ON THE FLOOR OF THE ASSEMBLY

DEFENDING THE POLICE

The Assembly passed Senate Bill 119 (SB 119) which would proportionately remove state aid from municipalities that “defund” their police departments.

The Senate had already passed the bill earlier in the month. The bill is now headed to the governor's desk for veto or to be signed into law.

ELECTION INTEGRITY

Since the November presidential election, Rep Dittrich has been hearing serious concerns from constituents throughout the district about securing their vote. After speaking with her city clerk this winter, uniform application of the law became the most evident concern. This week's election legislation addressed that concern as well as others brought to our attention after the November general election.

Rep. Dittrich was pleased to vote in favor of these bills as the majority of her constituents requested.

TRUTH IN LABELING

The Assembly also passed 3 agricultural truth-in-labelling bills unanimously, so critical to our Wisconsin farmers.

• Assembly Bill 73 - labeling food as a type of dairy product or as a dairy ingredient
• Assembly Bill 74 - labeling a food product as a type of milk
• Assembly Bill 75 - labeling a food product as meat

SAVING PAPER MILLS

While those of us in the southern part of the state may not fully grasp the importance of this legislation, it was incredibly important to the rest of our state that we passed AB 367 using ARPA funds on the floor of the Assembly.

This bill will offer struggling Mid-state paper mills loan for the purchase of the Verso Paper Mill rather than just giving forgivable loans as the governor had proposed.

PROTECTING FIRST RESPONDERS

Assembly Bill 297 (AB 297) passed on the floor of the Assembly with bipartisan support will increase the penalty for certain traffic violations within 500 feet of an emergency vehicle. It will likely pass on the floor of the Senate soon and advance to the Governor's desk for signature.

WISCONSIN'S EDUCATION CONUNDRUM

GOVERNOR FACES BACKLASH

Governor faces backlash to his veto of Rep. Dittrich's bill with Senator Kooyenga that would have expanded school choice. (AB 59)

School Choice Advocates: Gov. Evers Shuts Kids Out Of Chance at Better Education

JOINT FINANCE COMMITTEE PRIORITIZES STUDENTS

This week you may have seen a few public school superintendents complaining about the level of funding in the biennial budget.

Here's the truth. Public education has been funded at historic levels since fiscal year 2018. Furthermore, Wisconsin schools have received over $2.4 billion in federal funds, even though several either remained closed or only partially open. It would be fiscally irresponsible to disregard the massive amount of federal funds in crafting the next biennial budget.

Thankfully, the schools in the 38th Assembly District made a good effort of getting students back in the classroom. It's important to know that the Legislature guaranteed that all districts will get a minimum of $781 per pupil if they taught in person instruction for at least 50% of the time during the 2020-21 school year.

Most districts will get much more than this per pupil. The average is $2,898 per pupil.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: STATE BUDGET RECAP

2021-2023 State Budget Overview

WISCONSIN WORKING

WAUKESHA COUNTY BUSINESS ALLIANCE

Rep. Dittrich was an honored to give Waukesha County Business Alliance members a legislative update on issues of interest to them Thursday morning. Workforce is everyone's key focus, especially after what we've faced this past year.

ENHANCED UNEMPLOYMENT CREATING WORKER SHORTAGE

Business owners continue to describe how much the enhanced unemployment is making filling workforce openings much harder. Employers are anecdotally reporting that 50% of all scheduled job interviews are no-shows. No employer is exempt from this challenge.

A local dental office even described difficulties filling positions because of the continuation of enhanced unemployment benefits. Rep. Dittrich has called on Governor Tony Evers to join Louisiana's Democrat governor and put an end to this madness by signing AB 336 into law.

Continued Calls For Advancing Of The Protecting Women In Sports Act

With the International Olympic Committee approving the first transgender athlete to compete in women’s weightlifting and former professional athletes like Brett Favre speaking out against such an unfair biological advantage, there is a continued need to push for the full passage of Rep Dittrich’s AB 195 AND AB 196.

Contact your state senator and the governor demanding that this legislation be signed into law!

You can find your legislators and their contact information by entering your address here.

You can also reach your legislators by calling the Legislative Hotline. In Madison, dial 608-266-9960. Toll-free, call 1-800-362-9472.

Email Governor Evers

You can reach Governor Evers by calling his office in Madison, 608-266-1212.