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Weekly E-Update

Dear Neighbor,

Welcome to my latest e-update. Here is a summary from the past week as your State Representative. 

As always, previous updates are available on our website and social media. 

I typically hold office hours on the second Friday of every month and would be happy to meet with you! You can sign up for our office hours here.

Please contact my office with any questions or concerns.

Forward together,

Rep. Robyn Vining

The MKE Delegation Visits UW-Milwaukee

April 14th is Milwaukee Day, and this year our Milwaukee Delegation visited the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and toured the renovations to the student Union (beautiful!), the Nursing Simulation lab (so cool), and then met with students for a mental health roundtable.
The new James and Yvonne Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center (SIM Lab) is a state-of-the-art facility that utilizes models, manikins, medical equipment, and human patient simulators that can breathe, talk, and maintain a blood pressure and pulse! This experience helps our healthcare workers of tomorrow practice hands-on skills without fear of harming actual patients.
Senator LaTonya Johnson and I were very excited about the newborn SIM. This is a birthing room with a birthing and newborn SIM! What an incredible program!

Thanks to Chancellor Mone and Dean Litwack of the College of Nursing for joining us!

My deep gratitude to the UW-Milwaukee students for sharing their time with us to discuss mental health on campus. 

Children’s Wisconsin Visits the Capitol

A busy day at the Capitol ended with these brilliant women visiting from Children’s Wisconsin to talk to us about meeting the needs of Wisconsin kids related to food security and lead remediation (& clean air and water).

America is the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world and our children should be born into clean air, clean water, and food security. I’m so thankful these caring, smart and hardworking women at Children’s Wisconsin are working hard to meet the needs of Wisconsin kids while we at the Capitol fight forward for a healthier world for all kids.

I also had a chance to sit down and talk with constituents from Children’s Wisconsin, Aurora Healthcare, and Froedtert about the most pressing needs facing Hospitals in Wisconsin. Among their legislative asks were:

  • Investing $800 million of our state’s historic budget surplus into increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals so they can continue to care for the most needy in our community.

  • Addressing Wisconsin's post-acute care challenges, since it is estimated that between 400-600 patients in Wisconsin hospitals are waiting to be discharged every day, but are waiting for a nursing home bed.

  • Investing in the healthcare workforce. Hospital workforce vacancy rates are at 9.9%, which has caused burnout and fatigue for our healthcare workers and have required hospitals to turn to costly, short-term solutions to continue to operate.

Executive Session for the Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care

Last week we told you about Assembly Bill 148, a bill to make it harder for Wisconsinites on Badgercare Plus to keep their health insurance. You can read about it in last week's Forward Fridays.

This week  we received Assembly Amendment 1 to AB 148 from a Republican member of the committee that would make the bill even worse by making it quicker and easier to kick Wisconsinites off of their healthcare coverage. 

I’m seen here (above) arguing that we shouldn’t be taking a vote to move the bill out of committee after a Republican member described it as “not ready for prime time”—and then voted for it. (Also: still no fiscal note available.) Assembly Bill 148 is now out of committee & headed to Assembly vote Tuesday.

I voted no, as did all 5 Democrats, but Dems are out-represented on the committee by 2-1.

I’ve got 90 emails sent to committee opposing the bill. The outrage has been significant, and I want you to know—you have been heard. Here is the Twitter thread for context.

I will never stop fighting for affordable healthcare for all. It’s unconscionable we are the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world and not only do we not have broad access to quality, affordable healthcare, but I’m still fighting bills like this that make life harder for those for whom it’s already too hard. I’m stunned, and mad. Who else is mad? We deserve better than this—Wisconsin deserves better than this.

It took less than 3 weeks for this bill to be circulated for co-sponsorship and given a bill number, heard and voted on in committee, and scheduled for a vote in the Assembly (next Tuesday).  Don’t believe Republicans who say they can’t get something done quickly: for the past 4.5 years I’ve watched them speed all kinds of stuff through.

In fact, it’s amazing what the Republican-led legislature can speed through. It takes years to help people, but just weeks to hurt them.

Imagine if they actually cared about gun violence—it really shows what they do and don’t care about in moments like this. Or maybe I should say, “who.”

Thank You For Coming!

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday for our State Budget Listening session. Rep. Goyke has an excellent slideshow he’s been touring with, and it’s a wonderful tool to understand the state budget process. My thanks to Rep. Evan Goyke and his fantastic staff (Ryan!) for that! I’m grateful Senator LaTonya Johnson was able to join us as well.

After the listening session I was able to meet with one of the students working on their policy presentation for Tosa East American Public Policy class. I try to be accessible to the students for their policy projects, and Saturday worked out as a great way to meet with students in tandem with the town hall!

If you, or one of your friends or students are someone who emailed my office about the policy you’re working on and would like to set up a time to chat in-person ahead of the April 26 presentation, I’m happy to try to make that work. I can chat through how we “run the traps”, engage stakeholders, the importance of curiosity in the process, how to weave in personal stories/convictions, and how to be ready for various audiences when you present on the 26th. I don’t give you the answers, but I will help you know which questions to ask, so you have full ownership of the final product. Happy to be helpful, if I can be! This is a great project and we are happy to be helpful!

You’ve Got Mail!

As I was walking out of the Capitol last night around 6pm, I was the only one left in the office. I noticed our ready-to-send mail that had accumulated from our work over the day. Thanks to my staff, Bryce and Ben, and our phenomenal intern Tommy, we were able to write, sign, and address a huge stack of letters to students in our district this week.

It’s important to me to send letters to people around our district, especially children, as often as we can fit it into our schedule. We read the news, receive updates from the school districts, scour social media, and find exciting happenings across the district. This week we packed envelopes for local middle and high schools, recent college graduates, local award winners, and more. We are also currently working on more responses to the letters we’ve received about the American Policy Project at Wauwatosa East.

Every letter that goes out is sent because we hope it’s meaningful to the recipient, and I’m very grateful to our staff and interns for their work assisting me in sending these very important letters each week

Universal Park!

I was so thrilled to join the folks over at the Ability Center for a public engagement event on Monday night at Tosa West high School. The Ability Center is working to transform Wisconsin Avenue Park into America’s first universally inclusive park. It will be more than just an accessible playground. Universal Park will be an all-inclusive park where everybody will be empowered to be fit, active and healthy, throughout the entirety of its 18 acres. From the baseball fields to outdoor fitness, the playground to the woods, Universal Park will provide opportunities where all abilities feel welcomed, wanted, and comfortable to play together.

The goal of these meetings is to educate the public on the project and gain feedback! I’m particularly excited about the two universal changing stations designed into the new space!!! Cheers to a world more accessible for everybody.
Touring the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Facility with Governor Evers

On Wednesday I joined Governor Evers and IUPAT General President Jimmy Williams, Jr. in Fitchburg to discuss maximizing the impact of investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act for all Wisconsinites. Also invited were the mayors of Madison, Sheboygan, Green Bay, Appleton, and Racine, as well as state, environmental, and civic leaders, and the BlueGreen Alliance.

These federal investments are being harnessed to create good-paying, union jobs across the state.

We also heard appreciation regarding what was referred to as “the most cohesive” relationship in decades amongst local government and U.S. Senator Baldwin, Governor Evers and President Biden, and how this cohesiveness is making it easier and more effective to work together to make life better in local communities.

We then toured the training facility and saw how training takes place for painting, drywalling, and hanging windows and doors.

Thanks to the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) for hosting us!

Session Recap

The Assembly was in session for a few hours on Tuesday this week to vote on a number of bills, including:

Notably absent from these bills is any bipartisan solution that would expand access to affordable healthcare, invest in the mental health of Wisconsinites, and increase access to affordable childcare. These are all issues my constituents want to see addressed in the legislature, and things that I will continue to advocate for.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Wisconsinites deserve a state government that has a zero tolerance for sexual violence. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and I stand alongside survivors. We see you, we believe you, we love you, and we will not stop fighting on your behalf.

Earth Day 2023

Happy Earth Day! This Earth Day (and everyday!) may we reflect on action that we can take to ensure it is healthy and habitable for many generations to come!

I am a proud co-sponsor of Assembly Joint Resolution 22 which names April 22nd as the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day and encourages actions on behalf of our planet to safeguard our natural resources and protect our environment. 

Did you know that Wisconsin’s own Governor Nelson started Earth Day 53 years ago to increase environmental awareness and bring visibility to the many issues impacting our environment?

Go Bucks!

An important message from the Wisconsin State Capitol from Rep. Francesca Hong and myself: Go Bucks!
Co-Sponsored Bills

Here are the bills I co-sponsored this week:

Proclaiming April 2023 as Donate Life Month in Wisconsin: In 2022, the United States completed 1 million organ transplants, more than any other country in the world. This Senate Joint Resolution brings awareness to the issue of organ, eye, and tissue donation. (Senate Joint Resolution 32)

Forward together,

Rep. Robyn Vining

 

Contact Us: 

State Capitol
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708 

PH: (608) 266-9180
TF: (888) 534-0014

Email: 
Rep.Vining@legis.wi.gov 
Web: www.vining.assembly.wi.gov 

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