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 District Dialogue


Serving the Greater Northwoods

Oneida - Vilas - Florence - Forest

October 29, 2020

Establishing New Legislative Districts

Yesterday, the Assembly Committee on State Affairs will be holding a joint hearing on AB 624 and AB 625. Many members of the public were able to give testimony in regards to the proposed maps. Click HERE to access the full archive of testimonies. 

Every 10 years the Wisconsin State Legislature is directed by the Constitution to redraw state and federal legislative districts. This is to ensure that no one is disenfranchised by increases or decreases in populations. 

AB 624 is a proposal of where new state legislative districts will be established. AB 625 is a proposal of where new congressional districts will be established. These maps were crafted in accordance with Assembly Joint Resolution 80. AJR 80 outlines the Constitutional laws and guidelines used to establish the new legislative districts. In addition, this time the process included hundreds of submissions from people across the state who submitted maps via drawyourdistrict.com.

Please feel free to view the proposed map and read more information by following the link below.

https://drawyourdistrict.legis.wisconsin.gov/proposedmaps 

Eric Johnson - 2021 First Responder of the Year

This week, I had the pleasure of presenting Boulder Junction Fire Chief Eric Johnson with the First Responder of the Year Award for the 34th Assembly District.

There were 97 “First Responder of the Year” honorees, all with stories of bravery, dedication, and service. These award recipients represent all types of first responders– firefighters, police officers, sheriff deputies, and EMTs.

Click HERE to read the full press release on my website.

Assembly Floor Session

This week the Wisconsin State Assembly met on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's focus was the Fixing Foundations Package which seeks to address the affordability of workforce housing in our state.

Wisconsin is in the midst of a growing workforce housing shortage. A number of factors have made it harder for Wisconsinites to be able to achieve the American Dream of owning their own home. For example, according to a 2019 report since 2012, Wisconsin has created 75% fewer lots and 55% fewer new homes than pre-recession averages. Also, the cost of construction materials is increasing which increases the cost of building new homes. This along with rising rent costs in many parts of our state has contributed to the growing workforce housing shortage in our state. Because of this shortage, it has become harder for employers to recruit employees to fill the many job openings around our state including employers in our neck of the woods. The bills in this package that were approved by the Assembly this week include:

  • AB 156 - creates a workforce housing tax credit to encourage the construction of new housing complexes.
  • AB 603 - creates a shovel-ready workforce housing development site program to help streamline the development process to bring workforce housing quickly to the communities with the most need, and be a potential draw for development.
  • AB 605 - creates a municipal workforce housing incentive program
  • AB 606 - creates a sales and use tax exemption for materials used solely to construct certain housing developments or housing rehabilitation projects.
  • AB 607 - creates a workforce housing rehabilitation loan program
  • AB 608 - reforms a number of workforce housing regulations
  • AB 609 - creates a local housing investment fund program
  • AB 610 - updates state appraisal practices to ensure fair and equal property tax assessments

The main focus for Wednesday's session was a legislative package that reinforces Wisconsin's commitment to protecting life. 

  • Senate Bill (SB) 16/AB 6 - "The Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act" which ensures that any baby born alive after a failed abortion receives immediate and proper medical attention by requiring any provider present at the time of a failed abortion to exercise the same level of professional care to the surviving child as they would to any other child delivered.
  • SB 591/AB 593 - "Women’s Right to Know Act" requires certain information to be provided to a woman prior to receiving an abortion by an abortion-inducing drug regimen, and increases the information reported to the Department of Health Services after an induced abortion takes place
  • SB 592/AB 594 - "The Prenatal Diagnosis Information Act" requires parents of a child diagnosed with a congenital condition to be provided with educational resources that can help establish context and provide support
  • SB 593/AB 595 - "Shield the Vulnerable Act" would make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy based on a child's disability, race, or sex
  • SB 538/AB 539 - prohibits discrimination in organ transplantation on the basis of a disability.

This package has cleared both houses of the legislature and now heads to Governor Evers' desk where I hope he will sign each of them into law. 

 

40' Rule Passes Through the Legislature

I am happy to announce that AB 366 passed unanimously in the Assembly this week. That means it has passed in both bodies and now awaits the Governor's signature.

Physical obstructions sometimes prohibit snowmobile trails that are located adjacent to a roadway from maintaining the current law 40’ buffer. The bill will allow snowmobile trails that have two-way travel at night and that are located within 40 feet of a roadway to receive trail maintenance funding from the snowmobile program’s segregated account. Click HERE to read more about AB 366.

Racine County Election Fraud


  • Eight people whose family members said should not have been able to vote and would not have consciously wanted to vote did vote at Ridgewood Care Center, which has a capacity for 200 residents, of whom 42 voted in the 2020 presidential election.
  • Zero people to date have been charged with any form of election fraud, although the RCSO may refer its investigation at some point to the Racine County District Attorney's Office.
  • Sheriff Christopher Schmaling hopes a statewide investigation will be launched, but he said Thursday that earlier this year Attorney General Josh Kaul's office rejected the idea.
  • Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Racine County Republican, on Thursday called for the resignation of Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Megan Wolfe.
  • Senate President Kapenga also released a statement calling for Megan Wolfe's resignation.

Click HERE to read Speaker Vos' statement

Click HERE to read Senate President Kapenga's statement

Enjoy Halloween Weekend

Have a great Halloween! Stay safe and watch out for deer!

DOT Road Construction Update


Update: Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Oneida County

Highway: US 51

Location: Bearskin Bridge to Rocky Run Road

Schedule: This is the last update for this project.

Project ID: 1170-16-71

Work scheduled for next week: All pavement marking work should be completed by Friday, October 29, pending favorable weather.  

Traffic impacts: Motorists should expect some delays during pavement marking operations.

 

Florence County

Highway: WIS 139

Location: Between the Forest County line and Fay Lake Road

Schedule: This is the last update for this project.

Project ID: 9110-72-10

Work scheduled for next week: Crews will work on the final clean-up.

Traffic impacts: Flagging operations during daylight working hours when needed.

 

Vilas County

Highway: US 51

Location: US 51 from Woodland Drive to Vilas County M, Arbor Vitae

Schedule: October 4, 2021 to November 5, 2021

Project ID: 1170-20-72

Work scheduled for next week: Crews plan to complete pavement markings.  

Traffic impacts: Motorists should expect some delays during pavement marking operations.

 

 

 Community Events  


 Please click the following links for upcoming community events!

 

Halloween Lightshow & Haunted House, Oct 8 - Oct 31, Florence

 

LOLA Zombie Crawl, Oct 28 - 30, Land O'Lakes

 

Downtown Trick or Treating, Oct 30, Rhinelander

 

Hallowfest, Oct 30, Eagle River

 

Spooktacular Halloween, Oct 31, Presque Isle

 

Halloween Party, Oct 31, Conover