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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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Fighting
voter suppression
This election voter turnout
was only at 56 percent. While this news is disheartening, I would like to
remind everyone that a lack of turnout isn’t necessarily to blame on voters
themselves; the n ew laws that preventing
them from voting in the first place play a large part here too. Voter
suppression is a real issue in this country we must address if we want our
political process to be fair to all. After voter ID was implemented in
Wisconsin, “voter turnout in Wisconsin was at its lowest levels in
20 years and decreased 13 percent in Milwaukee, where 70 percent of the
state’s African-American population lives.” That’s unacceptable.
If we want higher voter turnout, we need voting to be accessible for all.
It’s a citizen’s right to be able to vote. It is our job as legislators to
make that right accessible.
Gains
across the country
I know the outcome of this
election seems dark. That being said, while Hillary Clinton did not make history
as the first female president of the United States, several other women did
break barriers. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois will become America’s first Thai American Senator,
California’s Kamala Harris will be the first black woman to serve in the US Senate
in nearly 20 years and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada will be America’s
first Latina Senator. After these three victories, the US Senate will have
the highest numbers of women of color ever. Not only did Nevada put a Latina
in the US Senate, a “blue wave” put Democrats in control of the state
Legislature. There are other legislative bright spots too. Minnesota’s Ilhan
Omar became our nation’s first Somali-American legislator and Democrats
picked up a handful of seats in the US House of Representatives. Despite how
last week turned out, I am comforted that there are new elections in two
years and we have an opportunity to turn things around.
Doing the
best for our kids
Good news for our kids also
came out of this election. Several public school districts approved referenda
to improve their schools and give kids a better education. Let’s be honest,
when we get down to it, it’s all about the kids, right? Moving forward, I
plan to work on further legislation to help them succeed. With almost 84% of
Milwaukee school children reading below grade level, we must teach our
children how to read. If children can read, they can learn. If children can
learn, they can succeed. That’s how we fight poverty, one book at a time. I
think my fellow legislators across the aisle can see the importance of that.
Moving
forward
There is still work to be
done. While I know people are disheartened by the election results I’d like
to remind everyone t hat in my career, I’ve passed 101 bills into
law. Much of that work has happened with a Republican governor or a
Republican Senate. Corrections reform is an area I believe we can make great
strides, by working with Republicans to divert more people way from prisons,
transition more inmates into successful jobs and reduce recidivism. Building
economic wealth is critical as we work to fight poverty in America’s most
segregated city. Low wage, low skill jobs aren’t going to bring our community
back. We need to foster innovation, bring businesses to our community and
train the workforce of the future to do those jobs. Clean drinking water is
another area where we need to work together to ensure we move Milwaukee
forward. With 37,000 lead pipes bringing contaminated water into households,
we must work with Republicans and Democrats to ensure we literally tear those
pipes out of the ground and get the lead out. While I know working together
seems difficult, there are things we can accomplish.
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