Wisconsin’s children face a serious public health crisis – lead poisoning. According to a 2014 lead poisoning report by the state Department of Health Services (DHS), 21% of Wisconsin children under the age of 6 suffer from lead poisoning – higher than the national average. In parts of the state, including Milwaukee, Watertown, and Buffalo […]

I walked into my 6 th American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) conference last week as a familiar Wisconsin myth was being told. It was the powerful myth that the ALEC crowd adores: Wisconsin Republicans “shut down” a government investigation run amok that was suppressing the First Amendment rights of “free market supporters” (i.e., ALEC members […]

I remember where I was when I heard about Sandy Hook, one of the most horrifying occurrences in this country in my lifetime. And I remember the panic I felt thinking of my son, Sam, who was six and sitting in his first grade classroom. And I remember lingering at his school for days afterwards […]

Somehow, despite cutting public schools and the UW system, borrowing to fund transportation, and decimating the Department of Natural Resources, the GOP found a way to fund a new and largely unaccountable Solicitor General with several new deputies, charged with using taxpayer money to fight ideological battles in court. Wisconsin Solicitor General Misha Tseytlin’s position […]

Our nation is watching in horror as the Flint water disaster unfolds, a completely avoidable, unnecessary public health crises that threatens an entire town and the health and welfare of its people. A Republican controlled executive and legislative branch authorized unaccountable emergency managers to swoop in, take over municipalities, and engaging in “cost cutting” measures […]

As your state representative, I work hard to promote and pass a proactive agenda that reflects our shared, progressive values. While there are many policies the political right and left do not agree on, I believe it is absolutely critical for us to find compromise and work together on important issues where we are in […]

This week culminated in yet another Republican bill being passed that consolidates political power, opens the door to corruption, and ensures cronyism will run rampant. In the past 7 days, we’ve seen Republicans exempt themselves from corruption investigations, take us back to the Elections and Ethics Commissions that ignore political corruption, open the flood gates […]

As the Legislature gets underway for the fall session, it is clear that Republican policy makers have set their sights on both shutting off vital biomedical research under the guise of limiting abortions, but also making it more difficult for Wisconsin women to access birth control, and cervical and breast cancer screenings. Assembly Bill 310 […]

After nearly five months of budget deliberations by the Legislature, Governor Walker recently signed the 2015-17 state budget into law. And let me tell you, as I observed first hand as the ranking Assembly Democrat on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), this budget is as much of a mess as when the Governor introduced it […]