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

My sincere gratitude to everyone who joined together for the Maternal Health Roundtable. Senator LaTonya Johnson and I are honored to spend time with you—we are also grateful Brenda Rodriguez was able to join us from Dept. Children & Families in Governor Evers’ administration.

“We are failing moms” was a theme I took to heart, as well as, “I took all the classes— childbirth and parenting and I learned CPR but what I was missing was I needed to breathe.”

Postpartum depression. Postpartum anxiety. Lack of new mother support. Lack of reproductive healthcare. Lack of access to affordable childcare. Racial disparities in healthcare causing serious threats to life and mental health. Lack of access to therapists, lack of warm handoffs to therapists post-diagnosis, lack of understanding women during the postpartum period, lack of access to postpartum healthcare, lack of paid leave, lack of postpartum employer cooperation and support, wanting to end the stigma attached to asking for help, corporate inflexibility, identity changing with motherhood, day to day burnout, the pressure of working from home and balancing the pressure of taking care of both work and home, the feeling of being overwhelmed and trying to be everything everywhere for everyone all at once.

“We are failing moms.”

You shared your hearts with us, and you shared your stories, and we are now going to do our best to amplify your voices. These are deeply personal conversations—thank you for trusting us to push for change.

Maternal health matters, and we as a society have got to better support our moms.

I love y’all. Thank you.

Watch or read CBS58’s TV coverage of our event here.

I’d like to thank Abi at The Little Village Play Cafe, and her beautiful staff, who opened their space to us for the wonderful Maternal Health Roundtable event on Monday. Abi talked about going back to work 1-2 days postpartum with her baby strapped to her, and her story isn’t unlike that of many other women small business owners.

Abi shared with me part of her vision for her business isn’t just about finding something for your children to do, but also creating a space where parents can connect during this journey of parenthood, whether it’s grabbing a drink and snack at the cafe while children play, or hosting events like this.

We need each other—this life is shared–truly, it takes a village. Abi—it was an honor to be in your space on Monday. Thank you for sharing this magical space you’ve created with us!

On Monday I joined my colleagues from the Assembly and the Senate to speak at a press conference for A Day Without Childcare because I believe that Wisconinites deserve access to affordable, high-quality childcare.

We know that access to affordable childcare is a hurdle to entering or reentering the workforce. We know that women are affected disproportionately by lack of access to childcare, and we know that during the pandemic, it was women who disproportionately were the ones who left the workforce due to lack of childcare. Women face the hurdle of affordable childcare, and we could–as a legislature–remove that hurdle. Supporting access to affordable childcare is both the right moral action, as well as legislative action that will expand the workforce.

Many of my constituents have written to me in support of Child Care Counts. Here are the voices of the people:

"The high cost of childcare has forced way too many parents, often mothers, out of the workforce.”

"Childcare funding affects everyone! Why not invest in something that touches so many facets of life.”

"Childcare counts funding is important for my business to stay open, and to keep employees.”

"Childcare counts funding is critical to our child care program staying open and continuing to provide high quality care to our community.”

"I have been a teacher and caregiver in early childhood centers for 30-years. Child care employees play a crucial part in today’s society yet don’t receive the recognition or the wages that we so deserve. Childcare Counts has gone a long way in showing appreciation for the child care workforce in Wisconsin, and I hope it can continue. I am grateful for what we’ve received this far.”

”Childcare counts funding is important because it provides mothers the opportunity to go to work.”

Because of voices like yours, I know we have to keep fighting for Child Care Counts funding, and we will. 

Watch or read CBS58’s TV coverage of our event here.

Clad in my anti-gun violence orange blazer, I served as Ranking Member on the Assembly Committee on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Prevention on Tuesday as we heard the first bill we have heard all session (and just the one). We heard Senator Jesse James’ “gun shop project” bill that seeks to create a grant program administered through DHS that educates gun shops, and provides funds for a gun safe where owners experiencing a mental health crisis can place their own gun. This bill has bipartisan support, and had testimony in support from Moms Demand Action. That said, it’s missing funding in the bill, both for the program, and the staffing DHS needs to administer the program. So—that’s a piece that needs to be solved as the bill moves toward the finish line. I am confident Senator James, a former police chief, can put together the funding proposal needed.

While I believe a Red Flag law (ERPO) would save more lives, go further to protect victims of domestic violence, family members in crisis, and children, and more, this bill is a small step forward and I hope to see it pass.

It’s Nurse Appreciation week and we are sharing our love for nurses. My favorite nurse in all the world is my grandmother, who is 97 years-old, who even in her nineties would see me arrive in Baltimore to visit her with a child who’s suddenly sick. She’d see not the loss of the plans, but the opportunity to care for her great-grandchild in their time of need—she’s always cared so deeply that people be “nursed back to health”. She’s fierce that way. So fierce people should be cared for well.

And to the nurses at Children’s Wisconsin who met my kid in the ER for bad broken bones, and took a kid from a place of pain and fear to a place of feeling deeply cared for, and—absolutely adoring the nursing staff in a marked way—thank you.

And to my mother-in-law, a WIC nurse, who we loved dearly, and who loved her profession, and who was cared for in her final days by loving hospice nurses (who cared for the whole family—all of us).

Will you take a moment and think about the nurses in your life, and send them a text appreciating them? They work very hard and deserve our appreciation!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! We love our teachers!

One of the ways we show we love our teachers is by proposing policy and budget items that honors teachers, and their work! I was proud to join my Democratic colleagues last session in introducing a package of legislation called “Teaching is a Profession,” which would give teachers a pay raise, a $7,000 bonus every five years, allow certain education loans to be repaid, and would provide student teachers with a $15 an hour minimum wage, and I will continue fighting for legislation this session that improves the lives of teachers and educators in Wisconsin.

I am the daughter of a public school teacher, mother of two children who have grown up in the Wauwatosa schools, and the wife of a public university professor. Teachers, you are loved, appreciated, and seen at my house for your hard work and dedication and sacrifices. Your job seems to grow only more difficult—we see you and love you–thank you!

Around 150 people (mostly women) came to the capitol last Friday for the second annual Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Day of Awareness. Homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native American girls nationwide, and Native American women are more than three times more likely to be murdered than white women. 

There are 22 cases in Wisconsin of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the last 40 years. Governor Evers and his administration have worked diligently to bring attention and work to end this violence. 

Attorney General Kaul created the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force in 2020 with the goal of helping fight the abduction, homicide, violence, and trafficking of Indigenous women in Wisconsin. 

While  Governor Evers’ proposed $7.4 million in his budget for the creation of a state office that would be dedicated to addressing violence against Indigenous people in Wisconsin, Republicans stripped it from the budget.

The Joint Finance Committee met last Thursday to continue crafting the state budget (you can see a recap of last Tuesday’s budget committee session in last week’s Forward Friday here). The committee did not meet this week, and will continue their work next Tuesday. Below are some of the important takeaways from Thursday’s Executive Session:

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention: Democrats unsuccessfully tried to reintroduce Governor Evers’ proposal to invest $4.15M annually to support family resource centers–Republicans on the committee instead passed a motion to invest $500K annually for family resource centers and $500K annually for programs to prevent child abuse and neglect. 

Medical College of Wisconsin: Democrats and Republicans agreed in a unanimous vote to invest $3.5M annually to the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Residency program. This funding was originally included in Governor Evers’ budget.

Election Integrity: Democrats introduced a motion to add more oversight to investigations authorized by the state legislature, similar to the Michael Gabelmen investigation that was authorized by Speaker Vos after the 2020 election–which cost Wisconsin taxpayers over $1M and found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Republicans voted this motion down 12-4. 

Shared revenue is a program that provides tax dollars to cities, villages, towns, and counties to help pay for local services like police and fire protection. It is an important part of how the state assists communities across Wisconsin to fund needed services and provide property tax relief. 

Over the past few decades, shared revenue has remained stagnant, meaning less money is going to our local governments to fund local services like public safety, emergency medical services, and transportation. Meanwhile costs have increased, and new costs have been added (like cybersecurity). 

Milwaukee Delegation Briefing

Tuesday–The photo above is from one of several briefings related to shared revenue this week—this one with the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau and nonpartisan attorneys that are experts on this bill. We are working very hard to understand the bill, where the bill falls short (Gov. Evers has said he will veto this version of the bill), how the bill needs to change, etc. We are also focused on how the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County are affected by the bill.

The current version of the bill is Republican-only (not bipartisan as some have incorrectly reported in the news), and while the bill addresses shared revenue, it also includes pieces of policy that have nothing to do with shared revenue.
 

Shared Revenue Bill Moves Out of Assembly Committee

Thursday–The Assembly Committee on Local Government voted the Republican shared revenue bill out of committee and to the Assembly Floor (Assembly Bill 245). After about a 6-hour public hearing last week that included testimony from local leaders across the state (including Mayor McBride of Wauwatosa, Mayor Chevy Johnson of Milwaukee, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley), Republicans failed to introduce any clearly needed amendments and as a result, failed to achieve the support of any Democrats. The bill left committee with Republicans saying they’d introduce amendments next week on the floor of the Assembly, which isn’t how committee work is supposed to…work.

Committee Democrats introduced an amendment to create a “clean bill”, or a bill without many of the unrelated additions, but Republicans on the committee rejected this amendment. At this point, we do not know what version of the bill we will be voting on next Wednesday.

The Assembly is expected to be in session next week on Wednesday. We expect to vote on Shared Revenue, however Republicans haven’t been able to agree on a version of the bill they’ll send to the floor. As of now, the bill remains without Democratic support. 

After a successful unveiling of the Capitol’s new Universal Changing Station last month, it was great to see stories from WMSN and WisPolitics highlighting the utility of universal changing stations everywhere! Access to changing stations is an issue of both public health and human dignity. We have a population of people in need who are going unseen because they are unable to participate in society. 

I am disappointed Republicans removed my provision in Governor Evers’ budget for a tax cut for businesses installing a Universal Changing Stations. But, onward and forward we will work to continue to make Wisconsin more accessible to everyBODY!

Tommy was a fantastic intern this semester! He will also be graduating Saturday from UW-Madison, and plans to work for the Minnesota Attorney General’s office as a consumer analyst! Good luck, Tommy! 

Congratulations to University of Wisconsin Students Graduating this Weekend!

This weekend University of Wisconsin 7 schools will be celebrating graduation! Congratulations graduates of UW-Whitewater, UW-Parkside, UW-La Crosse, UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, and UW-Madison on this exciting time.  

Ben (my Legislative Assistant) and Tommy (our all-star intern) will both be graduating from UW-Madison this weekend–Congrats!

Congratulations Lane Intermediate Teacher Melissa Ustruck!

Melissa received the Teacher of Excellence Award for her work within the West Allis–West Milwaukee School District! Thank you for everything you have done and continue doing for our students at Lane Intermediate!

Mental Health Awareness Forum May 25th at Wauwatosa East with New York Times Best Selling author Tom Farley 

This event will take place at 7 PM on Thursday May 25th at Wauwatosa East High School.

Proclaiming May 2023 to be Maternal Health Month in Wisconsin: I authored this bipartisan resolution to bring attention to the importance of supporting the health of mothers across the state. I have seen alarming trends in the past few years relating to postpartum health and loss of life of postpartum women, and think it is important for the legislature to affirm our commitment to supporting maternal health. (LRB-3172)

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