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Legislation: Wisconsin

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Sign Up to Receive Our Free NHU Wisconsin Advocacy Alerts! via e-mail to stay on top of important Wisconsin legislation.

The Wisconsin Legislative Notification System provides you the opportunity to follow important legislation through daily or weekly e-mails for specific legislative activities. You can choose items by Proposal, Committee, Author or Subject and can select the activities for which you would like to receive notifications. It's your future! Get involved! Stay involved!

Contact Your Lawmakers

To call or email your legislators, find your Wisconsin State legislators and their contact information: Who Are My Legislators?

Learn How to Effectively Communicate with Your Lawmakers

Partners in Making Your Case is a free, self-paced online course that will give you tips on how to communicate your needs with your lawmakers.

Advocacy Alert! - April 2, 2013 - Wisconsin Vote Tuesday April 2, 2013 - Let Your Voice Be Heard!

The ballot this spring includes many important races such as the State Supreme Court race, with current Justice Pat Roggensack is facing challenger Ed Fallone. Visit their websites for more information about their positions.

Also the State Superintendent of Public Instruction race (See next article below) as well as local officials like City Council, Mayor or School Board members. To find out exactly who will be on your ballot and where you vote, go to https://myvote.wi.gov/.

Photo identification is not needed to vote in this election. Voters will be asked to sign the poll book. Anyone who is not physically able to sign the poll book can be exempt from the requirement. If you are physically able, you can sign your name or use a mark or a stamp signature. A mark can be an “X.”

If you have any questions about registering to vote, accessible voting machines, the voting process, or your rights as a voter, contact the Disability Rights Wisconsin Voter Hotline at 800/928-8778 or 888/758-6049 (TTY/TEXTNET).

April 2, 2013 - Ballot will include State Superintendent of Public Instruction race - Special Needs Vouchers are of concern for families of children with special needs.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, is the incumbent in the race for state superintendent a non-partisan state position against challenger Don Pridemore. A candidate forum on Special Education Policies and Procedures was held at Sage Hall on the UW Oshkosh campus on March 1. DAWN has published a video of the event so you can choose for yourself. To watch the event go to: The Forum which allowed the candidates to express their viewpoints and highlight their differences in approach and philosophy on special education in Wisconsin. A focus of the forum was voucher school funding and standards, and protections of parents’ and students’ rights. While the forum’s focus was on special education policy, the candidates also discussed issues of bullying and school security. See the article about the candidate forum at Door County Advocate The event was co-sponsored by Disability Rights Wisconsin, Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition, WI FACETS, WI Family Ties, Quality Education Council, Wisconsin Reading Coalition, UW Oshkosh Department of Special Education and College of Education and Human Services and Options for Independent Living.

Advocacy Alert! March 20, 2013 - Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations will host Disability Advocacy Day in Madison

The Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations will host Disability Advocacy Day on March 20, 2013. A day for you to connect with your legislators and share your story with them, tell them how legislative policies affect people with disabilities. The survival coalition will give a briefing and will set up your legislative visit. See the article at Disability Advocacy Day. You can register online or by submitting the registration form. The deadline to register is Wednesday, March 13.

February 2013 - Wisconsin Speaker Vos has created Task Force on Mental Health - Representative Sandy Pasch to co-chair

Assembly Speaker Vos created a Task Force on Mental Health to address some of the issues facing individuals living with mental illness. As a mental health nurse who has long been an advocate for improving mental health services, Representative Sandy Pasch is to serve as Vice-Chair on the new Task Force. She believes that we will be able to have a constructive dialogue about the importance of providing access to treatment and reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness. She is also hopeful that the Mental Health Task Force will produce real, positive legislative action that supports health services for individuals living with these treatable mental health conditions. We will keep you posted on the developments of this Task Force.

February 2013 - Wisconsin Survival Coalition and Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities has issued priorities for the 2013-2015 Wisconsin State Budget

Check out these two papers on the viewpoint of peoplew with disabilities on state budget priorities. Survival Coalition 2013-2015 Wisconsin Budget Priorities and the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities 2013 Wisconsin Budget Priorities

Advocacy Alert! February 2013 - Act now to let your legislators know how you feel about moving Special Needs public school money going to private schools through vouchers

Here are the facts (see link below) from other states and cities that have implemented Special Needs Vouchers. The ones who lose are the children.

DAWN has sent out the following article to "Take Action to Stop Special Needs Vouchers." Now is the time to contact your legislators and take action on this issue. Use this easy form to contact your legislators.

Gov. Scott Walker plans to include special needs vouchers in his 2013-2015 State Budget that he will introduce Wednesday, February 20th. Families from around the state held a media event at the Capitol to share their concerns. View photos from this Media Event Join this grassroots group of families and their children with disabilities in asking the Wisconsin Legislature to take special needs vouchers out of the budget.

Efforts to improve outcomes for students with disabilities should include putting additional funds toward public school special education services instead of private school vouchers. Special needs vouchers could negatively affect students with disabilities and drain critical resources from small Wisconsin school districts. Families lose all their federal protections when they leave public schools, and private schools are not accountable for student outcomes. To learn more about concerns surrounding special needs vouchers, check out this comprehensive fact sheet.

Including special needs vouchers in the Governor’s budget does not allow for adequate public input on this important policy issue so contacting your legislators may be the only way for you to have input.

Advocacy Alert! January 2013 - Get involved in State budget planning now! It impacts you!

Your legislators are now considering the 2013-2015 State Budget and the many issues important to you! Issues like long-term care, employment, education, Medicaid, and transportation will be addressed by the Legislature as they develop the state budget. Start a conversation now with your legislators to ensure that they takes your needs and concerns into consideration. To help you better prepare for conversations with your legislators, the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) will hold regional budget trainings throughout the state. Locations and dates will be announced soon. You may also wish to review the WI BPDD's 2013-15 Budget Platform and the Survival Coalition's 2013-15 Biennial Budget Priorities. Do not let your future be decided without you!

Advocacy Alert! - December 19, 2012 - Fiscal Cliff: The Impact on People with Disabilities - What Does It Mean to You?

The following article was sent by DAWN (Disability Advocates Wisconsin Network) The Congress and the President are negotiating over more than only taxes. If they cannot reach a decision by the beginning of January and if they add cuts to entitlement programs, besides the tax increases and federal spending cuts, there will be drastic cuts to discretionary programs that affect people with disabilities. If you are served by any of the programs relying on a fixed federal funding including those for people with disabilities mentioned below or are concerned about cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, please contact President Obama on his website or contact your Congressional Representative through their website. The House members can inform Speaker Boehner of their constituents’ opinions.

People with disabilities will be impacted in a variety of ways if Congress and the President do not reach agreement to change current law by the end of the year. A combination of federal spending cuts and tax increases will go into effect at the end of 2012 and beginning of January 2013 if no action is taken.

If President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner cannot reach agreement, some taxes will increase, tax credits will expire, and federal unemployment benefits will end. While these actions are concerning, advocates are focused on drastic cuts to discretionary programs like general and special education, employment supports, and housing programs that people with disabilities rely on. Each program would be cut about 8 percent.

Unlike entitlements such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, discretionary programs get a fixed sum of funding. If funds are cut, Wisconsin will receive less federal aid to support a wide range of programs, such as vocational rehabilitation.

Services that assist all citizens will also be cut. Public safety and law enforcement, medical and scientific research, public health; and environmental protection are only a few examples of the services that will be cut is current law is not changed.

The details about the bill to avoid the fiscal cliff are constantly changing. Some entitlement reforms are now under discussion. Congress and the President need to hear from constituents whether programs that serve people with disabilities, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and many of the discretionary programs need to remain strong without changes.

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