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Your Representatives in the News

State Assembly Representative Garey Bies

Bies co-authored a bill that would require outside agencies to investigate instances when people die in police custody. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an op-ed in support of the bill, and in support of keeping Milwaukee included.

“Whenever an agency investigates itself, there is inevitably a residue of doubt that the probe was fair and impartial,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote. “The same applies to investigations of agencies by agencies that work hand-in-glove with the agency being probed, especially when they rely on each other in other circumstances.

The Bies-Taylor bill is a reasonable response to that public doubt. The bill would help build confidence among the public and families of those who died in custody that law enforcement and corrections personnel will be held accountable when mistakes are made.”

Source:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Governor Scott Walker

Walker, running for re-election as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, and Democratic candidate Mary Burke discussed their differences in opinion over the minimum wage and gay marriage.

Burke supports raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10, saying it will allow more full-time workers to get off benefit programs. Walker said Burke is focusing on the minimum wage issue because she doesn’t have a jobs plan, and that the best way to boost the economy is to create more high-paying jobs.

Regarding a federal lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage ban, Walker said he would uphold the constitution and leave defending the ban to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. Burke said she supports the lawsuit and agrees same-sex couples should have the right to wed.

Source:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Representative Reid Ribble

Ribble joined many other Wisconsin senators and representatives, including Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson, in sending a letter to President Obama about the propane crisis. The letter asked the Obama administration to look into the cause of the propane shortage, resolve the crisis and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Wisconsin’s rural areas are being particularly hard-hit by this crisis and we are taking all possible steps to resolve this shortage and identify the causes,” Ribble said. “Wisconsinites depend on these services and we cannot tolerate systemic failures to continue.”

Source:  Ribble Press Release

Senator Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin introduced a bill called the Quality Foster Care Services Act that would clarify Medicaid policy for foster children with serious medical, psychological, social or emotional needs. Those children are typically in treatment foster care programs so they can get special services, but existing law doesn’t define treatment foster care programs.

Source:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

President Barack Obama

Obama and French President François Hollande wrote a column that ran in the Washington Post about work the U.S. and France do together. They wrote about halting progress on the Iranian nuclear program, combating terrorism, helping farmers in Africa boost production and promoting the global economy.

“The challenges of our time cannot be wished away,” they wrote. “The opportunities of our interconnected world will not simply fall into our laps. The future we seek, as always, must be earned. For more than two centuries, our two peoples have stood together for our mutual freedom. Now we are meeting our responsibilities not just to each other — but to a world that is more secure because our enduring alliance is being made new again.”

Source:  The Washington Post