The Wisconsin Legislature has its hands full with a few things as the new year begins.
The governmental body is considering a litany of heavy topics including, a bill that would require child-care regulators to report drug activity, or if child-care providers might be abusing or neglecting children, to law enforcement; and a legislative audit of the state's Medicaid system to examine spending increases in the program. These are very important issues that impact the lives of many Wisconsinites who need child care, and the health of 1 million of the state's poor children, adults, elderly and the blind, respectively.
The state Senate and Assembly need to focus on issues like this, not to mention other statewide problems, like qualifying for federal Race to the Top education funding and the future of the clean energy industry in Wisconsin as a source of economic growth.
With all this on their plates, legislators still had time Thursday to consider a bill to make cheese the official state snack. While, the hearing Thursday on the bill proposed by Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, probably won't take much time, it will cost money if we do get an official snack.
By continuing the tradition of naming state symbols, Sullivan's proposal will add to a lengthy list of marketing props for the state. All of which, cost money, in either staff time to post to a Web site, or printing costs to add to state promotional materials.
The list of state symbols includes - brace yourself, it's a long one - Coat of Arms, motto ("Forward"), flag, song ("On Wisconsin"), flower (Wood Violet), bird (Robin), tree (Sugar Maple), fish (Muskellunge), animal (Badger), wildlife animal (White-tail Deer), domesticated animal (Dairy Cow), mineral (Gelena), rock (Red Granite), symbol of peace (Morning Dove), insect (Honeybee), soil (Antigo Silt Loam), fossil (Trilobite), beverage (Milk), fruit (Cranberry), grain (Corn), dog (American Water Spaniel) and dance (Polka).
If adding cheese as the state snack isn't enough obscurity for the state's symbol list, how about this: A legislative committee is also considering naming an official state microbe, - no joke - the bacterium the converts milk into cheese.
Now there's a source of state pride, a microbe. Try having that conversation over a beer at a local tavern while on vacation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fire up a conversation by asking, "What's your state's microbe?"
Promoting the state's natural resources is important to Wisconsin's tourism industry, and the business sectors they represent - in the case of the proposed state snack, the dairy industry. However, the hearing on Sullivan's proposal is one discussion that isn't worth having.
The governmental body is considering a litany of heavy topics including, a bill that would require child-care regulators to report drug activity, or if child-care providers might be abusing or neglecting children, to law enforcement; and a legislative audit of the state's Medicaid system to examine spending increases in the program. These are very important issues that impact the lives of many Wisconsinites who need child care, and the health of 1 million of the state's poor children, adults, elderly and the blind, respectively.
The state Senate and Assembly need to focus on issues like this, not to mention other statewide problems, like qualifying for federal Race to the Top education funding and the future of the clean energy industry in Wisconsin as a source of economic growth.
With all this on their plates, legislators still had time Thursday to consider a bill to make cheese the official state snack. While, the hearing Thursday on the bill proposed by Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, probably won't take much time, it will cost money if we do get an official snack.
By continuing the tradition of naming state symbols, Sullivan's proposal will add to a lengthy list of marketing props for the state. All of which, cost money, in either staff time to post to a Web site, or printing costs to add to state promotional materials.
The list of state symbols includes - brace yourself, it's a long one - Coat of Arms, motto ("Forward"), flag, song ("On Wisconsin"), flower (Wood Violet), bird (Robin), tree (Sugar Maple), fish (Muskellunge), animal (Badger), wildlife animal (White-tail Deer), domesticated animal (Dairy Cow), mineral (Gelena), rock (Red Granite), symbol of peace (Morning Dove), insect (Honeybee), soil (Antigo Silt Loam), fossil (Trilobite), beverage (Milk), fruit (Cranberry), grain (Corn), dog (American Water Spaniel) and dance (Polka).
If adding cheese as the state snack isn't enough obscurity for the state's symbol list, how about this: A legislative committee is also considering naming an official state microbe, - no joke - the bacterium the converts milk into cheese.
Now there's a source of state pride, a microbe. Try having that conversation over a beer at a local tavern while on vacation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fire up a conversation by asking, "What's your state's microbe?"
Promoting the state's natural resources is important to Wisconsin's tourism industry, and the business sectors they represent - in the case of the proposed state snack, the dairy industry. However, the hearing on Sullivan's proposal is one discussion that isn't worth having.
