Official Government Communication

Dear Friend,

Welcome to my email newsletter. 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

Join me for National Night Out on Tuesday!

National Night Out is an effort to promote involvement in police-community partnerships, improved neighborhood unity and crime prevention, This year, I am co-hosting an event along with Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton and Milwaukee County Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb. The event will be one of approximately 16,000 National Night out events in America. More than 37 million people across the nation are anticipated to participate in Tuesday’s event.

This year’s theme is “Building Neighborhood Unity." Senate District 4’s National Night Out event will include free food, music, activities, and a community resource fair. The Milwaukee Fire Department will demonstrate the Survive Alive House with a special visit by McGruff the Crime Dog. Enjoy an evening of family-friendly fun and stay for the movie at 7:30 pm.
 

The event will take place at the pavilion at Lincoln Park, 1301 W Hampton Ave, on Tuesday August 4th from 5-9pm. To spread the word about this event, please share this email or share our Facebook event. 

Bucks Arena bill headed to Governor

Tuesday July, 28 the Wisconsin Assembly passed AB-279, the Milwaukee Bucks Arena deal, by a bipartisan 52-34 vote. The bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk for a final approval.

Bucks head coach Jason Kidd and team president Peter Feigin praised the deal and said construction could start as early as fall of 2015, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Read more about it here.

I ultimately supported this bill because of the job creation, economic development and social impact the Bucks will have not just on Milwaukee, but our entire state. This deal will put cranes in the sky, jobs on the ground and more money in the state coffers to fund things like public schools. That just goes to show that when Democrats and Republicans work together, Wisconsin wins.

Read my full statement about the vote here.

Firefighter grazed by bullet

Frederick Coleman, the Milwaukee Firefighter who was grazed by bullet while out on a call in early July, received special recognition Wednesday night from both city and state lawmakers.

This week, I presented Firefighter Coleman with two commendations from the City of Milwaukee and State Senate in Madison. Again, I would like to thank Mr. Coleman for putting his life on the line. Firefighters don't have to. They choose to. For that we thank them and keep them in our prayers. These courageous individuals, willing to risk their own wellbeing to keep us safe, are the true American heroes.

Sadly, this is another of far too many dangerous shootings taking place in Milwaukee. Gun violence is on the rise across the country and Milwaukee is by no means an exception. To date, deaths by gunfire have more than doubled this year.

Walker behind open records changes

The 999 motion of the most recent 2015-17 state budget, which passed earlier this month, included a controversial change to Wisconsin open records laws. The proposal would have exempted politicians from releasing government materials related to part of the “deliberative process.”

The policy was eventually taken out of the budget after an appropriately skeptical response by media and the public at large. After widespread speculation, ironically it was a public records request that confirmed the proposal has Governor's office's fingerprints all over it.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal in a June 15 email to Andrew Hanus, an aide to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester with the subject line “Governor’s request,” Michael Gallagher of the Legislative Reference Bureau wrote:

“In the interest of expediency, I am going to enter this as a Speaker Vos request and copy David Rabe from the Governor’s office on it. I just talked to David. He is fine with proceeding that way. Let me know if you want to do it differently. It should go out tomorrow morning.”

It seems very clear to me that there is something Governor Walker would like to be kept private during his presidential campaign. Red the entire article here.