Howard Marklein is looking to return for his third term as State Senator of the 17th District, and had previously served in the State Assembly for two terms.

On why he should be reelected, Marklein states “ I have delivered for rural Wisconsin, the communities I serve and the State of Wisconsin. I have fought for investments in rural broadband, local, rural roads and legislation that has directly impacted and improved life in our communities. I advocate to fund our priorities while protecting taxpayers. I listen and actively seek input and ideas from the people I represent. I am deeply committed to service and consistently connect with the people I serve.”

Items he has worked on, but feels he needs to return to continue are broadband, rural EMS, rural roads.

He touted that on broadband, there have 42 projects worth $39 million in grant funding with a $43 million match in the State Senate district.

“I will continue to fight for rural road maintenance, repair and construction. Our roads and bridges must be a priority and I will continue to advocate for rural Wisconsin,” Marklein said.

As for the most important issue for this next term, Marklein said inflation and the increasing cost of living are the biggest issues. “This is impacting all of us - individuals, families, local governments, schools and businesses.  I will address this by making sure our state budget funds all of our priorities while protecting taxpayers. Republicans in the legislature have worked very hard – over the last 12 years – to build a rainy day fund, reform taxes, reduce taxes, reverse the deficit and end accounting gimmicks. As a result, we are in a tremendous financial position as a state. This will allow us to fulfill our obligations and take care of our citizens without adding to their financial burden.” 

Marklein is no stranger to positions in the community. He has served on the Taliesin Preservation Inc. Board of Trustees, UW-Whitewater National Alumni Association, UW-Whitewater Foundation, Fort Health Care Board of Directors, Fort Atkinson Rotary Club, Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce, Whitewater Chamber of Commerce, and Dodgeville Chamber of Commerce.

In the State Senate, he currently is Co-Chair of the legislature’s budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance (JFC).

If (re)elected, what would be one of the first bills you would look to write or cosponsor?

I hope to be re-appointed as the co-chair of the legislature’s powerful, budget-writing Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) again this year. Work on the state budget officially begins in February. But we will be working on a number ideas and strategies as soon as the election is over. We will work with local governments, school districts, state agencies and the people I represent to figure out the best way to fund our priorities while protecting taxpayers.

One area that we are already working on is rural broadband expansion. We need to overhaul the Rural Broadband Expansion Grant program so that we reach the truly unserved areas of our state and work together on a regional basis to build middle mile infrastructure. The remaining unserved communities need more support from their state government and I have ideas for ways to address this.

I also plan to return with a revised version of the bill I wrote with rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) departments that would have made the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) test optional for Emergency Medical Responders (EMRs) – the level below EMT.  Governor Evers vetoed this bill, but my local departments say that they need it to help with recruitment and retention. They have additional ideas that they want to blend into the bill. I am also seeking additional ideas to address their needs.

I plan to sponsor the second consideration of the constitutional amendment to restore legislative oversight of Federal funding that is sent to Wisconsin. During the Great Depression, legislators gave the authority over Federal funding to the Executive Branch. This amendment would require all initial appropriations of federal monies to be approved by a joint committee of the legislature rather than giving this authority entirely to one person – the Governor.

The state is seeing a record surplus of funds. At the same time, the formula put into place that local tax levy caps in the mid-90s has created very tight budgets for school districts, municipalities, and counties. What would you do about both of these items? 

I am very glad that we have a surplus as we walk into the next budget cycle. We have no idea how inflation and unemployment rates are going to fully manifest for us. We are going to face rising costs in salaries, capital projects and operating expenses across the board. Having this surplus will enable us to fund our priorities without raising taxes – and even possibly return funds to taxpayers when they need it the most.

Shared revenue and tax levy caps will be part of the state budget discussion this spring. I am currently studying our options, connecting with local leaders and will be prepared for this conversation when the budget debate begins in February.

What ideas/plans do you have specifically related to economic development would you push for the next term? 

Rural broadband is a big part of economic development in our communities. Without connections for residences and businesses, we cannot grow. I am working on a plan to reform the Rural Broadband Expansion Grant program to make sure we are getting the most for our investment and truly reaching unserved communities and people.  

Childcare and housing shortages are also a major impediment to economic development. I will be pushing for ideas to address these challenges and seeking information about ways that other states have answered the demand.

Finally, we cannot move goods to market without good roads and bridges. I will continue to fight for funding and efficiencies for local, rural roads and bridges.

In the United States Supreme Court Dobbs decision, the court decided to put legislatures in charge of deciding the parameters for abortion I their respective states, and an 1849 law went into effect that is allows only for a mother’s health exception to an abortion ban. What limits or exceptions would you push for it (re)elected? What is your stance on different forms of birth control methods, like IUDs, ‘Plan B’ emergency contraception, or even the traditional birth control pill?

I am pro-life. I believe we will have a conversation about this in the new session.  I am not going to weigh-in on hypothetical changes to the law because the details of specific legislation are important. I am hearing from individual citizens on both sides of the issue. I am also hearing from healthcare providers, insurers and others who have specific concerns about the law that we will need to address. This is a complex issue and I appreciate every perspective.

Local municipalities and counties have been greatly impacted by individuals who have been arrested that are suffering from mental health crisis, both from few choices of where they can take them, as well as high costs. What would you look at doing to improve what local law enforcement have to deal with on this issue? 

I am leading the effort to provide crisis-level mental health services in southwestern Wisconsin to not only relieve the burden on law enforcement, but to also provide services for individuals in crisis closer to home. Right now, a person who is in need of emergency detention services is most often transported to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh. This means hours in the back of a police car while they are in crisis.  This is not good for anyone. We need to find a better way to provide these types of services to our citizens.

I have been studying the development of secure, local community-based crisis stabilization centers that could be used and staffed by response teams in lieu of transporting a person to Winnebago. Local police and sheriffs departments spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours transporting people in crisis because they have to travel to – and from – Winnebago for these services. The person who is in crisis is also a long way from home and their support system. A secure, local option would relieve the burden on law enforcement, local Emergency Rooms and would be better for a person who is in crisis.

What is one area that doesn’t normally get attention, that you wish to focus on in the next term? 

One area that doesn’t normally get attention, that I want to focus on in my next term, is improving the customer service approach in our state agencies. I don’t believe that this requires legislation, but rather conversations and a shift in philosophy. 

Unfortunately, some of our state agencies have started taking a punitive or dismissive approach to working with the people they serve. I would much rather have an inspector work with a license holder to comply with the law – rather than immediately issuing fines, tickets and recalls. For example, several small meat processing plants issued voluntary recalls this summer because the meat inspectors discovered that they were missing some paperwork on a product that they sell in limited quantities. Rather than issuing a recall and scaring people, they could have worked with the business to update the paperwork and move on. But they didn’t. 

Instead, the businesses were forced to scare their customers, explain themselves and defend their products because of a paperwork error. Our state government should work WITH our citizens as much as we can – rather than taking an instantly punitive position.

I also want to focus on fixing the agency problems with issuing professional licenses, permitting and completing claims for unemployment. This year, my team has worked with dozens of professionals who are victims of backlogged professional licensing. The Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) has an unreasonable backlog with no plan to fix it. This is negatively impacting people in all kinds of professions. We must fix this problem. The agency is not offering solutions.

The same issue occurred during the pandemic related to unemployment.  The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) was wildly incompetent and unable to process claims efficiently. Some people waited months and it was totally unacceptable.  

State agencies should always be striving for efficiency and effectiveness. If they need resources, they must ask the legislature. They have not.

Childcare is a very big issue in rural Wisconsin, as there are often not enough places for families to go for care, and that is impacting businesses, who either cannot recruit employees, or have to work around an employee’s schedule for their children. Do you have any ideas on how to help communities in this area? 

I plan to connect with community leaders, business owners and others to better understand what is causing these shortages. Is this a money issue? A workforce issue? A licensing issue?  What can the state do to relieve the pressure and/or provide the resources to put us on a better path?  I do not have the answer, but I am interested in ideas to address it.

Given southwest Wisconsin’s rich agricultural history, is there anything specific you would be working on that would impact farmers or food processing? 

I connect with farmers on a regular basis and right now, things are good. They need rural broadband, good roads, local healthcare and great schools – just like the rest of us. Some are struggling with workforce issues and they need workers too.

I will continue to support state funding for the Dairy Innovation Hub (DIH), which is working well to make Wisconsin into an even stronger Dairy Superpower! I am proud to have fought for this collaborative, research-based approach to improving our dairy industry.

I will also continue to support funding for State Specialists at the UW Extension to provide cutting-edge research and ideas for all types of agriculture and food processing. We increased funding for Dairy and Meat Processor grants this year and I look forward to studying the outcomes of these programs to determine our approach in the future. I am encouraged by the Agricultural Export Program investments that we have made and will be studying the outcomes to determine future funding of these initiatives.

What initiative, idea or plan would you make sure is debated, and hopefully acted up on this next term?

I addressed many ideas in the previous questions related to broadband, roads, the state budget as a whole, rural EMS and emergency detention services. I have a lot of important irons in the fire.