KREITLOW REFLECTS ON SESSION
Monday, April 26th, 2010 -- 11:23 AM
Sen. Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) says the recently ended legislative session was a good one, but not all of the proposals he supported moved forward.One piece of legislation that Kreitlow helped author?the CORE Jobs Act?passed through the Assembly and Senate.
"We closed a major corporate tax loophole that wasn't focused at all on job creation," Kreitlow boasts, "instead, we reallocated those resources for those companies that are taking the risk to expand, add jobs in research and development, and move into some of the new economic areas that are growing."
But Kreitlow and his peers were less successful with their education proposals.
A reform of the state's SAGE program passed. The program strives to keep class sizes small, but too many waivers were granted, taking money away from other districts, Kreitlow says.
The provision that passed will increase the SAGE classroom size to 18, but does away with the waiver process.
"That helps a lot of schools that were faced with the possibility, if it had to be 15-17 kids, they were going to drop the SAGE program all together. Instead, they know they can have a class size of 18, and get the assistance from the state," he says.
But, a major provision that would have sent unused school transportation aid back to schools, instead of the state's general fund, died in committee.
"(They) did get caught up in the last minute flurry of activity. While it's unfortunate, we'll come back with new proposals in January," he says.
Kreitlow is up for reelection in the fall. Republican Terry Moulton has already announced his candidacy.
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