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Official Government
Communication
Week of Jan. 1st - Jan. 7th
Dear
Friend,
There is a lot
happening at the State Capitol and it is my hope that this email will
help you stay in touch with your government. As your Senator, I truly
believe in public service. If there is anything my office can do to
assist you, please feel free to contact us.
Here to
serve,
Sen. Lena
Taylor
4th
District
Off and Running: 1st Judiciary Public Hearing
of the Year
 On
Thursday, as a member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public
Safety, I had an opportunity to hear a robust number of bills covering
everything from providing emergency medical treatment to domestic animals
to the length of contracts for GPS devices for tracking sex
offenders. I was fortunate to have a bill that I have co-authored
with Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) to be heard in that
public hearing. SB 442 creates a $5,000 surcharge that could be
applied to anyone convicted of patronizing or soliciting prostitutes,
pandering, or keeping a place of prostitution. Far too often, prosecution
of this crime is one-sided, with the purchasers of sex getting off with
much lighter fines or repercussions for their behavior. This bill
will provide yet another deterrent for those who solicit sex in this
manner. An added benefit is that the surcharge amounts collected
would be used for treatment and services for sex-trafficking victims and
for criminal investigative operations and law enforcement relating to
Internet crimes against children. Stayed tuned as we work to pass this
important piece of legislation into law.
Seeing Red: Agency Backtracks of Controversial
Rule Change
 Many
of us have made contributions to the Red Cross because of the work they
have done to assist in emergencies in communities all over the
world. After all, if we were ever in distress we would hope that
help would be there for us. However, after a rule change initiated
by The Red Cross of Wisconsin, many residents learned that if they lived
in 10 specific Milwaukee zip codes, the typical on-site services
traditionally offered by the agency would no longer be provided at the
scene of an incident. Specifically, residents affected by fires at their
homes would have been required to meet Red Cross volunteers at nearby
police stations or the Red Cross headquarters. Citing safety and better use of
volunteer time, the agency was bombarded by impacted residents who raised
concerns that the areas impacted were predominantly African-American and
minority communities. Like many elected officials, I joined
questioning the organization about both the intent and impact of their
decision. Most of my Senate district, which includes portions of
Glendale, wanted answers about the policy change. I was pleased to
work with Glendale Alderwoman Tomika Vukovic to bring a voice to those concerns. As
of Thursday, the Red Cross had rescinded their policy. It is my
hope to work with the agency to help them address programming needs that
will not place further communities in danger of elimination of the
critical assistance they provide.
President Rings in the New Year with Embarrassing
Foreign Policy Displays
 One
of the principal duties as President of the United States is to represent
our nation in a dignified manner that reflects the best our nation has to
offer. The recent displays made by the 45th President failed
to do so, continuing a year of embarrassing and counterproductive
dialogue. On Tuesday, the 45th President tweeted that his
nuclear button is “much bigger” and “more powerful” than “his,” referring
to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the nation’s speculated nuclear
capability. That tweet, among all the others, is now a part of the
official presidential records. In addition, the Trump administration
vowed to host a party for the nations that voted against a United Nations
(UN) resolution condemning the administration’s decision to recognize
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The resolution passed 128 – 9, the
nine being Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia,
Naura, Palau, Togo, and the United States. The
juvenile language and crass approach taken to complex foreign policy
matters is unbecoming of the office of the President, and it hurts our
nation’s ability to engage globally, protect stability, and advance our
national interests abroad.
New
Year, Same Unsustainable Corrections Approach
 While
it is a new year, some things have not changed including our approach to
criminal justice and corrections. Over the holidays, my office received
21 new letters from incarcerated individuals, which is in line with our
biweekly average. In these letters, we investigate and respond to various
requests including correctional officer and facility complaints and
commentary on unfair sentencing under something commonly referred to as
the “Old Law.” This was created by the 1998 truth in sentencing measure
which weakened parole and early-release opportunities, created a system
where individuals sentenced prior to truth in sentencing would serve
significantly longer sentences for the same crime. This is because the
individuals were sentenced with the expectation of some form of early
release, which was later taken away.
The truth is this. The current
corrections trajectory is simply unsustainable. We have spent more on
corrections that our landmark UW system for the past seven years. As of
last week, the Department of Corrections held 23,234 people in prisons,
which is 5,766 more than our system’s design capacity. I have said it
before and I will say it again, we need a criminal justice system that
focuses on prevention and rehabilitation. We can achieve this by
investing in anti-poverty programs, creating pathways to work, and
creating the programming and opportunities so individuals who are
incarcerated can re-enter with skills and a way to be independent.
Governor uses Juveniles, Correctional Officers in
Campaign Gimmick
 On
Thursday, Governor Walker announced that he would close the troubled
Lincoln Hills facility and implement a regionalized juvenile corrections
model beginning in 2019. The announcement comes six years after the
Governor was first notified of the alleged abuse, two years after the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined the state probe into the
facility, and days after Governor Walker’s former Corrections Secretary
Ed Wall stated that the investigation into the juvenile facility had been
“completely botched” and “shuffled off” by the governor’s administration.
So, it is interesting to me, after the governor spent his entire tenure
failing to visit a correctional or juvenile facility, ignored my two
calls for special sessions to address Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake in
April 2016 and February 2017, and disregarded many legislative proposals
that I have shared with him, that going into an election year he finally
begins to acknowledge the seriously flawed juvenile justice system here
in Wisconsin. Some of my legislative proposals include: a juvenile
solitary confinement ban, transfer of juvenile corrections to the
Department of Children and Families, authority for Milwaukee County to
have their own juvenile hybrid facility, and proper distribution of
medication to juveniles – which was approved during the 2017 biannual
state budget – and many other proposals that focus on regionalized
corrections models, best practices, and trauma-informed care. After
failing to receive any response from the governor or support from my
Republican colleagues, Representative Chris Taylor (D-Madison) and I
introduced a bill to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. I want to work
with the Governor to seek an immediate resolution to the ongoing crisis,
but the fact that he kicked the can down the road to 2019 while he called
for a special session to giveaway $3 billion to Foxconn – along with his
history of inaction – makes me question his sincerity and concerns for
juvenile and staff safety.
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