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Your Representatives in the News

Your Representatives in the News

State Assembly Representative Garey Bies

Bies supports a bill that would allow city, town and village governments to decide whether the state can build a highway roundabout in their municipalities. Bies said he supports the legislation because there are roundabouts being considered in his jurisdiction. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is considering roundabouts along Highway 42/57 in Sturgeon Bay at Egg Harbor Road and Michigan Street.

“There might be good arguments for putting these in, but what I’m hearing from constituents is they want to be part of the conversation,” Bies said. “This legislation will give them an opportunity to express their thoughts to their local governments.”

Source:  Bies press release

Governor Scott Walker

On Tuesday, July 18, Walker signed Assembly Bill 181 into law, creating a program to invest in venture capital funds. He said the money generated from the investments will go to Wisconsin-based businesses, and are targeted toward agriculture, medical devices, information technology, engineering and advanced manufacturing industries.

Under the program, an investment manager will invest state funds with venture capital funds, which will invest in Wisconsin businesses. The investments must make annual payments to the state’s general fund.

The bill passed both houses of the legislature with bipartisan support.

Source:  Walker press release, Milwaukee State Journal

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson

Johnson, a conservative and advocate for deficit reduction, was part of a Q&A-style interview with Roll Call. He answered questions about putting together long-term debt projections, the concept of stimulating economic growth before paying off the deficit and other budget-related questions.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

“Q:  When do you think the debt limit will be addressed? Do you think it will be tied to a continuing resolution for government funding in fiscal 2014 or to something else?

A:  We keep hearing that debt ceiling being pushed off. If past is prologue, it will be solved at the very last minute, which would be real tragic.

I thought it was a mistake to suspend the debt limit. We should have increased it, but we should have gotten something in return. What we should have gotten in return was a bill attached to that must-pass piece of legislation which would have said there will be no more defaults.”

Source:  Roll Call

U.S. Representative Reid Ribble

Ribble was interviewed by a Texas radio station with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) about their bipartisan initiative. While he said some gridlock in Congress is good because it forces compromise and discussion, the partisanship that frustrates many people largely comes from redistricting.

“If you’re coming from a district that’s 80 percent Republican or 80 percent Democrat, your big problem is whether you’re going to be primaried or not,” Ribble said. “The very nature pushes you to the perimeter of the political spectrum, just by virtue of the people you’re giving voice to. I think the American people have a misperception of elections. We’re at a place now in this country where voters are not picking their representatives anymore. Representatives, through the gerrymandering process and redistricting, are picking their voters.”

Source:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, KUHF News

President Barack Obama

Obama delivered remarks on Friday, July 19, about the death of Trayvon Martin. He said the legal analysts can address the arguments that have come since the trial, and that he wanted to talk about the context of the issue and his experience growing up in America as an African-American man.

“There has been talk about should we convene a conversation on race,” Obama said. “I haven’t seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations. They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have. On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there’s the possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can? Am I judging people as much as I can, based not on the color of their skin, but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.

Source:  Business Insider