Saving Tax Dollars and Patients Time and Money
 Two bills to protect taxpayers and streamline care for patients were signed into law this week. A big part of serving as your Senator is being a good steward of state funds and I was proud to author these bills to save hardworking Wisconsinites some time and money.
Some of you may have read in the news earlier this year that Milwaukee County was considering issuing its own photo IDs to residents. The County claimed this would help those who say they cannot get an ID, such as illegal immigrants or homeless residents. However, having a county or city issue its own IDs brings up a host of problems for Wisconsin including creating confusion and wasting taxpayer dollars. After all, you don't see multiple social security cards, because these are important documents that hold real value. Having multiple IDs issued by multiple government entities would not only create confusion for law enforcement officers and government agencies, but could open the door to misuse and fraud (including voter fraud).
To address this problem, and ensure taxpayers statewide weren't on the hook for these IDs, I authored Senate Bill 533, which would prohibit a county or town from issuing a photo ID. We have one ID in our state for a reason, and this bill ensures that the integrity of our system is upheld.
This week, Assembly Bill 549 was also signed into law. This bill allows physical therapists who are licensed in Wisconsin to order X-rays, which will save patients time and money, ensure prompt treatment and avoid a needless referral to another medical provider. Glad that we could streamline this system, remove red tape and help save people time and money.
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