Violence Prevention
Bills I have authored or co-sponsored to decrease crime and prevent violence against Wisconsinites:
Universal Background Checks & Red Flag Laws: supported by the majority of Wisconsinites.
VOCA Funding: Provides funding for victims services and domestic abuse services.
Violence Prevention: Creates a statewide Office of Violence Prevention to provide grants for community violence intervention.
Safe Harbor: The majority of the country has passed a bill like this, but Wisconsin Republicans keep blocking this bill. States with Safe harbor bills have shown it easier to prosecute pimps who sex traffic children.
Common Sense Gun Reform
I am honored to be endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety, and to be named a Moms Demand Action Gunsense Candidate.
Gun violence is a public health crisis. Every Wisconsinite deserves to be and feel safe, and deserves to have that safety valued by their legislators. We have spent many years studying what we believe to be the solutions, and now it is time to act. See my 2021 op-ed, “Gun Violence is a Public Health Crisis.”
I co-sponsored bills this session to require background checks for all gun purchases, implement a “red flag law”, and create a tax exemption for gun safes, trigger locks, and gun barrel locks.
As a mother of two, I understand the importance of keeping schools and households safe. I am committed to common-sense gun reform and co-sponsored bills that both protect human life and uphold the second amendment. I will continue working to increase safety to our schools and neighborhoods.
Violence Prevention & Intervention
Wisconsin saw the greatest increase in domestic violence-related deaths in the last two decades in 2022. This is unacceptable. We also know that when a gun is present in a domestic violence situation, women are 5X more likely to be killed. I will continue to work for a world where we have sufficient funding for violence prevention and intervention, with a focus that women and children are protected and not forgotten.
A Zero Tolerance for Sexual Violence
I was a co-sponsor of both bills related to sexual assault kits that were signed into law by Governor Evers last legislative session. I also co-sponsored a bill to provide more funding for victims of sexual violence. I am grateful we have made progress demanding that survivors of sexual violence see more commitment from their government to bringing them justice, and I plan to continue working to protect Wisconsinites from sexual violence.
Protecting Children from Sex Trafficking
Passing the Safe Harbor bill is critical to capturing sex traffickers, and protecting children from sex trafficking. The fact this bill hasn’t passed in Wisconsin, but has in the majority of the United States, lands squarely on the Republicans for blocking its passage. I will continue to fight to protect Wisconsin’s children because every child deserves a childhood, and a childhood free of sex trafficking. It appears it will take flipping the legislature to Democratic majority to be able to call a vote on this bill, so I am asking you–if ending child sex trafficking is important to you, please vote for Democrats in the state legislature–the Republican majority is holding us back from creating the change necessary to protect kids from sex trafficking.