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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

 

Work on the state budget and other legislative issues continued this week, as the Joint Finance Committee completed its version of the budget.

Read on for details about the Joint Finance Committee’s changes to Governor Evers’s budget, a recap of the 19th Amendment centennial celebration, information about my most recent committee assignments and the Equality Agenda, and a fun Wisconsin fact about our state’s suffragettes.

If you have any questions or need assistance with any matter, please feel free to contact my office.


Sincerely,
Lisa Subeck
State Representative
78th Assembly District


In This Week's Update:

Budget Update


19th Amendment Celebration


Committee Update


Equality Agenda


Adoption Task Force


Thank You Cory!


Fun Wisconsin Fact


Whats Happening?


Contact Me:

109 North, State Capitol

P.O. Box 8953

Madison, WI 53708

Phone: (608) 266-7521

Toll-Free: (888) 534-0078

Fax: (608) 282-3690

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Budget Update

This week, the Joint Committee on Finance completed its work on the state budget and submitted its version of the budget to the full Legislature. The Assembly and Senate will most likely vote on the budget in the coming weeks. If it passes both houses of the Legislature, Governor Evers will have the chance to sign it into law, veto the budget in its entirety, or use his partial veto power to eliminate or change specific provisions of the budget. 

Again, the Republican-led Finance Committee made a number of cuts to Governor Evers’s budget proposal, including eliminating about $600 million in funding from his capital budget for building projects. In one disappointing example, Republicans voted to eliminate $30 million in funding to expand the Alliant Energy Center. Their decision was shortsighted and puts politics ahead of the best interests of our state. The Governor’s proposed investment would have expanded the types of businesses and events the Alliant Center could attract, increasing Wisconsin’s prominence on the national state and bringing additional resources into the state. Republicans are jeopardizing an opportunity that would benefit the entire state of Wisconsin. 

Republicans also rejected Governor Evers’s plan to cut taxes for the average taxpayer by about $216 per year, as well as his proposed child tax credit, which would have saved Wisconsin parents $10 million per year. Republicans instead passed a substantially smaller income tax cut after blocking a provision of Evers’s budget that would have scaled back a tax credit for large manufacturers, protecting Wisconsin’s privileged elite instead of those who need relief the most.

 

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19th Amendment Celebration

 In 1919, Congress passed the 19th amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, and sent it to the states to be ratified. Wisconsin has the special distinction of being the first state to ratify the 19th amendment. In commemoration of this historic event, the Wisconsin State Historical Society sponsored a special event on Monday in the Capitol rotunda. 

After remarks from female leaders and elected officials, including First Lady Kathy Evers and former Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, the ceremony culminated with the unveiling of the 19th amendment itself, which was signed by Wisconsin legislators 100 years ago. The Wisconsin Historical Society is now displaying this and other historical artifacts from Wisconsin’s suffragette history in the rotunda of the Capitol. 

I was proud to join many of my fellow legislators at the event. As you can see, my female colleagues and I wore white with yellow roses on our lapels to pay tribute to the suffragettes who fought for the rights we now take for granted. 

Monday’s event at the Capitol kicked off other commemorations throughout the state. One upcoming event will take place on Sunday, June 23rd at noon. The League of Women Voters will host a gathering at the Capitol Square to celebrate the centennial of Wisconsin’s ratification of the 19th Amendment. I hope to see you there! 

 


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Committee Update

Last week, I began serving on a new legislative committee: the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules. This committee deals with one of the most important and least understood components of state government: rule making. 

The policy making process does not end when the Legislature votes to pass a bill into law. State agencies, such as the Department of Natural Resources or the Department of Public Instruction, must craft administrative rules that establish the details of how the law will be applied and enforced. These rules have the force of law.

The Legislature has an important role to play in overseeing the administrative rule process to ensure that the agencies writing the rules are complying with legislative intent. The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules may object to proposed rules or seek modifications if, for example, the rules conflict with state law or impose undue hardships. It is a joint committee because it includes members of both the Senate and the Assembly. 

If you would like to learn more about the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules, see this informational briefing about the rule making process provided by the Legislative Council. 

 

 

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Equality Agenda

Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of LGBT legislators introduced a package of six bills called the “Equality Agenda,” focusing on safety and equality for LGBT Wisconsinites. I have gladly signed on as a co-sponsor of these proposals.

One of these bills recognizes same-sex marriage by making statutory references to spouses gender neutral. The bill also recognizes legal parentage for same-sex couples under certain circumstances. The package also includes a constitutional amendment eliminating the no longer valid restriction that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.


Other components of the Equality Agenda prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person’s gender identity, gender expression, or gender nonconformity, protect minors from so-called “conversion therapy,” and create an equality task force to study the barriers to equality for transgender, intersex, non-binary, and gender nonconforming individuals in Wisconsin.

 


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Adoption Task Force

Last month, I was appointed Vice Chair of the Speaker’s Task Force on Adoption. Our website is now up and running, and I encourage you to take a look. The Task Force was created to gather information and make policy recommendations, and will focus on addressing the barriers facing biological and adoptive parents in the adoption process. It is our goal to listen to a diverse a group of stakeholders so that we can include all perspectives as we move forward. More information about public hearings across the state will be announced soon.

I am looking forward to a constructive, bipartisan discussion about this important topic, and expect the Task Force’s work to produce productive policy recommendations. If you have thoughts, questions, or concerns relating to adoption, or if you have a story you would like to share, please do not hesitate to contact my office. 

 

 

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Thank You Cory! 

My Capitol office intern Cory Forbes wrapped up his spring semester internship on Tuesday.  Cory has been working in my office since January, helping us respond to constituent contacts, research legislative issues, and take notes in committee hearings. 

Cory is graduating from high school at James Madison Memorial, and plans to study political science and economics at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Cory says that his internship has been a great learning experience and has helped gain a better understanding of state politics and lawmaking. 

We are sorry to see Cory go, but know he is heading towards exciting new opportunities and wish him luck in his future endeavors! 

 


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Fun Wisconsin Fact

The legacy of organized suffrage activism in Wisconsin can be traced back to the late nineteenth century, with the Wisconsin Women’s Suffrage Association (WWSA). The WWSA focused mainly on women’s suffrage but also advocated for public education and temperance. The WWSA’s first success in expanding partial suffrage to women came in 1869, when they lobbied the Legislature to expand voting rights to women on matters pertaining to school board votes.  

This partial expansion of voting rights soon led to litigation, when Olympia Brown attempted to vote in municipal elections as well as school board elections in Racine. Brown argued that because municipal officials would have a say in school board matters, she should have the right to vote for them under state law. This case ultimately went to the state Supreme Court, whose decision unfortunately nullified the 1869 suffrage law in Wisconsin. Women’s voting rights in Wisconsin would have to wait until the ratification of the 19th Amendment. 

 

 

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Things happening in the district & around Madison:

Dane County Farmers' Market
Saturday, June 15th 

6:15 am - 1:45 pm
Capitol Square


The Saturday Dane County Farmers’ Market is conveniently located on the tree-lined grounds surrounding the Wisconsin State Capitol building — otherwise known as “the Square” — in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. The Market encircles the Square.

Who Matters?: Women's History Edition
Saturday, June 15th 

10 am
Central Library, 201 W Mifflin


Come share a story about growing up in or living in Madison, particularly about being a woman navigating education, community, the workplace, a faith community, family life, or social life in Madison. The goal is to record short conversations with women about their history in Madison and how being a woman in various Madison spaces affected their experience.

Friends of Sequoya Book Sale
Saturday, June 15th 

9 am - 4 pm
442 Westgate Mall, Madison


Next to TJMaxx in Westgate Mall. Thousands of books for sale each month. Most books are donations, some library withdrawals also for sale. Nonfiction titles are sorted by category for easy browsing. Fiction titles for all ages! CD and DVD selections as well. Bag sale (on selected items) starts at 1 pm.

Newbridge Movie Program: The Upside
Wednesday, June 19th 

1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Alicia Ashman Library


A comedic look at the relationship between a wealthy man with quadriplegia and an unemployed man with a criminal record who's hired to help him. (PG-13, 2hrs. 6min.)
All shows are free and open to the public.

Make Music Madison 
Friday, June 21st 

Various Locations throughout Madison


Make Music Madison is part of Make Music Day, the global music celebration happening in over 1,000+ international cities.  It’s a free, citywide, outdoor day of music held annually on the summer solstice, June 21. Make Music Madison turns the city into a stage welcoming a full spectrum of performers. See here for more information. 

Friday International Film: Schultze Gets the Blues
Friday, July 21st 

6 pm - 8 pm
Alicia Ashman Library


Free and open to the public. Schultze is a retired lignite miner living in an East German village and a passionate Polka Accordion player. After hearing Zydeco music on the radio he decides to take a trip into the heart of Zydeco country and travels to Louisiana. (PG, 1 hr. 54 mins.) 

   
   

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