As we enter Thanksgiving week, I like to stop and take stock of all the things that we have to be thankful for. As your state representative, I am fortunate to live in the state I love and grew up in. I'm also thankful that I get to work each day to provide a better future for our community and for all Wisconsinites.

This week, I encourage everyone to slow down and enjoy time with your families, and to cherish the traditions that create memories for generations to come. We all love eating a big Thanksgiving dinner and watching the Packers, but make sure to also take a moment to have a great conversation with your family and friends and enjoy the quality time with them.

Finally, let me say that I am thankful for all of my constituents who it is such an honor to represent. Know that I do not take one day for granted, and that I will always stand up for what I believe to be the right path forward for our state.

Instead, there was an extensive 13-hour calendar filled with extreme and divisive bills as well as a true lack of respect and decorum for the people and the process.

The session went late into the night and early the next day. We all know nothing good happens for the people of our State when this legislature meets after midnight.

RECALLS: First, there were two bills which changed the way in which recall elections will operate. Under these bills, only under instances of felonies or ethics violations would the public be able to recall their elected officials. I believe that both state and local leaders should be held accountable to the people who elect them, and that if the community we represent wishes to attempt to make a change through a recall election because they were lied to, it is their right to do so.

VOTER ID: The Assembly GOP also passed a new voter ID bill that modifies the controversial 2011 voter ID law which is currently before the courts. This is a bill in search of a nonexistent problem. All of this in an effort to increase its chance of surviving a new court challenge. This creates more red tape, doesn't protect the sanctity of your vote and challenges a fundamental right in our country - the right of one person one vote. Under this new bill, voters would only be able to cast a ballot without ID if they signed an affidavit swearing that they are too poor to afford ID or had no way of gaining access to their birth certificate. This is anti-democratic and an abuse of power.

ACCESS TO YOUR BALLOT: The GOP majority voted to limit our local clerks’ office hours to 40 hours per week only on weekdays and also eliminate weekend ballot access. This bill will make our elected clerks jobs more difficult; will make our voting lines longer and likely decrease voter turnout across our state. We know that by again overriding local control and mandating fewer absentee voting hours, they are not allowing our communities the ability to address their differing voter needs. This is yet another blatant voter suppression tactic.

SUPREME COURT: Finally, we voted on a Constitutional Amendment which will change the process used to choose the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The resolution, which also passed on a party line vote, changes the 100 year old system entirely. Historically, the Chief Justice is chosen by seniority, but this new legislation would have the court members vote on who they want to be the Chief Justice. Considering the conservative majority on our court, this is yet another power grab by the Republicans to gain power over the Supreme Court as well as the Governor’s office and State Legislature. The insertion of politics into our supposed nonpartisan courts is extremely concerning. Rather than helping the people of Wisconsin and creating jobs we continue to see GOP bills that are blatant attempts to silence the voices of the majority of the people of Wisconsin.

Redistricting Reform Rejected by the GOP

All of the problems we saw on the last session day lead to one glaring, obvious solution: Wisconsin needs redistricting reform now. I was proud to stand as one of the 14 Democratic Assembly freshmen who have called for redistricting reform. The 14 of us stood, speaking one after another, on the last day of session for 2013, on the Assembly floor calling on the GOP leadership to bring our nonpartisan redistricting bill forward for discussion and a vote.

(click to enlarge)

Despite the fact that there is a ground swell of support for our common-sense legislation across the state, once again the people of Wisconsin were not heard by the GOP and partisan gridlock won out.

Wisconsin currently uses a legislative redistricting process, where the maps are drawn up by the majority parties in the Legislature, are voted on by the Senate and Assembly, and are then signed by the governor. If the Legislature cannot agree on a redistricting plan, as is usually the case with split houses, the Supreme Court steps in to finalize the new legislative districts. For the past 50 years, Wisconsin's elected officials have had to work together with bipartisan cooperation or leave the task of redistricting up to the courts. This was the first time in 60 years that one political party had complete control over the redistricting process, causing Wisconsin to seriously consider if its current process is best for Wisconsin's democracy.

The bill we pulled to the floor for a vote by the Assembly would have replaced the current process and instead create a nonpartisan commission to draw new legislative and congressional lines after each Census. Unfortunately, despite the maps being criticized for being drawn in secret and to gain a political advantage by newspaper editorials across the state, costing taxpayers $2.1 million to defend them in court, and growing support for a new system, Assembly Republicans rejected the bill. As a result, Republican legislators will continue to have the power to pick their voters in order to save their jobs.

I know that with fair and transparent redistricting, the extreme Tea Party bills that are moving through Wisconsin that are attacking voting rights, workers’ rights, women's rights, the environment, and so much more; would not be happening.

I know that the real problem in Wisconsin is not that too many people are voting – it is that too few people are working. I'm not here because it's easy and I know there is a long road ahead but I pledge to work tirelessly, with each of you at my side, to rebuild Wisconsin's economy, to advocate for our hard-working families, and to bring decorum back to our statehouse. Redistricting reform could begin to heal the divide we face in our state, and to move us once again, forward.

Cell Phone Privacy Bill Introduced

I was pleased to reach across the aisle to work with Representative Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) on a bill that will protect our citizens' privacy in relation to their cell phones and location data. The bill was sent around for co-sponsorship this past week.

The cellphones we carry everywhere establish a clear log of our daily travels and can go a long way in telling the story of our lives. This information can be sensitive in nature and should be treated as such.

This bill (LRB 2077) requires law enforcement to get a search warrant for location information recorded by an electronic device. The law doesn't just cover cell phone metadata, but requires that law enforcement get a probable-cause warrant for tracking a suspect in a criminal investigation by social networking check-ins, or via a GPS tracking device.

LRB 2077 follows the lead of the U.S. Supreme Court, which recently ruled that it was unconstitutional for police to install a GPS device on someone’s car without a warrant. But GPS vehicle tracking isn’t the only way to collect details on where you are and when. Our cell phones create a location data trail throughout the day as they ping nearby cell towers. Many other devices – like tablets – do the same, while mobile apps and other tools can collect even more detailed location information.

This data is a powerful tool for law enforcement, and should be available to police when it’s appropriate. But this information is extraordinarily sensitive, revealing things like your place of worship, if you are visiting a medical clinic, and who you visit and meet with.

New data shows that law enforcement agencies across the country are collecting location data without a warrant or any court approval. This bill will protect our citizen’s privacy and ensure that police have a standard protocol state-wide for obtaining this information.

There are exemptions in the bill due to time sensitive cases including:

• An emergency involving danger, death or serious physical injury to any person exists.
• The communication device is reported stolen by the owner.

This bill has already received bi-partisan support and it is my hope that it will pass through the Assembly and Senate during the January floor period.

Gov. Walker denies Health Care Coverage to 80,000 low-income Wisconsin citizens

Late last week Gov. Walker gave into intense public pressure and delayed kicking over 77,000 people off BadgerCare for 3 months. But with Gov. Walker even good news tends to be undermined by very bad news.

Shockingly, it turns out Gov. Walker funds his delay in BadgerCare cuts by denying health care coverage to 80,000 of the lowest income Wisconsinites for three months.

Gov. Walker expects us to believe that the best way to maintain coverage for 77,000 people who he should never have cut from BadgerCare in the first place is to deny health coverage to 80,000 people.

It’s wrong to fund health coverage for one group of Wisconsinites by denying it to another. Three months without health insurance is just too big a risk to ask 80,000 of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable citizens to endure.

This is a clear and direct result of his refusal to take enhanced federal BadgerCare dollars provided by the Affordable Care Act. Under the ACA, from 2014 through 2016, the federal government would pay 100 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid coverage for adults with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. For an individual, that means an income of $15,282; for a family of four, it's $31,322. After 2016, the federal share would gradually decline until it reaches 90 percent in 2020, with the states picking up the remaining cost. Wisconsin could also opt out at any time under this plan if we, as a state, decided that paying that 10 percent was too great of a burden.

Rejecting this $2.4 billion in federal money comes at a cost to state taxpayers of $119 million in 2013-2015 alone.  In my book, spending more to insure less people is a glaring lose-lose situation for Wisconsin.

The Legislature is scheduled to take up Walker’s ill-advised plan next week under a special session call. Instead of delaying access to healthcare for 80,000 people Gov. Walker and the legislature should reverse their decision to reject billions in federal money for BadgerCare. 

For perspective, 80,000 people is approximately the number of people that  fills Camp Randall stadium. That's a lot of people being delayed health care coverage!


BPDD 'Take Your Legislator to Work Day'

I was proud to take part in the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, 'Take Your Legislator to Work Day'. I visited Jeremy at Prairie Athletic Club where he is in charge of cleaning 3 large workout areas. He wipes down the machinery and vacuums the carpet in these rooms. He does this 5 days a week. Community integrated employment is so important for those with developmental disabilities. It engages them in a job which they can be proud of, gives them some spending money, and brings social interaction to their. Jeremy's mother told me of how happy he is to go to work each day and how he loves all the new friends he has met through this job. I look forward to continuing to work with BPDD in the future, and wish Jeremy continued success in his job.

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November 25, 2013
Issue 22

State Capitol
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708

Office: (608) 266-0960

Email:
Rep.Sargent@legis.wi.gov

On the Web: sargent.assembly.wi.gov