Thank you for taking the time out of your week to read my e-update. As we approach the end of the legislative session, there continues to be a lot of action at the State Capitol. I am looking forward to sharing with you some of what has been going on this week, serving the people of the 87th Assembly District, both in Madison and around the district.
Wednesday marked the 211th birthday for one of my favorite U.S. presidents, Abraham Lincoln. Even many years after his death, President Lincoln still inspires many of us today. Happy Birthday, Mr. President!
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 from you.
More Information on This Week's Floor Session
As I mentioned in last week's e-update, the State Assembly held a floor session on Tuesday and considered a number of proposals, including bills from the End Elder Abuse and the Tougher on Crime packages. To learn more about these two packages you can read last week's e-update on my website. There is one correction from last week that I'd like to mention. I informed you that the Assembly would be considering the following bills within the "Tougher on Crime" bill package: Assembly Bill's (AB) 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 808, and 809. To be clear, the Assembly did not consider AB's 802, 803, or 807. I apologize for this mistake.
With that said, I would like to highlight a couple more bills that were approved by the Assembly on Tuesday, which I believe will benefit the folks of the 87th Assembly District and the rest of the state.
For the 17th year in a row, telemarketing is the top consumer complaint received by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP). In a previous e-update, I've discussed the progress of AB 147. This bill helps to fight against caller identification (ID) spoofing. By creating a state law that prohibits this practice, no one, even telemarketers, could call or text someone else using misleading caller ID information, with the intent to defraud or cause harm to another person. Under this legislation, telemarketers in Wisconsin could no longer block the correct caller ID info either. As a co-author of this important legislation, I was proud to see this bipartisan bill pass unanimously. It now heads to the State Senate for their consideration.
You may have heard the term "porch pirates," or thieves who steal mail and packages from a person's front porch. Today, people are increasingly using delivery services to order different items, such as clothing, toys, and other gifts. Another bill I've co-authored, AB 734, cracks down on these "porch pirates". This legislation actually creates a new crime category in the state statutes of "theft of mail." The penalty is higher the more mail that is stolen and is even higher if it is stolen from an at-risk adult, including the elderly. This bill is certainly a step in the right direction to curbing this conduct. I'm proud that this legislation passed the Assembly on a bipartisan vote. I hope to see the Senate consider AB 734 before the end of the legislative session.
Highlights from Committee Action
In addition to Tuesday's floor session, a number of committees I serve on held hearings this week. Here are a few of the highlights from this week's committee action.
Agriculture
On Tuesday, the Agriculture Committee discussed and voted on several bills to help our farmers. Among the bills that were discussed were a couple of the bills that Governor Evers proposed as part of his special session on Agriculture, Special Session Assembly Bill (SS AB) 6 and SS AB 7. During the committee process, the committee approved amendments to these two bills to increase their positive impact on farmers in our state.
As introduced, SS AB 6 would provide $1 million to DATCP to create a Wisconsin Initiative For Dairy Exports in an effort to increase dairy exports, while also authorizing two positions in DATCP to implement the program. The amendment approved by the committee increases funding for this program by $4 million more than what the governor proposed. The amendment also requires the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to collaborate with DATCP to also increase the state's meat and crop product exports, in addition to dairy.
Under the governor's proposed SS AB 7, DATCP must give preference to small dairy processing plants when awarding grants. To avoid confusion as to what a "small dairy" means, the committee approved an amendment that clarifies this as dairy processing plants that produce no more than 50 million pounds of processed product per year.
I'm happy to see the governor submitting proposals that deal with issues outside of Madison and Milwaukee. As I have said before, I'm happy to work with the governor on policy issues when I feel it is in the best interests of my constituents.
In addition to these bills, the committee also approved several other Republican-authored proposals: AB 627, AB 873, AB 874, AB 875, and AB 876. You can click on each bill to learn more about them.
The committee met again on Thursday in a joint hearing with the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Revenue, & Financial Institutions for a public hearing on AB 894. This legislation would make several changes regarding the siting and expansion of livestock facilities. For a full analysis of AB 894 written by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau, click here.
Consumer Protection
The Assembly Committee on Consumer Protection met on Wednesday to hold an executive session on AB 631. This is another bill I'm proud to have co-authored. This legislation, if passed and signed into law, would create a "lemon law" for the repair and replacement of a new implement of husbandry that has a condition or defect that substantially impairs the use, value, or safety of the implement of husbandry and that is covered by an express warranty. After moving through the committee, I'm hopeful to see this bill gain support in the coming days, as the legislative session begins to come to a close.
Health
Yesterday, the Assembly Health Committee met for an executive session on several pieces of legislation, as well as a public hearing. I am the co-author of two bills that we voted on during the executive session, AB 114 and AB 575. Click on the links to learn more about these bills. I was happy to see them moving further along in the legislative process.
American Legion Oratorical Contest Finals
Last weekend, I had the honor of once again judging at the American Legion's Regional/State Finals Oratorical Contest in Ripon. These high school students always do a tremendous job giving their speeches and I was very impressed with their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. This year's topics were the 12th, 20th, 24th, and 27th Amendments. Congratulations to all the winners!
Upcoming Events Around the 87th
Check out the following events happening around the district:
Kiwanis Club's Big Ticket Bingo - Medford (M.A.S.H. Cafeteria) - March 14
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
