Contact: Sen. Janet Bewley (D – Ashland), (608)266-3510

MADISON, WI – Senator Janet Bewley (D-Ashland) offered the weekly Democratic radio address today.

The audio file of this week’s address can be found here: http://media2.legis.wisconsin.gov/multimedia/Sen16/bewleyradio050417.mp3

A written transcript of the address is below:

“Hello, this is State Senator Janet Bewley with the weekly Democratic Radio address.

“The State Senate entered something of a brave new world this week, unfortunately it was for the same old special interests.  A London based company that makes robots in the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Estonia asked for special legislation.   Less than one month later the Senate Republicans scheduled it for a vote.

“The bill is simple enough, it allows robots that replace delivery drivers to operate on sidewalks.  Of course in Northern Wisconsin we don’t have a lot of sidewalks. 

“Another thing we don’t have a lot of is access to broadband.  People in Northern Wisconsin have been asking for affordable and reliable internet access for years.  Instead of rushing to help, Governor Walker and the Republicans returned 23 million dollars that could have been used to expand access in rural Wisconsin. 

“And now, 6 years later, when they’re finally getting around to doing something, the plan they’ve come up with is a not only a day late, it’s more than a few dollars short.  As one telecommunications expert said, the amount of money they’re talking about is insignificant compared to the amount of money needed to upgrade rural areas to real broadband.    

“It’s shameful that Wisconsin citizens have to wait years when European robot makers can brush aside regulations by getting a special interest bill scheduled for the Senate floor a month after it was introduced.  I believe that helping Wisconsin citizens should be a higher priority than changing our laws so that European robots can replace workers.”

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