Your Reps in the News

State Assembly Representative Garey Bies

Bies introduced Assembly Bill 54, which affects the hours municipal clerks can offer absentee voting before an election.

Currently in-person absentee voting starts on the third Monday before an election, and ends when the clerk’s office closes on the Friday before the election. This bill would require that in-person absentee voting only take place Monday to Friday between 7:30 am and 5 pm and that a clerk’s office can only be open up to 40 hours per week during in-person absentee voting time.

Contact info:

Garey Bies

Room 216 North

State Capitol

PO Box 8952

Madison, WI 53708

Phone: 608.266.5350

Senator Frank Lasee

Lasee cosponsored Assembly Bill 34, introduced by Assembly Representative Garey Bies and others, that would allow an electric utility or cooperative to consider electricity derived from nuclear power to count toward a renewable portfolio standard.

Nuclear power is currently considered a conventional resource, while power from solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy is considered renewable.

As of press time, the bill is referred to the Committee on Energy and Utilities.

Contact info:

Frank Lasee

Room 316 South

State Capitol

PO Box 7882

Madison, WI 53707-7882

Phone: 608.266.3512

Governor Scott Walker

Walker signed a controversial mining bill on Monday, March 11. The bill relaxes environmental restrictions on mining and helps Gogebic Taconite, a mining company, open an iron mine near Lake Superior.

Supporters of the bill say eased mining restrictions will create jobs, while opponents say the relaxed environmental standards will lead to pollution.

The bill passed the state senate with a vote of 17 to 16, with one republican voting against it, and the state assembly with a vote of 58 to 39 along party lines.

Contact info:

Office of Governor Scott Walker

115 East Capitol

Madison, WI 53702

Phone: 608.266.1212

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson

Senator Ron Johnson announced at the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Thursday, March 7 that he will run for re-election in 2016. Johnson originally won his seat in 2010, when he upset democratic senator Russ Feingold.

Contact info:

Ron Johnson

386 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202.224.5323

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin

In an interview with USA Today reporter Susan Page, Tammy Baldwin discussed Senator Rand Paul’s more than 12-hour filibuster, where he talked about the President’s use of drone surveillance on U.S. Citizens and on U.S. soil.

“There was a lot of respect for somebody who didn’t just phone in a hold or an objection, or even come to the floor and place that hold or objection and then walk out,” Baldwin said in the interview. “I think the fact that somebody would stay and state their opinions on the issue was respected regardless of the larger context of the filibuster debate.”

Contact info:

Tammy Baldwin

14 West Mifflin Street, Suite 207

Madison, WI 53703

Phone: 202.224.5653

U.S. Representative Reid Ribble

In February, Ribble introduced a bill with democrat Michael Michauld of Maine that would let states decide whether to allow heavier, 97,000-pound trucks on their highways. The current limit for truck weight is 80,000 pounds. The bill would let the Department of Transportation have a say, and enforce lower weight restriction in the case of a safety concern.

Contact info:

Reid Ribble

1513 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202.225.5665

President Barack Obama

The Obama administration announced that it will likely release its budget package in early April. Paul Ryan, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin and House Budget Committee chair, and Patty Murray, Senate Budget Committee chair, have already released their separate budget proposals.

Contact info:

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Phone: 202.456.1111