Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor came to SHS recently to talk to members of the Shorewood Political Union. Taylor talked about her career, the state government system, and why she decided to run for Senate.

Taylor was born and raised in Milwaukee. She went to Rufus King High School, and then to UW-Milwaukee. Taylor went into law and started her own law practice. Eight years later, she decided to run for office.

“I really saw the need to have an influence on the laws that were being created,” Taylor said. “I wanted to make a difference.”

Taylor, a Democrat, has represented the eighteenth District in the State Assembly since May 2003. Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin member of the US House of Representatives, encouraged Taylor to run for State Senate. Taylor ran and won.

Now, Taylor is on many different committees, including the Joint Finance Committee, which she called the “check-writing committee.” She is also the chair of the Judiciary, Corrections, and Housing Committees. “It keeps me pretty busy,” she said.

Currently, Taylor is running against incumbent Scott Walker for the position of county executive. She claims he is mismanaging the county.

“I’m in a really good spot [as a senator],” said Taylor, “but I couldn’t just step back and say that’s okay because I love this place.” Taylor said that Walker didn’t invest in the people. She pointed out how 33 years ago the Milwaukee transit system was the best in the nation, and now the fares are up 50% in the last five years. Taylor said that Walker squandered money that he could have used for the people.

Eight thousand people signed a petition to get Taylor to run for county executive, she mentioned, and she listened to them.

“I can bring the skills I have to the table and work with people to get things done,” she said.

Taylor said that as a senator she “loves to go and speak” to people, especially younger people. Taylor stresses the importance of giving back to the community and getting a good education. Taylor said that she barely made it out of high school and it wasn’t until she was 20 that the “light bulb went on” – and she came to realize the importance of education. Now, Taylor is a “huge supporter” of education.

Taylor also talked about the state government system, and the process of making a law. Taylor is one of 33 state senators, and she noted that, “The process of creating new laws isn’t easy. You might have one idea, but someone else will have another.”

She gave the example of a law that would ban smoking. Senators would have all different opinions: “One senator would want the law to say you couldn’t smoke in your own bedroom, and another would give you a cigarette on the way out.”

Taylor said that an important part of being a legislator was making compromises: finding something in between the two extremes. She gave another example, that of the “police pay” rule, which states that Milwaukee police officers can still be paid after they are fired. Taylor and other senators tried to get the rule repealed, but ended up having to compromise with the Republican State Assembly, which had a good relationship with the police. “Relationships are important for legislators, too,” said Taylor. In the end, the Senate and Assembly compromised: Milwaukee police officers who had been fired because of felonies or some misdemeanors would no longer be paid.

One of the most important issues to Taylor was, she said, education. She talked about how funding for schools is based on property values, which she thinks is a bad system. Because of this and declining enrollment, some urban and rural schools are having a hard time getting enough money. It’s getting difficult, Taylor said, for some schools to provide a quality education. But she’s working to fix it.

Finally, Taylor encouraged students to come see a Senate hearing, or even to testify in one.

Lily Schultze, the president of Shorewood Political Union, said that she liked Taylor’s enthusiasm and energy. “I didn’t even have to introduce her,” Schultze said. “She was a very commanding speaker.” Schultze and Shorewood Political Union, a club that has political discussions, debates, and speakers, have brought in several other local politicians in the past, including State Assembly member Sheldon Wasserman and state Senator Alberta Darling.

Senior Hope Reynolds said that Taylor was “Nice and interested in what she was doing.” Reynolds also said that she seemed “completely capable” of being county executive.

The morning announcements: girls basketball game, Model UN meeting, “there was a rabbit with a croissant...” Pegasus, a student-run art and literary magazine, aims to “breathe some life into the artistic community of the high school,” said senior Lizzy Pierson, editor-in-chief. Those signature announcements, which consisted of Pierson reading off an intentionally putrid short story, were designed to spur people to submit short stories to Pegasus’s short story contest.

Pegasus provides many outlets for artistic expression, from poetry nights in the S-room to short story and photo contests. The last poetry night was on February 28.

Anna Olson, sophomore member, enjoys the poetry nights: “[We] have snacks and stuff and sometimes we get tea. It’s really fun. It’s basically a quiet social gathering,” Olsen said.