It is hard to believe the new 2013 Legislative Session is already a month underway. The session officially kicked off on January 7th with the Inaugural ceremonies held at the State Capitol, and it was a tremendous honor to be sworn in as your new representative from the 35th Assembly District.

The session is off to a fast start, and the pace will only quicken from here. The Governor is set to unveil his 2013-14 state budget proposal next week, and the legislature has a renewed focus on a pro-jobs, common sense agenda. In fact as I write this, I have just come from the Assembly floor, where the constitutional amendment Transportation Protection Fund was passed with a wide bipartisan margin of 82-13. You will find more details below.

Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to visit with many of you, both at events around the district and through your emails, letters, and phone calls. I read every message personally, and I appreciate the time you take to share your thoughts and make our district a better place to live and work. Please continue to keep in touch.

During legislative action this week, the Assembly overwhelmingly voted to pass Assembly Joint Resolution 2, the Transportation Fund Protection constitutional amendment. I was proud to vote in favor of the amendment.

Roads, bridges, and infrastructure are critically important for our state’s economy. Particularly here in northern Wisconsin, we depend on good, maintained roads to travel to work and get our goods to market. For too long, the state’s Transportation Fund has been used as a piggy bank to fund other government wish list items, and previous administrations have failed to pay back the funds they raided.

With the passage of the Transportation Fund Protection Amendment, we are working to ensure the fund will be protected going forward. Dollars that go into the transportation fund will stay there, and will be used for the actual transportation purposes for which they were intended. This will allow for investment back into our state, and for maintaining the infrastructure we have.

The amendment will now go to the State Senate, where it has also garnered wide support. It was passed last session, and once having cleared the Senate again, will be ready to be put to a statewide referendum in November 2014.

 

Recently, Sen. Tom Tiffany and I had the opportunity to visit both Antigo and Merrill, where we held ceremonial oath of office ceremonies. Click here for more details from the Antigo Daily Journal.  Thank you to everyone who attended and helped to make the events an enjoyable day to remember.

 
Antigo Mayor Bill Brandt welcomes Rep. Mary Czaja and Sen. Tom Tiffany to City Hall