That fact that Wisconsin taxpayers have missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government as a part of the Affordable Care Act implementation is not news. In one of the few states that said, “No, thanks, we don’t want our own tax dollars back, please send them to Illinois or Texas,” that rejection of dollars for our state budget led to developments that have been painful to watch — college students cannot graduate on time because classes have been cut, potholes get bigger, and another school referendum hits property taxpayers' pocketbooks. Well, the good news is that this bad decision by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican majority in the Legislature can be reversed at any time. The Legislature could come into session tomorrow and get this done.

Now that no one from Wisconsin is running for president and we have seen the unnecessary struggle that the choice to refuse $320 million just this biennium has caused for our state economy, we can come back to the table and accept federal dollars to give more people access to affordable health care.