Hi folks! Welcome back to Tammy Tuesdays, our weekly update email on Tammy’s work and the big fights she’s taking on for Wisconsin families. This will be our last Tammy Tuesdays of 2023. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season, see you in the New Year!
Read below for highlights of what Tammy worked on this week:
Fighting the Opioid, Fentanyl, and Heroin Epidemic
The opioid, fentanyl, and heroin epidemic has claimed too many lives, affected countless families, and devastated entire communities. The effects of this epidemic hit close to home for Tammy because her mother struggled with addiction to prescription drugs. That’s why Tammy will always be at the forefront of this fight, because this crisis isn’t a red or blue issue – it’s life or death – and no Wisconsin family should have to face this epidemic alone.
Recently, Tammy passed the bipartisan SUPPORT Act out of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee. This package of legislation includes Tammy-led bills that include ensuring first responders have the tools and resources to prevent overdoses, increasing fentanyl prevention and education efforts, and cracking down on Big Pharma’s profit over people practices that have amplified the deadliness of this epidemic. Tammy is going to keep working harder than ever to pass this lifesaving legislation and rid our communities from this tragic epidemic once and for all.
Cutting Costs for Wisconsin’s Farmers
Tammy knows that farmers are the backbone of this state who work tirelessly to put food on our tables and keep our economy going strong. However, our farmers have been facing economic headwinds making it more difficult to keep up with demands. And when our farmers struggle, so do our rural communities, and the rest of the country who rely so much on them.
Right now, Tammy is teaming up with colleagues across the aisle to introduce legislation that will address one of the highest costs for our farmers, fertilizer. Through the Fertilizer Research Act, the USDA would be required to conduct research on the fertilizer market to provide more transparency over pricing and recent upticks in costs. Providing more insight into the pricing and behavior of the fertilizer market allows our farmers to more readily navigate costs and holds fertilizer producers accountable to keeping prices low. Tammy is committed to working with anyone that’s ready to come to the table to find solutions that do right by our farmers.
Rebuilding Our Roads & Bridges
Tammy knows that strong bridges and safe roads aren’t partisan issues. Wisconsinites use bridges and roads everyday to go to work, school, or to run errands. Our roads and bridges keep our communities connected and our economy going strong.
For the past year, Tammy has been working hard alongside Minnesota and Wisconsin lawmakers to replace the Blatnik Bridge, the bridge that has connected Superior, WI and Duluth, MN since 1961 and is traveled by more than 33,000 vehicles on a daily basis. From securing over $7 million toward the Blatnik Bridge replacement project to calling on the Biden administration to further support the project, Tammy is building on these efforts again this week. In a bipartisan letter, Tammy has called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to support Minnesota and Wisconsin’s application for federal investments to rebuild the Blatnik Bridge. No matter how long it takes, Tammy is going to keep working to get the Blatnik Bridge replaced.
Keeping Wisconsinites Connected
Every Wisconsinite deserves to have access to reliable high-speed internet. Access to high-speed internet strengthens our Made in Wisconsin economy, opens the door to more educational opportunities for our children, and keeps us connected to our loved ones. That’s why Tammy has made it a top priority this term to expand broadband access to every community across the state.
Last week, Tammy was excited to announce that Wisconsin’s plan to use $140 million of federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to expand broadband and increase internet affordability was officially approved by the U.S. Treasury. These ARPA investments follow Tammy’s efforts to secure over $1 billion for statewide broadband expansion through the Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) Program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. By investing in Wisconsin’s broadband infrastructure, Tammy is winning big for our Made in Wisconsin economy and is making sure that every home and business across the state has access to high-speed internet.
Cracking Down on China’s Unfair Trade Deals
Tammy knows that Wisconsin has the best workers in the world who can make anything, from paper, engines, tools, and ships to beer, brats, and cheese. However, our workers have faced uphill battles as they fight for good paying jobs and against the outsourcing and unfair trade deals from countries like China. And often it’s not just our workers who suffer the consequences, it’s also our communities who face difficult recoveries from job loss and companies shutting down operations.
That’s why Tammy is going on the offensive and is introducing her bipartisan Resilient Communities Act, which would provide economic relief for communities negatively impacted by harmful foreign trade deals, particularly by Chinese companies. The money accrued from penalties for trade violations would be given back to the communities that have lost millions of jobs and dollars to China’s cheating trade practices. Tammy is a fighter that working Wisconsinites can always count on to have in their corner and get the job done.
Standing Up for Our Freedoms
Tammy knows that Wisconsinites just want the same freedoms their parents and grandparents had. But over the years, there have been constant threats to long-standing freedoms with decades of precedent. One of these freedoms being a woman’s right to choose. After sending the country 50 years back in time and sending Wisconsin back to an 1849 abortion ban through the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court is looking to restrain reproductive freedoms even further by reviewing a legal challenge to medication abortion access.
However, Tammy is not standing back and is leading a resolution in support of medication abortion access. Through this measure, Tammy is proactively defending the necessity of medication abortion amidst the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Additionally, Tammy is leading the national charge to enshrine the right to choose into federal law through her Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). Tammy promises to always stand shoulder to shoulder with Wisconsinites in the fight to take back our rights.
