts, counties, municipalities (city, village, or town), and technical college districts.  The state currently maintains revenue caps on K-12 school districts as well as levy limits on counties and municipalities.  All of these property tax limits can be exceeded by referendum.

As the levy limits expire next year, the Legislature will have to yet again wrestle with the issue of property tax increases versus available funds for local governments.  I hear from local officials who struggle with fuel, electricity, and health insurance cost increases, as well as citizens, particularly seniors, who are on a fixed income and cannot afford more property tax increases.

The best answer to this conundrum is to have growth in new development that allows the tax base to grow without raising taxes on those already paying.  But as the economy has slowed down, so does new construction.  Consequently, I believe the limits need to remain in place.  However, the Legislature should look at some other areas to grant local governments relief from gas and electricity costs, unfunded state mandates, and mediation arbitration reform.
 
Question 3:  In recent years, statewide health care initiatives such as Healthy Wisconsin have expanded the debate about the role government should take toward insuring and taking care of the health of our residents. What role do you believe the legislature has in making health care more affordable and accessible to Wisconsin residents?
Roth: I do not believe that state government would competently manage health care on behalf of the citizens of Wisconsin.  However, if the health care system is changed to allow the individual more health care options, we can improve care and make it both more affordable and accessible.

The Legislature has already acted to limit medical malpractice awards, created a system of health care cooperatives, and passed a tax deduction for health insurance premiums.  Much more remains to be done.  A tax credit for electronic medical records is on the books but hasn’t taken effect yet.  Paper recordkeeping in the health care field is proven to lead to more mistakes than electronic records.  By health providers making this change, efficiencies in time and costs would be realized.

Further improvements the Legislature should make include improving the transparency of health care costs for individual procedures, finally recognizing the benefits of health savings account and reflecting that in our tax code, encouraging the use of workplace wellness programs for employees to improve their health, and encouraging the use of “minute clinics,” which are staffed with a nurse and can reduce pressure on regular clinics.  Supporting adjustments like these will continue to make health care accessible and begin to lower the cost of care.

Question 4: Wisconsin and the nation as a whole are on the front end of an energy crisis prompted by high fuel prices and a number of aged and outdated energy generation and petroleum processing facilities operating near capacity. What can the legislature do to further promote energy efficiency and to encourage additional, cleaner energy production?

Roth: The state, and nation for that matter, must encourage a two-pronged approach to energy production.  First, we must increase our domestic production of energy, particularly through the use of nuclear plants to reduce our reliance on older coal-fired plants.  Wisconsin should also encourage the expansion of the Murphy Oil refinery in Superior, which uses Canadian resources to produce gasoline for Wisconsin drivers.

But we cannot rely on traditional sources of production alone.  While we should increase domestic production, we must also pursue an agenda of developing new sources of alternative fuels.  Continuing the push for cleaner sources of fuel such as wind, natural gas, and biomass can be done at the state level.

Along with encouraging cleaner alternative sources of energy, we must continue to promote energy efficiency, as the state’s Focus on Energy program has done with great success.  Also, state government has begun a project to retrofit its own buildings to hold down energy costs.
A combination of encourage traditional domestic production now, developing alternative sources for our future needs, and promoting energy efficiency is the best direction for America (and Wisconsin) to pursue today.