This week's survey question

Recently, I read an article in the New York Times about states that are taking measures to penalize individuals who mischaracterize their pets as emotional support or service animals. Upon further research, I found that 25 states currently have some type of penalty for fraudulent representation of a service animal. These penalties range from misdemeanors, civil forfeitures, imprisonment in a county jail, and community service. Wisconsin statutes, outside of the rental sections, are silent on the falsification of a service animal. 

Please take a minute to answer my one-question survey on service animal fraud. 

Click here for my survey

Survey Results

I appreciate all who took time out of their busy schedules to provide feedback on this week's survey question. 

In total, 114 individuals answered this week's OWI-related survey questions. 50 percent of respondents believed that a first-time OWI offense should be a Class C misdemeanor, whereas 38 percent support keeping first-time OWI offenses a civil forfeiture. A record 12 percent responded "other." Some of the responses from those who selected "other," are as follows:

"A first-offense should remain a civil forfeiture with subsequent offenses possessing stricter penalties."

"Current law is adequate--we need to hit the repeat offenders harder."

"Of the two choices, I would prefer it remain a civil forfeiture, however, I personally see greater benefit in our criminal justice system finding better solutions. If these punishments worked, we would never have repeat offenders. Most people do not want to hurt others."

"It should result in a misdemeanor with a heavier penalty and jail time, not one or the other."

I am very interested in your input on this issue. If you have any ideas for dealing with this important issue, do not hesitate to contact my office. 

State Budget

This week, I voted in favor of the budget proposal, Assembly Bill 56, developed by the legislature's Joint Finance Committee. After being hesitant about supporting the budget, I ultimately voted in favor, as more conservative issues were prioritized. While I do not support every provision contained in the budget, I believe that, overall, it represents the priorities of my district. 

The State of Wisconsin is strong, thanks to reforms achieved by Republicans over the past eight years. Governor Evers inherited one of the best budget scenarios in a generation. Tax collections and ending balances are at record highs as a result of Republican reforms, strong economic activity, and underspending at state agencies. 

Wisconsin's unemployment rate has been at or below 3 percent for 16 straight months, our tax burden is the lowest it has been in 50 years and the state budget surplus exceeds $1 billion. What is more, state debt has declined to the lowest level it has been since 2009, and the rainy day fund stands at $300 million, its largest balance ever. The rainy day fund is also projected to exceed $616.5 million. 

My vote in favor of the Joint Finance Committee's version of the budget was precipitated by several factors:

Tax cuts

I am a steadfast proponent of reducing the tax burden for hard-working Wisconsin families. Wisconsinites are better suited to determine how to spend their hard-earned money than the government. The budget proposal:

• Provided $60 million in property tax relief aid.
• Resulted in more than $500 million in tax cuts over the next two tax years. 
• Tax cuts offset more than our revenue fee increases for transportation.

Local road aid and transportation bonding

My vote in favor of the budget was predicated on more funding for local roads and less spending on costly interstate projects. As such, I was pleased that the Joint Finance Committee's budget included significant funding for local road aids. As it relates to transportation, the budget:

• Provided a 10 percent increase for local road aids and increased funding for local road construction grants by $65 million.
• Added $90 million to the Local Road Improvement Program, which resulted in a tripling of the program.
• Appropriated more local road aids than any legislature in history.
• Contained the lowest level of bonding for transportation since 2001. I have long argued that increased bonding to pay for transportation is fiscally irresponsible. 

Correctional officer pay increases

Wisconsin correctional officers are among the state's hardest working and undervalued employees. As such, the Joint Finance Committee budget:

• Increased starting pay for correctional officers to $19/hour.
• Provided funding for lump-sum awards for length of service. Employees with 10 years of service would receive $250, 15 years $500, 20 years $750, and 25 years with $1,000, with an additional $1,000 every five years after that. 

Healthcare

Increased spending for healthcare-related initiatives was a foremost priority of the Joint Finance Committee. The budget included the following healthcare related appropriations:

• A $30 million GRP increase for nursing homes over the biennium--this is a 6 percent increase in nursing home reimbursement rates.
• $37 million GPR increase for personal care workers--this a change from the current rate of $16.73 per hour. Our proposal increases the hourly rate to $18.24, starting on July 1, 2019. 
• An increase of $27 million in funding over the biennium for direct caregivers in Family Care--we more than double base funding for the direct care workforce funding initiative. 
• Continued investment in our Healthcare Stability Plan--this program decreased private health insurance premiums by 4.2 percent in 2019 and by 10 percent from where they would have been without this program. 

Creation of new assistant district attorney positions

One of the biggest budget wins for my district was the creation of new assistant district attorney positions in Washington and Ozaukee Counties. Ozaukee will receive 1.7 new ADAs and Washington will see another 1.0 position created. 

Items removed from Governor Evers' proposal

The Joint Finance Committee removed a number of provisions from Governor Evers' budget that were opposed by a majority of my constituents: 

• Eliminated more than $1 billion in tax increases. 
• Removed 71 non-fiscal items.
• Removed caps on the school choice program that would have limited the ability of low-income families to select a school that is best for their children.
• Eliminated the provision that would have provided driver's licenses to illegal aliens. 
• Removed tuition breaks for undocumented individuals.
• Eliminated funding for Planned Parenthood
• Stopped the expansion of welfare programs and the removal of drug testing requirements. 
• Removed language that would have repealed prevailing wage and other cost-saving measures at the Department of Transportation.
• Eliminated a provision that would have provided free internet for welfare recipients. 
• Removed automatic voter registration.
• Rejected Governor Evers' $6 billion increase in spending and kept growth of spending within inflation. 
• Failed to approve Governor Evers' request for 701 new state employees.

As you can discern, the Assembly GOP budget differs significantly from the one introduced by Governor Tony Evers. The budget proposal I supported, reduced taxes by more than $500 million, provided a middle-class tax cut, and did not expand welfare. 

I heard directly from many of you that you wanted to see a reduction in the tax burden. Because of our fiscal prudence the past eight years, we are ensuring that taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned money. 

I submit that this is the real people's budget. Wisconsinites do not want us to go on a spending spree or increase the size of government. 

Wisconsin's 2019-21 budget was approved 17-16 by the senate and will be sent to Governor Evers for his signature or veto (he has the ability to veto specific provisions or the entire budget). 

60th District Events

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

St. John XXIII Parish's "Music on the Hill," Lunchtime Concert Series, June 28, Port Washington. 

Summer Sounds in Cedarburg: Here Come the Mummies, June 28, Cedarburg 

Love Our Great Lakes Day, June 29, Port Washington

Family Wellness: Forest Bathing at Riveredge Nature Center, June 29, Saukville

Freebeka 5 Family Health Challenge, June 30, Fredonia

Summer Rock the Patio at Beanies: Live Jazz with Scott Schmidt, Port Washington, June 30. 

Cedarburg Day at the Lakeshore Chinooks, Jund 30, Mequon

Bike Crawl, June 29, Port Washington

Bugs, Bats, and Butterflies, June 29, Belgium

Also, do not forget to check out the 4th of July events in your local communities. 

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.).