Open Records Law change blows up in Republicans’ faces

As you may know, late last week, Republicans slipped several provisions into the Wisconsin state budget as part of the Joint Committee on Finance’s motion #999 that essentially wiped out the state’s open records law. Luckily, the Senate voted to pull the provisions completely out of the state budget. Wisconsin has such a rich history of open government. We've recently learned that the deal even included input from Governor Walker's office. Governor Walker and Republicans showed their true colors on this one, proving we need to keep our eyes out for something like this returning in the future.

Bucks Arena update

The Joint Finance Committee held an informal session on the Milwaukee Bucks area bill Monday. However, the informational session excluded the Wisconsin Center District from the hearing. The district is expected to pay $93 million of the $500 million deal under the bill. As the only Milwaukee member of the budget committee, I was disappointed by this omission. The Bucks are important to Milwaukee’s culture and economy, and it’s important to get answers to the many questions remaining about this proposal. The Bucks arena is a state issue, not a partisan one, and I believe that we should work together to discuss the bill. To see my full statement concerning this, please click here. To hear my full interview with sports radio host Bill Michaels, click here.    

<![endif]> Senate passes Walker’s budget

Walker’s controversial budget drew major bipartisan votes in opposition due to its negative impact on public education, transportation, and jobs. This budget should have been better from day one, except Governor Walker has been more focused on his presidential campaign than his Wisconsin constituents. Walker failed on his job creation pledge and Wisconsin is poised to face more fiscal irresponsibility in the future because of this budget. To see my full statement on my disappointment with the budget, please look here.

State Senate key budget amendments

On July 7^th, the State Senate met for an extraordinary session, where we worked through many amendments. Sadly, the Democratic notion to help bolster the now-cut funds of our K-12 public education was voted down, as was our attempts to lessen the cuts to the UW System and lessen student debt.  Unfortunately, Republicans also killed a measures to increase funding for disabled students in our school system as well. Education is a right that every person is afforded; these cuts are just seeking to hurt our children and their future. Eighty-five percent of our Milwaukee students cannot read at their grade level and we must address education first and foremost.

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"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Ghandi

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