On Tuesday, three bills that I authored passed the state Senate and now are waiting for passage in the state Assembly.

The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 344, reforming adverse possession. The bill increases the protection of property owners from having a portion of their property taken by another person who was simply utilizing the property in some way. 

A primary responsibility of government is to uphold the most basic of property rights of its citizens. The adverse possession doctrine does the opposite. Therefore, we put in place an added protection for Wisconsin property owners.

The next bill, Senate Bill 422, counters an effort by Washington, D.C. to redefine the definition of employers that would benefit specific special interest groups. The bill gives Attorney General Schimel additional leverage if the state challenges this federal overreach in court and continues to protect small businesses in Wisconsin. 

Unelected Washington bureaucrats and special interests are threatening our long-established business structure. Wisconsin has taken the first step in passing SB 422 to protect entrepreneurs and their employees across the state.

Finally, the Senate also passed Senate Bill 596 that will help connect workers with work by giving more flexibility to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). It allows the movement of existing funds from programs that are not working well to those that are succeeding.

This bill allows DWD to use funds for workforce education more efficiently and increase opportunities for workers, from students to displaced workers, to find jobs. Instead of spending more taxpayer money, we will simply reallocate money from ineffective programs.

To view all of the bills that passed the Senate on Tuesday, click here.

1752 - Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, opens in Philadelphia.
1809 - Robert Fulton patents his steamboat.
1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signs a law that redraws district lines in his party's favor, thus giving rise to the term "gerrymandering."
1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln leaves Springfield, Illinois, for Washington, D.C., saying, "I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return" – he never does.
1933 - President Hoover designates Death Valley as a national monument.