| By Neil Johnson, reporter/anchor, Big Radio |

Wisconsin’s 44th Assembly District Rep. Sue Conley has decided she’s not running again this fall, but another Janesville resident has already thrown her hat in the ring.

On the heels of Conley announcing Friday she’ll bow out after serving since 2021, Janesville Democrat Ann Roe says she intends to hit the campaign trail for the 44th District immediately.

Local voters would remember Roe from her ultimately unsuccessful 2022 run against U.S. Congressman Bryan Steil.

One major theme Roe says she’ll base her state Assembly candidacy on is healthcare–particularly affordability of health insurance and prescription medications.

Conley in a statement last week issued her support for Roe. Roe in an interview with WCLO Radio called Conley a “friend,” and listed Conley alongside other former Democrat state lawmakers such as former State Sen. Tim Cullen whose past contributions she says leave “big shoes to fill.”

Conley says she’s stepping down to spend more time with her husband, but she tells WCLO Radio she hopes during the legislature’s break to continue to drum up support by both Democrats and Republicans on a bill she’s crafted which would shore up inequities in state shared revenue some Wisconsin cities.

The inequities are baked into a model that’s frozen state reimbursements based on a snapshot of local economies and demographics that’s now two decades out of date.

Conley is proposing a pot of money made up of surplus state sales tax revenue be divvied up based on the most current U.S. Census information for cities.

She says that would benefit cities like Janesville, who’ve been locked into an outdated state funding model for years.

Conley says she’s still hunting for bipartisan support for the bill in the state Senate, and she considers the reform to state shared revenue “unfinished business.”