Email from WI Rep.Sargent WI budget, ACA DACA etc...

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The Sargent Voice - Issue #91
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Rep.Sargent <[e-mail]> Tue, Sep 12, 2017 at 1:26 PM
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The Sargent Voice Issue #91 September 12, 2017

Friends and Neighbors,

This e-update is coming to you during one of the busiest weeks in the State Capitol yet this session. Governor Walker’s biennial budget and the Republicans’ Foxconn scheme will be debated simultaneously in both houses of the Legislature this week, which means 321 West will be bustling. Although there’s plenty happening on the state level, though, I wanted to take this opportunity to draw your attention to an important issue being discussed on the national level so you can call our Congresspersons and express your opinion on this recent action.

Last week, President Donald Trump indicated he would be unilaterally ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was executed under President Barack Obama five years ago. The DACA program protects young, undocumented immigrants from deportation who, by no choice of their own, were brought to the United States by their parents when they were children, and many of whom have little to no memory of or connection to the country to which they would be deported if DACA is phased out. President Trump indicated the program will be phased out over the next six months, causing some 800,000 people to be eligible for deportation. Adding insult to injury, this move by the Trump Administration is particularly nefarious as the very premise of the DACA program required the young adults to effectively acknowledge their undocumented status in the United States while providing their personal identifying information--facts that could be used against them for deportation once DACA is phased out.

If the debate over the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) taught us anything, it’s that our collective voice matters, and when we wield it together, we can truly demand change and hold our Congresspersons accountable in Washington. So, I’m asking you to contact our Congresspersons this week, and tell them to fight against ending the DACA program, and to act swiftly to pass the DREAM Act. Here is their contact information:

Congressman Mark Pocan: [phone]
Senator Tammy Baldwin: [phone]
Senator Ron Johnson: [phone]

No human is illegal, and we must act swiftly and demand our Congresspersons pass the DREAM Act, and allow these young persons to keep their jobs, support their families, and continue aspiring to the American dream. We are stronger when we work together, and I am counting on you to take up this cause, use your voice, and join this fight.

Working for you,


Melissa Sargent
State Representative
48th Assembly District
issue 91 opener
Our Democracy Initiatives
Sargent Satellite

It’s time for another “Sargent Satellite”! This month’s Sargent Satellite will be on the Northside over at Pat O’Malley’s Jet Room Restaurant by the airport. If you’ve never been to this hidden breakfast gem, come check it out at Sargent Satellite and join me for a cup of coffee or breakfast while we watch the planes come and go and talk about the Legislature, our community, or just get to know each other a bit more.

Friday, September 29th
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Pat O’Malley’s Jet Room Restaurant
3606 Corben Ct
Madison, WI 53704

You can sign up here for your individual time slot. Whether you want to talk about the budget, Foxconn, bills on my legislative agenda, or even if you just want to meet your state representative for the first time, I hope you’ll sign up!!
Neighborhood Survey

As many of you are probably aware, over the past several months I have been going door-to-door delivering my 2017 Neighborhood Satisfaction Survey so I can hear about how you feel about issues like transportation, local property taxes, and also so you can give me feedback about the work I’m doing in the State Capitol every day. I have received so many important suggestions, comments, and questions over the past several months, which have all helped guide my legislative efforts and how I represent you in the Wisconsin State Assembly.


Be on the lookout for Team Sargent and our Neighborhood Satisfaction Surveys, which will be coming to your neighborhood soon. Or, if you’d like to fill it out online, you can fill it out on my legislative website here. A few people had reached out since my last e-update and indicated they had trouble filling out the survey online--we had some technical problems, but those have since been resolved. If you have any problems filling it out, please don’t hesitate to contact my office at [e-mail] or 608-266-0960.
Rotunda Report
My Legislative Agenda

Erin’s Law (LRB-2570)

I am proud to be a co-author of a bipartisan piece of legislation to address child sexual abuse in Wisconsin. The bill, LRB-2570 or “Erin’s Law,” requires schools across Wisconsin to educate children on child sexual abuse. Under the bill, the Department of Public Instruction would develop model curriculum for schools to use for kids kindergarten through 6th grade to teach students how to recognize child sexual abuse and how to report it to a trusted adult. The program would also include a parental involvement component, which educates parents on how to identify offender behaviors, talk to their kids about child sexual abuse, and generally inform parents on sexual abuse topics.

Firearm Self-Exclusion Program (LRB-3529)

Yesterday I was proud to announce new legislation to prevent and reduce suicide in Wisconsin. In recognition of National Suicide Prevention Week, I introduced a bill to create the Firearm Self-Exclusion Program, which would allow persons to voluntarily exclusive themselves from being able to purchase a handgun in Wisconsin. A person wanting to participate in the Firearm Self-Exclusion Program would only have to fill out an application and would have the choice of selecting a one-year irrevocable term, or a five-year or twenty-year term with an irrevocable period during the first year.

Nearly half of the suicides that occur in Wisconsin annually involve firearms, and this bill can help ensure persons experiencing suicidal ideations or a mental health condition can take proactive steps to keep themselves safe when they’re in crisis. If you have any questions about this legislation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office at 608-266-0960 or [e-mail].
Committee Update

Although none of my committees have met in the past several months due to the summer term, the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has released several state audits in the past month for the committee members to review. Of particular interest to many was the LAB’s audit of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (DVA) Wisconsin Veterans Home at King (“King”).

The first phase of the King audit (report 17-8), released earlier this year in May, was an audit of King’s finances, including the veterans home’s revenues, expenditures, and capital projects, while the second phase of the audit (report 17-14), was a programmatic audit, reviewing the internal procedures, culture, and staffing, among a few other key criteria. The second phase, which was released a few weeks ago, was eagerly anticipated after reports of severe mistreatment, malfeasance, and facility maintenance surfaced last year, and the results of which were released just before the DVA’s September 1st deadline to report back to the Committee on the status of its implementing the LAB’s recommendations from the first phase of the audit.

After reviewing the second phase of the King audit, as well as the DVA’s status report back to the Committee, I am planning to call for a public hearing on the results of both audits, and to review the DVA’s status of implementing the LAB’s recommendations. Although neither audit revealed gross negligence or mistreatment, several components were troubling, including under- and overburdened staffing, millions being transferred out of veterans programming into other areas of the budget, and general lack of concrete steps demonstrated by the Department to comply with the LAB’s recommendations. Given this, I believe a public hearing is important--necessary, even--to ensuring our veterans are receiving the care and treatment they deserve.
Bills Circulated for Co-Sponsorship

LRB-3641: Studying Alternatives to the Solitary Confinement of Inmates

I am a proud co-sponsor of a bill introduced by Senator Fred Risser that would require the Department of Corrections to study alternatives to solitary confinement in incarceration in Wisconsin. The goal of the study would ultimately be to eliminate the use of solitary confinement in Wisconsin, and to find alternative methods for ensuring the safety and well-being of incarcerated persons.

LRB-0573: Litigation Transparency Act

Another bill I am co-sponsoring is legislation introduced by Representatives Taylor, Wachs, and Kessler, that promotes transparent, responsible use of Wisconsin taxpayer dollars in civil litigation on the state’s behalf. The bill would require the Department of Justice to submit a report of its civil litigation costs to the Joint Finance Committee each year. Ultimately, LRB-0573 aims to promote transparency and accountability in the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General, which have initiated several frivolous lawsuits over the past several years for the sake of promoting GOP rhetoric including suits relating to the Affordable Care act, transgender students, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

2017-19 Biennial Budget Update

After several months of waiting, this week the Assembly will finally be taking up Governor Walker’s 2017-19 biennial budget. After months of making virtually no progress on the budget, the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) has met in a frenzy over the past few weeks to vote on components of the budget including the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Public Instruction, and the Department of Transportation.

In addition to voting on these individual portions of the budget, JFC Republicans also offered a final omnibus amendment--more commonly referred to as the “999 motion”--to include several new provisions in the committee’s final budget proposal. After the 999 motion to the 2015-17 biennial budget caused much controversy by including changes to Wisconsin’s open records law, Republicans were careful this time around to offset this by spreading out unpopular provisions in other areas of the budget. For example, provisions to repeal the state’s prevailing wage were included in the transportation motion, as were several provisions relating to quarries, which have been highly controversial.

Ultimately, budgets are a reflection of our values, and neither the budget prepared by Governor Walker nor the budget as changed by Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee reflect our shared progressive vision for Wisconsin. We need a budget that fully funds and supports public schools, that fully staffs the DNR and prioritizes protecting and conserving our environment, that addresses the student loan debt crisis, that provides a long-term solution for our transportation fund, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, until this budget includes progressive provisions to address these issues, I cannot support this biennial budget.
Foxconn Scheme

This week, the Legislature will be taking up Republicans’ Foxconn scheme in both respective houses. If you’ve been keeping score at home, you will probably note the Foxconn bill came through the Assembly a few weeks ago, and was passed on an overwhelmingly-Republican vote. So, if the bill was advanced out of the Assembly, why is it going to be debated again this week? Good question!

Here’s a quick refresher on legislative process in the Wisconsin State Legislature: Bills introduced in the Legislature have an Assembly version and a Senate version in each respective house. For a bill to be advanced to the Governor, both houses must pass the bill*, and the bill passed in both houses must be identical (i.e. without any amendments or changes--the text must be the same). So, for example, if the Assembly version of a bill passes without any changes, but the Senate version is passed with an amendment, the bill must go back through the Assembly to adopt the changes made in the Senate. In the case of the Foxconn proposal, that’s exactly what happened.

The Assembly passed the Assembly version of the bill on August 17th. Meanwhile, the Senate version of the Foxconn bill was referred to the Joint Finance Committee, which held a public hearing and an executive session on the bill on September 5th, after the Assembly had passed its version of the bill. When the Joint Finance Committee took up the Foxconn bill, it was amended before the Committee voted to recommend it for passage. Thus, when the Senate takes up the Foxconn proposal this week, they will be voting on a different proposal than what the Assembly voted on in August. So, once the Senate votes on their version of the bill, the Assembly will then take up the newer, amended version of the bill so the bill that’s passed is the same in both houses.

Notwithstanding the amendment voted on in the Joint Finance Committee, I still cannot support Republicans’ Foxconn scheme, and will (again) be voting “no” on this proposal when it comes to the Assembly floor this week. I have been outspoken about my concerns with this proposal, and you can read the speech I gave on the Assembly floor in August when it came before the Assembly last time. I simply cannot support a billion-dollar corporate giveaway while our state faces a billion-dollar budget deficit, no long-term plan to fix our insolvent transportation fund, and Republicans continue to give tax breaks to the rich while middle class families struggle to get ahead. If you have questions about the Foxconn proposal, my stance, or anything else on the legislative agenda this week, feel free to contact me at [e-mail].

* There are some procedural mechanisms which can be used to circumvent this process, but generally speaking, the respective houses must pass their respective versions of a bill to be advanced to the Governor
Community and In-District Events


Sackpack Delivery with the National Foundation for Women Legislators

I was excited a few weeks ago to deliver sackpacks filled with school supplies to kids on the east side, courtesy of the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) and Office Depot Foundation at Lussier Family East YMCA. The delivery was part of the National Backpack program to make sure every student has the supplies and tools necessary to succeed in the classroom, which has donated more than 4,000,000 sackpacks around the world over the past 17 years. If you’re interested in learning more about the program, you can find out more about it here!

Dane County Health Care Town Hall
I was excited to join several of my legislative colleagues last Thursday night for a town hall on healthcare. Legislators from across Dane County--both urban and rural areas alike--came together to give Dane County residents the opportunity to weigh in on the healthcare debate we’ve been having across the country in light of recent attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which would have left 23 million people across the country without access to health insurance. The town hall was especially timely as efforts to repeal the ACA recently regained some momentum with Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)—the deciding vote against Republicans’ last repeal attempt—expressing his support for a new repeal effort. If you missed the town hall and want to see what you missed, you can check out the video here.
Rep. Sargent In The News

Fox 11 News, Audit raises concerns about overtime at King Vets home

Urban Milwaukee, Legislature Shouldn’t Get Too Comfortable After Latest LAB Audit on Wisconsin Veterans Home at King

Channel 3000, Firearm Self-Exclusion Program aims to reduce Wisconsin suicides


Special Highlight!
Reap Food Group

For this e-update, I wanted to take time to highlight the work of our friends over at REAP Food Group for their continued work on food security and sustainability, supporting local businesses and farmers, and connecting land and tables. Over the past few years, REAP has been working on creating a resource to help folks buy locally-sourced food from farmers in Wisconsin. After all of this work, their project, Southern Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas, is finally finished and recently went live for everyone to be able to use.

With over 800 listings, farmfreshatlas.org is an excellent finding local food in southern Wisconsin, featuring more than 378 farmers and food producers, 225 farmer markets, 87 restaurants that serve local food, among many others, to make it easy to find fresh food grown on the land near you. REAP has done tremendous work over the last 20 years to promote locally-grown, great-tasting food--be sure to check out the Farm Fresh Atlas and thank REAP for their work on this!

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