Vice President Harris hists two events in La Crosse and the Republican response

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Vice President Kamala Harris making the trip to La Crosse today (4/22/24), first visiting the Hmong Cultural and Community Center. First News at Nine’s Dashal Mentzel has more on the roundtable discussion that Harris held there on long-term health care.

Vice President Kamala Harris meeting with healthcare workers on Monday to discuss their importance. After initial introductions, Vice President Harris said the conversation was about recognizing the gifts that care workers give to society, “I am so grateful to our home health care workers, to our care workers, to the members of SEIU for the work you do every day. And again, I say it is about time that we start to recognize your value and pay you accordingly.”

Vice President Harris also announced that the Biden Administration is establishing national minimum staffing standards for federally funded nursing homes, “For residents, this will mean more staff, which means fewer E.R. visits, potentially more independence for families. It’s going to mean peace of mind in terms of your loved one being taken care of, and for care workers, is going to be more time with their patients, less burnout and lower turnover.”

She also announced new requirements to help increase pay for home healthcare workers, “Medicaid currently pays $125 billion a year to home healthcare companies, which is hundreds of thousands of workers. However, before this change in the system, home care companies were not required to report how their federal dollars were being spent.”

Lisa Briggs has been working in the nursing field for 28 years and says she’s glad that she and other healthcare workers were able to sit down with the Vice President, “I really appreciated her taking her time out to listen to us about what’s going on all over the world, in a country of short staff and nursing home facility.”

Vice President Harris adds that a vast majority of nursing homes are federally funded and 75% of those nursing homes are understaffed, which makes it difficult to care for the 1.2 million Americans who live in those nursing homes.

In La Crosse, Dashal Mentzel First News at Nine.

Vice President Kamala Harris has since left Wisconsin after a full day on the campaign trail. Today was her third visit to the Badger State this year. She attended a reproductive rights event at the La Crosse Center this afternoon. She spoke to the crowd there about the importance of protecting freedom this election, and how the Biden Administration is fighting for abortion rights, “One doesn’t have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.”

While Harris was in Wisconsin, President Biden was visiting Florida also campaigning on reproductive rights.

A group of Republican leaders from across Western Wisconsin met for a media briefing today to respond to the Vice President’s trip to La Crosse. They spoke about a variety of topics, including the Biden administration’s handling of the economy, as well as the US border. Republican Party of Wisconsin chairperson, Brian Schimming, said, “Look, the reason Kamala Harris is in lacrosse today is because she has to be. This isn’t about some politics out of Washington. This is about the struggle that people are having in western Wisconsin at the gas station, at the grocery store. The reality of everyday life.”

Republican Senator Ron Johnson, adds, “Every state’s a border state, what we’re seeing it primarily in terms of dramatically increased drug trafficking. We’re all familiar with the 70 or 80,000 deaths overdose deaths that; primarily due to fentanyl flooding into our open border.”

Republicans say that Derrick Van Orden’s victory in the 3^rd District 2 years ago is a sign that Western Wisconsin is becoming more conservative.

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