Dear Friends,

I hope you are well. Tomorrow, the Legislature will hold a joint hearing of both the Senate and Assembly Committees on Elections. As you may know, the committees are collecting information on potential issues from the November 3rd election. Friday's hearing will feature testimony from invited speakers and will start at 10:00 am. You can watch the hearing on WisconsinEye.

This week, the Joint Committee on Finance approved $25 million in tax credits offered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to help Molson-Coors expand in Milwaukee. The expansion is expected to bring 377 jobs to our area, with an average wage of $57 an hour. That's great news for our area and our state. I'm glad to see WEDC still delivering for working families in Wisconsin.

We continue to see thousands of new COVID-19 infections each day in our state. I ask every Wisconsinite to take the virus seriously and take precautions. Please be careful and continue to follow CDC guidelines, wear a mask, social distance, and wash your hands. It’s important to avoid lockdowns that create their own health crises in delayed medical care, mental health stresses, and the loss of businesses and jobs.

As always, if you have any concerns or ideas on how to improve our great state, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at 608-266-5830 or by email at Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov.

On, Wisconsin!

For the upcoming Legislative Session, I will be taking on the challenge of reforming education to ensure every child in Wisconsin has access to a quality education.

 

This week, Senator Devin LeMahieu named me as the new chair of the Senate Committee on Education. I am excited about the opportunity.

 

As a former teacher, I have always been interested in education policy and reform opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth many new challenges for our parents, educators, and students. I want families to feel confident that their schools are giving children the best possible chance at a bright future and protecting the tax dollars that go along with it.

 

Next session, I will also serve as Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Elections, Election Process, and Ethics, as a member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, as a member of the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges, and on the Joint Committees on Retirement Systems and Legislative Council.

Since the election, my office has received hundreds of calls from people who are raising concerns about how the election was conducted in our state.

Contact election.complaints@legis.wi.gov if you have first-hand knowledge of irregularities concerning the election. Please be specific and include as many details as possible.

Our hospitals are being overwhelmed by the pandemic. One way you can help is by donating blood. If you have recovered from COVID-19, please consider donating your plasma.

You can find out where to donate here and here.

We are still seeing new cases, and that is a major concern, especially for our front-line health care workers and hospitals. It’s more important than ever that we do what we can to stop the spread of COVID-19.

It is vital to keep the stress off our health care system and businesses so we can get through this pandemic as quick and as safely as possible.

Click on the video above to see how you can keep you and your loved ones safe from COVID-19.

The table above contains data reported on December 9, 2020 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services on coronavirus cases in our area.

Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker