Happy Halloween!  

Whether you took your children or grandchildren out trick-or-treating or handed out candy, I hope you enjoyed it. I always had a great time taking my children trick-or-treating and seeing them smile with their bags full of candy, but that hasn't happened for many years! 

Capitol Update 

The Speaker’s Task Force on Suicide Prevention and the Speaker’s Task Force on Adoption have been consuming most of my time down in Madison. For the past month, I’ve been writing policy recommendations to reduce the rate of suicide in Wisconsin. Many organizations and groups have given  their input throughout this process and helped me tremendously in leading this task force in the right direction. Many of the bills members and I drafted have already received a public hearing with many groups and organizations testifying in favor.

On November 7^th, the State Assembly will be on the floor to vote on numerous bills. Among those will be most of the bills drafted from the Speaker’s Task Force on Suicide Prevention. Because of the bipartisan and public support of these bills, they should have no problem passing both houses and landing on Governor Evers’ desk for his signature.

On the other hand, members and I on the Speaker’s Task Force on Adoption are still in the process of recommending bills and making tweaks to current proposals. The Assembly Committee on Family Law held a public hearing on a variety of our proposed adoption bills on October 29^th.

A few concerns were raised during the hearing from many groups and organizations, which is why members and I have some tweaking to do. Despite the consensus that changes need to be made, I look forward to working with all parties involved to come up with a commonsense, bipartisan approach to facilitate the process of adoption in Wisconsin. 

What Else is Happening?

Wisconsin Healthy Community – Gold

You may have heard La Crosse County has been considered a Wisconsin Healthy Community. La Crosse is one of only four counties in Wisconsin to receive the Gold designation. I continue to be impressed with all the good work being done in our region to improve the health and well-being of our community. It’s an accomplishment worth celebrating!

Senate Bill 266/Assembly Bill 300

As you know, last month the State Assembly passed Senate Bill 266 which was a bill I introduced. When a law enforcement officer died in the line of duty in Wisconsin, his or her family would be notified a few days later that their health insurance has been terminated. I am pleased to share that will no longer be the case in Wisconsin because Governor Evers signed this bill into law a few weeks ago. Now, families of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty will be able to continue their health insurance coverage. 

Eagle Court of Honor

I had the opportunity to attend the Eagle Court of Honor for Samuel Conway, Ethan Kramer, Jack Lawton, and Luke Lawton. Only 5% of Boy Scouts receive such an honor. Read below to learn more about the projects each Scout worked on:

• Samuel Conway led a team to build and install a bench at the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
• Ethan Kramer volunteered much of his free time at WAFER La Crosse where he led a team of 26 Scouts to build produce bins for shoppers.
• Jack Lawton built a baked goods display for 4-H to use at the La Crosse County Fair, spending 120 man-hours on the project.
• Luke Lawton built a display to hold crops and plants for 4-H to use at the county fair. He made two, three-tiered movable displays which can be displayed side-by-side or back-to-back. Luke spent 131 man-hours on the project.

Until next time, 

Steve