Students were encouraged to discuss local issues with Wisconsin state lawmakers at the College Democrats of Madison annual state panel held Tuesday.
The panel was composed of members of the state assembly ,including Assistant Majority Leader Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, Chair of the Corrections and Courts Committee Rep. Joseph Parisi, D-Madison, Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, Rep. Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville and Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna.
The assembly members focused on the future of Wisconsin legislation before giving students an opportunity to ask the panel questions.
Sheridan promised UW-Madison will continue to focus on quality education despite the economic crisis and the loss of several professors and researchers.
Increasing the number of women leaders in politics was a key issue Seidel hopes to focus on this year.
I have a real responsibility for women in Wisconsin to say that I helped or mentored people to help women come forward in positions to be in offices that are city, state or national,"" Seidel said.
""It is really a time for a legislature, certainly [in] Wisconsin and across the country, to have strong representation of women,"" Seidel said.
Members said another challenge they will face is instituting universal health care statewide. Seidel said state representatives hope insurance companies will cover unmarried adults until age 27 and will support lower income individuals.
""We all come from the blue collar backgrounds, and the only reason I'm sitting here is that people I have never met before came for me and made an investments that were necessary to turn my life around,"" Parisi said.
UW-Madison senior and political science major Scott Resnick said the panel was a great opportunity to interact with leaders and ask questions about legislative policies.
""I'm excited to see the great things that are going to come,"" Resnick said. ""It's a different mentality and it's a different leadership that will bode well for Wisconsin's future and how we are going to get out of [the] economic crisis.""
