With Gov. Doyle's administration and Wisconsin prosecutors arguing over funding, Randy is looking at every option possible to prevent layoffs and cutbacks from our already-overworked prosecutors.
See the Multimedia page for a link to the WBAY TV broadcast as well.
Sen. Hopper joined with members of both sides of the aisle to institute common-sense reform for hunters using their firearms in the field. Milwaukee Public Radio reported on the story, and Sen. Hopper cleared up some misconceptions about the bill.
A pair of state legislators believe being a correctional worker is a dangerous enough job without the risk of catching a serious disease from an inmate.
Renewegy Inc. has sold its first eight wind turbines and its plans to ramp up manufacturing in 2010 earned the Oshkosh company recognition and financial support from Gov. Jim Doyle on Thursday. Doyle announced Renewegy would receive a $525,000 low-interest loan to help it purchase manufacturing equipment and create 40 jobs in the state's growing renewable energy industry.
Less than two weeks after calling for a second financial boost to stimulate job creation, U.S. Rep. Dave Obey chided the Obama administration for reporting errors on the first economic recovery package.
With unemployment at 10.2%, it is imperative that we focus on job creation. In the halls of Congress, there are reports of yet another "stimulus" spending bill. It is great that jobs are again on the agenda, but to continue to do the same thing (simply spend more money) and expect different results is the definition of insanity. As the private sector continues to shed jobs, the size and scope of the federal government is expanding at breakneck speed: trillions in new taxes, spending, and debt; the creation of new government entitlement programs; unprecedented power grabs over our financial, health care, and energy sectors. Washington needs to drop its adherence to the notion that spending your money and printing new money are the only answers to promoting jobs here at home.
The report said Wisconsin has six "phantom districts" - the 00th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 39th and 55th Congressional districts - that apparently received $2,209,169 even though they don't exist.
Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says. There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.
For the first time in 16 years, school district leaders and teachers across the state are negotiating contracts without the "qualified economic offer." That law, repealed in June as part of the state budget, in effect capped annual teacher compensation increases at 3.8 percent for pay and benefits combined.
"What is taking place here is an amazing display of industry dedication to the war effort," Gates told about 600 Oshkosh employees who stopped work briefly at the Harrison St. plant to hear the secretary's remarks. "The last time that American industry moved from concept to full-rate military production in less than a year was World War II," Gates said.
The state Public Service Commission will receive a $1.7 million grant to create a map of Wisconsin's broadband Internet services and to plan more, a federal agency said Friday.
Many advocates of the disabled and many of the nonprofits that employ disabled workers in sheltered environments have expressed alarm that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has embarked on a policy shift they say could have negative effects on thousands of people.
Across Wisconsin, dozens of work centers, formerly known as sheltered workshops and now called community rehabilitation programs or CRPs, provide work for thousands of adults that have mental, behavioral and sometimes physical issues making it hard for them to enter the workforce.
Lawmakers unanimously approved a wide-reaching bill Thursday aimed at curbing fraud and keeping criminals out of the state's troubled taxpayer-supported child-care program.
A new report says Wisconsin’s state school standards for reading are set low so they can say students are achieving at grade level even though they haven’t mastered the subject.
The Assembly unanimously passed a bill in September to toughen drunken-driving laws. A Senate committee earlier this month passed a similar bill and added the liquor tax to it.
Nelson and his colleagues, including Rep. Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh, are not telling the truth by shifting the blame to the insurance companies. If, by some chance, they actually believe that forcing consumers to buy more insurance will not raise rates, there is a serious problem in Assembly.
The government has overstated by thousands the number of jobs that it has created or saved with federal contracts under the president's $787 billion recovery program, according to an Associated Press review of data released in the program's first progress report.
Buried deep in the state budget that was enacted earlier this year were a number of automobile insurance mandates that will drastically impact Wisconsin’s automobile insurance rates for businesses, nonprofit organizations and consumers across the state.
Sullivan and the other two Democrats on the committee, Lena Taylor of Milwaukee and Jon Erpenbach of Waunakee, voted for the measure. Republican Sens. Glenn Grothman of West Bend and Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac abstained, saying they were frustrated they weren't given copies of the bill until hours before the vote.
In a letter to DCF Secretary Reggie Bicha, Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, said he and the three other Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee were prohibited from asking all the questions they would have liked about the "rampant fraud" in the welfare program.
In spite of soaring state cigarette taxes, the Quit Line's funding was slashed by two-thirds - from $3.7 million a year to $1.2 million - as part of the broad cuts implemented in the 2009-11 budget signed by Gov. Jim Doyle to help solve the state's massive deficit. Total funding for anti-tobacco programs was cut from $15.3 million a year to $6.9 million.
Key lawmakers on both sides of the aisle scrambled Tuesday to deal with fraud and other problems in the troubled Wisconsin Shares child-care program, questioning top administrators and crafting legislation - including a bill that would hold government workers accountable.
Regulators this week cut off taxpayer funding to 35 more child-care providers, bringing the total to 69 in less than two weeks following the Journal Sentinel's continuing reports of ongoing fraud in the system. Here a just a few of the cases.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday an official at the Department of Children and Families was removed from his job after the state made a $25,000 payment to a child-care provider whose license had been revoked.
The addresses of four registered sex offenders matched those of licensed child care providers in Wisconsin, an audit released Wednesday found, raising concerns that sex criminals may have been near children.
Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, had also intended to introduce an amendment today in the Senate to make the names of the successors open, spokesman Ryan Murray said.
Wind proponents say statewide standards are necessary because local governments have become too restrictive in allowing small- and medium-sized wind farms to develop. The state currently regulates only those wind farms that produce at least 100-megawatts of power.
"One of the things that I'm hearing throughout the Capitol is this program. This is one of the issues or one of the items that's not going to be changed," Senator Randy Hopper, a Fond du Lac Republican, said.
“RENEW Wisconsin and its members thank the bill’s primary authors, Senator Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) and Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac), the leadership of both parties, and all of the state senators who recognized the need for a statewide approach to permitting windpower installations,” Vickerman added .
That requirement is a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's education reform efforts and has set off a rush to change the laws before time runs out on the funds. Obama has refused to dole out any of his $4.5 billion in education stimulus grants to states, like Wisconsin, still barring the use of student achievement to evaluate educators. State Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, and Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, introduced a bill last month that would wipe away the ban in order to compete for federal Race to the Top grants.
What a difference a week makes. Just days earlier, Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel was afraid to get his hopes up after word reached him that Mercury Marine officials and members of the union leadership of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were again talking. From those talks emerged news that local union workers would be granted a second chance to cast a vote that could keep more than 1,900 manufacturing and non-union jobs in the city.
The government now admits it overpaid Milwaukee child-care provider Latasha Jackson $103,547, in just a four-month period. And that's probably just the beginning. Regulators are reviewing recent records that could uncover hundreds of thousands more in misspent taxpayer money.
"Had any of those people that I mentioned at any point thrown up their arms and said, 'That's it, I can't go on,' there would not be a vote tomorrow, I'm absolutely, 100-percent guaranteed of that," state Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) said.
"I think it's terrific. I think a lot of employees, simply from the standpoint of the petition Saturday wanted to re-vote," said Allen Buechel, Fond du Lac's County Executive upon learning of the agreement. Buechel, city manager Thomas Herre and State Sen. Randy Hopper had urged the IAM and Mercury to meet.
Sue Meyers sat at her desk in May and authorized more than $700 a week in state child-care subsidies so a convicted cocaine dealer could go to work in a day care center. Perhaps the Racine County caseworker didn't know that the woman, Katria Wright, was also under criminal investigation for scamming the same taxpayer-financed child-care program out of thousands of dollars. Wright's name was well known to supervisors, investigators and others in the office. Indeed, her subsidy payments stopped in January after the Journal Sentinel exposed how she had defrauded the system by claiming hours she never worked at a lawn care business. Yet with Meyers' approval, she was back in the system, again tapping the publicly funded Wisconsin Shares program.
A Jaguar convertible sits in the driveway of Latasha Jackson's million-dollar mansion in Menomonee Falls. Built on a hill with a sprawling back deck overlooking a pond, the 7,600-square-foot home features an indoor swimming pool and indoor basketball court. Jackson is not an Olympic swimmer, a professional basketball player or a celebrity of any sort. She is a day care provider in the city of Milwaukee. She built her fortune with taxpayer funding from the Wisconsin Shares program.
"A hospital tax and a seat belt mandate were rushed through the Legislature this year in order to capture federal funds. Our legislation will enable Wisconsin to capture federal funds without a tax increase or a mandate," Hopper said. "I would hope that the legislative leadership will act just as fast to make Wisconsin eligible for this funding."
Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday will announce that he won't seek re-election to a third term in 2010, prompting the state's first wide-open gubernatorial race since 1982.
Davis said the bill, co-sponsored with Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, would allow Wisconsin to compete for $4.35 billion in federal money as part of the Race to the Top program.
No one is suggesting that testing be the only factor in evaluating teachers. Moreover, the focus should be on student progress over time -- not a single test. School districts should compare student performance at the beginning of a school year with their performance at the end to help gauge the effectiveness of teachers and teaching techniques.
When the grant awards were announced last month, Wisconsin, New York and California were singled out by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan for their "ridiculous" practices of putting firewalls between teacher and student data.
The facts are simple. The global recession has significantly reduced the demand for recreational boats and boat engines. Mercury's current capacity can produce far more boat engines than there are buyers willing to purchase them.
The legislation would get rid of the "chaotic patchwork" of local regulations for permitting wind farms and it would replace the inconsistencies with statewide standards.
The proposed rules and Duncan’s comment have prompted Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, and Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, to propose legislation to overturn the state law.
The governors originally put the savings at $10 million apiece, but Doyle’s office estimated Wisconsin’s savings to date at just $74,313, mainly from getting a better price on software from a Minnesota contract and piggybacking on a Minnesota transportation study.
Teachers use test results to help them evaluate the performance of students. Similarly, schools in Wisconsin should use test results to help them evaluate the performance of teachers. Unfortunately, a state law prohibits such logic.
The term crossroads literally describes the spot where the paths of two different roads intersect. And here in Fond du Lac, we are at a new kind of crossroads. As Mercury Marine considers consolidating operations in either Fond du Lac or Stillwater, Okla., the company's decision will either send us down the same road as Janesville, or the same road as Oshkosh.
As it turns out, State Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) and State Representative Brett Davis (R-Oregon) are drafting legislation to allow the use of student testing data when determining teacher pay. They believe such a change could mean up to $612 million more in federal funds for Wisconsin.
State Sen. Randy Hopper said he's been very critical of Governor James Doyle in the past "and the business climate he's created since he's been here." However, Hopper this time praised Doyle along with Department of Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel and local leaders for the work they've done in regard to Mercury.
By Friday afternoon, state Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) and Rep. Brett Davis (R-Oregon) had announced plans to introduce legislation that would change Chapter 118.30(2)(c) to eliminate the prohibition on using state testing in teacher evaluations. "Wisconsin's statutory barriers between student achievement data and teachers performance is now being ridiculed across the country," Hopper said in a news release. "We must change these laws to make Wisconsin public schools competitive with other states in innovative student achievement initiatives."
“Believe it or not,” Mr. Duncan said, “several states, including New York, Wisconsin and California, have laws that create a firewall between students and teacher data. I think that’s simply ridiculous. We need to know what is and is not working and why.”
The state Department of Workforce Development reported unemployment was up from 8.7 percent in May. Unemployment in June was 4.5 percentage points higher than in June 2008.
Mercury’s announcement regarding consolidation should remind policy makers that they need to do all they can to make Wisconsin attractive to business, said state Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac. “Mercury Marine is a critical part of the Fond du Lac community and I am committed to doing everything I can to keep Mercury and its more than 2,000 jobs here,” he said.
Wisconsin legislators are saying they will do whatever they can to keep Mercury in Fond du Lac. "In the midst of a deep economic crisis, we must work to lower the cost of doing business, not increase it," said state Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac).
University of Wisconsin System officials said the budget approved by the Board of Regents Thursday will mean larger classes, cuts in student services, tighter reins on spending and an increase in tuition.
No one expected critics of Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to allow criminal offenders a way to get out of prison early to be happy with its inclusion in the state budget. But the final version of sentencing reform that Doyle signed into law disappointed some within Doyle's own party as well.
Gov. Jim Doyle's travel records show the governor and his staff failed to properly account for 145 travel expenses over two years, according to a newspaper report published Sunday.
Lawmakers gave final approval to a state budget deal early Friday evening, ending a messy process marked by days of secret meetings and all-night debates.
The $62 billion package would increase overall state spending by about 6.6%, partly because it spends more than $2.1 billion in one-time federal stimulus cash. It would also authorize $2.9 billion more state borrowing.
After a 2 1/2 -hour meeting, however, the committee had made no major decisions on the more than 180 differences between the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget.
Wisconsin Technology Council Chairman Mark Bugher and President Tom Still say the Senate’s plan to eliminate the state’s 60 percent tax exclusion on capital gains will make it harder for start-up companies to get off the ground.
Like a financially strapped consumer facing higher credit card bills, the state would face unprecedented debt payments over the next four years under state budget proposals by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and lawmakers.
State Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, read a proclamation from the State Legislature that explained how the company evolved from its start in 1859 as a manufacturer of sawmill machinery and steam engines and congratulated it on 150 years as a key Fond du Lac employer.
Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle kept his proposed budget secret until he gave it to the Legislature in February. And Democratic lawmakers at the next three steps in their process - the Joint Finance Committee, Assembly and Senate - also made their decisions behind closed doors. Leaders of watchdog groups criticized the continued budget secrecy.
But Republicans said wiping out the capital gains tax break would destroy reasons for investments in Wisconsin and hurt small-business owners who devote their whole lives to those businesses and then sell them to retire. Eliminating the tax break would "dry up any investment opportunities in this state," said Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac).
Sen. Hopper exemplifies the right attitude. The budget includes $500,000 to help fix an opera house in his district. It also includes a state policy change that would help one of his local employers. Yet Hopper is co-sponsoring the budget amendments to purge all of the earmarks and non-fiscal policy provisions, as identified by the nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau. "It is clear that our 1,800 page budget is the wrong place for these items," Hopper correctly said.
“Budgets should not be used to conceal controversial policy that has little chance of passing as separate legislation,” Hopper said. “None of the non-fiscal policy will help solve our budget deficit and much of it will harm working families all over Wisconsin.”
Wisconsin hunters and anglers are taking aim at a proposed change in the state land-conservation program that was tucked away in the state budget plan last week.
You might be surprised to learn that Wisconsin drivers who carry minimum car insurance coverage would see their rates increase under the state budget proposal heading to the Assembly next week.
"We never imagined that the Justice Department would be treated so inequitably and in such a seemingly partisan manner," Van Hollen said in an agency-wide e-mail Friday.
Assembly Democrats might alter their 2009-11 budget proposal to let oil companies pass on a $260 million tax to consumers, key leaders said Tuesday, but other Democrats question whether the tax should remain in the spending plan to be voted on as early as June 10.
"When the adverse impact of these changes begins to be felt, we must be on record against funding cuts and regulatory changes that fundamentally undermine our mission and the choice program," Smith wrote.
Lawmakers' decision to increase landfill charges will heap additional costs on local units of government, and a trade group says it would raise the tax to the highest in the nation.
"This is part of the reason the average citizen has less of an ability to impact the legislative process," said Peter Fox, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. "It's a diminishment of responsible government."
"We're really concerned. We don't know what we're going to do. This is just really tight," Haugen said. "I don't know exactly what's going to happen. Our fund balance is going to be hit pretty hard or depleted."
The Legislature's budget committee approved the plan early Friday. It would allow illegal immigrants who pass the required tests to receive driver's cards.
To fill the hole, the state tentatively plans to shift the cost for hospitalizing children and elderly people in state-run psychiatric hospitals to counties at a cost of about $14 million, cutting shared revenue and school aid by 3.1 percent, redirecting about $100 million in telephone surcharges from counties to municipalities and adding a $7 per ton surcharge to landfill tipping fees, which will cost cities and villages about $63 million a year.
"There are going to be more people who are going to be victims because of the actions you are proposing," said Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, before the vote. "This is not a good proposal for victims."
Wisconsin’s gas taxes, which total 32.9 cents per gallon, are seventh highest nationwide, according to the Fiscal Bureau. If the new tax were not passed on, that ranking would remain the same, the bureau said. But if oil companies did force those at the pump to pay for it, the state’s gas tax would jump to 38.7 cents per gallon and be the highest nationwide, the memo said.
Facing a record $6.6 billion deficit, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee on Friday passed a budget crafted late at night and largely behind closed doors that included tax increases, trims in state aid and millions of dollars in pork-barrel projects in Democratic districts.
“As a public official, I think it’s important to lead by example,” Hopper said in a press release. “Under Wisconsin’s constitution, public officials cannot be furloughed, but I pledge to voluntarily return an amount of my state salary equal to the number of furlough days imposed on state employees.”
Prison guards have complained inmates use the process to file frivolous complaints against them and get investigations started. The bill would require judges to bring complaints to prosecutors for review. If the prosecutor does nothing, the judge would decide whether to investigate and file charges.
"It is unfortunate that Governor Doyle has just now begun to consider budget reductions so late in the budget process and after significant tax increases have already been imposed," Fitzgerald said, referring to $1.2 billion in tax and fee increases the governor signed into law in February in a separate budget-repair package.
Scott Walker promised a new frugality for Wisconsin if he's elected governor, denounced Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle for driving up spending and taxes and touted his efforts as Milwaukee County executive, before an appreciative crowd of several hundred Tuesday at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Wauwatosa.
A legal opinion from Foley & Lardner on the so-called oil profits tax proposed by Gov. Jim Doyle contends that the tax will certainly invite a legal challenge, may be unconstitutional, and may violate the Commerce Clause.
The real truth is that many of those that talk about bipartisanship aren't that interested in it. I'd like to take some time, though, to share with you two recent legislative examples that illustrate the benefits of true bipartisanship over partisan rancor.
Currently, WRS participants must work 600 hours per year. Doyle wants to lower that to 440 hours. The change would give the part-time paraprofessionals access to the same retirement benefits as teachers.
Hopper, who also attended the rally in Madison, pointed out Wisconsin companies that have moved to other states where they’ve been welcomed instead of punished. “High taxes have out-of-control consequences. Just ask the 400 good folks at Gardner Denver in Sheboygan who lost their jobs. We need to get off the backs of families and job creators,” he said.
“I was proud to be there today for the signing of this important legislation. I cosponsored it to make sure our waterways remain clean and healthy,” Hopper said. “The unanimous passage of this legislation in the Senate, following its passage in the Assembly, shows the bipartisan commitment of the legislature to protect our environment.”
“At a time when saving and creating jobs is of great concern to struggling families all over Wisconsin, Orion’s technological advances can help employers save millions of dollars in energy costs that can go into paychecks instead,” Hopper said. “Orion is proof that economic development and a clean environment aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Jacobson said pushing that wage-lien amount from $3,000 to $10,500 a worker may make banks think again about extending credit to struggling companies. “Certain financial institutions will be saying, ‘Whoa, wait, I can’t do that,” Jacobson said.
Limited access to credit was a common complaint for many of the business owners and representatives present. About 50 area business leaders and state politicians participated in the event. Eight Republican state legislators took part, including Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, River Falls; Rep. Scott Suder, Abbotsford; and Rep. John Murtha, Baldwin.
Lawmakers took the concerns of business owners seriously. State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf says Madison has to listen to those creating the jobs in the state.
“Frivolous and malicious allegations are a real threat to our corrections officers,” said Hopper in a press release. “A prisoner serving a long sentence has nothing to lose and everything to gain by making false allegations of wrongdoing against corrections officers. Until now, officers had to live in fear that they could be victimized by the John Doe process. The passage of this reform measure will go a long way toward protecting them.”
"We were very encouraged by the enthusiastic response to our roundtable discussions in Green Bay and the Milwaukee area," Hopper said. "We want to hear from other regions of the state. Our roundtable in Eau Claire will be critical to identifying the solutions needed to restart our economy."
"Our hope is to take what they're saying now and take it back to the Democratic leadership in Madison and say, 'By the way, here's the people you should be talking to if you want to talk about creating jobs,'" state Sen. Randy Hopper said.
Former "Malcolm in the Middle" star Jane Kaczmarek is getting in the middle of the battle over Wisconsin's film incentives. She and her "West Wing" actor husband Bradley Whitford, both of whom are Wisconsin natives, sent Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative leaders a letter recently asking them to work on improving the state's current incentive program rather than scrap it.
State Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, has joined several of his colleagues in urging the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER) to reject a legislative pay increase scheduled for 2011.
"We'd like to examine the details and compare them with some other states that have combined reporting," Ward said. "Since Wisconsin's law was fast-tracked with no public hearings, there was little opportunity to examine it."
Republicans in the state Legislature are concerned about Wisconsin's business climate and business representatives they met with Tuesday seemed to concur.
"Our hope is to take what they're saying now and take it back to the Democratic leadership in Madison and say, by the way, here's the people you should be talking to if you want to talk about creating jobs," Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) said.
Suggestions from the leaders include lower taxes, tax incentives for retaining and creating local jobs, and fewer rules or red tape from state government.
"If we're going to talk seriously about creating jobs, then we better start getting input from actual job creators," Hopper said. "The JOBS NOW Task Force is a great first step towards developing positive solutions for our economic recovery."
At the meeting was State Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac). He says he'll certainly keep the comments in mind as policy workers in the Capitol look at expanding alternative forms of energy.
"We keep putting gas in the motor of a boat that has a huge hole in the bottom, and no one stops to talk about the hole," Hopper said. "We've got to solve the problems and not simply push them off to the next round."
“I appreciate the governor’s willingness to make some cuts, but they’re not the deep cuts that he has been promising for the last few months. Instead, his plan is for Wisconsin to tax our way to a balanced budget.
"Every additional dollar that the Democrats take away from vulnerable employers in the middle of a recession is a dollar that won’t be spent on wages for employees."
State Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, says he opposes efforts to allow senators to cast committee votes via secret paper ballot rather than at a public executive session.
"We cannot be a party that just says 'No.' We have to be a group that offers alternatives and, when it makes sense, from Democrats or Republicans, support it," Hopper said. "It's bigger than the party. We face unprecedented challenges and it is going to take people working together."
"I'm increasingly concerned that the governor and Democrats in the Legislature are going to rely on many of the same accounting tricks, fund raids, one-time money, and irresponsible borrowing that got us into this mess. Repeating these mistakes will only make our problems worse."
- Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac
State Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, legislators, at a time when the state is facing a $5.4 billion budget deficit, need work together to determine what needs should be met. "This is an unprecedented budget deficit, so we must prioritize. But keeping the citizens safe should be the top priority for state government," Hopper said. "And hopefully the Democrats feel the same way since they control the legislature."
"He was not my candidate, but he is going to be my president," said Randy Hopper, who was elected in November to lead the 18th Senate District. "I hope he's going to be successful."
State Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, said Tuesday that he will donate his scheduled pay increase of $2,530 to the YMCA Strong Kids Scholarship Funds of Winnebago, Fond du Lac and Dodge counties.
While Republicans struggled on the national level, they had plenty to celebrate closer to home. The GOP carried a slate of new faces to prominent county or state-level positions, most notably political newcomers Dan Kaminsky as Fond du Lac County district attorney and businessman Randy Hopper to the state Senate.
A recount in the 18th state Senate District race between Republican Randy Hopper and Democrat Jessica King upheld Hopper’s victory in the Nov. 4 election.
Frankly, I'm disgusted with the mudslinging in the race for the 18th State Senate seat, which can be attributed to well-heeled labor bosses in Washington, Milwaukee and Madison. Their target has been Fond du Lac's Randy Hopper.
The Fond du Lac Republican knocks on an average of 200 doors each day as he goes out to introduce himself to voters in the 18th state Senate district. He figures he has lost 11 pounds during the campaign and last saw his office at Mountain Dog Media in June.
Randy arguing against allowing the practice of secret paper ballots for senate committee votes
Randy Launching the Wisconsin Jobs NOW Taskforce
Paid for by Friends of Randy Hopper; Marty Ryan, Treasurer
