Elected to Another Term

I would like to thank everyone in the 1^st Assembly District who voted for me in last week's election. Your support has allowed me to remain your state representative for another two-year term.

Serving this wonderful area has been one of the greatest honors of my life and it’s humbling that so many of you continue to put your trust in me to fight for our shared priorities in Madison.

Be that as it may, please know that, even if you didn’t vote for me, I am still committed to representing all of our interests. Whether it be addressing public education, healthcare and environmental protections or passing responsible budgets, we all have a role in making our region a remarkable place to live and work. As always, I encourage you to contact my office if you have any questions or concerns.

First and foremost, my top priority will continue to be to ensure that our state has the resources we need to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, both from a health and an economic standpoint. The virus has presented many challenges across our state, but I am optimistic that we can work together to get a better handle on the disease.

In the next legislation session – which begins in early January – I will also be pursuing a number of bipartisan bills on other subjects that impact our local communities and the state as a whole, including:

• Changing the process for how room taxes are collected from short-term rental companies, such as Airbnb and Vrbo. This legislation will guarantee that every municipality gets their fair share of room taxes, thereby placing less of a burden on local property taxpayers.
  
  
• Addressing the shortage of substitute teachers in Wisconsin.
  
  
• Reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program while also cutting down on the program’s borrowing and debt.
  
  
• Providing women with easier access to birth control prescriptions.
  
  
• Tackling the contaminants that are causing the most significant water quality issues in our state, including PFAS, nitrates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
  
  
• Fixing the manner in which our school funding formula treats districts with declining enrollment. This is the root cause of most of the school referenda we see.

I have found that some of the best ideas for legislation come from constituents. So, if you would like me to consider specific proposals that are not mentioned above, please reach out to my office to share your thoughts. I believe a more involved community is a stronger community.

I would like to thank you again for your support and I look forward to continuing to work hard on your behalf down in Madison.

COVID Response 

Due to state campaign finance laws, I was prohibited from sending out mass mailings – including my e-updates – from June 11 to the Nov. 3 election.

During those five months, we experienced a number of changes throughout the state, especially as it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, we are in the midst of a surge in cases throughout the United States and Europe, and the upper Midwest is being hit particularly hard.

It should be evident that, until we have an effective, widely available vaccine, we will not be able to bring this virus completely under control. Our efforts must focus on slowing the spread and protecting those who have underlying health conditions.

The surge in cases in Wisconsin began in early September. Our public health officials blame this primarily on college campuses reopening and “COVID fatigue” among the general population. Cases had been declining throughout the summer and people were tired of putting off weddings and family gatherings and they let their guard down.

In our area, the health departments say that very few cases can be traced to people being infected in businesses. Rather, it is these private gatherings that have been the primary source of spread. Health officials have also seen transmission among employees in restaurants and other businesses where they work together closely. Schools have not been a source of spread, although many have had trouble remaining open due to personnel being exposed outside of school and needing to quarantine.

The surge in cases began several weeks after the mask mandate was implemented. This is not because masks are ineffective in slowing down the spread of the disease. It's because there has been poor compliance and people have made poor choices.

Following the CDC’s guidelines remains the best tool we have in slowing the spread of the virus. This includes wearing a mask in public, washing your hands regularly, practicing social distancing and staying home if you feel ill.

It is unfortunate that this pandemic occurred during an election year and mask wearing became politicized. I have urged legislative leadership to put politics aside and begin a bipartisan public education campaign to encourage people to follow the CDC's guidelines.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has invited Governor Evers to work with him toward putting out unified public service announcements. He will repeat that invitation this week and I hope that, with the election behind us, it will come to fruition. It should be readily apparent by now that if we don't have buy-in from the general public, any restrictions or mandates we put into place will be ineffective.

I have said this many times before, but it bears repeating: It is not a sign of weakness to wear a mask, nor should it be viewed as a political statement. It simply shows that you care about the health of your family, friends and neighbors.

So, I am pleading with all of you to please follow the CDC’s guidelines and take this virus very seriously. In the end, the ultimate control of this disease will come from medical science, not from the government. But, if we can be careful and considerate of those around us, we can minimize the impact of the virus and make progress toward getting our lives back closer to normal.