Agricultural land use value

Senator Miller,

What is happening in the state budget never fails to astound me! I've just learned that the Senate caucus will be considering changing the definition of agricultural land to exclude any land that is platted and zoned for residential, commercial or industrial use. As you know, currently agricultural land is valued based on its use, while all other property is valued based on its highest and best use.

This provision would cause land that is devoted to an agricultural use, but is also platted and zoned for a residential, commercial or industrial use to be valued for property tax purposes at its highest and best use. I oppose this, and I urge you to oppose it as well for three reasons:

• This will greatly increase housing costs and hurt affordability.
• This is the worst possible time to be increasing carrying costs on property that will be developed in the future, given the condition of the homebuilding industry.
• This will also hurt farmers. Farmers frequently lease lands that will be used for future development, and these increased costs would be passed on to them.

Please support a good, common sense budget!

Please Support Glen Grothman's Amendment to prevent abortion at Madison Surgery Center

Senator Miller,

I've contacted you before about the problems with abortion at Madison Surgery Center (message forwarded below). I am writing you at this urgent moment to ask you to support Glen Grothman's budget amendment to stop late-term abortion at UW Health facilities.

As I mentioned in my email earlier this morning, I have not heard any response from you throughout the last several weeks. While I know the JFC keeps you busy, I would be so happy to write you a Thank You note later and be able to support you as my Senator, for standing up for MY issues.

State Budget Issues

Senator Miller,

I’ve written to you several times so far during the budget process but I have yet to hear any response. I’m sure that you’ve been very busy with the JFC. Once more, let me summarize my issues, so that you know where your constituents stand. I write as a member of the Builders Association and as a small business owner.

Liability Expansion Provisions: I support the elimination of the provisions in the budget that expand liability, as was done by the Assembly last week. These expansions are bad not only for businesses and the business climate in the state, but for the citizens of Wisconsin as well.

New 1% Withholding Requirement: I oppose the over-arching policy of the withholding provision on payments made only to construction subcontractors. At a minimum, include a change made in the Assembly that would specify that the 1% withholding by construction contractors to subcontractors and single members LLCs be made “not more frequently than on a quarterly basis.”

Prevailing Wage: Please EXEMPT housing from prevailing wage requirements contained in the state budget. These provisions require in part that prevailing wage be paid on 100% privately funded infrastructure that is turned over to a municipality, such as when improvements are turned over to the municipality under a developer's agreement. This provision will increase the cost of housing and hurt affordability.

I hope that I will later be able to commend you for your work on this budget because I expect that you will support these common-sense, pro-family, pro-housing, pro-economic development items.

Please stop 2nd trimester abortions at Meriter

I strongly object to the UW's and Meriter's decision to open a full-scale, secondtrimester abortion practice within the Madison Surgery Center.

I cannot receive care in the same office where every year over 100 babies who are 20-weeks-old are executed, and when UW doctors have previously experimented on brains and pancreases from such babies. I also do not want my care providers to have to work in a second-trimester abortion facility against their objections.

Therefore, I am informing you now that I refuse to be scheduled at the Madison Surgery Center for any surgery that I may need. Instead, I ask that those surgeries occur at another facility.

For 10 years I have had Physicians Plus as my insurance company, but I am getting ready to drop them and change to another provider. I am evaluating other plans as we speak, but I continue to pray that something will change and allow me to continue with an organization that otherwise, we have been happy with.

As a business owner, I will not have my business dollars going to support the overhead of an organization who provides abortions.

As a hospital user, I will not have my personal dollars going to support the overhead of abortionists!

If I cannot vote on this issue, I will let my money speak!

Please stop performing second trimester abortions.

 Abe J Degnan, President -- Degnan Design Builders, Inc.

Please give to your doctor, and email or mail copies to:

Jeffrey Grossman, M.D.

UW Medical Foundation

7974 UW Health Court

Middleton, WI 53562

jeffrey.grossmanmd@uwmf.wisc.edu

James L. Woodward

Meriter Hospital

202 S. Park Street

Madison, WI 53715

mknowles@meriter.com

Madison Surgery Center

1 South Park Street, 3rd Floor

Madison, WI 53715

dianne.byerly@uwmf.wisc.edu

Donna Katen-Bahensky

UW Hospital and Clinics

600 Highland Ave.

Madison, WI 53792

dkaten-bahensky@uwhealth.org

1% withholding in the state budget - OPPOSED

Representative Ripp,

I oppose the overnight insertion of a 1% withholding provision in the state budget.  There are so many things wrong with the current budget, and with this provision - but let me focus on only a couple.

-Why are contractors singled out for this provision?  Why is the government exempt?  The government should be responsible for all the same provisions as public.

-The $25,000 fine is uncalled for. It is unrelated to the severity of the damage done for failure to comply.

This seems to be a punitive and intellectually dishonest.  I trust that you will agree with my position, and I hope that you can rally others to stand opposed to the liberal lunacy.

via email 6/1/09.