Walker Appoints Rebecca Bradley to Wisconsin Supreme Court

Representative Joel Kitchens

Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) attended the signing of Senate Bill 252, a piece which passed both the Senate and Assembly last month with no opposition. “I am very pleased that the governor chose to sign this bill,” said Kitchens. “Many local communities were looking at losing a large portion of their budget with no way to fill in the gaps. SB 252 helps areas already losing a sizable portion of their economy and allows local governments time to plan and recover.” Kitchens co-authored SB 252 in order to address the growing problem of power plant closures in his district and across the state. Kewaunee County and the Town of Carlton both face substantial losses to their budget due to the closing of the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. Numerous coal and bio-mass powered plants around the state are scheduled to close due to new EPA standards, which would have caused an abrupt loss of their utility aid and severe financial hardship. SB 252 extends utility aid payments to local communities losing power plants and gradually reduces these payments over a five-year period.

Source: Kitchens press release

Governor Scott Walker

On Oct. 9, Walker announced the appointment of Judge Rebecca Bradley to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Bradley will replace Justice N. Patrick Crooks, who recently passed away. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to appoint Rebecca Bradley to our state’s highest court,” said Governor Walker. “Judge Bradley has truly lived up to her promise to be a judge that demonstrates unwavering commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law in every case that comes before her.” Governor Walker appointed Judge Bradley to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2012 and District I Court of Appeals in May of 2015. She was elected in a contested election to retain the Milwaukee County seat in 2013 with bipartisan support and a wide range of endorsements. As Milwaukee County Judge, Judge Bradley presided in Children’s Court, where she handled a large caseload of complex matters involving guardianship and parental rights, juvenile delinquency and criminal matters, and children or juveniles in need of protection or services. Prior to her service on the Milwaukee bench she had a successful career in private practice for 16 years at Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, Hinshaw & Culbertson, and at the international software firm RedPrairie Corporation, where she served as in-house counsel. Judge Bradley has a juris doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and an honors bachelor of science degree from Marquette University. She is a native of Milwaukee and currently resides in Wauwatosa.

Source: Walker press release

Representative Reid Ribble

Ribble issued the below statement following the release of the final agreement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal:

“Since the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks began several years ago, I have weighed in repeatedly with the United States Trade Representative who negotiated on America’s behalf. I am very hopeful that this deal will give Wisconsinites the ability to sell more of our goods overseas, helping us trade more of the products of our strong manufacturing industry with the rest of the world, and hopefully opening up new markets for our cheese, milk, and butter especially in Canada and Japan. In the coming days and weeks I will be studying the agreement very closely to determine if it’s a fair deal for Wisconsin and our nation, and will be voting accordingly.”

Source: Ribble press release

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin (D-Wis.), along with Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chairs of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, along with U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), introduced the Creating Quality Technical Educators Act to expand the Higher Education Act’s teacher residency grant program to help schools recruit and train high-quality CTE teachers. The Creating Quality Technical Educators Act would foster partnerships between high-needs secondary schools and post-secondary institutions to create one-year teacher residencies for CTE teachers. “As the demand for a work force with highly-technical skills continues to grow, I’m proud to support bipartisan legislation that ensures we have highly-trained, talented educators in classrooms across the country to help our CTE students attain the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the needs of today’s employers,” said Baldwin.

Source: Baldwin press release

Senator Ron Johnson

Johnson (R-Wis.), along with nine of his Senate colleagues, signed on as an original cosponsor of the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act, introduced by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). The legislation would withhold certain federal funding from sanctuary states or cities that fail to comply with Department of Homeland Security requests to detain illegal aliens. The bill would redirect these funds to states and localities that follow the law. Vitter is working with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the measure to the full Senate for a vote within the next few weeks. Currently, there are about 170,000 convicted criminal aliens who have been ordered to be deported but who remain at large in the United States. More than 200 cities currently provide safe haven as sanctuary cities.

Source: Johnson press release

President Barack Obama

In his weekly address, the President spoke to the merits of the high-standards trade agreement reached last week. The Trans-Pacific Partnership helps level the playing field for American workers and businesses, so we can export more Made-in-America products all over the world, supporting higher-paying American jobs here at home. The President acknowledged that past trade agreements have not always lived up to expectations, but emphasized that this is a good deal, with the strongest commitments on labor and environment of any trade agreement in history. The President encouraged everyone to read the agreement, which will be available online well before he signs it, and looked forward to working with lawmakers from both parties as they consider and approve this deal. The audio and video of the address is available online at whitehouse.gov.

Source: White House press release