Opportunity Wisconsin’s Roh previews La Crosse town hall, where all are welcome to ask questions

A town hall Tuesday evening in La Crosse but it’s not with the Congressman one would expect.

Meghan Roh, program director at Opportunity Wisconsin, joined WIZM’s La Crosse Talk to preview the town hall, featuring special guest U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D–Madison).

La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk wherever you get your podcasts.

The event begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Capella Performing Arts Center (register here).

Roh said US House Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) was invited on more than one occasion but basically said, ‘Thanks but no thanks.’

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, these cuts are having an impact on your cost of living,” Roh said. “So, absolutely, this is a nonpartisan event and we would really hope that Congressman Van Orden decides to show up and have a tough conversation with his constituents but he seemed to want no part of it when we invited him in person. And so we reached out to Congressman Pocan because we think folks in Western Wisconsin deserve to get answers to their questions.”

Van Orden has held a couple virtual town halls, including one April 10, but participants could not directly ask him questions. A staff member read Van Orden questions.

Opportunity Wisconsin is one of the groups helping organize Tuesday’s event, which aims to engage residents on key federal issues. 

“If you’re following the news and know what’s happening with this budget measure that Congress is advancing, he has greenlit $1.5 trillion in cuts in order to pay for new tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations,” Roh said. “There is no possible way that Congress is going to meet that $1.5 trillion threshold without touching some of these essential programs that support folks in Western Wisconsin.”

While Roh noted that Van Orden is unlikely to show up, her group did recently meet with the Congressman for two hours at his Washington, D.C., office.

“We appreciate his commitment in that meeting and publicly to not cut some of these programs like Medicaid, Social Security and SNAP,” Roh said. “He even went so far during that meeting to make a promise to our group that he would not touch these programs.”

That’s just one of the concerns Roh said has been brought up during other town halls in Wisconsin’s 3rd District. She noted that anyone is welcome to listen or ask questions. 

“These extreme cuts that are happening at the Congressional level that Congressman Van Orden is supporting,” Roh said. “These are not partisan cuts. These are not cuts that are just impacting Democrats. They are impacting people across the board. They’re making it harder for Wisconsin small businesses to succeed. They’re making it harder for families to put food on the table. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. These cuts are having an impact on your cost of living.”

During the interview, Roh also responded to criticism from the La Crosse County Republican Party, which recently labeled the upcoming town hall a “fake event.”

“It’s very much a real event with real folks that live in Western Wisconsin that will be there asking questions about how Congress is going to solve this problem and help folks address cost of living,” Roh said.

Opportunity Wisconsin describes itself as a coalition of advocates, small business owners, and seniors committed to building support for policies that support working families.

Other groups involved in organizing Tuesday’s town hall include:

• Main Street Alliance
• Climate Power
• Protect Our Care
• Working Families Power
• Family Friendly Wisconsin
• Committee to Protect Health Care