Joe Leibham

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Joe Leibham is a State Senator in Wisconsin's 9th Senate District which consists of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Chilton.

Early life and career

Joe Liebham was born and raised in Sheboygan and is the fourth oldest of 13 Leibham children. He attended Pigeon River Elementary School, Trinity Lutheran School and Lutheran High School in Sheboygan. Following high school, Joe attended UW-LaCrosse and Ealing College in London, England, before graduating from UW-Madison in 1991 with a B.A. in Political Science/Public Administration[1].

After graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Liebham worked in the food service industry as an Account Executive for Sheboygan based Sargento Foods and the Manager of Membership Development for the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce.

Political career

Joe has been a leader in helping the Republican Party become successful in a heavy blue, democrat county like Sheboygan County. Liebham was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2002 in defeating Democrat Jim Baumgart in which he became the first Republican since 1982 to win the 9th State Senate District[2]. Joe also served in State Assembly from 1998-2002 representing the 26th State Assembly District. Liebham's victory in 1998 was a building block in helping the Republican Party in Sheboygan gain prominence as he became the first Republican since 1956 to win the 26th Assembly District[3]. Joe began his political career serving on the Sheboygan City Council from 1993-2000 and was President of the City Council of Sheboygan from 1995 to 1996.

Issue positions

Sen. Leibham's issue positions, according to his campaign website:[4]

  • Promotes job creation and encouraging local businesses. Co-authored the The Job Creation Act.
  • Supports tax decreases.
  • Supports expanded access to health care and the creation of health savings accounts.
  • Supports traditional family values
  • Pro-life
  • Supports more job (re)training through technical colleges
  • Supports legislation to help farms
  • Supports hunting, fishing and gun-ownership rights
  • Supports lower taxes for senior citizens

Legislation

Joe Liebham has earned a consistent reputation as a solid fiscal conservative throught his tenure in the State Legislature. In 2007, Senator Liebham had recieved an 100% rating from Americans for Prosperity [5] and also from Wisconsin Manufactuers and Commerce[6]. Liebham has been a constant critic of Wisconsin's election system and also of legislative abuse of sick leave pay. [7]. Liebham along with Rep. Jeff Stone a Greenfield Republican have been advocating for the requirement of photo ID at the polls.

2007-2008 Legislative Session

Senator Liebham voted against the Wisconsin State Budget in both the Senate Version and the Final State Budget claming the budget was very fiscally irresponsible [8]. Liebham crafted registration to strengthen child enticement laws in Wisconsin that it will be a serious felony to entice a child for sexual contact regardless of where the alleged offense may take place, and regardless of whether the offender was trying to lure the victim to a “secluded,” private or public location. Liebham crafted this legislation in response to a 2007 court ruling in Sheboygan County that overturned a jury’s conviction of a Sheboygan man accused of attempting to entice a nine-year-old girl into a park shelter to have sex.

Also, Liebham was the major sponsor of Senate Bill (SB) 101 & SB 146 - Expanding the Veterans and Surviving Spouses Property Tax Credit which was aimed in reversing this property tax credit only offered to veterans who were Wisconsin residents at the time of enlistment, who are 65 years and older, and who have a 100% service connected disability rating. SB 101 eliminates the 65 year old age limit and adds a provision that would extend this credit to all veterans residing in Wisconsin for more than 10 years, assuming they meet the disability rating requirement. SB 146 moves the 100% service connected disability rating threshold to 60%. Currently a veteran who has a 60% or higher service connected disability rating can be classified as individually unemployable (IU). Under SB 146 and SB 101, all veterans classified as IU would be eligible for the tax credit. Disabled veterans should not be forced to move out of their homes because they are unable to pay their property taxes.

SB 19 – Veterans Status in the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) – The bill that Liebham crafted would create equity among service members by treating all veterans who participate in the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) equally.

Past and current endorsements

  • Wisconsin Right to Life [9].

Major donors

Some of the top contributors to Sen. Leibham's 2008 campaign, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics:[10]

John Deere & Co., Pauly Delores, Pfizer, Carpenters Local 344 Camp Fund, Ralph Prescott, and others

Health care companies and interests were his largest donor group and most of his contributions came from individuals.

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen09/news/jlBio.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen09/news/jlBio.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen09/news/jlBio.htm
  4. ↑ Sen. Leibham on the Issues
  5. ↑ http://www.americansforprosperity.org/wi/07_report_card.pdf
  6. ↑ http://www.wmc.org/PDFfiles/2006vrfinal.pdf
  7. ↑ http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen09/news/press/2007/pr2007-010.asp
  8. ↑ http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen09/news/Press/2007/pr2007-023.asp
  9. ↑ http://www.wrtl.org/legislation/endorsedcandidates
  10. ↑ Joseph Leibham 2008 campaign contributions
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