House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Legislative Priorities, Critic Of Madison School District’s New College And Career Exploration Program For High Schoolers, Emotional Agility

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• House Speaker Paul Ryan On His Legislative Priorities For The GOP-Controlled Congress

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  A new, Republican-controlled Congress will be sworn in early in January. After the most recent election, both the legislative and executive branches of government will be led by the Republican Party. Last month, Wisconsin Republican Congressman Paul Ryan was unanimously voted in for another term as Speaker of the House. We get his legislative priorities as he prepares to work with this new Congress.

• Paul Ryan Looks Ahead To Upcoming Congressional Session

  House Speaker Paul Ryan had a hopeful tone when speaking Monday about achieving policy goals under the next administration. The congressman, who represents Wisconsin’s 1st District, has no shortage of high-priority initiatives he plans to pursue in the next congressional session.

  “We have a full plate of issues revolving around economic growth, national security and replacing Obamacare with something much better,” he said.

  In an interview with WPR’s Central Time, Ryan emphasized plans for healthcare reform, particularly replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. He said there would be a transition period in place so people have the opportunity to leave their current healthcare and change to whatever system that would replace Obamacare.

  “So that we can actually get people more choices, lower prices, so that everyone can get comprehensive, quality healthcare regardless of whether you have a pre-existing condition or not,” he said.

  Additionally, Ryan is calling for changes to laws that govern veteran’s facilities, like the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where Ryan said employees need to be held accountable for problems.

  “What’s so frustrating about this is Tomah has been under such a microscope and yet they still had these terrible problems,” Ryan said. “We see persistent management problems here.”

  Last week, Tomah officials revealed almost 600 veterans at the facility may be at risk for HIV and Hepatitis after a dentist failed to follow infection control procedures.

  Ryan said President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is looking for a new VA secretary that will, “clean out” the organization. Ryan is also looking to change laws to make it easier to discipline and fire VA workers.

  Simultaneously, Ryan said growing the economy is a top priority, noting that he believes current tax codes have stifled business and job growth.

  “(In) America, we tax our businesses at much, much higher tax rates than any of our foreign competitors are taxing their businesses,” he said. “And as a result, we’re losing American jobs, we’re losing American corporate headquarters, (and) we’re losing economic growth.”

  As Trump – who touted his own business expertise and how it would spur economic and job growth on the campaign trail – prepares to take office, his business background has also created some weariness about potential conflicts of interest.

  Ryan said he is confident Trump would take necessary steps to distance himself from his business enterprises.

  “We have an incoming president who is an extremely successful business man, that’s kind of new for us. Typically we elect a senator or a governor or someone like that,” Ryan said. “I have every bit of confidence that he’s going to properly divest himself and remove himself from his business affairs as he enters the oval office, and transfer his businesses onto I assume his children, or whatever he’s going to do.”

  Editor’s Note: WPR’s Laurel White contributed to this report.

• Questions About Madison Metropolitan School District's New Personalized Pathways Program

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  The Madison Metropolitan School District is planning to begin a new program called Personalized Pathways in four of Madison’s high schools next year. The program represents an effort to address the achievement gap and prepare students for life after high school with relevant course work and academic and career planning. We hear from a critic of the new plan who says there isn’t enough data about whether or not the approach works to justify the sweeping changes.

• How Emotional Agility Can Help Us Thrive In Work And Life

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  Our jobs, lives, relationships, even our happiness, can all come down to the way we manage our thoughts, emotions, and the stories we tell about ourselves. That’s according to a psychologist, who says our lives will be better if we boost our emotional agility.