Happy New Year!

We can now say, “So long” to 2021. Without going through yet another “year in review,” I hope we can look forward to better times in ’22. While more contagious, the new virus appears to be less likely to be fatal or cause long-term illness. More folks are back to work and I assume, the kids will soon be back to school. We have a Governor whose veto pen has not run out of ink despite all of the bad ideas coming from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

I am optimistic that when we go back into session, we should be able to pass some of the important legislation before us such as regulating and cleaning up PFAS.

Fair Phone Rates for Inmates

Do you know that some Wisconsin counties charge their jail inmates up to $15 to make a 15-minute local call? (It’s much less expensive to call my mother in Africa!) It turns out that many county Sheriffs make deals with one of the two phone companies that dominate this market and receive kicks-back of half or more of the revenue from the calls. The higher the rates, the more money for the Sheriff Dept.

Most of the inmates in county jails are there because they cannot afford bail and are waiting for a trial (which now averages about one year). Because they also can’t afford these phone rates, it’s their families that pay these predatory prices. Its children who need to talk to their mother or father or a parent that wants to speak with their incarcerated child.

This practice is essentially a “fine” paid by the family to maintain contact with their family member. Access to phone communication is especially important during the pandemic when visiting is often prohibited or very limited.

Studies show that incarcerated people are less likely to return to prison if they maintain strong ties to their families and communities. Shouldn’t we do what we can to strengthen those relationships?

In response to these predatory practices, I’ve authored a bill that would limit charges for local calls to the cost of a call made outside the jail. Many of my colleagues joined me in a press conference to support this bipartisan bill. It has been referred to a committee and we’ll see if a hearing is held to discuss and vote on it.

(Important Note: Neither Dane County or the state prison system engages in this practice. Our Sheriff attended the press conference and said that he would like to get the price down to zero.)

Supreme Court and Evers on Redistricting

Early last month the Wisconsin Supreme Court set out the criteria for its upcoming decision on the redistricting of the legislative maps. Not surprisingly, the primary criterion they set forth is exactly the same as that of the Republican majority, that is, the districts should stay as much as possible the same. They described this criterion as “least disturbance.” As a practical matter, this means that the districts should, as much as possible, stay the same.

This will likely result in continuing Republican legislative majorities despite large majorities of Democratic voters due to gerrymandering that packs those Democratic voters into a small number of districts.

After the Supreme Court released its decision, the Governor submitted a map that was an alternative to his initial map. This map largely followed the court’s criteria of “least disturbance” which meant that it would only slightly alter the makeup of the legislature. Perhaps it would add a few (Democratic) seats in the Assembly and one in the Senate. It would not address the fundamental inequity that is embedded in the current structure.

Although both the GOP and Governor’s maps would be beneficial to me because it would keep my current district largely intact, it is a symptom of the overall problem of a legislative majority choosing the voters to keep them in power.

Operation Fresh Start and MATC Win Training Grants

Covid-19 has worsened the workforce shortages that Wisconsin businesses were already facing prior to the pandemic. In order to address this problem in both the immediate and long term, Governor Evers has made available $130 million of Federal COVID-19 relief funds for grants to organizations that provide innovative plans that help solve our workforce challenges.

I was pleased to join the Governor on stage last month as he presented “Workforce Innovation Grants” to two deserving Dane County recipients, Operation Fresh Start and Madison Area Technical College.

Operation Fresh Start was awarded a $3.3 million grant for their Build Academy, a collaborative job training and education program that works with industry to train 16-24-year-olds for construction and conservation careers.

Madison College will be using its $2.9 million in funding to bolster its childcare program and to collaborate with area firms to provide hands-on training in advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology.

Stopping Youth Smoking

In the past few years, the problem of youth cigarette smoking has declined but other tobacco use particularly, vaping, has increased.

Many states have increased the “purchase age” to 21 and prohibited vaping products. Two years ago, even President Trump signed similar federal legislation into law. However, Wisconsin law enforcement and health officers cannot enforce federal laws at the state and local levels.

That is why I joined dozens of Democratic and Republican legislators in sponsoring a law for Wisconsin that would prohibit the sale of smoking and vaping products to those under 21 years of age. The bill was passed out of committee with the support of numerous physicians, educators, and health groups.

And there it has sat for months without being scheduled for a floor vote. Speaker Voss controls which bills are voted on (and which are not). I wrote to Speaker Vos, noting that the bill was authored by Republicans and supported by most legislators of both parties, he should schedule the bill for a vote when we return in two weeks. I haven’t received a response but would be pleased if, in lieu of a letter, he just scheduled it.

New Assembly Democratic Leadership

New leaders were elected by the Assembly Democratic members this month. Greta Neubauer of Racine was named Minority Leader and Kalan Haywood of Milwaukee was named Assistant Minority Leader. Both legislators are serving their second term in the legislature. Neubauer is a member of the Joint Committee on Finance and is 30 years old and Haywood is 21 years old.

They are taking the helm from Gordon Hintz (Oshkosh) who has led the Caucus for eight years along with Dianne Hesselbein (Middleton) who served as Assistant Minority Leader. Rep. Hesselbein is a candidate for the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Erpenbach who is retiring.

Leadership of the Caucus is a hard and often thankless task, so again, I want to thank them for their leadership and service.

PFAS Public Hearings

Two important public hearings regarding PFAS will be coming up in early January:

On Thursday, January 6th at 1 p.m. the Department of Natural Resources will be holding a public hearing regarding the establishment of groundwater standards for PFAS. 

Setting groundwater standards is an important first step in addressing the cleanup of the toxic “forever chemicals” that have contaminated drinking water systems around the state including Well #15 near Truax field. The meeting is virtual and open to the public. You can register to attend and to speak by clicking on this Zoom meeting link.

On Tuesday, January 11th at 6 p.m. the National Guard, housed at Truax, will be holding an “open house” at MATC’s Mitby Theater (3550 Anderson St). The purpose of this meeting is to detail the status of an investigation the Guard announced last September into the DNR’s claim that PFAS contamination at Truax is the result of their firefighting foam. 

The meeting on the 11th is open to the public and members of the community will be able to pose questions before and after a panel discussion from Guard representatives. Written comments regarding the site’s evaluation will also be accepted for 30 days after the event.

2021 Blue Books Are Still Available

As a reminder, you can still order a copy of the 2021 Wisconsin Blue Book from my office. If you would like a copy, you can order one from my website.