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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

 

This week in the Capitol, the budget process took a new turn as Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee voted to remove several provisions from the Governor’s budget, including Medicaid expansion. Read on for more information on that and an update on the Committee on Health.

Next week, we will be on the Assembly floor to take up bills you can read about below in the Health Committee update below, as well as a few others.

It is also Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to recognize the incalculable contributions teachers make for our students, families, and communities.

Thank you for reading, and happy Mothers’ Day to those who are moms!


If you have any questions or need assistance with any matter, please feel free to contact my office.


Sincerely,


Lisa Subeck
State Representative
78th Assembly District


In This Week's Update:

State Budget Update


Health Committee Update


Firearm Divestment Bill


Teacher Appreciation Week


Fun Wisconsin Fact


What's Happening?


Contact Me:

109 North, State Capitol

P.O. Box 8953

Madison, WI 53708

Phone: (608) 266-7521

Toll-Free: (888) 534-0078

Fax: (608) 282-3690

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State Budget Update

Earlier this week, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee voted to strip 131 items from Governor Evers’s budget proposal, including his plan to accept federal funds to expand Wisconsin’s Medicaid program. The Finance Committee also voted to eliminate the Governor’s plan to raise the minimum wage and reform marijuana laws, among other changes.

Republicans’ choice to cut Medicaid expansion from the budget will cause the state to miss out on $325 million in savings, leaving us unable to make needed health care investments such as the Healthy Women, Healthy Babies initiative, expanded access to drug treatment, and improvements to mental health services.

Accepting the Medicaid expansion would lead to 82,000 Wisconsinites gaining affordable health care coverage, leverage federal dollars for $1.6 billion in new health care investments, and reduce insurance costs overall.

Turning down this remarkable opportunity for federal investment in our state’s Medicaid program is both fiscally and morally irresponsible. The great majority of Wisconsinites support the Governor’s plan and have made it clear they want bipartisan solutions to the problems our communities face.

This week’s vote was disappointing, but the budget process is still far from over. Governor Evers intends to continue fighting for Medicaid expansion, and my Democratic colleagues and I will stand with him.

 

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Health Committee Update

On Tuesday, the Assembly Committee on Health held a public hearing on a package of bills relating to reproductive health care: Assembly Bills (AB) 179, 180, 181, 182, and 183. The committee then held an executive session on Thursday and passed four of the five bills, all except AB 181. The bills will come up for a vote in the full Assembly next week.

I voted against these bills, which included provisions that would eliminate government funding for reproductive health clinics, prohibit abortions in certain circumstances, and require health care providers to provide patients with misleading information about so-called “abortion pill reversal.” Taken as a whole, these bills would make it more challenging for doctors to comfortably provide safe and legal, constitutionally guaranteed health care to women.

The Legislature has a real opportunity to come together to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies by expanding Medicaid and implementing Governor Evers’s groundbreaking Healthy Women, Healthy Babies initiative, which would ensure that all women have access to preventative health care services. Unfortunately, Republicans are instead advancing an inflammatory, politically motivated anti-women’s health agenda in an attempt to mislead and divide us.

Instead of interfering with health care decisions that should be made by women and our health care providers, Republican politicians should follow Governor Evers’s lead by investing in quality health care for women and families. Every woman in Wisconsin – regardless of race, income, or zip code – deserves access to quality health care when she needs it.

On a positive note, at the same Health Committee meeting, we passed a bill I co-authored that reforms “step therapy,” a practice by which insurance companies force patients to endure a number of unsuccessful treatments before getting the medications or treatment they need. Our bill will reduce these barriers to access for patients. The Committee also passed a bill allowing properly trained pharmacists and pharmacy students to administer immunizations, expanding access to immunization in underserved areas.  

 


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Firearm Divestment Bill

This week, some of my colleagues and I co-authored a bill that would prohibit the State Investment Board from making investments in firearms companies. Although the Investment Board does not currently invest directly in the firearm industry, it has done so in the past.  

Gun violence is an urgent public health crisis in Wisconsin and across the nation. Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, there have been over 2,000 mass shootings in the United States. Just this week, we witnessed a devastating school shooting in Colorado in which one student was killed and eight were injured.

This bill is not an attack on the many responsible, law-abiding gun owners in Wisconsin. It is a call for us to take action as a state and address this pressing issue. I continue to support other common-sense gun safety proposals such as universal background checks and lethal violence protective orders. Wisconsin can and should do far more to stop gun violence in our communities. 

 

 

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Teacher Appreciation Week

Most of us have had a teacher who made a significant impact on our life, and Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10) is a time to recognize these vital community members.

 Wisconsin teachers have a strong tradition of excellence in educating students and helping them prepare for their futures. Many teachers spend their own time and money preparing lessons, grading assignments, and ensuring their classrooms have the supplies they need.

The work our teachers do is crucial for the success of our communities. Since teachers provide the basis for an informed citizenry, their work is also essential for our democracy itself.

I hope you will join me in extending a heartfelt thank you to all the teachers in the 78th Assembly District.

 


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Fun Wisconsin Fact

Many Wisconsinites are unaware that our state has played an important role in space travel history. Several Wisconsinites have been sent to the International Space Station, for example, and our state has also provided much of the cork needed for rockets. In one case, however, Wisconsin’s role in space travel history was completely accidental.

On May 14th, 1960, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik IV into the atmosphere, kicking the Space Race into high gear. Despite the international uproar the launch caused, the return rockets failed to function and Sputnik IV drifted aimlessly off into space.

That is, until two years later when a 20 pound chunk of metal (all that survived the heat of reentry) came crashing down right into the middle of the road in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. On September 6th 1962, two police officers saw what they thought was a piece of cardboard in the road, realized it was a scalding hot rock and, assuming it was lost cargo from a foundry truck, kicked it to the curb. Eventually someone connected it with the recent news about Sputnik entering the atmosphere and sent the artifact to the Smithsonian. There it was authenticated and returned to the Soviets, but a replica of the artifact is still in Manitowoc in the Rahr-West Art Museum.

 

 

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Things happening in the district & around Madison:

Friends of the Arboretum Native Plant Sale
Saturday, May 11

9 am - 2 pm
UW-Madison Arboretum 

1207 Seminole Highway


Visit the big tent on the lawn in front of Curtis Prairie to shop for all your native plant gardening needs. Organized by Friends of the Arboretum, open to the general public.

Mystery in the Morning: "Destroyer Angel" by Nevada Barr
Monday, May 13

10 am - 11:30 am
Alicia Ashman Library


Join us for a civilized discussion of murder and mayhem at our Mystery Book Group Discussion

NewBridge Movie Program: "A Dog's Way Home"
Wednesday, May 15

1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Alicia Ashman Library


A female dog travels four hundred miles in search of her owner throughout a Colorado wilderness.
[PG, 1hr 36min, Adventure|Drama|Family, 2019]

The Spice Box: Cooking with Spices
Thursday, May 16

6:30 pm - 8 pm
Sequoya Library


Join Huma Siddiqui, author, chef, cooking instructor, and founder of White Jasmine, as she presents the The Spice Box, a demonstration of how to use spices in everyday cooking.

Saturday Movie Matinee: "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Saturday, May 18

2 pm - 4 pm
Alicia Ashman Library


[PG, 2hr 41min, Animation|Action|Adventure, 2016]
A young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armour worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.

World's Largest Brat Fest
Friday, May 24-Sunday, May 26th 


Willow Island at Alliant Energy Center


Everyone will enjoy this event! Brat Fest is a great place for the whole family with lots of food, fun, & music. A record-breaking amount of brats sold is on the agenda, so come on out and help shatter the old record. 

Sunday Jazz @ Sequoya - Mideast Salsa
Sunday, May 12

2 pm - 4 pm
Sequoya Library


Mideast Salsa performs an admixture of Latin and Middle Eastern rhythms and scales. Enjoy music in Arabic, Hebrew, French, Spanish and English. 

Art Walk Middleton
Saturday, May 18

10 am - 4 pm
Downtown Middleton


Hosted by the City of Middleton Arts Committee, this free, one-day event features the works of fine artists in a variety of media. Painting, photography, ceramics, and more for show and sale. There will be art demonstrations and music in the vibrant downtown Middleton, which features locally-owned restaurants and boutique retailers.

   

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