Welcome to this week's edition of my e-update. It was a busy week down in Madison and I look forward to sharing with you some information about what is going on down at the State Capitol.
This week the State Assembly was in session and took up a number of proposals that reinforce Wisconsin's commitment to protecting life and legislation to help address the workforce housing shortage in our state. The State Senate was also on the floor this week and took up a number of bills in the Sporting Freedom Package that I've talked about over the past few weeks. In addition, late last week the long-awaited results of the Legislative Audit Bureau's audit of the election administration surrounding the 2020 election were released. You can read about all of this 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.
Fixing Foundations & Standing for Life
This week the State Assembly met on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Among the bills that were considered on Tuesday, was the Fixing Foundations Package which seeks to address the affordability of workforce housing in our state.
Wisconsin is in the midst of a growing workforce housing shortage. A number of factors have made it harder for Wisconsinites to be able to achieve the American Dream of owning their own home. For example, according to a 2019 report, since 2012, Wisconsin has created 75% fewer lots and 55% fewer new homes than pre-recession averages. Also, the cost of construction materials is increasing which increases the cost of building new homes. This along with rising rent costs in many parts of our state has contributed to the growing workforce housing shortage in our state. Because of this shortage, it has become harder for employers to recruit employees to fill the many job openings around our state including employers in our neck of the woods. The bills in this package that were approved by the Assembly this week include:
Assembly Bill (AB) 156 - creates a workforce housing tax credit to encourage the construction of new housing complexes.
AB 603 - creates a shovel-ready workforce housing development site program to help streamline the development process to bring workforce housing quickly to the communities with the most need, and be a potential draw for development.
AB 605 - creates a municipal workforce housing incentive program
AB 606 - creates a sales and use tax exemption for materials used solely to construct certain housing developments or housing rehabilitation projects.
AB 607 - creates a workforce housing rehabilitation loan program
AB 608 - reforms a number of workforce housing regulations
AB 609 - creates a local housing investment fund program
AB 610 - updates state appraisal practices to ensure fair and equal property tax assessments
For Wednesday's floor session, one of the main areas of focus was a legislative package that reinforces Wisconsin's commitment to protecting life. In my e-update a few weeks ago, I discussed most of these bills and I am pleased to share that that this package was approved by the Assembly. I was proud to vote in favor of these bills, and as your state representative, you can always count on me to support legislation that protects the sanctity of life.
Senate Bill (SB) 16/AB 6 - "The Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act" which ensures that any baby born alive after a failed abortion receives immediate and proper medical attention by requiring any provider present at the time of a failed abortion to exercise the same level of professional care to the surviving child as they would to any other child delivered.
SB 591/AB 593 - "Women’s Right to Know Act" requires certain information to be provided to a woman prior to receiving an abortion by an abortion-inducing drug regimen, and increases the information reported to the Department of Health Services after an induced abortion takes place
SB 592/AB 594 - "The Prenatal Diagnosis Information Act" requires parents of a child diagnosed with a congenital condition to be provided with educational resources that can help establish context and provide support
SB 593/AB 595 - "Shield the Vulnerable Act" would make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy based on a child's disability, race, or sex
SB 538/AB 539 - prohibits discrimination in organ transplantation on the basis of a disability.
This package has cleared both houses of the legislature and now heads to Governor Evers' desk where I hope he will sign each of them 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.
Election Audit Report Released
Late last week the long-awaited results of the Legislative Audit Bureau's audit of the election administration surrounding the 2020 election were released. While I'm still in the process of reviewing the over 100-page report, LAB provides 30 recommendations for improvements at the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) and 18 issues for legislative consideration. In addition, the report outlines how on several occasions the WEC failed to follow state law. This along, with the announcement on Wednesday from the Racine County Sheriff's Office about their investigation into illegal activity surrounding absentee ballots at long-term care facilities, proves why further investigation is needed and why the investigation led by Justice Gableman needs to continue.
If you would like to read the full LAB audit report you can click here. To watch the press conference from the Racine County Sheriff's Office you can click here.
Sporting Freedom Package Update
In my past couple of e-updates, I have discussed the Sporting Freedom Package that has been working through the legislative process. I am pleased to share that a number of these bills, including Senate Bill (SB) 609 which I authored, were approved by the full State Senate on Monday. To learn more about SB 609 click here to read the story from last week's e-update.
In addition, to SB 609 the following bills in the package were also passed by the Senate:
SB 563 - requirements for hunting non-native bovids.
SB 611 - allows individuals under 18 years old to satisfy the in-person field testing requirement for the hunter’s safety program by participating in a mentored hunt.
SB 612 - sets a minimum number of 100,000 brook trout that would be required to be raised by the DNR.
SB 613 - consolidates or eliminates hunting, fishing, and trapping approvals that are required by the DNR.
SB 614 - requires the DNR to create a biennial work plan that establishes priorities and goals for habitat work on lands managed by the DNR.
SB 615 - requires the DNR to prepare a report that identifies public access opportunities on all lands owned or managed by DNR and other land areas.
SB 616 - requires the DNR to make available on the Go Wild website dog training licenses.
SB 617 - requires the DNR to identify opportunities for partnering with the private aquaculture industry
The next step for these proposals is a public hearing in the State Assembly which I hope will be scheduled soon.
Around the 87th
Friends of Christian Education Banquet
I had a great time this past Saturday at the Friends of Christian Education Banquet in Athens. This awesome community event helps support both Trinity Lutheran School and St. Anthony de Padua Catholic School. Thank you to everyone who came out to support these two great schools!
Upcoming Events 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:
Saturday, November 6th - American Legion Hall - Bruce
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
