State Rep. Pedro Colon-who ran for Milwaukee city attorney in April-is seek ing re-election to the state Assembly, which he hopes will be controlled by the Democrats in November. But first Colon faces two challengers for this South Side district-nurse Laura Manriquez and Jose Guzman.
Colon is running on his nine years of experience in the state Assembly, including his work on the Joint Finance Committee, which works out budget and spending issues before they are debated by the full Legislature. If the Democrats win the majority in the Assembly, Colon could have a shot at a leadership position, which would provide Milwaukee with a voice that it currently does not have. But Manriquez, a licensed practical nurse and community activist, argues that Colon isn't doing enough for his constituents because he has focused on other pursuits- running for city attorney, sitting on the boards of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District (MMSD) and MATC, and working as an attorney. Manriquez, a board member of Esperanza Unida, says she would make her constituents' concerns a higher priority.
Candidate Jose Guzman did not respond to the Shepherd's candidate questionnaire. Guzman received in-kind contributions from former Republican state Sen. Tom Reynolds' PAC, Clean Sweep Wisconsin.
No Republican is running in this district, so the winner of the Sept. 9 Democratic pri mary will automatically serve in the state Assembly.
Pedro Colon serves on the Joint Finance Committee, but he said that many good proposals are blocked due to partisan differences. Colon said that serving on this committee allows him to fight for more funding for crime initiatives and education: "As Milwaukee's voice in the state Assembly on many budget issues, I worked hard last year to find $27 million in new funding to expand the SAGE program and $3 million to expand kindergarten pro grams for 4-year-olds. I'm especially proud of our work to support veterans with $32 million in new money to help our men and women in uniform pursue a higher educa tion degree after their service has ended….
I was able to bring much needed funding to Milwaukee Public Schools in the form a new High Poverty Aid Program authored by myself and Sen. Lena Taylor. This pro gram brings an additional $17 million to MPS and we were also successful in granting MPS $10 million to fund more math and science programs."
|
|
Colon said that the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program's funding flaw, which penalizes city taxpayers, must be fixed. "The Assembly GOP proved that they had no interest in fixing this funding flaw. In fact, when they wrote their version of the state budget, they not only ignored the funding flaw, they expanded the pro gram statewide. Thus, I worked with Sen. Lena Taylor to create a plan that got an additional $27 million in funding for Milwaukee Public Schools." He does not advocate expanding the choice program.
Colon, who stresses his support of immigrants' rights, authored legislation that would allow children of illegal immigrants who graduated from a state high school to pay in-state tuition at a state collegeor tech school. "I have worked with Gov. Doyle to have this item placed in the state budget but it was pulled out by the Assembly Republicans."
Laura Manriquez, a nurse, has advocated for treatment options for those in the criminal justice system, and is an advisory member of Governor's Office of Justice Assistance Treatment and Diversion. Manriquez said she would use her networking skills to find common ground with other legislators. "It is important for me to ensure that Milwaukee gets its fair share of state funding. In doing [so], I will establish close working relations with other lawmakers.
The working partnerships I will build will be built on common-ground needs and free of antagonisms. I will reach out to leg islators in order to develop efforts based on building alliances designed to move Wisconsin forward by making Milwaukee stronger, and a better generator of revenue for partners outside of Milwaukee."
Manriquez is a strong supporter of the public school system. "The Choice Program has shown itself to be just another experiment unable to break the bi-products of poverty. Our educational system has pock ets of unique educational needs for the various populations of our state. Poor communities need more resources than rich districts.
This is a matter of fact. Anyone thinking that the Milwaukee School Choice Program is the panacea to ridding our community of poverty is living in a pipe dream.
The key is to continue to support our public schools and direct the resources to the children and not to special interest(s) efforts and over-priced consultants."
What's your take? Write: editor@shepex.com or comment on this story online at www.expressmilwaukee.com.
