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Welcome to the first edition of my new and improved e-updates! With the start of a new year, it was a perfect time to provide the weekly updates to my constituents with a new look. I hope you like the new format.

It was an eventful first week of 2022 serving the hardworking people of the 87th Assembly District. You can learn more about it 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.
Supporting Our Law Enforcement
Those who protect and serve our communities in law enforcement have an incredibly difficult and at times dangerous job. Recently, we saw a prime example of the important work our law enforcement officers do when members of the Rusk County Sheriff's Office and Ladysmith Police Department with the assistance of a good Samaritan stepped up to save a life.

Unfortunately, their jobs have become even more difficult with the ever-increasing scrutiny of law enforcement and the calls by some to "defund the police". This has resulted in a higher number of police officers choosing to leave the profession and fewer people choosing to enter it. Currently, Wisconsin has the lowest number of law enforcement officers working across our state in at least a decade. In addition, police academy graduate levels are also the lowest in the last 10 years. At the same time, the number of violent crimes is on the rise and it is critical that we do more to back those who wear the badge.
Last week Tuesday, I was proud to be in Eau Claire with several of my colleagues and members of law enforcement to announce a package of bills that Assembly Republicans are bringing forward to better support law enforcement in our state. This package aims to address a number of issues that departments across our state are facing including recruitment and retention, training and certification, and onboarding assistance. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues to get this important package of legislation to Governor Evers' desk during the 2022 floor period.
Helping Our Farmers
A few years ago, I began hearing concerns from farmers in our area of the state who were experiencing extreme financial losses due to wildlife crop damage. From these conversations I've learned that the two programs designed to assist farmers with these damages, the wildlife damage abatement program and the wildlife damage claim program, were not fully meeting the needs of many farmers in our part of the state. That is why over the past few years I have been working with Senator Petrowski and stakeholders to bring forward legislation to reform these programs to better meet the needs of our farmers. Late last session we were successful in getting these needed reforms approved by the full Assembly, but unfortunately, the Senate did not do the same because of the cancelation of their final floor period due to COVID-19.

I am proud to bring this legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 49 back again this session, and last week, I had the opportunity to appear before the Assembly Agriculture Committee to testify in support of it.
A big thank you to Andy Winiarczyk and Mike Robers from the Sawyer County Farm Bureau for making the trek down to Madison to share their stories and advocate for this important legislation.

To learn more about AB 49 you can click here to read my committee testimony. 
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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