It’s been another busy week in the State Capitol! In this week’s newsletter, you can find information about the CNA Pay Act, legislation I’ve authored to raise wages for personal care workers, as well as an update about the legal fight over last December’s lame duck laws and a visit I made to the State Crime Lab. Additionally, read on for an introduction to one of my office interns, a reminder about voting on Tuesday, and a fun Wisconsin fact.
If you have any questions or need assistance with any matter, please feel free to contact my office.
Earlier this week, I introduced the CNA Pay Act along with several other Democratic legislators. The CNA Pay Act includes three pieces of legislation that would increase wages and expand access to training for nurses and caregivers. I authored these bills in part as a response to the introduction of Assembly Bill 76, which would reduce the number of training hours a CNA is required to complete, potentially diminishing quality of care.
Specifically, the CNA Pay Act would allow workers to claim a refundable tax credit to offset the cost of CNA training, provide grants to technical colleges in order to expand access to CNA training, and increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate for personal care services. Taken as a whole, these bills aim to address the shortage of nursing aides and personal caregivers working on the frontlines of long-term care and nursing facilities.
With 16,500 currently vacant personal care worker positions and demand for CNAs in Wisconsin projected to grow exponentially due to growth in the aging population, immediate action is needed to raise wages of these caregivers. CNAs are vital members of our community doing incredibly important work, and they deserve to be paid fairly at a wage that makes the expense of training worthwhile.
The CNA Pay Act is currently being circulated among my colleagues for co-sponsors. Follow my e-newsletters for updates about its status.
The Spring Statewide Election will be held on Tuesday, April 2. The candidates for Madison Mayor will be on the ballot, and depending on where you live, you may also have an election for School Board, City Council, or other local offices. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Click here to find your polling place.
In-person absentee voting for the election is still available until Sunday, March 31, at the Madison City Clerk’s Office and additional locations throughout the city. To learn more about in-person absentee voting, including locations and times, please click here.
Remember: You must present an acceptable photo ID card to vote in Wisconsin. Click here to find out if you have the correct identification and to get information on how to obtain a free Wisconsin State ID Card for voting purposes.
Note: If you vote outside of the City of Madison, you will need to contact your local city or village Clerk’s office for absentee voting locations and times.
A lot has happened this week concerning the Republican power grab passed during the December 2018 lame duck session. Last Thursday, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess delivered an injunction that declared the lame duck laws passed by the legislature were invalid because the legislature did not have the power to convene at that time. Soon after this was announced, Tony Evers worked fast to undo the unlawful gubernatorial appointments approved last December, rescinding and vacating all of those positions.
Adding to the confusion, this Wednesday, the 3rd Court of Appeals issued a stay of Judge Niess’s ruling while the merits of the case are decided. The legal dispute over the lame duck session continues.
This has created a chaotic situation that could have easily been avoided had Republican legislators not chosen to push a lame duck power grab through the Legislature aimed at overriding the will of the people. I hope we can move past this disappointing episode in our state’s history.
On Wednesday, my colleagues and I on the Assembly Committee on Children and Families held a public hearing to address Assembly Bill 41, the Safe Harbor bill. This bill would make it clear in state law that children who are sex trafficked are victims, not criminals, by granting child victims of sex trafficking immunity from prosecution for prostitution charges.
Sexual trafficking has been reported in all 72 counties of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Department of Justice Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force estimates that 70 to 90 percent of youth victims of sex trafficking have a history of sexual abuse. We can easily see that these children are victims of exploitation and should not be treated like criminals.
We heard testimony from a number of experts in support of the bill. They made it clear that treating children who have been coerced into sex trafficking as delinquents or criminals only accelerates the process of victimization. Assembly Bill 41 has my full support, and I hope to see it move through the legislative process quickly.
This Thursday, I had the opportunity to tour the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory in Madison along with Attorney General Josh Kaul and other legislators. The Wisconsin Crime laboratory has three locations throughout Wisconsin, including the Madison location. Within these facilities are 160 forensic scientists and technicians who test evidence submitted by law enforcement agencies. The crime laboratories include units that work on DNA analysis, forensic imaging, controlled substances, among other issues.
I appreciated the opportunity to tour the Madison facility and glimpse the work that takes place there to keep our communities safe. These crime labs play an essential role assisting law enforcement in investigating criminal matters. I was glad to see that Governor Evers’s budget funded 15 additional crime lab positions across the state, and I hope this provision sees broad support in the Legislature.
I’m pleased to introduce Samantha Crane, who has been working in my office as an intern for the spring semester. Samantha is from the northern suburbs of Chicago and is currently a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Samantha is studying to earn a degree in Journalism and Political Science. Samantha took this internship as a way to gain hands on experience working in a professional political environment. This spring she has helped me with constituent outreach, writing for my e-newsletter, and sitting in on meetings to learn about the issues that matter to Wisconsin communities. I’m glad to have her on board!
March is Women’s History Month, and I’d like to continue highlighting the contributions women have made to Wisconsin history. Laura Ross Wolcott was the first woman physician in Wisconsin and a prominent figure in the women’s suffrage movement. Wolcott, who was originally from Maine, graduated from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1856. From there, Wolcott moved to Milwaukee only to be denied from the Medical Society of Milwaukee simply because she was a woman. She then moved to Paris, where she worked in a hospital until eventually returning to Milwaukee and finally becoming the first woman to gain admission to the Medical Society. In addition to this accomplishment, Wolcott also helped to organize women’s suffrage meetings in both Milwaukee and Madison.
Things happening in the district & around Madison:
Sunday Jazz @ Sequoya -Marilyn Fisher and Paul Hastil Sunday, March 31 2 pm to 4 pm
Sequoya Library
This vocal jazz duo includes Marilyn Fisher on vocals and percussion, and Paul Hastil on piano, performing jazz vocal standards and songs from the Great American Songbook.
