Walker
Wastes Money on Advertising
This week the Assembly Committee on Jobs and the Economy held a hearing
on Assembly Bill 811, a plan by the Governor to provide approximately $7
million in advertising to encourage Chicago area millennials to move to
Wisconsin.
Coincidently, the 2017 National Movers Study by United Van Lines, showed
more people moved out of Wisconsin than into it in the last year. The
study found Wisconsin was one of the top 10 states in the nation for
people moving out and 60% of those moves were for jobs.
People increasingly want to live where there are good public schools and
strong transportation infrastructure. People also want clean air, clean
water, and public parks and other amenities which contribute to our
quality of life. Most importantly, they want to live in areas where jobs
pay family supporting wages and where they can achieve the American
dream. Millions of dollars spent on advertising cannot undo the damage
done by the Governor and Republican majorities in our legislature
through their continued lack of investment in our neighborhood schools,
our universities, our transportation infrastructure, and our
environment. Nor can millions spent on advertising compensate for the
last 7 years Republicans have spent driving down wages in Wisconsin.
We don’t need to waste $7 million on silly advertising campaigns in
hopes of drawing young people to our state. The solution is clear.
Instead, we can and should invest in our public schools, the University
of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Technical College System. We can and
should respect the working families and individuals that make up the
middle class by ensuring a hard day’s work is compensated with a fair
day’s pay. We can and should fairly and equitably invest in multi-modal
transportation to improve our roads, expand public transit options, and
make our communities more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. Finally, we
can and must protect our environment and our natural resources.
An
Evening with NOW
Earlier this week, I spoke to members of the National Organization for
Women’s Madison Chapter about the Healthy Babies, Working Mothers Act. I
authored this bill to ensure nursing mothers do not face unnecessary
barriers to pumping breast milk when they return to work. This
legislation would bring Wisconsin law in line with federal employment
regulations, expand protections to nearly all nursing mothers returning
to work, ensure appropriate facilities are available for pumping breast
milk, and ensure that women who are taking unpaid break time to
breastfeed or express breast milk do not lose eligibility for employer
sponsored health insurance. While the bill has received broad
bi-partisan support, it has not yet received a public hearing during
this legislative session. With help from advocates like members of NOW,
it is my hope we can show enough need and support for the bill to get a
public hearing.
Not too long ago, my co-authors and I shared a short video about the
bill in which we interviewed breastfeeding moms about their experiences
returning to work.
Click here to watch the video and learn about the successes and the
challenges they faced.
Department
of Transportation will Consolidate DMV Offices Despite Concerns
Last fall, I learned of the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s plan to
consolidate 2 west side DMV service centers at a new facility. At that
time, my office contacted the DOT Secretary’s office and raised concerns
that the planned move of the offices located at the Hill Farms office
building and on Odana Road to a new location on Excelsior Drive. My
office noted the ease with which people were able to access the Hill
Farms location via public transit and raised questions regarding transit
options to access the new location.
Despite efforts to get the DOT to rethink the decision or make
accommodations for residents on the west side of Madison who lack their
own transportation, the DOT chose to move forward with the plan to
consolidate offices without involving Madison area legislators in the
decision or the planning. This leaves significant unresolved access
problems that could have been addressed.
As a result, the City of Madison has filed a civil rights complaint on
behalf of Madison residents. The complaint notes the lack of public
transit options to reach the new location, the negative impact on the
elderly, persons of color and persons with disabilities, the excessive
length of time it will take people to reach the location using mass
transit, and the negative impact this proposal will have on people who
may need to procure ID for voting purposes. Most recently, other members
of the Madison delegation and I sent the DOT Secretary a letter
supporting the complaint filed by the City of Madison and making it
clear we want their concerns resolved.
Click here to read our letter.
In the meantime, the Madison West DMV Service Center will move to 8417
Excelsior Drive off the West Beltline and will be open for business at
8:30 a.m. on Monday, January 22.
The current site at Hill Farms (Sheboygan Avenue) will close at 4:45
p.m. on Friday, January 19. The last day for Madison’s DMV Odana Renewal
Center, at 6514 Odana Rd, is January 18. They will be open for service
until 6 p.m. that day.
Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day
On Monday, we will commemorate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. As
Coretta Scott King so eloquently stated, “The Martin Luther King, Jr.
Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and
healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught
us through his example — the values of courage, truth, justice,
compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr.
King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we
commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and
nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit.”
In the calendar of events sidebar you can find a number of events taking
place in Madison to commemorate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.
Winter
Free Fishing Weekend is Jan. 20-21, 2018
Wisconsin's winter Free Fishing Weekend is set for Jan. 20-21, 2018, and
free loaner equipment and ice fishing clinics make it a great time for
open water anglers to discover the fun of ice fishing or to introduce
family and friends to this hard-water recreation.
Fishing is free for Wisconsin residents and visitors alike on these
days. No fishing license or Great Lakes salmon stamp or Inland Trout
Stamp is needed to fish all inland waters and Wisconsin's side of the
Great Lakes and Mississippi River and other boundary waters. Spring
trout ponds are not open, however. All other fishing rules apply, such
as limits on the number and size of fish anglers can keep and any
seasons when anglers must release certain fish species.
It's also a chance for anglers to try the early catch and release trout
season for free. That season opened Jan. 6 and normally requires anglers
to have a fishing license and an inland trout stamp to join in. People
interested in ice fishing or trying the early catch-and-release trout
season shouldn't let a lack of equipment stop them. More than 20 DNR
tackle loaner sites have ice fishing gear for loan that groups and
individuals can use. Ice augurs are not available through DNR but fellow
anglers are usually willing to drill a hole in the ice for newcomers or
they can use an abandoned ice fishing hole.
In our area there will be free fishing clinics during Free Fishing
Weekend at Devil's Lake State Park in Baraboo and Brittingham Park in
Madison.
More information on the free fishing clinics, on how and where to borrow
ice fishing equipment from DNR offices and parks, and on the weekend
itself can be found on DNR's Free Fishing Weekend webpage. Go to
dnr.wi.gov and search "Free Fishing
Weekend."
Fun
Wisconsin Fact
If you searched Google on Tuesday, you probably saw that Har Gobind
Khorana was honored as the Google doodle of the day (pictured
left/right). Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian American biochemist who
received several awards, most notably the Nobel Prize, for his research.
While teaching and conducting research at UW-Madison, Khorana shared the
1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Marshall W. Nirenberg
and Robert W. Holley for research that showed the order of nucleotides
in nucleic acids, which carry the genetic code of the cell and control
the cell’s synthesis of proteins.