Public Policy

As the greater Racine area’s chamber of commerce, RAMAC serves as the voice for business. Working to be that ‘voice’, RAMAC’s Public Policy Committee meets regularly to review and discuss a broad range of topics and issues with the purpose of advocating for policies that promote a pro-business local environment and supporting effective and efficient government. The Public Policy Committee is dedicated to focusing on issues that directly impact the success of businesses of all sizes, regardless of who’s in office.

The Public Policy Committee’s responsibilities include:

1) Stay abreast of local, county, and statewide elections as well as local, county, and state policies.

2) Host candidate forums or other meetings that will allow RAMAC members access to candidates who may represent them.

3) Communicate the committee’s actions to RAMAC membership. (via printed magazine, emails, or web page)

RAMAC is committed to advocating for local business and to this end, the Public Policy Committee will work to keep you not only informed but represented on the local and state level, as we are Racine’s Business Champion.

RAMAC’s Public Policy Committee meets quarterly. At the first meeting of 2025, the committee discussed the referendums that were being introduced for the spring election.

Both the Racine Unified School District and the Racine Fire Department reached out to RAMAC for the committee to review their referendum details. At the time of review, the committee decided that a neutral stance represented our members best more than taking a positive or negative stance on either.

Both referendums did pass during the April election cycle. The RUSD operational referendum will cover expenses for staffing along with associated costs for programs such as early literacy, school safety, and the high school academy offerings.

The Racine Fire Department referendum will provide the necessary funds to maintain nine paramedic/EMT positions.

Another issue that was discussed, and agreed upon to support, was the partnership that Racine County has signed onto with Discover Wisconsin. Mark Lewis, President and CEO of RAMAC, spoke in favor of this partnership at a Racine County Board of Supervisors meeting in March. With this partnership, Racine County will receive custom video production, social media content, and marketing across the Discover Wisconsin’s platforms, with the hopes of increasing tourism dollars and exposure to the county.

The final issue of discussion was about the Right of First Refusal legislation which is regarding bidding for contracts to update regional electric grids. The committee could not find a reason to support the legislation, which was subsequently withdrawn but has now been reintroduced as an updated version dubbed the Wisconsin Energy Reform Act. RAMAC has not been asked to take a position on this legislation to date but will be diligent if asked to consider supporting it.

This quarter, the Public Policy committee reviewed many pending bills that were under review at the state level including issues regarding worker shortages, unemployment insurance, and apprenticeship programs. No positions were officially taken by the committee as many of these bills did not move forward.

Since then, Wisconsin lawmakers did approve the state budget and Governor Tony Evers announced he will not run for a third term. The Public Policy Committee will be watching local and state-level elections in the coming months.