Thank you for visiting: 4-H of Dunn County
Thank you to all the 4-H
members and parents who stopped by my office this week and shared their
stories. We had some great discussion, and I was delighted to hear about the
great impacts 4-H has on our younger generation. As a member of 4-H myself
when I was a child, I was impressed to see how the club had grown and
expanded.
If you have a group that is visiting the Capitol, please do not hesitate to
contact my office to set up a meeting time.
Recycling
I have heard from many of you
with concerns about the proposed cuts to our recycling laws. While I have
spoken already with many constituents on this issue, I will continue to work
with my colleagues to find ways to maintain our recycling programs.
Although the recycling mandate and monetary aid for local recycling programs
would be eliminated in the proposed budget bill, the laws prohibiting
putting recyclables in landfills remain. I fear this may lead to dumping on
the side of the road, leaving a mess in our beautiful 67th district.
Moreover, eliminating funding while still requiring people to recycle seems
like an unfunded mandate on local governments by the state. My colleagues
and I made a commitment not to raid segregated funds. Thus, I remain uneasy
with transferring or diverting the recycling funds over to another program.
Like the rest of our state budget, we do need to be making cuts, but I do
not believe that entirely eliminating the funding is the best move for
Wisconsin. When balancing the cost of building – or even maintaining – more
landfill space as a result of the cuts made to the recycling program, I am
not sure that such drastic cuts would make our state come out on top.
The Budget Process Begins
This week the Joint Finance
Committee (JFC) began hearing testimony from State Agencies regarding
Governor Walker’s proposed budget. This is an opportunity for the agencies
to share how they might be affected by these proposals.
In addition, JFC announced the times and locations of the public hearings on
the budget. Although there was no hearing scheduled in the Chippewa Falls
area, the hearings are spread out through the state, not focused solely on
major population centers. If you are unable to attend any of the hearings
below, JFC has created an email address where you may send written
testimony: budgetcomments@legis.wisconsin.gov.
JFC Public Hearings
Thursday, April 7th
UW Stephens Point
Lee S. Dreyfus University Center
Stevens Point, WI
10 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Friday, April 8th
Northwood School
Minong, WI
10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday, April 11th
Wisconsin State Fair Park
West Allis WI
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13th
Arcadia High School
Arcadia, WI
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
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