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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
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Republican voter
suppression exposed
On April 5th
at a Republican Election Night party, Congressman Glenn Grothman was asked why
he thought Republican’s will win in the upcoming presidential election. He
said, “…And now we have photo ID, and I think photo ID is going to make a
little bit of a difference as well." It didn’t surprise me that he
thought voter ID would suppress enough Democratic votes to make the
difference in a presidential election. But it did surprise me that he’d
actually said it out loud… to a reporter… on camera. On the same day, a
former GOP Senate staff member, Todd Allbaugh, dropped a bomb on Facebook.
Here’s what a man who was in the room to hear the “private” discussion about
the motives behind voter ID had to say:
“You wanna know why I
left the Republican Party as it exists today? Here it is; this was the last
straw: I was in the closed Senate Republican Caucus when the final round of
multiple Voter ID bills were being discussed. A handful of the GOP Senators
were giddy about the ramifications and literally singled out the prospects of
suppressing minority and college voters…”
 Yup, you read it right.
Behind closed doors, Republican Senator’s discussed an elaborate plan to deny
people their constitutional right to vote and they were giddy about it. On
the floor of the State Senate, I fought for ensuring people’s right to vote. Since 2000, there are only 10 proven cases
nationally of in-person voter fraud. More people are struck by
lightning than commit in-person voter fraud. That’s why I believe voter ID
laws will keep way more people from even going to the polls on Election Day
than it ever catches. Several years ago
Republicans figured out that people of color and college students were most
likely to not have proper ID for voting. You know what else college students
and people of color have in common? They are both groups that are more likely
to vote for Democrats than Republicans. Republicans didn’t believe they could
win fair and square, so they had to rig the rules. Only, this isn’t a game,
this is people’s constitutional right to vote. The discriminatory voter ID
law is ageist and racist, period.
See more of Todd
Allbaughs story on my Facebook page.
UWM hires new basketball
coach
 Just a few short weeks ago, UWM Athletic
Director, Amanda Braun fired the only senior administrator of color in the
Athletic Department. Coach Jeter had deep ties in Milwaukee’s African
American community and he has supported Milwaukee on and off the court for
over a decade. Since Braun came into office as Athletic Director, she has had
it out for Coach Jeter. As I’ve said before, his termination was completely
undeserved and the reasons behind it are about much more than his
performance. This week, UWM announced the hiring of LaVall Jordan, who spent
the last six years as an assistant coach at University of Michigan. During his
time at Michigan, he coached three athletes who went on to the NBA. I am a
Panther at heart, so I wish Coach Jordan all the best. I feel sorry for the
position Ms. Braun has put him in with the community, the team and the
boosters.
Realities of
the UW budget cuts
 As you know, the
University of Wisconsin school system lost $250 million in state funding.
This week, the chancellors of the UW schools were scheduled to present to the
Board of Regents 5 minute summaries of how they are implementing their budget
cuts. In a surprise last minute decision, the presentations were cancelled.
It is worth noting that the system is just months away from preparing its
next request for state funding. Politics trumped the publics right to know
how budget cuts will impact campuses. The public has a right to be informed
of the current impacts that are being made on each campus. The budget cuts
are very real, if you are going to implement them, you can’t hid from them.
April 14th
begins the rule of 50
 Campaign season is among us, and this
year I am up for re-election. April 15th is the official start of
the election season, and as of April 15th, our weekly
E-newsletters will be on hiatus. In an effort to ensure public resources are
not being used for election purposes, Wisconsin’s clean government law
prohibits sending mass emails or promotions out of the legislative office
during this time. We will continue to offer the stories on my website
here, under the “Press” tab at the top. Next week, we will send
out our last newsletter until November 8, when the election season ends.
If you want to continue
to stay up-to-date with what is going on in our community and across the
state, please connect to my social media sites!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Website
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Community Events:
TEDxUWMilwaukee presents 60 For 60: Take the Stage: Understanding
of diverse topics and engagement from all sides of the intellectual spectrum
through live talks and short clips of potential TEDx speakers. April 11th,
7pm Details here
Milwaukee County Winter Farmers Market: This Saturday, April 9, is the last Saturday for the
indoors Farmers Market in the Greenhouse at Mitchell Park Conservatory. The
best of local foods from farms and businesses across SE WI from
9:00am-12:30pm. More info here.
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