Rookie state Rep. Johnson on La Crosse Talk discussing upcoming priorities, pathetic amount of days in session, her committees

Democratic Wisconsin state Rep. Tara Johnson in the WIZM studio Monday for La Crosse Talk discussing her new role in the Assembly, how sadly short the Legislative calendar is and what committees she’ll be on, plus how the committees are unevenly distributed.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

Johnson, who was La Crosse County Board’s first female chair and is now the first Democrat in District 96 since the mid 1980s, talks about her role on both the health and agriculture committees. She also pointed out that Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos did not distribute committee assignments proportionately. Democratic representation increased in the state legislature, but Republican leadership reduced Democratic seats on committees.

Johnson also noted her dissatisfaction that the Legislature will be in session only 90 days over the next two years (so out of 730 days). She said all Democrats in the Legislature voted against that calendar and all Republicans voted for it. 

As for her priorities in the Assembly, Johnson would like to work on public education funding, the PFAS issue, childcare, and abortion rights. She wasn’t too happy that their first order of business after an election on the economy would be to put a state constitutional amendment on the April ballot. The state Senate passed that bill last week as its first order of business in 2025.