2017 County Legislative Pursuits

Iowa County is always striving to provide a better quality of life for our residents.  As these efforts come together, there are challenges that must be overcome or addressed.  Sometimes the challenges are not in control of the County Board of Supervisors and we need help from our Representatives and Senators in Madison.  Here are a few items that Iowa County is asking our state for help with:

[Portions have been taken from Wisconsin Counties Association, CAP TEAM Literature]

Child Welfare Services.  State statutes require all Counties, except Milwaukee, to provide child welfare services and employ personnel who devote all or part of their time to child welfare services.  This includes initial assessment of reports received, investigations, the provision of services to children and families, as well as the removal of children from their homes to ensure their safety.

• Across the nation, additions to heroin, opiates, and methamphetamines is increasing and as a result, so is the need for child welfare services.  Service needs have increased, but funding has not.  The number of children welfare referrals in Wisconsin has increased by 36.8 % from 2001 to 2015. 
• Drug use and addition cost society in many ways.  Iowa County wants to be sure we have the funding to help cover the costs of child welfare services.  

County Land Conservation Cost-Sharing.  Since 1997, Wisconsin has made preserving topsoil, protecting our vital agricultural economy, and keeping lakes and rivers healthy a priority that they funded by offering cost-sharing grants to Counties.  These cost sharing grants have been used to cover the staffing of County Land Conservation Offices.  This funding has been in jeopardy several times, and has never been sufficient to meet the benchmarks required by state statute. 

• Supporting the viability of the County Land Conservation department cost-sharing grant program becomes more important each year.  The employees of this department are uniquely qualified to provide technical assistance to design and implement conservation practices for our County landowners.  This high level of technical assistance is not something any other public sector provider offers.
• Employees of Land Conservation provide educational and technical assistance to help farmers meet state agricultural performance standards and county livestock licensing requirements.  They help farmers secure permits for manure storage and other activities AND in the process ensure compliance with standards that protect drinking water.

Modernizing 911 Services.  Since 2009, emergency 911 services have been evolving.  Wisconsin's system has not been keeping up with the rest of the country.  Unfortunately the costs of implementing the Next Generation 911 service and the lack of a statewide network has slowed/prevented the implementation.   By 2020, our existing 911 system hardware and software will be obsolete or cost prohibitive to maintain.

• Because of the high costs to upgrade now, Iowa County is unable to afford to upgrade without state assistance.  The state is in the best position to implement the new Next Generation system statewide by funding and implementing a state hosted ESInet that would allow Dispatch and Law Enforcement to access the latest technologies with the most cost efficiencies - all by volume purchasing.
• Moving forward to the Next Generation will allow means of communication beyond phone calls; mainly the use of text and video.  This helps those with hearing and/or speech impediments and allows dispatch to forward communications directly to first responders in emergency situations. 

If you happen to have a chance to speak to your state representatives, please consider mentioning the efforts noted above as changes that Wisconsin needs to pursue.