Town of Gibraltar TID

I am pleased to let all of you know that I introduced a bill this week that will allow the Town of Gibraltar to create a tax incremental district (TID) to help fund a very important project in our area.

The town is seeking the TID to pay for the installation of sanitary sewer lines and an interceptor that will service 102 proposed workforce housing units. That interceptor will also open up additional land for future development, which could include more workforce housing.

However, Gibraltar needs an exemption from the Legislature because state law only authorizes towns to establish TIDs if the equalized value of all their taxable property is at least $500 million and their population is at least 3,500. 

While the Town of Gibraltar falls short of the population requirement, its taxable property of nearly $1 billion far exceeds the equalized value threshold.

Without the TID, town officials and engineers say they will not have enough funding to complete the project. With the significant labor shortage we are experiencing in our area, I want to do all I can to give our communities the tools they need to attract more workers.

Assembly Floor Session

The Wisconsin State Assembly held a floor session this week where we considered and passed nearly 50 pieces of legislation.

The bills I would like to highlight deal with addressing substance abuse in our state.

A recent study conducted by U.S. Drug Test Centers found that, of the 50 states in the country, Wisconsin is ranked 11th in terms of being impacted by drugs.  

According to the state Department of Health Services, almost 8,500 residents died from a drug overdose from 2014 to 2020. Close to 60 percent of the deaths in 2020 were the result of multiple drugs.

The three related bills we passed will do the following:

• AB 732: direct DHS to spend $300,000 to establish a substance use disorder treatment platform. This will most likely be a web-based app that connects those seeking help with the most appropriate treatment available. At least six other states are currently operating this type of platform. 
  
  
• AB 844: authorize DHS to allocate up to $900,000 for methamphetamine treatment grants. Opioids have been the focal point of the Legislature in recent years, but methamphetamine continues to be a significant issue in Wisconsin.
  
  
• AB 845: require DHS to spend up to $1.5 million to expand medication-assisted treatment in the state. MAT is used to treat substance use disorders as well as sustain recovery and prevent overdoses. There are 22 MAT providers in Wisconsin that receive grants from DHS.

I readily acknowledge that these three bills will not solve all of our problems. However, I believe they will help us maintain our momentum toward protecting our families and tackling substance abuse in our state. 

Free COVID Tests

A federal program is providing four free COVID-19 tests to every residential address in the country.

Shipments are expected to begin by the end of this month. The program is also covering all mailing costs.

To request your free at-home tests, please click on this link.

For more information, please click here.

I encourage everyone to take advantage of this great opportunity.