Final Public Hearing of Adoption Task Force

On Wednesday, the final Adoption Task Force meeting met at UW-Platteville, Richland. As vice chair of the task force, I had the honor to take the gavel for this meeting since our chairwoman was unable to attend.  We welcomed Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Christopher R. Foley who has decades of experience presiding over adoptions, the State Public Defender’s Legislative Liaison, Adam Plotkin who was joined by Atty. Milton Childs, gave us insight on areas where birth parents really should have legal representation, and La Crosse County Corporation Counsel, Atty. Megan DeVore, told us about financial constraints to adoption once public assistance that was there during the fostering process disappears once the adoption is finalized.  We also had the pleasure of hearing from the Interim Campus Dean of UW-Platteville, Richland, Brandon Fetterly, who is an adoptive parent himself and introduced us to his sons. 

Next week in the Capitol we will be wrapping up our work at our final meeting on Wednesday, September 4 where we will offer our recommendations. We will not be hearing public testimony at this meeting, but the public is welcome to attend. After the meeting we will begin the process of crafting legislation that will supplement our recommendations, and a package of bi-partisan legislation will soon follow.  If you have any last minute information you’d like to submit to the task force before Wednesday you can do so on the Adoption Task Force website.  

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The Healthy Babies, Working Mothers Act

On Thursday, I announced the Healthy Babies, Working Mothers Act for co-sponsorship.  This bill ensures that nursing mothers can return to work without facing unnecessary barriers in the workplace.  The legislation allows new moms to take unpaid break time for breastfeeding without losing eligibility for their employer-sponsored health insurance.  I believe that no new mom should have to choose between making the healthy choice of breastfeeding her baby and returning to work to provide for her family.  We first introduced the Healthy Babies, Working Mothers Act in the 2015 legislative session, but the bill did not move to the floor of the Legislature for a vote.  In 2015, I began hearing from more working mothers who faced challenges returning to work while breastfeeding.  Our bill updates state law to remove barriers for nursing mothers, and maintain health care access for working families with new babies.

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Life is a Highway!

This week several boxes of the new state highway maps were delivered to my office.  If you are interested in receiving one of these, please email me at rep.subeck@legis.wisconsin.gov with your mailing address, and my staff will drop one in the mail for you! 

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Women's Equality Day

On August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the constitutional amendment for women’s suffrage.  This signing came after the Amendment’s ratification in 36 states, completed by a single vote in Tennessee on August 18.  State representative Harry T. Burn had planned to vote against the amendment, but changed his mind after receiving a letter from his mother.  With this vote, more than 26 million women gained a mechanism to empower themselves, their families and communities.

Women’s Equality Day was first celebrated in 1971 when Congress passed a resolution to mark the occasion after a proposal by feminist Representative Bella Abzug.  In 1973, President Nixon officially declared the 26^th as Women’s Equality Day.  This day is used to celebrate the achievements of women, especially suffrage and women’s rights activists, but also to highlight problems currently faced by women in the country.  While women were given the right to vote in 1920, black women were mostly left out of the suffrage movement, and did not gain their fundamental rights until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

While there is still a long way to go in terms of equal pay and representation, it is important to also recognize how far we have come 99 years later.  In 1920, women made up 21 percent of the workforce, today, they make up nearly half of workers.  In the 116^th U.S. Congress, women hold 127 of the 535 seats.  Supporters of Women’s Equality day today wear purple as a tribute to the suffragettes.

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Wisconsin Fun Fact
No Place Like Home: The Wizard of Oz-conomowoc

Eighty years ago, one of the most popular movies in history premiered, “The Wizard of Oz.”  Before the rest of the world saw the film, however, the makers of “The Wizard of Oz” chose Oconomowoc as a test site to measure audience reactions, alongside Kenosha Wisconsin and Cape Cod Massachusetts.  The film makers may have selected Oconomowoc as a pilot site for the movie’s Wisconsin connections: the music composer Herbert Stothart was a Milwaukee native with a summer cottage near Oconomowoc, and the coroner Munchkin in the film, Meinhardt Raabe, was born nearby in Watertown.  “The Wizard of Oz” played to sold-out shows for its five-day run in Oconomowoc’s Strand Theater, and the publicists used the positive reactions to develop the film’s national publicity campaign.  Today, along with statues of the famous movie characters displayed around town, the city hosts an outdoor screening of the film each year to celebrate its piece of Wisconsin history.

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