Senator Patrick Testin May ’25

Wisconsin’s 24th District Senator Patrick Testin called in for an update with The Rapids Report’s James J. Malouf.

Senate Bill 156

They began by discussing a bill recently passed in the legislature. After the tragic death of 20-year old Andrew Mueller from Wisconsin Rapids in November of last year, the need for increased access to Epi-Pens for First Responders. Senator Patrick Testin and Representative Scott Krug have spear-headed the solution. By March Senate Bill 156 took form and has been passed with bipartisan support in the legislature. The bill requires that EMS and First Responders carry Epinephrine Pens and that they be trained for their usage. This is a huge win in saving lives and protecting families from preventable hospitalizations and deaths.

Senate Bill 164

The conversation then turned to potato seeds. In previous years there have been cases of potato farmers using seeds that were not approved to farm their potatoes. There is good reason for the need to adhere to these rules. Wisconsin is one of the leading producers of Potatoes in the United States, and in order to ensure the most consistent crop throughout the state it can be important to stick with the approved seeds. In Senate Bill 164 the penalties for not abiding by these rules has increased dramatically. Senator Patrick Testin said in the interview that some farmers have chosen to break this rule and pay the penalty as they still made a profit on the crop despite that. With these increased penalties it will not be possible to profit on a crop that is grown from unapproved potato seeds.

2025 Joint Finance Committee Budget Road Show

Then Senator Testin then discussed the closing of the 2025 Joint Finance Committee Budget Road Show. The Committee held four listening sessions throughout the state with the last two being in Hayward on April 28th, and Wausau on April 29th. The three biggest concerns presented to the Joint Finance Committee were, Education Funding, Health Care Funding, and Child Care. The citizens of Wisconsin did make their voice heard, and despite this clear united message, cuts to education funding, health care, and child care are still on the table. As Dan Shafer and Pat Krietlow describe in this episode of Mornings with Pat Krietlow.

Ho-Chunk WWII Code Talkers Memorial Highway

One of the last subjects discussed in the interview was the new Ho-Chunk World War II Code Talkers Memorial Highway. I-90 from Tomah to the border of Minnesota in LaCrosse was officially designated as the Ho-Chunk World War II Code Talkers Memorial Highway. Senator Patrick Testin was one of the presiding officials at the designation of that Memorial Highway.

More Links

To listen to the interview in full you can do so at our website here.

If you would like to contact Senator Patrick Testin you can do so through his website here.