Floor Session Recap

It was a busy week in Madison as the State Assembly went to the floor on both Tuesday and Thursday to consider a number of bills.  I would like to take a moment to discuss a few of the highlights with you.

A Hand for the Homeless Package

Continuing the work from the last session in addressing homelessness in Wisconsin, the State Assembly passed a package of eight bills referred to as "A Hand for the Homeless." These bills build on the recommendations given by the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) in their statewide action plan. I am proud to give my support for these bills and do whatever we can to combat homelessness in the 87th Assembly District. The bills passed with bipartisan support and now head to the Senate for their consideration. You can learn more about these bills here.

Transportation Reform Package

Another important bill package we passed this week involved transportation. While many of the state's transportation issues are currently being discussed within the state budget, we still have some separate transportation legislation that I would like to tell you about.

Yesterday we voted on a package of four bills: Assembly Bill (AB) 273, AB 275, AB 284, and AB 285. A concern I hear often from folks in the district is the amount of money being spent on the state's roads and the amount of infrastructure that still needs to be maintained. I am proud to tell you that these bills are aimed at improving the efficiency at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT), which will lead to more cost-effective road building for the state's taxpayers. The reforms in these bills allow employees at the DOT to look at alternative processes and incentivizes them to find savings for taxpayers throughout the road building process.

OWI Bills

A set of two bills related to OWI offenses were passed, as well. Currently, a person's first OWI offense is considered a misdemeanor in Wisconsin, and the person does not have to make a personal appearance in court. AB 15 requires all first-time offenders to do so, serving as a wakeup call to the offenders. Our hope is that this would prevent them from offending again in the future. The second bill, AB 17, would require those convicted of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, or OWI homicide, to serve a minimum prison sentence of at least five years.

Adjournment

At the conclusion of Tuesday's floor session, I had the privilege of asking the Assembly to adjourn in honor my dear friend, Elmer Wishard from Tony. Elmer flew a C-47 into Normandy in World War II and received many medals, including a combat infantry badge. Thank you for your service, Elmer.

 State Budget Update

The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) recently finished their work on the state budget and the amended proposal is scheduled to come before the State Assembly for consideration next week. At this time, I am still working through the many changes made by the JFC. However, I would like to highlight a few things included in the amended proposal that I am excited about.

As I mentioned last week, this budget invests more money into broadband expansion than ever before.  Under the budget approved by the JFC, funding for the state broadband grant program will be $46.2 million dollars over the biennium. I am also excited that this state budget will provide more than $1.6 billion in additional funding for health care initiatives including increased funding for personal care workers, direct caregivers, and nursing homes.  The increased funding for these health care initiatives are all higher than in Governor Evers proposed budget.  The JFC approved budget also makes significant investments in the criminal justice system by funding new Assistant District Attorney (ADA) positions around the state, increasing pay for ADAs and public defenders.

I appreciate everyone who has reached out to me to share their thoughts on the budget. This helps me make a more informed decision as to what the people of the 87th Assembly District want included in or removed from the 2019 - '21 state budget.  If you are interested in comparing Governor Evers' budget proposal with the amended proposal you can click here to check out the 624-page comparative summary from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Under the Dome

Earlier this year, I talked about a package of pro-life bills my colleagues and I were working on to help save the lives of unborn babies in Wisconsin. My colleagues and I want to make sure that women seeking an abortion have access to life-saving information and that babies born-alive following a failed abortion are given the same quality of medical care as any other human being.

Yesterday afternoon, we held a pro-life rally in the Capitol rotunda as legislative leaders signed these bills and sent them to Governor Evers desk. It was amazing to see the hundreds of pro-life advocates from around Wisconsin there to support these important bills and to call on Governor Evers to sign these bills into law. If you would like to see these bills signed as well, I encourage you to contact the governor's office at (608) 266-1212 and let him know. I am hopeful the governor is able to connect the dots on what the people of Wisconsin want, in regards to women's healthcare and protecting life, and will sign these bills.

Around the 87th

Last weekend, I attended Gilman Dairy Days and had a great time. The 4-H Dairy Breakfast on Saturday was delicious and I had the opportunity to chat with a lot of folks who came out to enjoy the event. I also talked with some of Taylor County's amazing first responders about the success they have had fundraising and obtaining devices that perform CPR over long distances, further increasing the chance they will be able to save more people in the county.

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.