Representative Ripp E-update

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ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

Last week, I held my first Transportation committee meeting for the 2013-14 session. This meeting was especially important because we heard public testimony and voted on a piece of legislation I authored, an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution, which would protect the Transportation Fund.

The amendment specifically requires there be a transportation fund, and that revenues directly related to transportation functions (e.g. gas taxes, registration fees) be deposited in the fund. It then requires those revenues deposited in the fund only be spent for transportation services. The amendment is necessary because the Transportation Fund is the largest of the segregated funds and has been the most abused, in both volume and repetition. Since 2003, over $1.3 billion have been taken out of the fund to use for other items.

Last session, this constitutional amendment received strong bipartisan votes in both the Assembly and the Senate. It also received strong public support in referenda, passing in 54 of our 72 counties. The public seems to be making one thing clear; when we levy taxes for a specific purpose, the money people pay in should fund exactly what we told them it was going to fund.

In the Senate, the Transportation Committee has had a public hearing on this joint resolution but has not yet voted on the measure. They will be having a meeting to vote this Thursday. If passed, it will go to the Senate floor where it will be voted on by the whole Senate body. If it passes in both the Assembly and the Senate, the amendment will appear on the ballot in the November 2014 election.

If you have any further questions on this important piece of legislation, please feel free to contact me.

RIGHT THE RULES

This session, Assembly Republicans are moving forward with an initiative called "Right the Rules." State regulations govern the way we live. There are tens of thousands of regulations in the Wisconsin Administrative Code. These regulations, also known as "government red tape," affect your everyday life, especially if you are a small business person, work in local government, manufacturing, or agriculture. The Code has been created over many years, and has never been reviewed and revisited in this capacity in state history.

We are launching "Right the Rules" to make things a little bit easier for you. Each committee in the WI Assembly will review their portion of the 1,768 chapters in the Administrative Code. The Committee on Transportation alone as 139 chapters we need to work through.

We will examine these chapters and identify if any of the rules make it harder to do business because they are out of date, duplicate federal rules, require people to fill out unnecessary paperwork, delay projects, or add extreme costs to everyday tasks. However, we can't do this alone! We need to hear from Wisconsin citizens like you who deal with this red tape on a daily basis.

The main part of the Right the Rules launch was a website that includes information on how the project works, notices for public hearings, links on where to find the Administrative Code. Most importantly, the website is a place for public input. The website can be found at: http://righttherules.legis.wisconsin.gov or you can email your thoughts and concerns to righttherules@legis.wi.gov.

If you feel more comfortable working with your legislator directly, feel free to contact me with any of your thoughts, concerns, comments, or ideas, and I will get them to the right committee for review.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WASHINGTON D.C.

Last week, Congress finally passed the “No Budget, No Pay Act." This Act would require members of Congress to forgo pay for every day after October 1st that they do not adopt a budget and pass all of its spending bills. It was passed in response to the inability of Congress to pass a budget since 2009. Once members have approved a spending plan and appropriated the money, they would start receiving paychecks again, but would not be able to collect any retroactive pay.

Also, on Thursday, the Senate agreed to suspend the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling until May 19 with a 64-34 vote. It now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama’s expected signature.

CONTACT ME

As in the past I would continue to encourage you to contact my office with ideas for this next legislative session and on individual pieces of legislation. Now more than ever your ideas and opinions need to be heard, so we can begin to get Wisconsin back to work. Please contact my office at 608-266-3404 or email me at Rep.Ripp@legis.wisconsin.gov, or stop by my Capitol office at 223 North. I look forward to hearing from you. As always, I will continue to work across the aisle to find common ground and move legislation forward.

Please share this update with your friends and neighbors within the 42nd Assembly District and if there is anyone you know who would like to be included, please respond to this email with their email address.