Notes from the West Wing
By
State Representative Garey Bies
Web Page and Bill Signings
First off this week I want to make an announcement, the First Assembly District has a new web page. The address is http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm01/news/ and there you will find links to things such as committee and special commission memberships, legislation I authored as well as copies of all past editions of Notes from the West Wing! Please stop by and have a look around. If you have suggestions for the web page, please feel free to send them my way! I’d like this web page to be of service to the residents of the First Assembly District and I can only achieve that goal with your help!
Secondly, I’d like to announce that the Governor signed two of my bills last week. First was Assembly Bill 628 that grants a property tax exemption for the Peninsula Players Theater. The Theater is a valued member of the Door County community that is looking to make further investments in the County that will provide great benefit to the local economy. With the support of the Town of Gibraltar and Door County, I was happy to help the Theater obtain the exemption.
The second bill of mine to be signed was my proposal to make revisions to the licensing requirements for clinical social workers. I introduced this proposal at the request of the National Association of Social Workers. The change will allow social workers who did not receive the requisite clinical training in graduate school, to earn their clinical license by completing qualifying clinical instruction. The new law removes a senseless barrier that has hindered many social workers from entering the clinical field.
I was proud to author both of these proposals and am happy to see both complete the legislative process and become law.
Lastly, I would like to offer my congratulations to James Rabas who was recently named Kewaunee “Person of the Year.” James is a past president of the Algoma Chamber of Commerce and is the current president of the Agricultural Heritage and Resource Board. His work and dedication to the community makes the Kewaunee area and the whole State of Wisconsin a better place to live. James sets an example for all of us to follow and it was a pleasure to meet James at the recent Kewaunee Rotary event. The crowd was large and it was nice to see so many people there.
As always, if you have questions or comments on this column or any other topic you might see or read in the news, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.state.wi.us or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001.