Wisconsin is working in earnest to build a workforce, economy, and infrastructure that is ready to meet the needs of the 21st Century. An important part of this effort is encouraging investment and development of renewable energy sources, including solar power. This bill is a step in the wrong direction.
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I am vetoing Assembly Bill 510 in its entirety.
This bill would establish a new legal standard for infringement relating to certain rights of parents and guardians and create a civil cause of action with regard to those such rights.
As a former science teacher, principal and state superintendent, I believe parents are the first and best teachers our kids have. There has been no change in my position in the two years since this bill was last sent to my desk and vetoed.
We know we can improve our kids’ academic achievement when parents are actively involved in their kids’ lives, including supporting their education. During my time as an educator and administrator, engaging with parents and family members about their kids’ education was invaluable. As governor, I trust parents, educators, and school boards to work together to do what’s best for our kids.
This bill is neither aimed at supporting our parents, our kids, and our schools, nor improving student outcomes, nor fostering collaboration and communication to do what is best for our kids; this bill is yet another attempt to divide our schools and communities and inject political ideology in the very last place it belongs–in our classrooms and our schools. I urge politicians on both sides of the aisle to stop using our kids as political pawns. I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to sowing division in our schools, which only hurts our kids and learning in our classrooms. Now more than ever, the Wisconsin State Legislature’s focus should be on doing what’s best for our kids, improving school quality, and supporting our classrooms by making meaningful, sustainable investments in K-12 education. By providing long-term state support for our schools and bolstering staff resources, we can better empower and facilitate parent engagement, which is critically important for our kids’ success.
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I am vetoing Assembly Bill 512 in its entirety.
This bill repeals Department of Natural Resources administrative code provisions that prohibit a person from hunting or pursuing a free-roaming wild animal with the aid of a dog from May 1 to June 30 in a designated portion of the state north of certain east-west highways. Additionally, this bill repeals Department of Natural Resources administrative code provisions restricting dog trialing and dog training on free-roaming wild animals from May 1 to June 30 in the designated northern zone.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to increasing the risk of harassment against ground-nesting birds, deer fawns, elk calves, bear cubs and other wildlife in ecologically sensitive areas. Ample opportunities exist for individuals to hunt and train using dogs within this region outside of the May 1 to June 30 timeframe. The administrative code provisions protect wildlife during the important spring breeding and migration season.
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I am vetoing Assembly Bill 541 in its entirety.
This bill would allow out-of-state mental health care providers without a Wisconsin-issued license or credential to provide telehealth mental health care services to patients in Wisconsin, if the provider holds a license or approval from the state that the provider is physically present in when providing telehealth services and is not under investigation for unprofessional conduct.
I am vetoing this bill because I object to efforts that may result in Wisconsinites receiving lower quality of healthcare and provides fewer protections for Wisconsinites who may then receive poor treatment or experience unethical behavior from a healthcare provider. I appreciate the need for Wisconsin to retain, train, and recruit more qualified mental health providers across our state; however, achieving that goal through potentially sacrificing the quality of healthcare that Wisconsinites may receive–most especially for mental health services, which individuals may be seeking because they are experiencing a life-threatening mental health crisis–is untenable.
With limited exception, this bill prohibits requiring mental health care providers to be licensed, registered, certified, or approved to practice in Wisconsin in order to provide telehealth mental health services to patients located in Wisconsin if that provider meets certain conditions. Wisconsin is already part of interstate compact agreements that allow out-of-state providers to practice in our state for credentials such as psychologists and other mental health professionals. This bill creates an end run around the compact system, enabling providers who do not meet these existing standards or have the same experience as Wisconsin or compact state providers to provide mental health services through telehealth to people in our state.
Further, this bill leaves patients and consumers little recourse for complaints regarding poor treatment or unethical behavior. Credentialing examining boards in Wisconsin and the Department of Safety and Professional Services have no jurisdiction in other states, complaints filed on an out-of-state practitioner would not be able to be acted upon in Wisconsin, leaving patients and consumers fighting those matters across state lines.
I cannot support legislation that is likely to ultimately reduce healthcare quality and patient protections for Wisconsinites across our state.
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I am vetoing Assembly Bill 545 in its entirety.
This bill would require that, in order to be a member of a technical college district board, an individual must be a United States citizen.
I am vetoing this bill because I object to the Wisconsin State Legislature’s attempt to limit the local authority for technical college district boards to choose whom to elect. Technical college district boards are capable of identifying the best, brightest, and most qualified individuals to serve without the Legislature’s unsolicited assistance.
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I am vetoing Assembly Bill 603 in its entirety.
This bill requires the Department of Transportation to place two directional assistance signs for the Prairie School and Wind Point Lighthouse at a specific I-94 interchange in Racine County.
I am vetoing the bill in its entirety because I object to putting the Department of Transportation out of compliance with its own policies, derived from federal rules regarding signage on the interstate highway system that prioritize limited signage space for signs directly related to the primary purpose of a highway interchange and prevent duplicative signage.
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I am vetoing Assembly Bill 610 in its entirety.
This bill would require any institution of higher education that receives public funding and that requires any student or prospective student to receive an immunization as a condition of attendance to waive the immunization requirement for a student or prospective student if the student or prospective student objects to the immunization for reasons of health, religion or personal conviction. In addition, the bill would stipulate that no institution of higher education may require that a student or prospective student provide any explanation or justification of the student’s or prospective student’s objection to an immunization. Finally, the bill would require an institution of higher education that receives public funding to inform a student or prospective student of the student’s or prospective student’s right to a waiver from the institution of higher education’s immunization requirements in writing at any time the institution of higher education informs the student or prospective student of the immunization requirements.