Welcome to the Capitol, Foxview Intermediate!
Last week at the Capitol was excellent! I got to meet with school groups from Foxview Intermediate on both Wednesday and Thursday and also got the opportunity to chat with them regarding my role in state government. I have such a great time connecting with the groups when they visit, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to do so.
Finishing Up Session from 2/13/2024
In this week’s update, we’re going to finish up session from Tuesday, February 13th. Let’s get rolling!
AB 627 makes several adjustments to the business development tax credit.
AB 659 allows a notary public to perform a notarial act for a remotely located individual involving the creation and execution of a power of attorney.
AB 737 provides that a sale by an entity regulated by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance or by the entity’s affiliates is not a “consumer approval transaction” for which the entity or affiliate must provide the customer with notice and for which the customer has a three-day right to cancel under the Wisconsin
Consumer Act.
AB 742 cleans up the statutes governing issues under the direction of the Department of Revenue.
AB 793 increases the maximum tax deduction to $5,000 per married couple for deposits in college savings programs like “Edvest” and “Tomorrow’s Scholar.
AB 803 makes several technical and substantive changes to the administration of trusts, most of which are consistent with updates to the Uniform Trust Code.
AB 851 standardizes the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection’s (DATCP) cotton candy retail food regulations.
AB 891 requires UW colleges, technical colleges, and private nonprofit colleges to provide six different items to the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB).
AB 910 will clarify the mechanisms for remote sellers of cigars and pipe tobacco to collect and remit tobacco excise tax to the State of Wisconsin for cigars and pipe tobacco sold remotely into Wisconsin.
AB 912 will raise the thresholds for when charitable organizations have to submit reviewed or audited financial statements to the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI).
AB 916 provides $7.5 million in required state matching funds for the Wisconsin BioHealth Tech Hub’s federal implementation grant application.
AB 956 states that the Building Commission may not increase the budget of a project enumerated in the state building program by more than 10 percent without submitting the proposed project budget increase for approval by the Joint Committee on Finance under passive review.
April Ballot Will See Constitutional Amendments
Early voting has already started for the April 2nd spring election. So get down to your local clerk’s office and let your voice be heard.
Let’s talk about what we can expect to see on the April ballot. In addition to the candidates for president, you will see county board, city council, and school board candidates and possibly local spending referendum questions (I know De Pere Unified has one), and you will see 2 questions for amendments to our state Constitution.
These two Constitutional Amendment questions are in direct response to issues that arose during the 2020 election. In Green Bay and other cities across Wisconsin, we saw out-of-state activists, funded by Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, take over the running of our elections, pushing the Green Bay clerk to the side.
If you want our local election clerks and not Zuckerberg and his activists to run our elections ever again, then you would need to vote “yes” on both of these questions on the April 2nd spring ballot. Or you can vote “no” if you want Facebook running our elections.
I voted for the resolution to put these questions on your spring ballot. Now the choice falls to you.
The questions are as follows:
Question 1: “Use of private funds in election administration. Shall section 7 (1) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that private donations and grants may not be applied for, accepted, expended, or used in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum?”
This question would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to add a section to Article III to prohibit any level of government in the state from applying for or accepting non-governmental funds or equipment for election administration.
Question 2: “Election officials. Shall section 7 (2) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums?”
This question would add a new section to Article III of the state constitution that states that no one other than an election official authorized by law may help conduct any election in the state.
SJR 78, the resolution that proposed these constitutional amendments to the people passed both chambers this session. I voted in favor, as I believe these amendments will uphold the integrity of our election process while protecting the independence of local election clerks to administer elections.
In-District Events
Friday, March 22nd, will be the Fish Boil at the Mishicot Fire Department (214 S Main St.) starting at 3 p.m.
Friday, March 22nd, will be the Fish Fry fundraiser at the Reedsville Sportsman Club (7015 Pleasant View Road, Reedsville) from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday, March 22nd, will be the Bunny Hop at Sunset Park (Sunset Park Road, Kimberly) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Come see the Easter Bunny!
Saturday, March 23rd, will be the free Easter Egg Hunt at Way-Morr Park in Morrison. Registration is from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and the event will start shortly after.
Saturday, March 23rd, will be the Easter Bunny Hunt in the Village of Mishicot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information and clues regarding the event, visit The Easter Bunny Hunt | Facebook.
Saturday, March 23rd, will be an Easter Egg Hunt at the Ponderosa (7075 Morrison Road, Greenleaf), starting at 12 p.m. If you are planning on attending, please call 920-864-3499 in advance to register.
Saturday, March 23rd, will be Eggstravaganza at W1734 Ken Dale Dr. in Kaukauna from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit Eggstravaganza – Community Benefit Tree, Inc. (flipcause.com).
Saturday, March 23rd, will be the 60 Years of Mapelin’ Open House at Maple Sweet Dairy (4501 Cty Rd W, De Pere) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesday, March 27th, will be the annual soup fundraiser (SLURP) at the Kaukauna High School Commons from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, March 29th, will be the West Shore Clay Crushers Annual Fish Fry at 11267 Lakeshore Road in Two Rivers from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 29th, will be the City of Two Rivers Fish Boil at the Two Rivers Fire Department (2122 Monroe St.) from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 30th, will be the Easter Egg Hunt at the De Pere Community Center starting at 9:30 a.m.
