# Tommy Thompson Republican politician from Wisconsin. Four-term Governor of Wisconsin (1987–2001), the longest tenure in state history. Secretary of Health and Human Services in the [[George W. Bush]] administration (2001–2005). Architect of the 1996 Wisconsin "W-2" welfare-reform program that became the template for [[Bill Clinton]]'s federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Long-running [[ALEC]] member and frequent annual-meeting speaker. Several of Thompson's signature legislative achievements as governor — including Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing law that ballooned the state's corrections spending — closely tracked ALEC model legislation. This file is a **stub** — created to support the [[Tommy Thompson - disguise them and declare it's mine]] quote receipt and the Wisconsin policy entries. Expand when relevant to current research threads. ## Notable Quotes - [[Tommy Thompson - disguise them and declare it's mine]] — 2002 ALEC luncheon speech. The most candid public admission ever made by a sitting governor about the ALEC model-bill mechanism. ## See Also - [[ALEC]] - [[ALEC Ecosystem]]