Your Cup of Joe

Hello and welcome back to my bi-weekly newsletter! It has been a busy two weeks, and I have a lot to update you on.

May 6th was teacher appreciation day! If you have not had a chance yet, thank your local educator for all of the hard work that they do to make our students the best and brightest they can be. 

Last week, the committee on Labor, Workforce Development, and Integrated Employment met for our second public hearing. I have been incredibly impressed and excited by the cooperation and spirit of unity that has begun to come through in this committee, and I am excited to see how we can continue to work together to improve the lives of Wisconsinites. We had great discussions on how to solve the workers shortage in the public safety field while discussing Assembly Bill 36, which would allow a retired law enforcement officer or firefighter to reenter the workforce without having their retirement impacted.

The Joint Finance Committee had their first meeting on the State Budget yesterday, and I was disheartened to see the over 600 items in Governor Evers’ budget that Republicans took out that would help lower expenses for Wisconsinites. The cut sections included $42 Million to the Childcare Counts program to help ease the burden of childcare, a $35 cap on the cost of insulin, a healthy school meals initiative identical to Assembly Bill 48 that I authored and could save a family of four $1800 a year in groceries, and Governor Evers’ new Millionaire Tax Bracket that would make sure the people who are making the most money are paying their fair share. I hope we see more collaboration and less swift, undiscussed action from the Joint Finance Committee in the future, so we can pass a budget that supports the success of all Wisconsinites.

On May 19th from 11:30 to 1 and May 22nd from 6 to 7:30 I will be having town hall meetings in the Rocca Room at the Mead Public Library. This is an opportunity to stop in and ask questions about what is happening in Madison and let me know how best I can serve you. I’ll see you there!

That’s all for now! Please reach out to my office if we can ever help you in any way. I will be in touch again soon.

Yours in service,

Joe Sheehan

State Representative

26th Assembly District