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Thank you for reading the latest edition of my update from the State Capitol. The second half of this week was just as action-packed as the first. Because there was so much going on this week I sent out a special edition of my e-update on Wednesday. If you missed it you can check it out by clicking here. In the second half of the week, the Assembly took up a large number of proposals including a couple that I authored. You can read about this and more below.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any thoughts on issues before the legislature or if you need assistance with a state agency.

Helping Our Farmers &
Cleaning Up Our Community
During Wednesday's floor session two bills that I authored were approved by the State Assembly. Both of these bills address issues faced by folks in the 87th District. The first, Assembly Bill (AB) 49, is legislation that helps some of our hardworking farmers who are facing extreme financial losses due to wildlife crop damage. Currently, the two programs designed to assist farmers with these damages, the wildlife damage abatement program and the wildlife damage claim program are not fully meeting the needs of many farmers in our part of the state.

AB 49 makes a number of needed reforms to these programs including lifting the $10,000 limit on damage claims and streamlining the administration of the programs under the Department of Natural Resources. This bill also creates a new portion of the abatement program to provide some assistance to farmers who farm on leased land among other things. The changes made by AB 49 will make a big difference for a number of farmers in our neck of the woods and I'm pleased this bill was approved on a voice vote in the Assembly.

In addition, I had the opportunity to testify in support of the Senate version of the bill on Thursday with Senator Petrowski. A big thank you to Mike Robers and Connor Beissel from the Sawyer County Farm Bureau for making the long trip down to Madison to share their stories and advocate for this important legislation. I hope to see it clear the Senate and on the way to the governor's desk soon.
In my e-update a couple of weeks ago I discussed legislation that I brought forward with Senator Petrowski and Representative Gundrum to help with an important clean-up project in several communities around our state. This bill, AB 943, provides up to $2.5 million in funding for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to contract for the removal of the hazardous electronic waste left behind by the now-defunct company 5R Processors. This waste is currently contained in several semi-trailers and warehouse facilities located in Rusk, Price, and Washington Counties.

I'm pleased to report that AB 943 was approved unanimously by the Assembly on Wednesday and it now heads to the State Senate for their consideration. To learn more about AB 943 you can click here to read the story from my earlier e-update or here to read the press release I put out with Senator Petrowski. You can also click below to watch a video of my floor speech in support of AB 943.
Click on the video above to watch my speech in support of AB 943
Election Reform Measures Clear the Assembly
One of the top areas of concern that I have heard about from constituents over the past several months is election integrity. Back in October, I shared that the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) had released the results of their audit of the election administration surrounding the 2020 election. In this report, LAB provided 48 recommendations for consideration by the legislature and the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) to improve election practices.

During Thursday's floor session I voted for several common-sense election reform proposals that are aimed at fixing issues that occurred during the 2020 election. Many of the bills passed by the Assembly address the recommendations made by the nonpartisan LAB. The changes made by this package include:
  • securing the chain of custody for ballots
  • cleaning and maintaining accurate voter rolls
  • closing voter ID loopholes
  • reforming indefinitely confined status
  • ensuring timely review of election complaints
  • stronger penalties for violating election law
  • ensuring legislative oversight of WEC
  • conducting frequent and comprehensive audits
  • strengthening reporting requirements to improve public transparency
Around the 87th
One of my favorite parts about serving as your state representative is getting out and interacting with constituents at many of the wonderful community events across the 87th District. Check out some of the upcoming events around the district below. Also, if you know of any other events, please contact my office and let me know, so I can include them in a future e-update and try to attend myself.

Check out some of the events coming up around the district:
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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