Ever since I heard Alicia Kozakiewicz’s story, my top priority has been to protect children from going through her experience. I wrote Senate Bill 546, or Alicia’s Law, to help law enforcement in finding and rescuing those children, and just as importantly, bringing their predators to justice.
 
I’m happy to report that we're one vote away from sending Alicia’s Law to Governor Walker’s desk. This week, the Senate and Assembly passed Senate Bill 546 with wide bipartisan support. The bill streamlines the process for identifying child sex predators and rapists, and provides $1 million for additional investigators. I look forward to Governor Walker signing this bill soon, and I appreciate my colleagues support in making this law a reality. 

 
Two of my bills to protect the public and improve government efficiency cleared their last legislative hurdles this week, and are now on their way to the Governor to be signed into law. 

When two sex offenders were housed next to 11-year old twin girls, I was shocked. Many communities have sex offender residency restrictions, but many fall short. Assembly Bill 497 sets boundaries for housing sexual offenders, requires they be housed in their home county and makes it more difficult to evade local restrictions. This bill passed the Assembly on February 9 and was approved by the Senate on February 16.
 
Assembly Bill 633 is also on its way to Governor Walker after being approved by the Senate this week on a bipartisan vote. I authored this bill to ease the public’s access to vital records, like birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, etc. Under current law, a person would have to travel county to county to obtain copies of those records. Thanks to new technology, most counties have access to a state database of these records. This bill allows any county to provide copies of vital records no matter where the event occurred. I am pleased this bill passed with unanimous support in both the Assembly on February 9 and the Senate on February 16. 

These bills now head to Governor Walker and I look forward to them being signed into law shortly.

 
Faith Hope & Love will be holding their Annual Beer & Wine Tasting event on March 11, 2016. This organization provides support to children in crisis throughout Racine and Kenosha County through their work with law enforcement, homeless shelters, domestic abuse shelters, and foster care programs. 

On Friday, March 11, Faith, Hope & Love will be hosting their annual wine and beer tasting at Fountain Hall (8505 Durand Ave. Sturtevant). The proceeds will go to providing support to children facing unimaginable situation within our community. Learn more and purchase tickets here.