North Central Region Opioid Consortium

Wisconsin Hospital Association Discussion

The Transportation Budget

What's Next in the Budget Process?

Logging and Heritage Festival

North Central Region Opioid Consortium

This morning I spoke at the Marshfield Clinic's North Central Region Opioid Consortium in Minocqua.  I talked about our state's devastating heroin epidemic and the legislation I authored last session geared toward combating this problem.

  As many of you may know, I authored a package of seven bills called the Heroin, Opiate, Prevention and Education (HOPE) Agenda. These bills were signed into law last year. Moving forward, I plan to build upon these seven laws to further my efforts to combat the negative impact of addiction in Wisconsin.

I understand that the HOPE Agenda is not a silver bullet; however, these laws are a step in the right direction. Heroin and opiate addiction continues to be a significant problem in our state, and I will continue to help spread awareness at events like today's consortium.

Click here for more information about my HOPE Agenda.

WHA Opioid Abuse Strategy Discussion

 Left to right: Kyle O’Brien, WHA; Rep. John Nygren; Jenny Malcore, Rep. Nygren staff; Peter Stamas, MD, Ministry St. Joseph’s Hospital; Donn Dexter, MD, Mayo Clinic Health System.

Last week I joined the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) Physician Leaders Council for their opioid abuse strategy discussion. I shared insight about my anti-heroin legislation from last session -- the HOPE Agenda -- and discussed ideas for future legislation to combat the negative affects of drug abuse in Wisconsin.

We had a thoughtful dialogue and many good ideas were brought before the group. I look forward to continuing to work with stakeholders and other groups like WHA to reduce the awful impact of addiction.

Fore more information about the WHA discussion, click here.

The Transportation Budget

One of the final issue areas to be taken up by my colleagues and I on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) this budget season is our state's transportation budget. We have heard from Wisconsin residents throughout the state, and many of my fellow legislators and I share similar concerns: we cannot continue to borrow funds at such a high level to support our transportation projects.

Our goal is to make sound financial decisions for the entire state. We will not be raising the gas tax or vehicle registration fees. Instead, we are committed to maintaining our current roads.

As my fellow Assembly Republicans and I move forward with our budget discussions, we want to ensure that any transportation reductions are felt equally across Wisconsin. It wouldn't be fair for certain areas of our state to carry the brunt of the cuts. It is for this reason that we are advocating for the best possible budget
for all of Wisconsin.

By working together, I know that we will arrive at solution in the near future. I look forward to continuing these important discussions during the coming week.