Thank you for taking the time to read another one of my weekly e-updates. It's been a busy week at the Capitol serving the people of the 87th Assembly District.
This week, more than a few of the committees that I'm a part of held hearings on important pieces of legislation, and the Assembly held one of the last floor sessions of the 2019-2020 legislative session. Read about this and more below.
As always, if you have any thoughts or concerns you'd like to share with me, please don't hesitate to contact me. I appreciate hearing your thoughts.
Attempting to Correct the Governor's Mistake
As we quickly approach the end of the legislative session, there has been a lot going on at the Capitol the past few weeks. On Wednesday, the State Assembly was in session to vote on a number of measures including a vote to override the governor's veto of Assembly Bill (AB) 76 which I've talked about in aprevious e-update. This proposal was approved last year by the Assembly with a bipartisan 66-31 vote and by the Senate with a voice vote. Unfortunately, Governor Evers vetoed this bipartisan legislation, which would have matched Wisconsin's training requirements for certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to federal requirements. This would have been a big step in addressing the nursing shortage in Wisconsin, especially in our rural areas. Governor Evers said that he vetoed this legislation on the grounds that patients would not receive as high quality of care as they do now. However, this bill would not have made any changes to competency exams or other tests, which all CNAs must undergo.
With AB 76 passing the Assembly with 66 votes, there were enough votes to override the governor's veto, which the Assembly attempted to do on Wednesday. However, the three Democrats who initially voted for the bill, two of which are actually co-authors, voted against overriding the governor's veto. I was disappointed at this outcome, as these legislators let the hardworking folks of Wisconsin down by changing their vote. As a co-author of this bill as well, I'm still hopeful to see this legislation brought back in a future legislative session, as it would be very helpful to the 87th District by providing us with more nurses at a time when this profession is in high demand.
Edming-Authored Bills Advance
As I mentioned above, it's been a busy week this week. In addition to the Assembly floor session on Wednesday, I took part in several committee hearings. I'm pleased to report that, during these hearings, a couple of bills I've authored continued to advance through the legislative process. I'd like to take a moment to tell you a bit about both of them.
Assembly Bill 39
In a previous e-update, I discussed AB 39, a bill I've authored with Sen. Petrowski that would raise the maximum wild animal protection surcharge for unlawfully harvesting a deer. Way back in April, a public hearing was held on this important piece of legislation. I am proud to tell you that AB 39 has finally been passed through the Forestry, Parks, & Outdoor Recreation Committee and is now ready to go to the Assembly floor for a vote. I hope to see this happen in the next few weeks.
Rep. Edming in the Forestry, Parks, and Outdoor Recreation Committee Executive Session
Assembly Bill 664
After talking with the County Veteran Services Officers (CVSOs) in our area, AB 664 is a piece of legislation that is long overdue. In 1973, the Wisconsin legislature passed legislation authorizing a grant to counties meeting minimum budget and operating standards to provide for increased levels of service to the veterans of those counties. Today, most counties use the Wisconsin CVSO Grant to fund operations and programs in their CVSO offices. However, the structure of the grant, established over 40 years ago, has made it difficult for smaller counties, like Sawyer, Taylor, and Rusk, that have high ratios of veteran population to total general population, to provide adequate services for their county's veterans. Currently, the only factor in determining the amount of the CVSO grant is the population of the county.
This bill would change the way grant funding is awarded by using a formula to first rank counties based on equalized assessed property values, veteran population density, and veteran population percentage, and then combines the results of those calculations to determine a grant award amount. Under this bill, the grant amount would be increased to $2 million annually so no county would get less than the amount they receive already.
I'm pleased to report that the Assembly Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs held a public hearing on this bill yesterday afternoon. I'm optimistic to see this bill pass through the committee soon and get to the Assembly floor for a vote before the end of the session. I'm happy to see that we are one step closer to further aiding and providing services to those who have served our country.
Rep. Edming with Sen. Jacque testifying on AB 664
Apply to be a Census Worker
As you may be aware, every 10 years the United States conducts a census. The information gathered is then used to reapportion the federal House of Representatives based on the population. The census is important because it determines how many seats each state receives. This will be the first year in which the Census Bureau will be allowing people to participate via the internet.
Though much of this coming census will be taken online, the Bureau still needs to hire thousands of field workers, especially in rural areas, like the 87th District. I wanted to take a moment to share this job opportunity with you folks in the district, and if you know someone looking for work or a temporary job for some supplemental income, please pass this information along to them.
Jobs have flexible hours and can be part-time or full-time. You will be hired to work in your own area. Ages 17 years old and up may apply. Click here to apply to work for the census.
Upcoming Events Around the 87th
Check out the following events happening around the district:
Do you know of any events in the district that I missed? Contact my office and let me know, so I can include it in a future e-update and try to attend myself.
Stay Up to Date
One of the best ways to stay up to date with what is going on in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking service. This service allows you to follow legislative activity in Madison. Once you create a free account you can sign up to receive notifications about specific bills or committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject area (i.e. agriculture, veterans). You can sign up for this service at notify.legis.wisconsin.gov.
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If you have any thoughts regarding the subject of this E-Update, please feel free to contact me.
State Capitol Room 109 West - PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708 Toll-Free (888) 534-0087 or (608) 266-7506 Email: Rep.Edming@legis.wisconsin.gov
