This past Wednesday, January 22, Governor Walker gave the annual State of the State address, and laid out a Blueprint for Prosperity to keep putting Wisconsin’s economy back on track. I am encouraged by what I heard in the Governor’s speech: returning tax dollars to the taxpayers, increasing technical education funding, and investing in programs to help disabled workers find employment. When I ran for office, my primary goals were to lower taxes, develop jobs, and balance the budget. A recent report from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects that our general fund balance at the end of the biennium will be $912 million more than originally projected – our reforms are working!

The Assembly was in session on Tuesday, January 21 to discuss a number of bills. Among some of the key bills passed:

Assembly Bill 368 would allow Wisconsin residents to make rifle and shotgun purchases beyond Wisconsin’s bordering states. The federal Gun Control Act of 1968 banned interstate sales of firearms except for long guns sold by federally licensed dealers to residents of contiguous states. Wisconsin adopted this standard in 1971, but the 1986 federal Firearms Owners Protection Act removed the restriction limiting sales to bordering states. AB 368 would align Wisconsin with forty other states that already allow their residents to purchase rifles and shotguns in non-bordering states, provided that the purchase or transfer complies with state and federal law. Both sides of the aisle supported this bill, which passed unanimously out of the Assembly sporting heritage committee and receiving a vote on the floor of 94-3. AB 368 will now go to the Senate for further consideration.

Senate Bill 370 supports and strengthens disabled veteran-owned businesses. The Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Program (DVB) was established in 2009 Wisconsin Act 299. It is similar to the state’s minority-owned business program, which creates a statewide goal of 5% of contracts to be awarded to minority-owned businesses. However, the DVB currently has no such percentage goals. SB 370 makes a goal that one percent of state contracts be awarded to DVB’s. The Assembly concurred in SB 370 on a voice vote, and will now go to the Governor for his approval.

Senate Bill 223 would prohibit employers, landlords and colleges from pressuring job seekers, tenants or aspiring college athletes to turn over the passwords to their private social media or email accounts. However, SB 223 would still allow employers and schools to look at an applicant or student’s public postings on the Internet. Many job applicants have reported being asked to reveal private information on their personal accounts. While free to refuse, they feared this would hurt their chances of securing the position. SB 223 strikes a proper balance in this time of rapidly evolving technology and social media markets. The Assembly passed an amended version SB 223 on a voice vote, and the Senate concurred in the amendment when it convened on Wednesday, January 22.

Speaking of the Senate, I am happy to say that it also voted on Wednesday to concur in Assembly Bill 17, a bill I introduced last year that will allow adults who had been adopted as children to obtain birth certificates that include the names of their birth parents if they wish. Most adoptees are issued a new birth certificate at the time of the adoption, and the adopting parents’ names typically replace the birth parents’. AB 17 enjoyed bipartisan support throughout the legislative process, and I look forward to Governor Walker signing it into law in the near future.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection’s (DATCP) 30x20 dairy program seeks to “improve the long-term viability of Wisconsin’s dairy industry through services to achieve an annual milk production of 30 billion pounds by 2020 to meet the growing demand of the marketplace.” The grant program has been open to farmers for the past two years, but will now also be open to dairy processors. Grant funds can be used for a variety of business practices aimed at fostering innovation, improving profitability, and facilitating operational changes. Applicants must be able to provide at least twenty percent of the total grant award as a matching contribution. For more details and how to sign up, visit DATCP’s 30x20 website.

The biennial budget, 2013 Act 20, authorized the Public Service Commission (PSC) to award up to $500,000 in grants to expand broadband facilities, an issue of particular importance to rural districts like ours. Anyone interested in securing a grant from the PSC may find application instructions on their website. Additional questions may be addressed to Dennis Klaila at dennis.klaila@wisconsin.gov or (608)267-9780.