Vote April 4th
Wisconsinites will elect a judge to the State Supreme Court and vote on several other issues, including questions on a constitutional amendment that would give judges the ability to look at a defendant’s past convictions for violent crimes when setting bail, and an advisory question regarding requirements to work to get state benefits. Here’s an explanation of the questions:
Bail Reform Question 1 would give judges more flexibility to place restrictions on a defendant pre-trial. If adopted, a judge would be able to place restrictions on defendants to prevent “serious harm.”
Bail Reform Question 2 would give judges more flexibility when determining the amount of cash bail required for violent crimes. Under the current constitution, a judge may only consider the likelihood of a defendant returning to trial and seek to prevent the intimidation of witnesses when setting a cash bail amount. If adopted, a judge would be able to consider the “totality of the circumstances” including previous convictions for violent crimes, the need to protect the community from serious harm, the probability that a defendant will return to court, and potential affirmative defenses of the defendant.
The final question on the April 4 ballot is a non-binding, advisory question that simply asks whether an able-bodied adult should be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded benefits, such as Medicaid and FoodShare program benefits.
Free Speech Press Conference
This week I held a press conference to announce upcoming committee hearings to look into how the lack of free speech and intellectual diversity on college campuses affects the quality of higher education. You can watch the press conference by clicking on this link.
I was also on The Vicki McKenna Show to discuss the issue. You can listen to my interview by clicking on the image below.
Finally, I did a podcast with WisPolitics.com on the subject, as well as other higher education issues. You can listen to that podcast by clicking on the image below.
Budget Listening Session
Senator Rachael Cabral-Guevara and I will hold a joint budget listening session on the 2023-25 state budget next Monday. Here are the details.
Monday, April 3, 2023
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Freedom Project Academy
750 N. Hickory Farm Lane
Appleton, WI 54914
Constituents of the 56th Assembly District and 19th Senate District are invited to share their ideas on the 2023 – 2025 state budget.
Capitol Visits
This week, a Ukrainian foreign exchange student who lives in my district, Vladyslav Plyaka, visited my office. He learned about the form of our federal and state governments and my staff showed him around our beautiful state capitol. Here he is with my intern, Lauren.
Constituents from the Wisconsin Dental Association stopped by the office to discuss their legislative priorities for this session.
