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An electronic newsletter from State Senator Jon Erpenbach - 2-22-08

Traveling Sales Crew Bill Gets Assembly Hearing: Finally – Senate Bill 80, the traveling sales crew regulation bill, received a public hearing in the Assembly Small Business Committee this week. SB 80 is also know as Malinda’s Law after Malinda Turvey who died in the tragic Janesville Interstate van crash that took the lives of seven youngsters who were working as a traveling sales crew in 1999. To me it is simple, but the bill has sat for a while and I am worried about its passage before the end of session. Kids who are lured into traveling sales crews should be able to call their parents on the road and should have the basic worker’s rights we give everyone in Wisconsin. In addition, this bill lets the State track who is on a crew. That means law enforcement can find out if fugitives are going door to door in our communities. To contact Representative Moulton, the committee chair email to ask him to pass the bill email rep.moulton@legis.wisconsin.gov

Virtual School Compromise Bill Passes Senate – Senate Bill 396 , a compromise virtual school bill that would make schools legal, passed the Senate this week. I did not support an amendment to the bill that eventually passed to place some limits on virtual schools, but I did vote for final passage. While no one got everything that they wanted with this bill the bottom line is simple; virtual schools will stay open with this bill and without it they would close. Monroe Virtual School and other schools teach many of my constituents’ children and this has been an important issue for my office. This is our final chance to keep virtual schools open. Please contact members of the Assembly and ask them to pass SB 396.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Races; Senate Passes Reform - Never did I believe we would see the kind of spending in the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections that we have seen for the last several years. These are, after all, non-partisan elections for a seat on the Supreme Court, the highest court in Wisconsin. There is no reason Justices, and those seeking to become Justices, should be out hocking their wares to fund their campaign. Senate Bill 171 , which passed the Senate this week, would fully fund Supreme Court races and set spending and contribution limits. I have sent out a guest column on why we need to change the system, read it here.

Cellular Phone “Do Not Call” Bill Passes Senate Unanimously - An Erpenbach bill to add cellular phones to the highly popular Wisconsin “Do Not Call” list passed another hurdle this week with positive action from the State Senate. Senate Bill 99 does not cost taxpayers a dime, since Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection creates and maintains the list and charges fees to telemarketing companies to pay for the list. Because the bill has had two hearings already in the Legislature, I have made a request to Speaker Huebsch that he directly schedule the bill for floor action so time does not run out to pass this bill. If you would like to email Huebsch and ask him to schedule SB 99 for the floor you can use this email rep.huebsch@legis.wisconsin.gov .

Session Ending - We are entering the last few weeks of session and are scheduled to be on the floor next Tuesday and Thursday. For Thursday’s calendar click here.

This Week the People Say – This week the people of the 27^th Senate District say, pass a virtual school bill and keep 3,500 kids in virtual school.