Editor's note: The editorial board met with both candidates for the 80th Assembly district. The editorial board consists of General Manager Carl Hearing, Editor Mary Jane Grenzow and News Editor Gary Mays. Dan Henke is a personal friend of Hearing. Hearing abstained from making an endorsement; the following is the consensus opinion of Grenzow and Mays.
Two small business people with local government experience are vying for the 80th Assembly seat, formerly held by Oregon Republican Brett Davis. Both candidates - Monroe Alderman Dan Henke and former Evansville Mayor Janis Ringhand - emphasize job creation and boosting the economy as the biggest issues in advance of the Nov. 2 election.
The trouble is, neither candidate offers many concrete options on how to go about it.
Henke, the Republican, has built 800 houses in and around Monroe, and as a result, knows what it's like to hire people, deal with government, and add to the tax base. In fact, it was his experience as a developer, he says, that motivated him to run.
Excessive government regulation, he says, has made it hard to get anything done in Wisconsin. "I used to spend 80 percent of my time at the job site, but now I spend 80 percent of my time in the office doing paper work," he told The Monroe Times.
That may be true, but our problems are larger than those facing the construction industry. We need policies that encourage job growth through a targeted mix of tax incentives, job retraining, education and infrastructure, to name a few. Many of the manufacturing jobs on which we relied for so long aren't coming back. And we need to come up with creative ways to pay for such initiatives.
Neither candidate has offered much in the way of solutions. Still, Henke's knowledge and experience in the Green County region - and his record of service on the Monroe City Council - earn him the endorsement from The Monroe Times.
When it comes to the state's budget deficit, projected to top $3 billion soon, Henke says he wants to "cut the fat" and stop the legislature from shifting funds around to make up for shortfalls.
"We have to raise money for schools but we can't increase taxes," Henke said.
Democrat Ringhand has been an innovator as a public official in Evansville, particularly around the areas of green energy innovation, and attracting new businesses to the area. She also is open to prioritizing and cutting waste in state government spending. Yet she would consider sales and other tax hikes, if absolutely necessary - something Henke opposes.
The next state representative for the 80th Assembly district faces a daunting task. The state is broke. Wisconsin lost 163,00 jobs last year alone. Many of our schools are struggling. We need concrete plans for rebuilding our economy and reducing the deficit.
We hope Henke will expand his knowledge of the larger issues at hand, and provide the leadership in Madison we so desperately need.
Two small business people with local government experience are vying for the 80th Assembly seat, formerly held by Oregon Republican Brett Davis. Both candidates - Monroe Alderman Dan Henke and former Evansville Mayor Janis Ringhand - emphasize job creation and boosting the economy as the biggest issues in advance of the Nov. 2 election.
The trouble is, neither candidate offers many concrete options on how to go about it.
Henke, the Republican, has built 800 houses in and around Monroe, and as a result, knows what it's like to hire people, deal with government, and add to the tax base. In fact, it was his experience as a developer, he says, that motivated him to run.
Excessive government regulation, he says, has made it hard to get anything done in Wisconsin. "I used to spend 80 percent of my time at the job site, but now I spend 80 percent of my time in the office doing paper work," he told The Monroe Times.
That may be true, but our problems are larger than those facing the construction industry. We need policies that encourage job growth through a targeted mix of tax incentives, job retraining, education and infrastructure, to name a few. Many of the manufacturing jobs on which we relied for so long aren't coming back. And we need to come up with creative ways to pay for such initiatives.
Neither candidate has offered much in the way of solutions. Still, Henke's knowledge and experience in the Green County region - and his record of service on the Monroe City Council - earn him the endorsement from The Monroe Times.
When it comes to the state's budget deficit, projected to top $3 billion soon, Henke says he wants to "cut the fat" and stop the legislature from shifting funds around to make up for shortfalls.
"We have to raise money for schools but we can't increase taxes," Henke said.
Democrat Ringhand has been an innovator as a public official in Evansville, particularly around the areas of green energy innovation, and attracting new businesses to the area. She also is open to prioritizing and cutting waste in state government spending. Yet she would consider sales and other tax hikes, if absolutely necessary - something Henke opposes.
The next state representative for the 80th Assembly district faces a daunting task. The state is broke. Wisconsin lost 163,00 jobs last year alone. Many of our schools are struggling. We need concrete plans for rebuilding our economy and reducing the deficit.
We hope Henke will expand his knowledge of the larger issues at hand, and provide the leadership in Madison we so desperately need.
