Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Feb. 16
Sign OWI bill, then do more for safe roads
Here’s something you don’t see often: The Legislature last week sent a bill to deter drunken driving to the governor, who should sign it.
It’s a small step worth celebrating, though much more must be done to slow Wisconsin’s drunken-driving scourge.
Senate Bill 6 will discourage judges from giving chronic drunken drivers short sentences. The minimum punishment for a fifth or sixth offense for operating while intoxicated would increase from six months to 18 months behind bars.
Judges could still order a shorter penalty, but only if the judge explained in writing why less punishment is in the interest of, and won’t harm, the public.
Drivers caught behind the wheel while drunk five or six times have risked the lives of countless people. And opportunities for treatment for alcohol abuse haven’t worked.
The Department of Corrections estimates the SB 6 could cost $13.6 million a year for more prison space and treatment staff. But that assumes hundreds of chronic OWI offenders won’t get that message that they need help and have to stop.
Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon, said last week the average penalty for a fourth OWI offense is seven-and-a-half months. A judge will now be able to tell that offender that any further violation will result in a minimum 18 months behind bars, which should serve as a deterrent. And if it doesn’t, at least the offender will be locked up longer, which will save lives.
Ott highlighted the case of a four-time drunken driver who got a 14-month sentence, but a judge let the driver out after nine months. The driver drove impaired again - running head-on into a family, killing the husband and injuring others.
The Assembly’s overwhelming 88-10 vote for SB 6 should help convince Gov. Tony Evers to sign it.
Ott, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and other lawmakers from both political parties have proposed additional measures that merit approval.
Assembly Bill 18 would make a first offense for OWI a misdemeanor crime, rather than just a traffic ticket. It would bring Wisconsin in line with the rest of the nation, and give hundreds of thousands of drivers more reason not to risk getting behind the wheel after consuming a lot of alcohol.
While chronic offenders must be stopped, first-time offenders cause more than half of Wisconsin’s drunken-driving deaths, according to the state Department of Transportation. That’s because first-time offenders vastly outnumber chronic repeaters.
Another smart bill is AB 15, which the Assembly has approved. It would require first-time offenders to appear in court. Too many first-timers now skip their court proceedings by sending a lawyer or mailing in a fine. More of a deterrent is needed so first offenses aren’t repeated.
The Senate should send AB 15 to Evers.
Wisconsin convicts 20,000 people a year for OWI. Nearly 3,000 people are injured in alcohol-related crashes, and close to 200 people lose their lives.
Just last week:
An impaired driver careened over a curb on Madison’s East Side, hitting a couple on a sidewalk.
A Fort Atkinson man was tentatively charged with his third OWI after driving his pickup head-on into a school bus, causing injuries.
Two drivers are suspected of being drunk and killing two men in Milwaukee.
On and on it goes.
The Legislature took a small step to improve public safety last week. Much bigger steps are required.
___
The Journal Times of Racine, Feb. 18
Congress must act now on prescription drug prices
“I am calling for bipartisan legislation that achieves the goal of dramatically lowering prescription drug prices. Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay.”
President Trump’s call in his State of the Union address got the attention of many Americans dealing with escalating insulin costs and other prescription drug prices. They need help.
It brought cheers from Republicans and rolled eyes from Democrats, who chanted “H.R. 3” in support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s signature drug pricing bill that passed the chamber in December with every Democrat in favor.
Among other provisions, the legislation calls for Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called it socialism and said it won’t pass the Senate, and Trump came out against it, saying it would impose “price controls.”
That was just the latest setback. Democrats have favored other measures to lower prescription drug costs. Trump’s administration last year alone unveiled a list of 25 policies to reduce the costs.
Yet, nothing has been done and this issue is hitting pocket books hard at a time when the economy overall is humming along. It should receive the urgency that Trump called for.
However, as the State of the Union address ended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up the speech as everyone watched. She and other Democrats should have issued a challenge to the president and Republicans to come to the table and reach some common ground.
Since the State of the Union, no urgency regarding this has been seen, and Trump left it out of his budget, saying Congress must deal with it and including an “allowance” of $135 billion for bipartisan policy to low drug costs.
And so it goes as what’s called “pharmaceutical tourism” is gripping the nation, as states are trying creative ways to help sick residents get affordable medical treatment. At least four states have begun what may be a long process to begin importing drugs from Canada under a new Trump administration plan.
How severe is the problem?
The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that six in 10 Americans were taking at least one prescription drug, and 79% of those surveyed said the cost of the medications were unreasonable.
The report also found that three of 10 Americans did not take their medications as prescribed because they’re worried about the cost.
Is there any hope for relief in 2020, given that we’re in a presidential election year and such years rarely produce significant legislation? There should be, considering that so many Americans will have this on their minds as they prepare to vote.
And how different is it, really, to what just happened to resolve the partisan divide on the historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which sat around for more than a year before the House passed it with bipartisan support a day after the chamber voted to impeach Trump. The reason? Leaders in the House won changes on some provisions as backed by U.S. labor, meaning Democrats and Republicans negotiated a final agreement.
Back to the State of the Union: “One of the single biggest promises I made to the American people was to replace the disastrous NAFTA trade deal,” Trump said. “… This is the first major trade deal in many years to earn the strong backing of America’s labor unions.”
There’s no reason why both sides can’t resolve the impasse over high prescription drug costs and do something for Americans in need. They can both take credit for it, as Trump is known to do.
Seize an opportunity to revisit the best of H.R. 3 and the other ideas and move this forward. Perhaps surprise us in an election year.
___
La Crosse Tribune, Feb. 16
Wisconsin’s DOT leader is on the right road
If you’re looking for an indicator of the need for more road funding in Wisconsin, here it is: The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recently sought applications from local governments for one-time grants to upgrade infrastructure.
The DOT made a total of $75 million available. Individual grants are capped at $3.5 million per project.
So how many applications did WisDOT receive? A total of 1,600 eligible applications.
The total sought: $1.4 billion.
Goodness knows, we’d love to see some of that grant money come to western Wisconsin.
Craig Thompson, who leads WisDOT, said: “The process truly demonstrates the significant needs of the local system. It’s pretty staggering when you see the actual number of projects and their dollar value.”
And, it’s the result of 20 years - under both Democrat and Republican administrations - of not adequately funding the needs of our roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
As Thompson said during a visit last week to the La Crosse Tribune editorial board, “We’ve been mistaking financing for funding.”
Part of the result is that for every dollar we spend on highway projects in our state, 20 cents goes to pay debt.
That costs us a lot of miles that need to be fixed.
And that means when it comes to road roughness, Wisconsin rates in the bottom five states nationally.
That’s nothing to be proud of - and vehicle owners, including businesses, have the repair bills to show for it.
Wisconsin has 115,543 of public roads, from interstates to streets.
90% of those roads are the responsibility of local government.
The rest - 11,745 miles, including 876 of interstate freeways - is the responsibility of WisDOT.
And while the state is responsible for only 10.2% of the public roads, those roads carry more than 58% of the state’s travel.
Although it passed up on raising the gas tax, the Legislature has approved an increase in revenue earmarked for our roads through high registration fees and title fees.
Thompson has been in the position for more than a year, but so far the Senate hasn’t taken up confirmation.
Thankfully, he hasn’t let that get in the way of making progress, from a department reorganization to a six-year highway improvement program.
Clearly, there are many more road needs than funding available, which is why Thompson and WisDOT need to streamline processes and set priorities that throw out projects that haven’t gained consensus.
While some funding is still in the plan for a north-south corridor in La Crosse, for instance, don’t expect that to be the case for long.
And, Thompson says he supports plans to add a second Chicago-to-Twin Cities train through La Crosse, and says Wisconsin will continue working with Minnesota on the project, as reported by the Tribune recently.
Thompson is very familiar with our highway needs - both statewide and in the Coulee Region - because of his many visits as longtime executive director of the Transportation Development Association in Wisconsin.
He soon will take over president of the Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials.
One of his challenges in Wisconsin is to reduce the number of single-bid road contracts - a difficult task, because it’s another sign that road building hasn’t been a priority in our state.
But Thompson knows all about the infrastructure challenges we face - and seems to be tackling those in the right order and with the right spirit, regardless that he’s still WisDOT’s secretary-designee.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.