LCDP Summer Fiesta
Sunday, July 29th
12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Northside Octoberfest Grounds
La Crosse (See details below)

La Crosse Pride Festival
Saturday, August 18th
11:00 A.M. to 12:00 midnight
Southside Octoberfest Grounds
La Crosse

LCDP General Party Meeting
Monday, August 20th
7:00 to 9:00 P.M.
Ho Chunk Nation 3 Rivers House
724 Main St.
La Crosse

LCDP Chicken-Q II
Thursday, September 20th
Time and location TBD

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far and I hope to see many of you at the Summer Fiesta this coming Sunday.

Please remember that we need volunteers to continue the process of building our local organization. We cannot and should not count on the DPW or presidential campaigns to provide the needed organization next year. We know this area best and our organizational work now will make it much easier for Democratic candidates - for the office of President on down to the courthouse positions - to be successful in 2008.

The most powerful Republican in the State of Wisconsin, Mike Huebsch, is from La Crosse County. This should provide extra motivation for all of us. Again, thanks for your support and hope to see you at the Summer Fiesta on July 29 and our next meeting.

Fabio Burgos
Chair
La Crosse County Democratic Party

The LCDP needs volunteers now to for party building and 2008 election preparation. We need a special effort in '08, particularly in the 94th Assembly District.

The membership committee will coordinate this effort. Please contact either:

Vicki Burke at 781-0737 or irelandvicki@aim.c om

Nathan Montgomery at 780-6654 or nmontgo20@aim. com

Hank Zumach at 457-2545 or zumach@mwt.net

The LCDP will be holding its Summer Fiesta on Sunday, July 29th from 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. at the Northside Octoberfest Grounds in La Crosse. There will be food (fajitas, brats, etc) drink, live music, crafts, games, pinatas and a raffle/silent auction. The top raffle prize will be two $60 Milwaukee Bucks tickets -- the drawing will take place at the Fall Dinner on October 27. Please spread the word to as many people as possible!!

We need volunteers to assist!!! Please contact Marcia Wine at 783-0172 or mrswineiii@ch arter.net to help.

GOP Budget guts School District, Higher Education, and Local Public Services Funding

By Rep. Jennifer Shilling

In addition to slashing K-12 classroom funding by $85 million, higher education and student financial aid by $125 million, and the state's environmental conservation program by almost $1 billion, the Republican budget also cuts millions of dollars from our local school district, university, technical school, and human service organizations.

Unfortunately, the Republicans took a meat clever to the state budget and let their own stubborn ideology get in the way of sensible budgeting. La Crosse is getting socked by this budget, from elementary school students, to college students, to low-income workers, to pregnant women, to homeowners. This budget is just plain bad for the residents of La Crosse.

Here are a few examples of the impact that the Republican budget will have on the La Crosse area:
1. La Crosse school district cut by $1.4 million, resulting in 19 teachers being lost

2. UW-L funding cut by $4 million; this will have a dramatic impact on the ability of our university to provide a top-quality education and increased access for students

3. Western Technical College cut by $2.8 million; as well as a system-wide cut of $3 million in training program grants and a $1.6 million cut in the youth apprenticeship program, which fund local initiatives such as the welder training program that prepares young adults for good-paying jobs in underserved career paths.

4. La Crosse City and County - Republicans froze shared revenue for the city of La Crosse and reduced shared revenue payments to La Crosse County by $312,000 less than Governor Doyle's proposal. As the cost of providing local services such as road maintenance, police and fire assistance, and transportation continues to skyrocket, La Crosse residents will see a dramatic reduction in the quality of services under the Republican budget.

5. Child care subsidies cut by $52 million, which will prevent the Family Resource Center from assisting hundreds of parents with child care options.

6. Medicaid Family Planning Waiver program funding cut, as well as funding for breast and cervical cancer screening through Wisconsin's Well Women Program. Without adequate state support, facilities such as Options Clinic will not be able to continue providing health care and family planning services for women.

7. Tobacco use control grants cut by $34 million. Many of the tobacco cessation and prevention services provided by the La Crosse County Public Health Department, aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and a healthy environment, will be in jeopardy as a result of this cut.

8. Domestic abuse grant funding cut by $1.2 million. This would have a dramatic impact on the ability of organizations, such as New Horizons, to help victims of domestic violence.

Republicans also ignored the growing health care crisis in Wisconsin and eliminated Governor Doyle's proposed expansion of BadgerCare Plus which would provide health insurance for 98% of all Wisconsin residents, including all children and pregnant women.

The Republican's shortsighted budgeting will jeopardize the entire well-being of our community. La Crosse needs good schools and strong institutions of higher education. La Crosse needs reliable city and county services. La Crosse needs services for working families and the elderly. Unfortunately, this budget doesn't provide La Crosse with any of those things.

Please renew your memberships for 2007. If you have not done so, you can find our 2007 membership form at laxdems.com. (Left side of front page).

Our goal is to push party membership over 400 people. Please check our website at laxdems.com, which has a membership form or email laxdems if you cannot come to our future party meetings.

Again, a reminder about the membership rates, effective October 1, 2006, as established by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin:

Students, Senior Citizens: $10.00
General: $25.00
Pairs (two memberships): $35.00
Activist (up to three): $45.00
Family(includes all family members: $75.00
Supporter: $120.00
Friend: $240.00
Patron: $600.00
Investor: $1200.00
Benefactor $2400.00
 

Half of the above membership dues go to the State party, with the exception of the Family membership, where $45.00 of $75.00 goes to the local party. Those who join at the higher levels of membership ($120.00 and above) should remember that only $50.00 of those memberships will stay with the local party.

If your intention is to become a new member or renew your membership with the Democratic Party and you want more of your contribution to go to the Local County Party, I encourage you to join at the single $25 or $75 Family membership level and make additional contributions to the county party directly.

Much thanks go out to those who helped at the LCDP table at the Interstate Fair from July 10 to the 15th.

Kris Troyanek, Barb Clark, JD Wine, Rod Rusch and Jan Slaght did a great job setting up the booth on July 10.

Thanks to Linda Bechly, Stan Berg, Vicki Burke, Shannon Glynn, Jason Gillett, John Medinger, Mike Parker, Jennifer Shilling, Kris Troyanek, Matt Ullsvik, Marcia and JD Wine, Margaret Wood and Hank Zumach for staffing the booth through the rest of the week and the weekend.