Question of the Week

This week, Governor Evers expressed support for allowing Wisconsinites to carry or sell marijuana. His proposal would not only legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes, but also decriminalize the drug if users, manufacturers, and distributors, handle less than 25 grams. Furthermore, individuals who handled fewer than 25 grams would have prior convictions for selling, manufacturing, or possessing marijuana, expunged from their record. 

Please, take just one minute to complete my one-question survey on marijuana. 

Click here for my one-question survey

Results from last week's survey question

Seventy percent of survey respondents to last week's survey believed that the best solution for middle-class tax relief is returning excess tax revenues, that have already been collected, back to the hardworking taxpayers. 

Conversely, just 31 percent of respondents believe that increasing taxes on manufacturers and businesses is the ideal solution for providing middle-class tax relief. 

Criminal Justice Reform Package

This week, Assembly Republicans unveiled a comprehensive criminal justice package designed to keep our communities safer, ensure quicker access to a fair trial, expand TAD programs, and reinvest in the retention of correctional officers, to name just a few.

The package introduced, this week, includes the following provisions:

• Ensure quicker access to a fair trial: fund new Assistant District Attorney (ADA) positions, increase pay for ADAs and State Public Defenders (SPD), increase private bar rate for county court appointments and SPD appointments
• Expand Treatment, Alternatives, and Diversion (TAD) programs to help offenders who suffer from alcohol and drug issues
• Invest in the retention of correctional officers
• Promote the successful transition of ex-offenders back into society through expanded worker training, reentry program, and health initiatives

If you have any input or feedback on this criminal justice reform package, please reach out to my office. 

Bills introduced

Recently, my office released a series of bills relating to school safety, equitable property assessment practices, ballot box freedom, and communications between collegiate athletes and professional sports agents. The following is a brief summation of each proposal:

LRB 1250

LRB 1250, introduced at the behest of a local school district, allows schools to employ temporary barricade devices during active shooter drills (for training) and events. The legislation would allow schools to employ temporary barricade devices if:

• The school obtains approval from local law enforcement and the fire department
• The device is removable or unlockable from the outside by use of a special key, tool, or electronic device
• It is only employed in the event of an active shooter or training for such an event
• The use of the device is specifically outlined in the school's safety plan

LRB 1641

A common-sense, bipartisan bill, LRB 1641 restores electors' First Amendment rights by allowing them to take a photograph of their marked ballot and share it on social media platforms. 

Under current law, an elector is prohibited from showing his or her marked ballot to any person; the prohibition extends to sharing photographs of a marked ballot on social media platforms. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in 2017, ruled that laws prohibiting electors from sharing their marked ballots on social media platforms constitute a violation of the First Amendment's Free-Speech clause. 

Wisconsin, at this writing, is one of just eighteen states that prohibits photographs of marked ballots being shown to another person by the elector. LRB 1641 eliminates that prohibition and allows an elector to share his or her ballot on social media platforms.

LRB 1665

LRB 1665, relating to closing the dark store loophole and overturning the 2008 Supreme Court case Walgreen's Company v. City of Madison, has overwhelming bipartisan support. 

This bill, quite simply, seeks to provide greater equity to the property tax assessment process and prevent a potentially colossal shift of property taxes from big box retailers to small businesses and homeowners. 

The bill represents years of professional experience and legislative work to attempt to correct a difficult and complex problem whose implications are affecting every legislative district in Wisconsin. It is critical to the fairness of our tax system that all properties be assessed at their fair-market value.

LRB 1580

LRB 1580, the Uniform Athlete-Agent Act provides much-needed updates to a 2004 bill that Governor Jim Doyle signed into law. This bill, quite simply, adopts may of the 2015 recommendations approved by the Uniform Law Commission. At this writing, Wisconsin is one of just five states that has not updated its law to incorporate these important changes. 

Specifically, this bill adopts a new definition of the term athlete-agent; stipulates which licensed professionals are considered athlete-agents; requires applicants for registration as an athlete-agent to provide information that is not currently required (social media accounts; status of applications in other states; pending criminal charges, etc); adopts new standards for reciprocal registration; modifies the Department of Safety and Professional Services' authority to discipline a registered athlete-agent and expands an athlete-agent's duty to provide notice to the student athlete's educational institution. 

If you are interested in receiving more information about any of these bills or would be interested in testifying on their behalf before an Assembly Committee, do not hesitate to contact my office.

Avoiding Telemarketing Calls and Scams

Has your telephone been barraged by unsolicited scam artists trying to steal your information or sell you a product? If so, you are not alone. 

In 2018, more than forty percent of the complaints to the Wisconsin Department of Trade, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection dealt with telemarketing, a seventeen percent increase from 2017. 

Consumers are telling DATCP that they have been having decent success in slowing down or stopping unwanted calls by either letting unknown numbers go to voicemail or by using call-blocking features on their cell phones.

Unfortunately, many telemarketers and scam artists are becoming more proficient at getting around those blocking methods by using a practice known as Caller ID spoofing, which allows them to change the caller identification number on your phone.

One of the best things you can do to avoid these headaches is to sign up for Wisconsin's Do Not Call Registry by calling 1-88-382-1222 or visiting this link.  Wisconsinites who sign up for the National Do Not Call registry are protected by both federal and state do not call laws.

Registration on Wisconsin's Do Not Call List is permanent, and your phone number will show up on the registry by the next day. If your number is listed on the registry and you get a call from a telemarketer more than 30 days after you registered your number, you file a complaint here or by calling 1-800-422-7128. 

My Assembly colleagues and I are exploring different options to further address this issue, but we realize that no matter what action we take, consumers must still receive some unwanted calls. To help further protect yourself, I suggest you view the following DATCP consumer protection fact sheets on imposter scams and avoiding fraud.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please do not hesistate to contact my office. 

60th District Events

The following are a few events that will be occurring this week, in the 60th Assembly District. If you have any upcoming events that you would like included in my e-update, please contact my office.

Tea and Ballroom Dance, West Bend, February 24

Port Washington Fish Days Battle of the Bands, Saukville, February 23

Maple Sugaring: Tapping for Fun & Profit, Saukville, February 23

3rd Annual Pitch for Matt Cornhole Tournament, Cedarburg, February 23

Little Shop of Horrors, Cedarburg, February 21-24

Stay up to date

One of the best ways to date with what is happening in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking system. This service affords you with the opportunity to track legislative activities in Madison. Upon creation of a free account, you can sign up to receive notification about specific bills of committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject (i.e., health care, education, etc.).