Veterans Day is a time we pause as a nation to recognize and honor those who served and sacrificed to defend our nation and way of life. We owe them so very much. It is not enough to simply salute their service; it is our responsibility to value and support those who served.

Today, Democratic legislators released four key pieces of Healthy Wisconsin legislation to expand access to quality, affordable healthcare for all Wisconsinites, regardless of income or healthcare needs.

This common-sense gun safety measure is what our community has been asking for since the terrible shooting in 2018 and it is far past time for our legislature to do something about it.

Today is another example of missed opportunities. We had an opportunity for compromise on an important health care workforce bill, and my Republican colleagues rejected it -- we had an opportunity to keep highly qualified people in important roles they were willing to serve and my Republican colleagues rejected them - and perhaps most egregiously my Republican colleagues rejected the opportunity to treat youths merely seeking care like human beings and instead turned them into targets for discrimination.

I am beyond disappointed in my Republican colleagues and their decision to rush this harmful bill through committee. This choice to push forward a bill designed to hurt transgender and nonbinary youth is scary and dangerous.

Today’s hearing continues a dangerous nationwide trend of targeting transgender and nonbinary youth who want nothing more than to live their lives as their true selves. The introduction of this bill and the willingness of Republicans to even hold a public hearing is extremely harmful to transgender and nonbinary youth in our state and across the country.

Instead of limiting DNR authority, we should be empowering them to be able to help communities across Wisconsin who are experiencing dangerous levels of PFAS contamination in their water.

I congratulate Dane County Executive Parisi on his well-earned retirement after decades of public service. Joe has dedicated his career to serving the people of Dane County as Dane County Clerk, State Representative, and most recently Dane County Executive. I always appreciated working with him for the betterment of our shared constituencies.

We are deeply disappointed in our Republican colleagues’ decision today to reject the appointments of four extraordinarily qualified Wisconsinites. Over the past month, we have had the opportunity to hear directly from Sharon Adams, Dylan Jennings, Jim VandenBrook, and Sandra Dee Naas – who highlighted their many years of experience with issues ranging from hunting and fishing, to agriculture, to conservation, to water quality and the environment.

Abortion is healthcare. Today’s announcement that Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will resume abortion care services on September 18^th at the Water Street Health Center in Milwaukee and the Madison East Health Center is incredibly important. This is a critical victory for patients in Wisconsin but we still have a long way to go to restore access and protect reproductive freedom in Wisconsin. We must continue to fight to restore Roe and protect reproductive care in our state.