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Let's Talk
about the Budget As you all know,
it’s budget season. As one of the members on the Joint Finance Committee, I
had the privilege of sitting in on agency briefings this past week to offer
my concerns about Governor Walker’s budget. During these briefings, I got to
ask agency heads about their department and how they’ll function under the
new budget. What a week it was!
On Wednesday night we were in the Capitol until midnight! Though I was given
limited time to speak, I made sure to stand up for many of the issues
important to my constituents, including lead, corrections reform,
institutional racism in our schools, and our broken transportation funding. I’ve asked my
questions, and now it’s your turn. I urge you all to attend one of the public
hearings listed below to offer your concerns and further actions to be taken!
Your presence and voice will empower our community in the right direction to
assure our community has sustained growth in creating jobs, keeping the
streets clean and accessible, as well as holding Governor Walker accountable
for his failed policies that turn a blind eye towards Milwaukee. You can show
up for an hour, or the whole day; whatever helps you to stand up and fight
back! 1. Monday, April 3 -
UW-Platteville, Platteville (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) 2.
Wednesday, April 5 - State Fair Park, Milwaukee (10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.) 3. Friday, April 7 - Berlin
High School, Berlin (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) 4. Tuesday, April 18 -
Spooner High School, Spooner (10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.) 5. Wednesday, April 19 -
Ellsworth High School, Ellsworth (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) 6. Friday, April 21 -
Marinette High School, Marinette (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) (Photo courtesy of
Wisconsin State Journal - Matthew DeFour)
Americans won a fantastic
victory last week. That’s right - Trumpcare failed! Paul Ryan had to pull the
bill because it didn’t have enough Republican support. This was a huge
victory for us! It goes to show that the townhalls and calls to Congress
worked – Republicans got scared about reelection, and felt uneasy about
supporting this legislation. You have made a bold statement to Republicans
that no matter your political party or individual concerns, the right to
affordable and accessible healthcare for all will be upheld and defended! Like Paul Ryan said, Obamacare
is the law of the land. This is something to be celebrated. But we CANNOT
give in to complacency. We need to continue the good work. Keep going to town
halls, keep calling your Senators and Representatives, and most of all, keep
standing up and fighting back! The
Black-White Achievement Gap Part of my job in JFC
agency briefings is to hold our state’s agencies to account and ask them how
they plan to address the problems they’re tasked with solving. When Tony
Evers, our State Superintendent for the Department of Public Instruction, was
at the bench, I asked him what he would do about the black-white achievement
gap in Milwaukee. In Milwaukee, 80% of our
students don’t read at grade level. While Wisconsin has one of the highest high
school graduation rates, we have one of the lowest for our black students. Not by
coincidence, 53206, the zip code I call my home, has the highest
incarceration rate in the country for African-American men. 62% of our adult
men will have spent time behind bars. Of those that are behind bars, only 32%
will have a high school diploma. Clearly, the achievement
gap is an issue. Thankfully, Evers acknowledged that there’s institutional
racism in our public education system. But this divide isn’t something that
can be changed with a magic wand. We can’t just talk the talk. We need to
walk the walk, and we all need to be invested in a better future for ALL of
our children. Getting
Smart on Guns A life is taken by gun
violence every three days in Milwaukee. If someone died every three days from
a preventable disease, you’d better believe we’d be working to find a cure
for that. So why are guns any different? I’ve never shied away from
the gun debate. While I support the rights of law abiding citizens to arm
themselves for protection, I also believe in common sense solutions to crack
down on gun violence and keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t
have them. This week, Republicans announced legislation
to remove licensing and permit requirements for concealed carry. This is just
plain wrong. I supported concealed carry because there were licensing and
training requirements. To allow people to carry guns around in public without
any basic firearm training is unsafe, and I refuse to support this bill. We need to get smart on guns
before it’s too late. This session I will introducing legislation to make our
communities safer, like universal background checks, mandatory liability
insurance, and increased concealed carry training. I’ll be the first to admit
that gun laws alone won’t solve the problem of gun violence. But we have to
start somewhere. |
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Quote
of the Week: "Change will not come if we wait
for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting
for. We are the change that we seek." -Former President Barack Obama This is an official
government communication from Sen. Lena C. Taylor. If you no longer wish to
receive these emails, click here to send
me an email to unsubscribe. |
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