Reid Ribble’s Exit Interview with Roll Call

Governor Scott Walker

The Governor joined state health officials at the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin annual meeting to announce the signing of a statewide naloxone standing order, which allows pharmacists to dispense the medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose without requiring individual prescriptions. Gov. Walker signed Wisconsin Act 115 in December, to allow practitioners to prescribe an opioid antagonist to pharmacies under a standing order. This is the latest of the state’s efforts to combat opioid use, abuse, and overdose, which includes the HOPE (Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education) legislation package. “In Wisconsin, and nationwide, we’re seeing lives lost and families shattered by opioid overdoses, whether from heroin or prescription painkillers, in our urban centers and rural areas,” said Walker. “This standing order allows pharmacies the ability to make this life-saving drug more accessible for friends, family and loved ones of those at risk of overdose, and potentially open the door for treatment and recovery.”

Source: Walker press release

Representative Reid Ribble

In an exit interview with the Washington, D.C., newspaper Roll Call, three-term Congressman Ribble was asked, If you could change one thing about Congress what would it be? His response: “I would have every single committee select their own chairman. Chairmen currently are selected by leadership and so they’re subject to the leadership. If committee chairmen were selected by the members, they would be subject to the members. If you want to have the great wisdom of the crowd — the 247 Republicans and the Democrats — actually go up to the top, like Speaker Ryan speaks of, the fastest way to make that happen is to have the committee’s chairman selected by the committees. It would have an immediate impact.” Read the entire interview here: rollcall.com/news/hoh/exit-interview-rep-ribble.

Source: Roll Call

Senator Ron Johnson

The cost of college has recently dominated Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race between Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold. This, after Johnson suggested replacing college professors with Ken Burns documentaries. Johnson blamed a “higher education cartel” for driving up the cost of college. The issue started when Johnson suggested Burns’ videos on the Civil War would do a better job teaching students than history teachers could. “You don’t need individual professors for everything. When you find an excellent professor, put them on videotape, and let that person be the lecturer for a host of other individuals. And then let other teachers, other professors, go off of that and expand on that,” Johnson said. Johnson’s Democratic opponent, Russ Feingold, responded: “I think that is an absurd way of talking about this issue,” Feingold said. Burns himself said on Twitter: “I’m here to support teachers, not replace them.”

Source: fox6now.com 

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin applauded an announcement from the United States Forest Service (USFS) that the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is expected to meet and exceed its 2016 timber sale goal of selling at least 100 million board feet (MMBF) of timber this fiscal year. The last time the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest sold more than 100 MMBF of timber was in 2001. This is an important step forward for Wisconsin’s timber economy. This announcement comes as a result of management tools passed as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, which Senator Baldwin supported. The Farm Bill authorized the use of Good Neighbor Authority, which allows the Forest Service to enter into agreements with states to have them perform forest, rangeland and watershed restoration services on National Forest System lands. The bill also permanently authorized Stewardship Contracting, which allows the Forest Service to partner with stakeholder groups to accomplish forest management and wildlife habitat restoration projects. Baldwin, a long-time supporter of Wisconsin’s timber economy, toured an active logging site in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest last week to highlight the importance of Good Neighbor Authority for Wisconsin’s timber economy.

Source: Baldwin press release

President Barack Obama

President Obama called on Republicans in Congress to take action and vote to fund the Administration’s response to the Zika virus. In February, the President asked Congress to fund emergency resources, including mosquito control, fast-tracking diagnostics tests and vaccines, tracking the spread of the virus, and monitoring women and babies with Zika. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress have failed to take action on this issue. So the President continues to direct his Administration to do what it can without help from Congress, with the primary focus of protecting pregnant women and families planning to have children. Today, the CDC continues to work with state public health officials and has an emergency response team on the ground in South Florida, agencies have moved to expedite the development of a vaccine, and the administration is working with the private sector to develop more options to test and prevent infection. The President reiterated this is about more than politics and Republicans should make this their top priority when they return from their summer recess.

Source: White House press release