A Time to Remember Our Heroes

This coming Monday is Memorial Day, a day for us as Americans to remember the men and women who have fought and died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Originally called Decoration Day, to honor and remember the fallen Union & Confederate soldiers who had died during the Civil War and to place flowers on their grave sites, Memorial Day become a nationally recognized holiday in 1967 and today honors all fallen service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice during all American wars and conflicts to preserve our freedom and liberty.

This weekend as you mark the beginning of the summer season with cookouts, parades, and spending time with your friends and family, I hope you will remember to visit a grave site, fly our nation’s flag and reflect upon the sacrifices that were made to protect and defend the greatest bastion of freedom the world has ever known.

JFC Approves Tuition Freeze

On Thursday, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) approved a freeze on tuition and tax dollars for the University of Wisconsin System over the next two years with bipartisan support. The tuition freeze is the first two-year freeze in the 42-year existence of the UW-System.

The UW System was seeking a 2% tuition increase, which would have increased costs on students and their families by over $42 million over the next two years. Such an increase would have immediately followed six consecutive years of 5.5% increases which provided the UW-System the funds to build up the cash reserves that have just recently been discovered by the Legislature’s Audit Committee.

Not only will the tuition freeze be implemented, but the system will not receive the added flexibilities they requested during the last budget cycle and will also not receive $94 million in additional tax dollars that was proposed in Governor Walker’s initial budget proposal. Instead, that funding will be used to boost K-12 public education funding and to provide tax relief to state taxpayers.

The motion to freeze tuition was supported by all Republican members of the Joint Finance Committee and the two Senate Democrats who sit on the committee. The only members to vote against the motion were Representatives Cory Mason (D-Racine) and Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee).
 

Walker Signs Work-Share Bill into Law

Last week, Governor Walker signed Assembly Bill 15 into law, making it 2013 Wisconsin Act 11. This legislation allows employers, pending certification from the Department of Workforce Development, to create a work-share program. Such a program gives employers flexibility during tough economic times to reduce employees’ hours instead of laying them off.

It is important to know that an employer must also maintain retirement plans and health insurance coverage under the work-share program. The Department of Workforce Development estimates work-share programs will save the unemployment reserve fund millions of dollars.

Following the bill signing, Governor Walker released the following statement:

“Wisconsin now joins 24 other states with work-share programs,” Governor Walker said. “Instead of getting a pink slip during an economic downturn, workers now have an opportunity to stay on the job and receive unemployment benefits for the hours they lose. I thank Representative Ed Brooks (R-Reedsburg) and Senator Paul Farrow (R-Pewaukee) for their work on this bill.”

Please feel free to contact my office with any thoughts or questions you may have. It is a pleasure serving you in the State Senate.