Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It is such a wonderful time to get together with family and be thankful for the many blessings we have. We all get caught up in the annoyances and inconveniences of our daily lives, but Christmas is a time to take a step back and reflect on what is truly important. My three children currently live out of state, so I am very anxious to have the family back together for the holidays. I always return from the Christmas season with renewed energy and compassion. I hope that we can keep that spirit alive as we work together to make Wisconsin an even greater place to live and to raise our families.

Legislation

Last week was extremely busy, three bills I authored were given public hearings. We have only a limited time on the floor in 2016, so it is important that we get our bills moving now in order for them to be passed this session. In my last e-update, I talked about two of the bills that I had introduced: one dealing with campground liability and the other with the amount of compensation emergency personnel may receive without being disqualified from serving in their local government.

The third bill I introduced deals with a problem that was brought to my attention by Roen Salvage in Sturgeon Bay. Under current law, any contractor bidding on a state-funded project in Michigan must guarantee that 50 percent of the workers on the project will be Michigan residents. This effectively prevents Roen Salvage and many other Wisconsin companies from bidding on those projects. At the same time, Michigan companies can bid on projects in Wisconsin without any restrictions. I don’t think that is fair. My bill would force out-of-state companies to abide by the same restrictions that their home state imposes. In other words, any Michigan company bidding on a state-funded project in Wisconsin would be required to hire Wisconsin workers for half of their crew. My hope is that Michigan will drop their restriction and we can compete on a level playing field, because I have complete confidence in our Wisconsin contractors. Senator Lasee was the Senate co-author of this bill.

I am working on three more bills and intend to introduce them this session. One will likely be the first in a series of bills dealing with groundwater contamination, particularly in Kewaunee County. Our first step in dealing with the problem is to assure that residents have access to clean water as soon as possible. The second bill deals with exposing high school students to the exciting and high-paying jobs available in our manufacturing sector. The third bill would help to alleviate the shortage of substitute teachers by limiting the restrictions placed on retired teachers by Wisconsin Retirement System rules. I will provide more detail on these bills as they are introduced.

Blue Books Available

If you would like a complimentary copy of the 2015-2016 Wisconsin State Blue Book, please follow the proved link:

          http://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/01/kitchens/constituent-services/ 

The 2015-2016 Blue Book is also available online:

          http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/publications/wisconsin-blue-book/

In Closing...

Thank you for taking the time to read over my E-Update. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact my office.

Representative Joel Kitchens