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Bright and early yesterday, Governor
Scott Walker welcomed members of the Sheboygan County Nonattainment Task
Force to his Capitol office as he signed Senate Bill (SB) 466 into law!
The latest science has proved that even
if Sheboygan County could eliminate all its manmade air
pollution, the air monitoring station adjacent to Kohler-Andrae State
Park would still indicate that our county isn't meeting federal
ozone standards. That's because the monitor is purposely
positioned in such a way as to measure the unusually high ozone
concentrations that occur in a very specific place due to other states'
pollution.
That's interesting data. Under SB
466, we'll still collect this data; hopefully it can inform
environmental policies in other states. But we have better data
from another site -- data that is far more representative of what's
actually happening in our community. This data shows that, yes,
the huge investments that our local businesses have made over the years
to reduce and control air pollution are working. Emissions from
our businesses that cause ozone to form in the air are way, way down in
the past 10 years; by any reasonable standard, we are perfectly
compliant with even the strictest federal standards. And, now that
SB 466 has been enacted in state law, we will actually use a reasonable
standard! I deeply appreciate Governor Walker's support of our
community's effort.
As always, I encourage you to follow
my updates on
social media or contact
my office directly with your questions. Best wishes on your weekend...
and happy Easter!
"Expand
Highway 23" Coalition
A new resource is now available for keeping
up with the latest news about Wisconsin's efforts to expand State Highway
23! Expand Highway 23 is a grassroots coalition of citizens,
business leaders, local organizations and government officials who believe
that a full four-lane expansion is critical for our communities' safety and
future economic growth. On the coalition's new Facebook page,
https://www.facebook.com/expandhwy23/, you'll find all the latest news,
project history and historical photos, testimonials from community residents
and more.
Recently, I've been very encouraged by state
officials' efforts at all levels to keep making progress despite the federal
courts' interference. The state legislature, Governor Scott Walker and
Department of Transportation (DOT) officials have worked together to fully
fund (with more than $19 million) as much construction progress as we may
legally make during the 2017-19 fiscal years. And DOT is expediting
its work in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration to regain
the federal permits, which are required for the project to continue, that we
once held but which were blocked by the federal courts.
We've heard you. We're keeping up the
pressure. And we're going to see this project through to completion!
Your
Government Working for You
Scam alert!
The bad guys have no shame, it seems:
this time, Wisconsin farmers are the targets of criminal fraudsters.
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) warns
that folks are receiving phone calls offering (nonexistent) federal grant
money from the "Federal Crop Registry." Unfortunately, there is no
such thing as a federal crop registry. Although there actually are
some legitimate federal grant programs related to agriculture, you
have to apply for them in writing. Remember: no legitimate
government agency will ever telephone or e-mail you to award you free money;
never volunteer your sensitive financial information on an
unsolicited telephone call or e-mail!
Opportunity
alert! Wisconsin businesses are
strongly encouraged to join the Foxconn construction project!
WisconnValley.wi.gov
is up and running and is your one-stop shop for project updates and business
opportunities. Electronics giant Foxconn (best known as the assembler
of Apple's iPhone) has promised that $5 billion worth of its total $10
billion construction investment will be awarded to Wisconsin companies, and
once the facility is fully operational, Foxconn estimates that it will
purchase $1.4 billion of goods and services from Wisconsin suppliers
every year.
And by the way: a
new analysis projects that every $1 of incentive money that Wisconsin is
giving to Foxconn is going to return
$18
to our state's economy. Yes, you read
that right: if Wisconsin pays Foxconn the maximum incentive of $2.8 billion
over 15 years, Wisconsin's GDP will increase by nearly
$52 billion!
Twister
alert! April 9-13 is Wisconsin's Severe
Weather Awareness Week. Expect statewide tornado watch and tornado
warning drills (on the radio, with your local storm sirens, etc.) on
Thursday, April 12th. Wisconsin averages 23 tornado events annually...
and, sure enough, we experienced 23 tornadoes last year. Take a few
minutes to communicate with family and friends and make sure that you're
prepared for an emergency!
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