Late tonight, the Republican majority gaveled out the Wisconsin State Assembly with ten months left in the year.
There are things to celebrate, and more progress still to be made.
As one of its last acts, the Assembly finally passed bills investing $130 million in PFAS testing, research, and remediation for private well owners. This will help families and communities tackle PFAS contamination. Access to clean water is a right we must invest in.
For years, Republicans have blocked even minor expansion of access to maternal and women’s health coverage. Thanks to pressure from Democrats, the Legislature also passed “Gail’s Law,” which requires coverage of access to breast cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue. And after more than a decade, the Legislature passed a bill to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers.
Unfortunately, due to an arbitrary date of February 19th being selected by the Speaker as the last session day, many of these priorities that our constituents are expecting us to deliver on won’t be voted on.
We need to commit to giving Wisconsinites a raise, fixing our democracy, restoring our rights, and investing in our public schools, the University of Wisconsin, and our communities.
Finally, I’d like to thank Governor Evers as he retires from a long and successful career of public service. This week, he delivered his final State of the State Address and ended with: “We have lots of work to do, folks, so let’s get back to it.” And so I shall.
