The Offner papers are an unusually useful research resource for studying the Wisconsin Legislature and the issues over which it deliberated during the period 1975-1983. The collection not only includes valuable information on issues with which Offner was prominently identified such as the economics of health care and nursing homes, juvenile justice, public employee retirement, and welfare reform, but there is also revealing information on the internal functioning of his legislative office. There is little truly personal material in the collection, but the papers, which are annotated in Offner's own hand with notes to his staff, offer a clearer view of a legislator and his ideas and activities than is afforded by most legislative collections of the era. The collection was well organized upon receipt in the Archives, and it is relatively complete, although the majority of the correspondence from his term in the Assembly was apparently discarded prior to transfer and there are no campaign files. The collection also lacks the biographical scrapbooks compiled by most legislators.
The collection is organized as biographical and press material, subject files, and alphabetical correspondence.
The BIOGRAPHICAL AND PRESS MATERIAL includes the resume Offner prepared upon resigning from the Legislature; a few miscellaneous clippings weeded from other files in the collection; newsletters and questionnaires, together with statistical results of his public opinion surveys; a complete file of press releases; weekly newspaper columns; and a file of form letters. Although no campaign files were donated by Offner, the Archives has added from its Political Vertical File several examples of his campaign literature from the 1980 and 1982 elections. Also here is a file containing several speeches.
The majority of Offner's speeches and prepared remarks, however, are filed by topic within the subject files or are included with the press release with which they were made available to the public. Within the form letter files, which are arranged by year and then by type, there are representative letters received from constituents, as well as samples of some of the form responses used by Offner. Several of the later files contain form distributions to other legislators. Also filed here are topical lists of letters received which were apparently used in determining the necessity of preparing form letters. Although not a name index, they may be used as a guide to using the alphabetical correspondence series.
The SUBJECT FILES are arranged alphabetically by topic, and with the exception of a few files date to 1975. These files variously include correspondence, memoranda, reports, and notes made by Offner and members of his staff. Especially well documented are files on topics with which Offner was prominently identified: welfare reform (filed under AFDC), civil service reform, educational competency testing, juvenile detention, medicaid, and nursing homes. Committee work which is represented include the Employee Reform Study Commission, the Ad Hoc Committee on Nursing Home Utilization, the Post-Moratorium Planning Systems Advisory Committee, and the Tax Reform Commission.
Offner's CORRESPONDENCE is arranged alphabetically by session. Although the majority of the correspondence, unlike that included in the Subject Files, is with constituents rather than legislative leaders, there are incidental letters from many prominent individuals. Among them are Ralph Andreano, Les Aspin, Gary Barczak, Jonathan Barry, David Berger, Hal Bergen, William Bablitch, Michael Bleicher, David Carley, Walter Chilsen, David Clarenbach, Russell Cleary, Dennis Conta, Alan Cranston, Henry Dorman, Lee Dreyfus, Anthony Earl, James Flynn, Howard Fuller, Edward Garvey, Gary George, Chester Gerlach, Gary Goyke, Steve Gunderson, Ann Haney, Paul Hassett, Edward Jackamonis, Gerald Kleczka, William Kraus, Douglas La Follette, Kenneth Lindner, Michael Lotto, Thomas Loftus, Patrick J. Lucey, Edward McClain, Scott McCallum, Dale McKenna, Jan Mielke, Marjorie Miller, James Moody, Kathryn Morrison, Mark Musolf, Gaylord Nelson, John Norquist, Robert O'Neil, Donald Percy, William Proxmire, Fred Risser, Virgil Roberts, William Rogers, Joseph Strohl, Blair Testin, and Carl Thompson. In addition, the personal correspondence includes xerox copies of some handwritten personal letters.
Also notable here is documentation on the ties between Offner and advocacy groups in La Crosse, especially health care workers such as the Western Wisconsin Health Planning Organization for which Offner had worked and the physicians of the Gundersen Clinic.
A few photographs received with the papers have been filed in the Name File in the Visual and Sound Archives.
