Robert Cowles
Serving Wisconsin's 2nd Senate District
|
Banner Photo |
The banner photo on the top of this E-Newsletter was
taken at Pamperin Park in Brown County.
|
Quick Fact |
In 1885, a young man from Hortonville by the name of
Charlie unveiled his new invention, the hamburger, at
the fair in Seymour. Learn more about Hamburger
Charlie’s invention
here,
and don’t forget to check out
Hamburger Days
in the Home of the Hamburger: Seymour, Wisconsin.
|
Helpful Links |
|
|
Act 54
Helps Wisconsin Catch Criminals at the Pump |
With the constant advance of technology, law enforcement
and prosecutors sometimes lack the legal tools to stop
modern crimes. Credit card skimmers are one of the
latest major threats to consumer protection, as the
skimmers are easy to obtain, easy to use, hard to
identify, and hard to track. Dozens of communities have
already felt the impact of these identity thieves, but
Wisconsin’s criminal statutes have been lagging behind.
Last week, 2017 Senate Bill 133, which I authored, was
signed into law. This finished the legislative process
for a bill that saw strong, bipartisan support when it
passed through the legislature in June. Act 54, the new
number for SB 133, will ensure that law enforcement has
the proper tools at their disposal to deter and
prosecute criminals, and helps to ensure that consumers
can be safer when they pay at the pump.
With the help of Attorney General Brad Schimel and a
host of other stakeholders including law enforcement,
prosecutors and gas station owners, we were able to
identify the weaknesses in the current laws. Prosecutors
and law enforcement were primarily restricted from
prosecution unless the criminals retrieved personal or
financial data from consumers.
Now, law enforcement has the ability to address criminal
activity for attempted use, possession with criminal
intent, or trafficking of a skimmer. This bill would not
have been possible without the help of my Co-Author
Representative Rob Summerfield, a host of stakeholders,
and my legislative colleagues who identified the ability
of this legislation to address this threat.
|
Helping
to Get Veterans to Work |
July 25th was National Hire a Veteran Day,
and in recognition of this occasion, I wanted to
highlight a bill I am working on. Veterans often have a
hard time finding employment when they transition from
the military to civilian life. While their sacrifice is
often revered by employers, their formal work experience
may be lacking, and the skills service members gained
during deployment may not be easily converted to an
employers need.
Recently, Representative Cody Horlacher and I introduced
Senate Bill 338
to help make the path to employment simpler for
veterans. This program assists in providing transitional
jobs to veterans, which will not only provide work
experience and skills learning, but it will give
veterans a chance to get their foot in the door with a
potential employer. I hope to see progress on this bill
in fall so we can get our veterans to work.
|
Rooting Out
FoodShare Fraud |
FoodShare replaced the Food Stamp Program in Wisconsin
in 2004 with the goal of helping to stop hunger and
improve nutrition and health among low income residents.
Participants receive monthly electronic benefits to
purchase food from local stores. People of all ages who
have a job but have low incomes, are living on small or
fixed income, have lost their job, or are retired or
disabled and not able to work take part in this program.
Over one million Wisconsinites benefit from FoodShare,
but unfortunately some try to defraud the system.
The Office of the Inspector General in the Department of
Health Services recently released a
report
on their increased efforts to root out intentional and
illegal FoodShare fraud. While the OIG has done a good
job of rooting out some of this fraud, more can be done.
I am proud to have authored
Senate Bill 174
that will further assist in halting FoodShare
trafficking by giving local law enforcement the tools
they need. A public hearing has been held, and I hope to
see more progress on this bill in fall.
|
SB 90
among Other Bills Signed into Law |
During the Governor’s Bill Signing that was held last
Wednesday, two bills I authored were among 18 others
that were signed into law. Along with my bill to combat
credit card skimmers, Senate Bill 90 was also signed
into law to create Act 55:
>> 2017 Act 55 allows auto repair shop staff to remove
and replace Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) stickers
on doors and door jams. Priory, removing a
VIN
sticker was a crime. Having to work around the stickers
severely slow vehicle repairs, making it more difficult
for repair-men or women and making it more costly to the
consumer. Act 55 will
speed-up repairs and potentially assist in lowering the
cost of labor to a consumer. The idea for this bill was
brought to me by local body shop owners, including Mark
Williams from Williams Auto Body [in the picture on the
right between Nicole (left) from Representative
Steffen's office and Heather (right) from my office] who
was present at the signing.
Other bills I supported as a co-sponsor that were signed
into law on August 2nd include:
>> 2017 Act 42 allows a pharmacy student to administer a
vaccine to a person who is at least six years old under
the direct supervision of a pharmacist. This will give
these students the practice they need to get ready for a
seamless transition into the workforce as the
pharmaceutical industry continues to grow. The bills
main authors were Senator Testin and Representative
Rohrkaste.
>> 2017 Act 53 allows waste heat recovery to be added to
the list of renewable resources manufacturers can use to
satisfy the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).
Under state standards, major electrical utilities are
required to get 10% of their energy from renewable
sources to meet their RPS. Waste heat recovery captures
heat leaving manufacturing facilities and reuses the
heat. That will significantly reduce the energy use of
the facility while reducing their carbon footprint. This
law change will help Wisconsin to adapt to evolving and
growing list of renewable energy. The bills main authors
were Senator Roth and Representative R. Brooks.
To see a full list of bills the Governor has signed into
law this year, visit the Legislature’s website at
this link.
|
Thanks for Reading! |
Feel free to
contact my office with any questions or concerns you may
have,
and be sure
to visit
my
website and connect with me on
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram.
Senator Robert Cowles
|
|