I hope you have all been staying safe in this heat.  Although it looks like the worst is behind us, at least temporarily, here are some tips the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has put together to stay cool and healthy when the mercury rises.

Despite the heat, I had the opportunity on Tuesday, July 16, to tour Xcel Energy's Grand Meadow Wind Farm in Dexter, Minnesota.  As vice chairman of the Assembly's energy and utilities committee, I was very interested to get a close-up look at how a wind farm operates.  Grand Meadow has over 65 turbines, each capable of producing 1.5 megawatts.

Tom and other tour members at Grand Meadow Wind Farm

Picture provided by Xcel Energy

On Wednesday, July 17, I met with Dr. Brad Saron, the new superintendent of the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District.  We had a good conversation about a number of issues facing Wisconsin public schools, including Common Core standards, school report cards, and teacher evaluations.  I welcome Dr. Saron to the area and look forward to working with him!

Tom and Dr. Saron

Although the period immediately following passage of the state budget tends to see a sharp drop in activity around the Capitol, things are beginning to pick up again as the Legislature prepares to reconvene in September.  Several committees have held hearings this summer about pending legislation and the ongoing "Right the Rules" regulatory reform project.

I have scheduled a meeting of the Assembly family law committee, which it is my honor to chair this session, for Tuesday, July 30.  The committee will vote on Assembly Bill (AB) 17, a bill I introduced that the committee held a hearing on in April.  AB 17 would allow adults who had been adopted as children to restore the names of their birth parents to their birth certificates; this issue was brought to my attention by my colleague Rep. Nick Milroy (D-South Range), and it has enjoyed bipartisan support.  The committee will also hold a public hearing on two bills:  Assembly Bill 211, which would create a rebuttable presumption that equal placement is in a child's best interests following a divorce, and Senate Bill 68, which clarifies when and how maintenance (alimony) payments are terminated upon the remarriage of the payee or the death of the payee or payer.

It's wonderful to once again be able to travel around the 67th Assembly District and down to Madison in the wake of my surgery.  Thank you for your prayers and kind words over the past two months.  I am doing well, and I look forward to the upcoming session!