March 23, 2018

Working for you!

 

Expanding and Strengthening Background Checks

I’m a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. It’s a mistake whenever the government infringes on the rights of law abiding citizens. I also believe that our rights carry with them certain responsibilities. When an individual has lost their right to legally possess a firearm due to illegal actions or mental illness, it’s our duty to enforce the law.

By requiring a Wisconsin background check for both long gun and handgun purchases, which is more accurate than a federal background check, we are doing our duty to ensure that guns stay out of the hands of criminals.

The average Wisconsin background check in 2017 was just four hours and nine minutes, but in that time it checks more than twice as many data sources (12 versus 5) as the current National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The bill we adopted yesterday puts the power in our state’s hands to enforce the law, and it will remain on the books until the federal background check is as comprehensive as ours, at which point our law will sunset.

School Safety

On Thursday we also passed the governor's school safety package, which does the following:

  • Establishes Office of School Safety within the Department of Justice (AB 1029)

  • Creates $100 million School Safety Grant Program (AB 1028)

  • Requires mandatory reporting for any threats of school violence (AB 1030)

  • Strengthens school safety plan requirements (AB 1032)

  • Encourages cooperation between local law enforcement and schools (AB 1033)

  • Amends the bullying statute to provide prompt parent notification (AB 1031)

Finding a Better Detour

The Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed WIS 116 & Wolf River Bridge, Winneconne project detour will cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars and is simply unacceptable. The proposed detour, utilizing only county roads and state highways, will require trucks coming from the Winneconne industrial park to make a 30 mile east U-turn in order to avoid Highway 116 closures.

I’ve been hard at work coordinating with the Village of Winneconne Administrator Mitch Foster, the Town of Omro, DOT, and the governor’s office to fix this issue before our local economy suffers irreparable harm. For example:

  • Farrell Wagon, which is a supplier to Oshkosh Truck, will be forced from a standard 12 mile trip into an 80 mile round trip.

  • Midwest Specialty Products, a paper converting company, estimates the increase in trucking cost to be at least $250,000 during the project.

  • Covanta Environmental Solutions, Multi-Conveyor, Proto-1 Manufacturing, and Switchgear Power Systems will also be forced to take unnecessarily long detours.

Local governments have shown a strong ability to cooperate in finding reasonable alternatives. The Village of Winneconne and the Town of Omro have proposed the use of local roads for truck detour use, which would reduce the detour from 29.6 miles to only 7.23 miles. This local solution would utilize a single straight mile of Broderick Road, and provide our local businesses with access necessary to keep their operations open and thriving. I’m pushing for the governor and DOT to implement this common sense solution, and I'm confident that they will soon announce an agreement to accept the local solution and pick up the cost of any damage done to local roads during the project.

Coverage of the proposed detour can be viewed online here: http://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/construction-locks-local-businesses-into-a-shipment-nightmare/1059454228

Child Tax Credit

I believe that government surpluses should go back to the people and I was proud to vote for the child tax credit last night that will put money back into the hands of parents who helped create our tax surplus.

You can watch the video of my Assembly floor speech on this issue by clicking on the image below:

Capitol Visitors

Winneconne Elementary students on the left and Houdini Elementary students on the right both visited on Wednesday.

Kristina Foshag of Ascension Health in Greenville and Caila Weyenberg of Ascension Mercy Hospital in Grand Chute visited for the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Advocacy Day

Folks from the Wausau area Centergy visited on Wednesday

LynnDale Ihm, Eric Kostrzak, Zachary Lillo, Rachel Williams, Jim Werner, and Ashley Gustafson (not pictured) visited for Disability Advocacy Day.

Podiatry Access Bill on the Governor's Desk

On Tuesday, the Senate adopted a bill I authored to make podiatry care more accessible and affordable for patients around the state. The bill heads next to the governor’s desk for his signature before it becomes law.

Under current law, physician assistants and advanced nurse practitioners are not allowed to perform care associated with podiatry, even if they are specifically trained to do so and supervised by a podiatrist. AB 582 clears away this unnecessary roadblock to affordable, accessible, and quality care for podiatry patients. AB 582 was requested by podiatrists from across our state, represented by the Wisconsin Podiatric Medical Association. To keep up with the need for specialized health care, physician assistants and nurse practitioners have begun playing an increasingly valuable role in patient care. Both professions require years of specialized education and national certifications that allow them to work alongside physicians.

Tornado Awareness Week

April 9-13 is Wisconsin’s Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week. Wisconsin Emergency Management, the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA) have once again teamed up to sponsor the statewide tornado drills scheduled for Thursday, April 12.

Schools, businesses, families, and individuals have two opportunities to test their emergency plans during the April 12 statewide tornado drills. The drills are part of the annual spring severe weather campaign to encourage everyone in Wisconsin to be ready for possible tornadoes and severe weather.

According to the NWS, Wisconsin averages 23 tornadoes annually. Last year, there were 23 tornado touchdowns in the state. While most were either EF0 or EF1, the state did record an EF3 on May 16, 2017. The tornado followed an 83-mile path across Polk, Barron, Rusk, and Price counties, killing one person and causing widespread damage. The state also experienced an outbreak of 10 tornadoes on June 14, 2017, across Shawano, Winnebago, Outagamie, Brown, and Waushara counties.

A mock tornado watch will be issued April 12 at 1 p.m., followed by a statewide mock tornado warning at 1:45 p.m. Many radio and TV stations across the state will issue the test tornado warnings. In addition, mock alerts will be issued on NOAA Weather Radios and many communities will sound their tornado sirens to test their emergency severe weather plans. Later, a mock tornado warning will be issued at 6:45 p.m. to give families and second-shift workers a chance to practice their emergency plans.

The tornado drill will take place even if the sky is cloudy, dark or rainy. If actual severe storms are expected in the state on Thursday, April 12, the tornado drills will be postponed until Friday, April 13 with the same times. If severe storms are possible Friday, the drills will be cancelled.

Any changes will be issued to local media as well as posted on the ReadyWisconsin website at http://readywisconsin.wi.gov.  Updates will also be posted on Facebook www.facebook.com/ReadyWisconsin, Twitter www.twitter.com/ReadyWisconsin, and Instagram www.instagram.com/ReadyWisconsin.

Firewood Quarantine

The entire state of Wisconsin will be placed under quarantine for emerald ash borer, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection announced today. The quarantine will be effective Friday, March 30.

Until now, quarantines have been imposed county by county, but now that EAB is in 48 of the state’s 72 counties, officials have decided a statewide quarantine is warranted. However, they still discourage moving firewood within the state.

Quarantines require businesses handling ash wood, untreated ash products and hardwood firewood to sign agreements specifying how they will reduce the risk of moving EAB into non-quarantined areas, and prohibit moving firewood from quarantined areas to non-quarantined areas.

With the entire state under quarantine, wood can move freely between counties within Wisconsin. Businesses that move regulated items out of state will need to work with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to confirm interstate requirements. These are items such as ash wood with bark still on it, larger ash chips, and any kind of hardwood firewood.

Firewood restrictions will remain on state and federal lands. Kuhn recommended that campers and other tourists buy wood near the campgrounds or cabins where they intend to burn it, or that they buy firewood that bears the DATCP-certified mark, meaning it has been seasoned or heat-treated to kill pests.

Other recommendations for property owners:

  • Watch ash trees for signs of possible EAB infestation:  Thinning in the canopy, D-shaped holes in the bark, new branches sprouting low on the trunk, cracked bark, and woodpeckers pulling at the bark to get to insect larvae beneath it.

  • If your property is within 15 miles of a known infestation, consider preventive treatments. Whether to treat depends on several factors: the age of the trees, the size of the trees, and the number of trees. Treatment costs vary depending on size of the tree and whether you do the treatments yourself or hire a professional.

  • Consider planting species of trees that are not susceptible to EAB.

  • Contact a professional arborist for expert advice, and visit emeraldashborer.wi.gov for detailed information.

Emerald ash borer is native to China and probably entered the United States on packing material, showing up first in Michigan in 2002. It was first found in eastern Wisconsin in 2008.

County-by-county quarantines for gypsy moth still exist. For additional information on firewood movement, visit https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/MovingFirewood.aspx.

Required Training for Produce Growers

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) will host several required food safety trainings for Wisconsin produce growers as part of federal produce safety rules. To determine if your produce farm needs to participate, use DATCP’s online tool or “Is my farm covered by the new Federal produce safety rules?” fact sheet. The produce safety rules are part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act.

Based on the amount of produce sales determines when the training must be completed. Growers with produce sales annually of:

  • More than $500,000 must complete training prior to this year’s growing season.

  • $250,000-$500,000 must complete training before the 2019 growing season.

  • Less than $250,000 must complete training before the 2020 growing season.

At least one supervisor or other responsible person from the farm must complete the training. Farms eligible for a qualified exemption or an exemption are not required to take the training. More information about exemptions can be found on the DATCP website.

Trainings are being offered on the following dates:

  • Tuesday, April 3: Neville Public Museum, 210 Museum Place, Green Bay

  • Thursday, April 12: West Madison Agricultural Station, 8502 Mineral Point Road, Verona

  • Tuesday, April 17: Clarion Hotel Northwoods Ballroom, 2703 Craig Road, Eau Claire

For growers who do not need to complete training until 2019 and 2020, additional trainings will be provided in the future.

Classes will run 8 a.m.-5 p.m., with check-in from 7:30-8 a.m. Cost is $60 per person and includes lunch. To register, email safeproduce@wi.gov or call (608) 224-4511. Instructors from DATCP, University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison, UW-Extension, and industry and farmer organizations will cover use of manure as soil amendments; contact with domesticated and wild animals; worker training; health and hygiene; equipment, tools, and buildings; water; and food safety plans.

Wisconsin ranks 11th in the nation in number of produce farms, and second in number of organic produce farms. There are an estimated 1,100 Wisconsin farms that will need to meet the federal produce safety rules.

Upcoming Events

Check out upcoming events near us by visiting the Wisconsin Tourism website or  https://appletondowntown.org/upcoming-events/ and if you run into me while you’re out and about be sure to stop and say hi!

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Welcome!

I live in Greenville, but have an office at the State Capitol in Madison. If you are in downtown Madison, please feel free to stop by and say hello! Just go to the information desk in the rotunda, and they can direct you on how to find my office, 318 North. At the bottom of each e-update, you'll see my office contact information.

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Rep.Murphy@legis.wisconsin.gov State Capitol Room 318 North - PO Box 8953, Madison, WI 53708 Toll Free: (888) 534-0056 or (608) 266-7500