Governor Walker’s School Safety Plan Will Fail to Keep Kids Safe
This week, after feeling the pressure of a tough re-election bid, Governor Walker has shown an interest in addressing the challenges our schools and communities face during this epidemic of gun violence. He has called a special session on school safety and put forward his plan. Unfortunately, the Governor’s plan fails to address measures to keep guns out of the hands of those who intend to do harm and fails to keep our schools and our children safe.

Protecting our schools and our communities is going to take more than unsustainable one time grants, video footage when it’s already too late, or new locks on the doors. The top priority need to be keeping guns out of the hands of those who intend to do harm, yet the Governor and Republicans have refused to act on common sense measures like universal background checks that prevent dangerous people from purchasing firearms.

Democrats have offered legislation that would allow school districts to exceed state-imposed revenue limits for security-related expenditures, in addition to closing the background check loophole, banning bump stocks that are used to turn guns into automatic weapons, and preventing domestic violence perpetrators from owning guns. Republicans have failed to act to prevent gun violence and to keep our schools and public spaces safe.

The Governor’s plan, and any action that does not include measures to keep guns out of the hands of those who intend to do harm, fails to keep our schools and our children safe.

This Week’s Democratic Weekly Address
Yesterday, I gave this week’s Democratic Radio Address focusing on the issue of background checks for firearm purchases.

In Wisconsin, federally licensed dealers are required to conduct background checks on all firearm sales, but private sellers are not. Democrats have put forward legislation that would require a background check is performed for every firearm purchase, ensuring that guns purchased in Wisconsin are not bought by dangerous individuals who are not allowed to possess them. 81 percent of Wisconsinites support universal background checks, because Wisconsinites recognize that everyone is safer with strong background check laws.

Research shows that in states with stronger background check laws less women are shot to death by intimate partners, there are fewer gun suicides, and law enforcement officers are less likely to be killed with handguns.
Universal background checks for gun purchases are a common sense first step in making our communities a safer place to live, work, and raise a family.

Click here to watch the address.

Assisting Student Victims of Sexual Violence and Harassment
I am co-sponsoring legislation introduced by Representative Chris Taylor and Senator Patty Schachtner to provide increased assistance and accommodations for UW students who are victims of sexual violence, harassment, stalking, or domestic abuse. The bill would ensure that every student on a UW campus who is a victim has the right to this assistance at no additional cost to them, and that they are notified of this right, whether they pursue a formal investigation through the school or law enforcement.

Accommodations can help victims heal after an assault and may provide a survivor with the assistance that is needed to stay in school and not fail classes. Allowing a student to switch classes or dorms to avoid contact with their attacker is a simple, yet effective way to ultimately help a survivor remain in school and feel safe. Under the bill, accommodations would address such things as meeting housing needs, arranging transportation and campus escorts, providing medical, mental health and disability services, and loan counseling for a student who wishes to withdraw or transfer.

We know that sexual assault is an issue on college campuses across the country. According to Callisto, a non-profit organization combatting sexual assault on campuses nationwide, 20% of female students and 7% of male students will experience sexual assault during their time in school. On UW campuses the number of reported sexual assaults has doubled since 2013, and our 13 four year campuses alone found a 44% increase of on-campus assaults reported.

While much work remains to be done to ensure our UW campuses are safe and to prevent sexual assaults from occurring, this legislation needs to pass to assist those students who have been victimized.

Verona Road Update
As spring arrives, orange barrels and construction crews return to the Verona Road (US 18/151) corridor in Fitchburg. Mobilization of crews and equipment will occur this week with minimal traffic impacts. Please be alert for these activities in the area.

What you need to know:

• Please be alert for crews and equipment in these areas, and drive with caution through all work zones.

• Electronic weekly construction updates will start Friday, March 23, and continue through the 2018 construction season.

• In late spring 2018, all Verona Road traffic will shift to the east side of the highway. Northbound Verona Road traffic will be located on the new interchange ramps. Southbound Verona Road traffic will travel on the current northbound lanes.

• Access to area businesses and neighborhoods remains open throughout construction. Please patronize the local businesses in the project area!

• All work operations and lane closures are weather dependent and subject to change.

• These construction activities are anticipated to be completed by summer 2019 – weather permitting.

• The entire Verona Road Project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2020.

Remember, it is illegal to talk on a handheld mobile device while driving in a Wisconsin road work zone. Learn more about the "No Phones In Work Zones" law. For everyone's safety, please take a more active role in work zone safety – be alert and drive with caution in all work zones, and eliminate all distractions when behind the wheel!

For more information an updates visit www.VeronaRoadProject.wi.gov or Facebook.
 

Spring Breakers: Fight Grandparent Scams with a Family Plan
Spring break may be a time for students and families to get away and relax, but it is also a time for relatives to be on guard. Given the number of people on the go, spring break presents a unique opportunity for scammers to pitch family emergency scams (better known as "grandparent scams") to loved ones back home.

In a family emergency scam, a scammer calls potential victims impersonating a desperate relative (typically a grandchild) in need of money due to a (phony) emergency. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) asks spring break travelers to talk with their relatives about their travel itineraries and to develop a family plan for dealing with the threat of fake emergency phone calls.

Another way to combat these callers is to develop a family plan. This simple and important tool can help relatives detect the legitimacy of an emergency phone call. A family plan should consist of:

• A travel itinerary that includes contact information for accommodations or transportation services,

• A plan for regular, quick check-ins,

• A code word or phrase that would be expected in any true emergency call, and

• Open family communication to verify the safety of the student.

If you receive a potentially fraudulent emergency phone call, DATCP offers these tips:

• Resist the pressure to act immediately.

• Do not wire money to strangers or provide your bank or credit card account numbers.

• Do not give out any personal information or confirm anything that is told to you.

• If you cannot reach a family member and are unsure of what to do, call the Bureau of Consumer Protection (800-422-7128) or your local police on their non-emergency line.

• Remember that this scam is not exclusively dependent upon the grandparent/grandchild relationship - scammers could also claim to be a different relative (a niece or nephew, for example) or a family friend.

For additional information, visit the Consumer Protection Bureau at http://datcp.wi.gov, send an e-mail to datcphotline@wisconsin.gov or call the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-422-7128.

Reminder: Early Voting is Underway
The Spring General Election will be held on Tuesday, April 3. There is a statewide Supreme Court election on the ballot as well as a statewide referendum on whether or not to eliminate the office of State Treasurer. Depending on where you live, you may also have an election for County Board, School Board, or other local offices.

You do not have to wait until April 3 to cast your ballots. In-person absentee voting for the election has begun in Madison and will continue through Saturday, March 31, at the Madison City Clerk’s Office and additional locations throughout the city. To learn more about in-person absentee voting, including locations and times, please click here.

Absentee ballots are also available by mail. Everything you need to know to receive a ballot by mail is available via the Madison City Clerk by clicking here.

Remember: You must present an acceptable photo ID card to vote in Wisconsin. Click here to find out if you have the correct identification and to get information on how to obtain a free Wisconsin State ID Card for voting purposes.

Click here to see what is on your ballot.

Click here to read the “Candidates’ Answers” on the League of Women Voters of Dane County website.

Note: If you vote outside of the City of Madison, you will need to contact your local city or village clerk’s office for absentee voting locations and times.

Blue Books and Maps
My office still has several of the newest edition Blue Books and state maps. If you would like one, you may pick one up my at my Capitol office (418 North) anytime from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. If you are unable to come to the Capitol but would like a Blue Book or map, please email Rep.Subeck@legis.wisconsin.gov or call my office at 608-266-7521 to have one sent to you.

Wisconsin Fun Fact: Women’s History Month
In honor of Women’s History Month, March’s fun facts will highlight women’s contributions to Wisconsin’s history. The facts have been researched and written by the Wisconsin Women Making History Project, a collaboration of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, Wisconsin Public Television-Education, UW Women’s studies consortium, UW Gender and Women Studies Librarian, and the Wisconsin Humanities council.

Mee Moua - The first Hmong American to be elected to a state legislature in the U.S.

Moua was born in the Southeast Asian country of Laos. During the Vietnam War, she and her family fled Laos for a refugee camp in Thailand and then, after four years, relocated to the U.S. when she was nine years old. After living in Rhode Island for a short time, they settled in Appleton, Wisconsin, where they were one of few families of color in an area where most residents were white and Catholic. The adjustment was challenging, and Moua clung tightly to her Hmong roots for strength. She also joined the Girl Scouts, the debate club, and the basketball team, and sang in the choir at the Catholic church. She attended Brown University in Rhode Island to study medicine, but when she discovered her passion for politics, she switched her focus to public policy and studied issues of poverty, welfare, and Medicare. Moua became a junior fellow at Princeton University in New Jersey, and she received a Woodrow Wilson fellowship to study public policy at the University of Texas-Austin.

In 1997, Moua began to study law at the University of Minnesota. She got a taste for running a political campaign when she helped her uncle, Neal Thao, get elected to the St. Paul School Board. She also served as leader of the Hmong Chamber of Commerce and the Hmong Bar Association. When a Minnesota Senate seat became vacant in 2002, Moua decided to run. She won the special election with 60 percent of the vote. She was re-elected two more times and served a total of nine years in the Minnesota Senate. Moua chaired the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee and was a voice for civil rights, education, housing, economic development and safety. After retiring in 2010, she became the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an organization that works to promote human and civil rights for Asian Americans and social equity for all.