By State Representative, Leon D. Young It’s official: The legislative gauntlet has been thrown down in Madison. Governor Walker has proposed in his 2013-15 Biennial Budget document (Assembly Bill 40), a provision that would end residency rules for municipal and school district employees statewide. If residency requirements were repealed, police officers, firefighters and teachers would [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young Fact: The state of Wisconsin has the strongest state pension fund in the nation. Moreover, according to the Pew Center on the States, Wisconsin is the only state in the country that has enough money set aside to meet its current obligations to pay the pensions that have been [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young Last Wednesday, February 6 would have been Trayvon Martin’s 18th birthday,had he not been fatally shot on his way home. However,the observance of Trayvon’s birthday (Feb. 6) and upcoming anniversary of his death (Feb. 26) provide ample reasons to re-visit this thorny issue of “stand your ground” legislation. A [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young As you know, Republicans re-affirmed their control of state government in Wisconsin during last year’s November election. However, on the national level, it’s a far different story. In swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, the Electoral College tally for these states have recently gone to the Democratic candidate [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young Wisconsin stands on the cusp of passing some form of new mining legislation. Depending upon who is queried, it could be the biggest boon or boondoggle that the state has seen in quite some time. Moreover, in these difficult and uncertain economic times, the allure of high-paying, family-sustaining jobs [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young America currently faces a myriad of hot-button political issues. Immigration reform is one of those thorny policy areas that need to be addressed immediately, in a comprehensive and compassionate way. The president has promised to make immigration reform a top priority of his second term. But, as we have [...]

By Leon D. Young Last Saturday, I attended a gathering for McArthur Mac Weddle, who celebrated his 65th birthday on January 12. Mac Weddle is the Executive Director of Northcott Neighborhood House, and has been a respected leader in our community for many years. Once again, Happy 65th Mac!

By State Representative, Leon D. Young When President Barack Obama ran for reelection last year, political pundits and TV talking heads theorized that he would be at extreme political peril if the national economy didn’t improve — drastically. At the time, a precipitous drop in the unemployment rate, in particular, would have been an encouraging [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young In the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has finally raised its ugly head in offering its opinion on this unprecedented event. Their press conference had been highly anticipated, in light of an earlier media statement that suggested that the NRA [...]

By State Representative, Leon D. Young It’s hard to imagine that it’s been 21 years since John Singleton released his signature cinematic masterpiece, Boyz in the Hood. Unfortunately, too much of the film’s poignant subject matter and brilliant insights remain relevant concerns in the national discourse today. One of the major underpinnings of this movie [...]