Milwaukee County either provides or arranges for health care and social services for the poorest and most vulnerable members of our community. The County is still the key player in the provision of health care for the indigent, even though we are no longer required to do so by State and Federal law. In fact, the story of how we have transformed our General Assistance Medical Program into a community-based, primary care program is one of the least known but significant County developments of the past few years. During the 1990s, we closed our public hospital, sold our power plant and transferred ownership of Milwaukee County Stadium. As we continue an exciting strategic planning process that was initiated last year, we undoubtedly will transform ourselves even more.
County government remains the best option.
The case for County governance in the area of human services is equally strong, given the inefficiency that would be involved with duplicating many human services functions within each municipality. There is also a strong imperative to spread the costs of providing human services to our neediest citizens beyond the core urban areas where, unfortunately, so many of those costs are most prevalent. As for the argument that the State should administer human services, I would respond that because County government is closer to the people and because we have gained considerable expertise in this area over the years, we must continue to play a major role in human services provision. For 165 years, Milwaukee County Government has been fulfilling certain governmental tasks that either are too big, too global or too specialized for municipal governments, but too local in nature for State government to handle. I hope I have provided you with a taste for the broad range of critical functions our County government here in Milwaukee fulfills and the impossible task we would face if we tried to shift those functions elsewhere.