Ron's Weekly Recaps

On Tuesday, I honored local Appleton Police Officer Lt. Todd Peters for his service and dedication to our community on the Assembly floor.

On Thursday, I spoke in support of a bill that would ban gender mutilation procedures & gender hormones for minors. This bill was not about going after transgender people's rights, it was about protecting our kids from these unproven and dangerous procedures. Watch my full speech in support of this bill on the Assembly floor. 

On Wednesday, the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care heard testimony on a bill I co-authored called the "Help not Harm" Act. The bill is designed to prevent doctors from performing or prescribing life-altering surgeries and drugs that are designed to change the gender of the patient.

It's been a somber week as Planned Parenthood has announced it will violate state law and resume the killing of innocent human lives. This comes after a Dane County judge has ruled that the state law that prohibits doctors from destroying an unborn human embryo, does not apply to elective abortion. It's worth noting that the judge has not made a final decision on the case or issued a formal opinion.

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission is currently launching an investigation into allegations of money laundering and fraud involving newly-elected Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz's campaign. The complaint, filed earlier this month by Election Watch, alleges that the campaign engaged in the illegal practice known as "smurfing." Smurfing involves disguising large monetary donations by funneling them through unwitting small-dollar donors.

In my observations, Meagan Wolfe, with the backing of several WEC Commissioners, has often disregarded state regulations and legislative protocols. Her notable absence from the Senate Committee on Share Revenue, Elections, and Consumer Protection's public hearing is just one example. She seemed to think that sidestepping the legislature would cement her position. However, the State Senate took a firm stand, a decision I wholeheartedly endorsed.

Last week, Wisconsin Republicans introduced our "Returning Your Surplus" tax cut plan. This week, Gov. Evers responded by X/Tweeting, "I'll veto it. Plain & simple." Gov. Evers went on to say, "I'm not going to sign an irresponsible Republican tax cut that jeopardizes our state's financial stability." Evers' comments come after he proposed the budgets largest spending increase in Wisconsin state history in February of this year.

Wisconsin's Republican legislators introduced the "Returning Your Surplus" to plan bring some financial relief to middle-class families and retirees. This proposal aims to ease the tax load on these groups by reducing the state's taxes by almost $3 billion.

On Tuesday, I spent the day touring the 3rd Assembly District. My first stop was a Habitat for Humanity event. We discussed the challenges hardworking local families face in finding decent and affordable homes in Appleton before raising the walls for the future home of Habitat homebuyer, Dawn Buelow.

Every calendar year, you can buy a new annual state park pass. However, it does not matter when you purchase the pass, whether it’s January, June or November – the price is the same and the pass is only good until December 31st of that calendar year. That means that, as the year stretches on, people are more and more apprehensive about buying a pass.