Feb 27 2025 25 mins 1
Jane Klekamp in studio, as we dissected her role as La Crosse County administrator, particularly in relation to the city of La Crosse potentially creating a similar position. We also discussed the potentially devastating impact of federal funding cuts to the county, and entertained the hypothetical of trading the La Crosse Center.
The first half of the conversation focused on Klekamp's role as county administrator, how the position was established, and what the city of La Crosse might consider if it decides to create its own administrator role.
Next, we delved into a hypothetical of the city trading ownership of the La Crosse Center to the county — a topic that stemmed from a past La Crosse Talk conversation on regionalizing assets to reduce the tax burden on city residents.
We then shifted to the county board’s ongoing work on funding requests from outside organizations. In the last budget cycle, several nonprofits asked for and received funding through last-minute amendments, but the board is now considering changes to that process.
Lastly, we examined the potential consequences of federal funding cuts on the county, with Klekamp highlighting how reductions in Medicaid funding could significantly affect residents in county-run nursing homes.
Since this conversation, Republicans in the US House passed a resolution that included directing the committee that handles Medicaid health care spending to come up with $880 billion in savings over the decade, which would be the bulk of what’s needed to offset the cost of the tax breaks.
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