Dear Friends,

More than 100 residents of River Place Apartments in Brown Deer lost their homes recently from a fire likely caused by a lightning strike. Today, the Village of Brown Deer is hosting a "multi-agency resource center" from 1:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Brown Deer Elementary School at 5757 W. Dean Road. The Village also has a list of ways you can help here.

Wisconsin is famous for making great things. Many iconic brands call our state home, but what's the coolest thing made in Wisconsin? You can help decide. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is taking nominations for their annual contest. You can nominate a product and company here.

Check your mailbox for my newsletter. You can read about some of the important issues I worked on in this session! I value your feedback, so please let me know what you think.

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!

Last week, I sent a letter to the acting head of the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS), Dan Hereth, asking for a plan to stop the licensing crisis the agency has yet to resolve in our state.

Everyone from plumbers to psychiatrists needs to have their licenses approved by DSPS. Without state-approved licenses, people can’t work. For the last year, constituents looking to keep or fill jobs in an already tight labor market were ignored by the DSPS. They wait on hold for hours and end up getting dumped to voice mail. Often their checks were cashed months before they received an answer on why their license was still on hold. This is unacceptable.

I will continue to ask DSPS for their plan to help my constituents and workers throughout the state get the licenses they need to work. I want the agency to know that their inaction hurts everyone in our state.

This is not the first time the Evers administration has failed to act efficiently for the people of Wisconsin. The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) left thousands unemployed without the money they owed. Like DSPS, people struggled to get ahold of someone at the agency. The non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau found that DWD didn't even answer 93% of the phone calls made by people seeking information about their unemployment payments. 

As children start heading back to school, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) is updating its School Data Dashboard. WILL calls it a "one-stop shop" for information on every school district in the state. 

By clicking on the picture, you can find everything from school funding to performance.