Nitrates Legislation

My legislation that takes a multi-pronged approach to protecting Wisconsin’s water from excessive nitrates and other contaminants has been sent to the governor's desk for his signature.

Although nothing is ever guaranteed, I am extremely confident that my bipartisan bill, which the Legislature passed unanimously last month, will be signed into law.

This legislation follows my approach of bringing both the agriculture and conservation communities together to collaborate on meaningful changes that improve the quality of our water and our environment.

The main components of AB 727 do the following:

• Create a Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program where farmers can receive grants for implementing new methods that optimize the application of commercial nitrogen
• Establish a three-year hydrogeologist position within the UW System to develop localized groundwater resource data
• Provide cover crop insurance premium rebates to help offset the costs of planting cover crops

Because farmers are some of the most responsible conservationists and stewards of our land, it makes perfect sense to take advantage of their vast knowledge by giving them a seat at the table.

If we can provide farmers with the resources they need to come up with innovative solutions to our water issues, our entire state will be better off.

The overwhelming majority of environmental groups also support the bill.

Tax Cut Reality

The $2 billion tax cut in our 2021-23 state budget has been getting a lot of attention lately, so I wanted to take some time to clear a few things up.

In what is common procedure, the governor introduced his version of the state spending plan early in the legislative session. Typically, the Legislature will use that budget as a baseline and then make any needed additions or deletions.

However, the Legislature decided this time to scrap the governor’s entire budget and go back to square one because that spending plan was unsustainable, included numerous non-fiscal policy items and would have resulted in a tax increase of more than $1 billion.

Instead of a tax hike, the budget drafted and passed by the Legislature cut taxes by more than $2 billion, which is estimated to save the average family roughly $1,200.

The governor declined to meet with legislative leadership throughout the entire budget process. In the end, he chose to sign the Legislature's budget, in spite of being very critical of it. Only seven of the 50 Democrats in the Legislature voted in favor of the spending plan.

I believe it is a very fiscally responsible budget and I am glad that the governor decided to sign it. I just feel that my constituents need to know the rest of the story when they hear the claim that Gov. Evers “brought Republicans and Democrats together to cut income taxes for the middle class.”

Making a Difference

I recently had the pleasure of taking a tour of Door County Candle Co. in Sturgeon Bay.

The local business, which is owned by Christiana Gorchynsky Trapani, has made national news lately for selling Ukrainian-themed candles with 100 percent of the proceeds going to those affected by the conflict in the war-torn country.

In a normal year, the Sturgeon Bay shop sells about 20,000 candles. They have already sold more than 70,000 of the blue and yellow Ukraine candles and have donated $275,000 to Ukrainian relief efforts.

After appearing on the national news, Door County Candle Co. received so much online traffic that it crashed their website. However, they were able to fix those issues rather quickly and are now going strong once again.

If you are interested in viewing some of the national media coverage of Door County Candle Co., please click here and here.

In Kewaunee County, Wakker Cheese is also donating all of its profits to help the citizens of Ukraine. More specifically, those funds are going toward purchasing medical supplies and sleeping bags.

Wakker Cheese was also featured on World News Tonight. You can watch that segment by clicking on this link.

Christiana is a second-generation Ukrainian-American and the co-owners of Wakker Cheese are Ukrainian immigrants. 

We are very fortunate to have people like these in our community who go above and beyond to ensure the world is a greater place for everyone. It is one of the reasons why I am so proud to represent the 1st Assembly District.