Please provide a brief description of your professional background and your legislative district.

I received my J.D. from UW-Madison in 1986 and have been in private practice since that time. I was an Alderman on the West Allis City Council for 9 years before running for the State Assembly in 1996. The 15th Assembly District is comprised of the majority of the City of West Allis and two wards of the City of Milwaukee. After being reelected to my 7th term in 2008, I was honored to be elected as Speaker Pro Tempore of the State Assembly.

How has your legal career/legal studies shaped your experience in the state legislature?

My legal career has really been the experience of a small business owner. That small business experience has helped to ground me in the real world and helped me to see the problems being faced by many Wisconsinites.  For this reason, I am very happy that I have continued my practice during my time in the Legislature.

My practice has also been a great source of ideas for the creation of new laws to help solve some of the problems faced by my clients and constituents. My legal training has helped me to understand and predict the possible unintended consequences of hastily passed legislation.

What current pieces of legislation are you working on that might be of interest to the State Bar of Wisconsin?

I have yet to see a substantive legislative proposal that the State Bar did not take an active interest in. With the diverse membership and expertise of the State Bar, that interest is to be expected and applauded.

Having said that, I am currently working on a number of proposals that aim to reduce the number of drunk drivers on Wisconsin roads. These proposals include mandating vehicle ignition interlock devices (IIDs) for repeat OWI offenders and first-time offenders with BACs of 0.15 or higher. IIDs have proven to be a great tool in reducing OWI offenses in other states because they force offenders to change their behavior.

I am also working on closing the loophole that allows first-time OWI offenders with BACs under 0.10 to be treated differently than other offenders. While this special classification for first-time offenders may have made sense when the Legislature lowered the legal BAC limit, the law now adds to the public perception that Wisconsin does not take drunk driving seriously.

In addition, I am drafting proposals to establish mandatory minimums for repeat OWI offenses, and providing judges with the sentencing option of probation for second and third OWI offenses.

On a related note, I was recently named as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Public Safety. I also serve on several other committees, including the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice, the Assembly Committee on Personal Privacy, and Governor Jim Doyle’s Subcommittee on Impaired Driving.

What would you identify as the major issues/challenges facing the justice system?

There is a shared responsibility between the state and the counties to fund the courts. However, with tight budgets on state and local levels, funding the courts at an appropriate level is a serious challenge.

Several related problems are the result of the ongoing problem with funding. For example, we need to continue to find and retain talented people to work on the public side of the justice system. Because the private sector offers better compensation, it is difficult to hold on to talented prosecutors, public defenders, and clerks. In addition, we are finding that more and more individuals in criminal and civil court require interpreters. Lack of funding for interpreter services is a huge problem in some parts of the state.

I also see some problems outside the state budget. Specifically, the number of pro se litigants will likely continue to increase due to state of the economy. While I believe in the inherent right of competent individuals to represent themselves in court, pro se litigants make mistakes that place additional strain on the system.

In addition, I am very concerned with the nature of recent State Supreme Court races. These races have become the proxy wars of partisan politics. I think we need to depoliticize judicial races. To do that, I think that we need full public financing of Supreme Court races.

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