Born Rochester, MN, January 19, 1962; 2 children. Graduate Stewartville H.S. 1980; B.A. Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN 1989. Council of State Governments: BILLD Fellow 2012, Toll Fellow 2014. Full-time legislator. Former teacher of English and Citizenship to Hmong adults. Member: Women in Government; Children’s Trust Fund; Viterbo University Board of Advisors; UW-La Crosse Chancellor’s Community Council; La Crosse County League of Women Voters; La Crosse County Democratic Party. Former member: Wisconsin Counties Association County Ambassador Program; La Crosse Area Family Policy Board; Stepping Stones Children’s Advocacy Center; La Crosse County Economic Development Fund; La Crosse Community Foundation Granting Advisory Board. La Crosse County Board 2004-12.
Elected to the Assembly in November 2011 special election; reelected since 2012.
Member of Tourism, Council on
3/21/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 792
Relating to: complaints against railroad police officers. (FE)
2/17/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 745
Relating to: the Uniform Act on Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking and providing a penalty. (FE)
2/11/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 736
Relating to: funding for broadband expansion grants and making appropriations. (FE)
2/9/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 716
Relating to: review and reporting requirements for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. (FE)
2/1/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 658
Relating to: the performance of highway improvement projects by a county and private construction projects by a political subdivision. (FE)
2/1/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 656
Relating to: prohibiting issuance of citations for alcohol beverages violations to certain underage persons in connection with sexual assault or certain other crimes and prohibiting certain disciplinary sanctions if the underage person is a student.
2/1/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 666
Relating to: collective bargaining for public employees, prohibiting employees other than public safety employees from bargaining collectively on insurance contributions and employee required contributions to retirement, granting rule-making authority, and making appropriations. (FE)
2/1/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 695
Relating to: adjusting a school district's revenue limit for certain school safety expenditures. (FE)
2/1/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 659
Relating to: disclosing information about executive branch appointments.
2/1/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 672
Relating to: authorizing Wisconsin to enter into a membership agreement to share information related to the registration and voting of electors.
1/27/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 647
Relating to: judicial disqualification based on campaign financial support.
1/27/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 653
Relating to: medically accurate information, conscientious beliefs of reproductive health care providers, health care provider liability insurance, eliminating certain abortion requirements, prohibiting employment retribution and discrimination, actions against a person seeking or providing health care, and providing a criminal penalty. (FE)
1/27/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 648
Relating to: legislative consideration of nonfiscal policy items in the biennial budget bill.
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 620
Relating to: electronic voter registration, verification of certain registrations, and proof of residence for voting in an election and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 621
Relating to: changes to the electronic waste recycling program and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 633
Relating to: creation of a grant program for teachers employed by sparsely populated school districts and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 608
Relating to: pay adjustments for state correctional officers who take certain other civil service positions. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 609
Relating to: reports of incidents between inmates and prison employees and between inmates.
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 610
Relating to: limiting overtime at the Department of Corrections.
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 84
Relating to: proclaiming February 2016 as Black History Month.
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 612
Relating to: first responders on duty at prisons. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 613
Relating to: staff required to be on duty at prisons. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 625
Relating to: alternate sites for absentee voting in person.
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 626
Relating to: injunctions against harrassment and abuse.
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 618
Relating to: the crime of child sex trafficking, the inclusion of child sex trafficking in the definition of child abuse, the investigation of a child abuse report in which a person who is not a caregiver of the child is suspected of permitting, allowing, or encouraging the child to engage in prostitution or of child sex trafficking for purposes of a commercial sex act, and providing a penalty. (FE)
1/22/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 607
Relating to: training for newly hired correctional officers. (FE)
1/19/2016: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 82
Relating to: designating November as a month recognizing women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in Wisconsin.
1/15/2016: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 81
Relating to: proclaiming Friday, February 5, 2016, to be National Wear Red Day in recognition of heart disease awareness and prevention.
1/15/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 574
Relating to: model procedures for investigating reports of abuse or neglect involving children with disabilities. (FE)
1/15/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 576
Relating to: monitoring industrial sand mining and processing operations and making an appropriation. (FE)
1/15/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 577
Relating to: regulating and monitoring airborne particulate matter and respirable silica and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
1/15/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 579
Relating to: collective bargaining over workplace safety for employees of the Department of Corrections.
1/8/2016: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 78
Relating to: requiring the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization to immediately appoint a committee, to be known as the Commission on Debt-Free College, to study and report on the feasibility of providing a debt-free college education to all residents of this state.
1/7/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 520
Relating to: guidelines for prescribing controlled substances and the examination authority of the Medical Examining Board.
1/6/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 501
Relating to: requiring sexual abuse prevention education.
1/6/2016: 2015 Senate Bill 505
Relating to: exempting from nonresident tuition at the University of Wisconsin System certain members of the Wisconsin National Guard or a reserve unit of the U.S. armed forces. (FE)
12/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 483
Relating to: a grant program to support creative industries, job creation, or economic development in this state and making an appropriation. (FE)
12/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 488
Relating to: creating a program to protect the confidentiality of addresses for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking; providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures; and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (FE)
12/7/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 439
Relating to: the creation of a Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission. (FE)
12/3/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 74
Relating to: prohibiting official action on proposals that financially benefit a legislator's campaign organization (first consideration).
12/3/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 423
Relating to: employment by a former member of the legislature as a lobbyist.
12/3/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 431
Relating to: suspending an assessor's certification. (FE)
12/3/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 429
Relating to: determining equalized property values. (FE)
12/3/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 412
Relating to: providing lifesaving skills instruction to pupils. (FE)
11/12/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 387
Relating to: procedures for changing the placement of a child who is subject to a temporary physical custody order or termination of parental rights order of the juvenile court, procedures for amending a consent decree of the juvenile court, emergency change-in-placement procedures for a child who is placed in his or her own home under a dispositional order of the juvenile court, venue in post-dispositional proceedings under the Children's Code and Juvenile Justice Code, procedures for requesting and objecting to a proposed change in placement of a child and for changing the placement of a child when no objection is filed, the appointment of a successor guardian for a child who is subject to a termination of parental rights order of the juvenile court, case closure orders with respect to a child whose dispositional order is terminated, and the effective period of a temporary physical custody order of the juvenile court. (FE)
11/12/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 385
Relating to: the establishment of a family and medical leave insurance program; family leave to care for a grandparent, grandchild, or sibling and for the active duty of a family member; the employers that are required to permit an employee to take family or medical leave; granting rule-making authority; making an appropriation; and providing a penalty. (FE)
11/12/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 376
Relating to: counting low-income pupils for state school aid purposes; calculating the amount to be appropriated for state general school aid; school aid factors; special adjustment aids; hold harmless aid; per pupil aid; school district revenue limits; the first dollar and school levy property tax credits; and making an appropriation. (FE)
10/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 370
Relating to: health care aid for certain veterans and their family members. (FE)
10/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 365
Relating to: going armed with a dangerous weapon at a college or university and providing a criminal penalty.
10/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 364
Relating to: eliminating the requirement that the Natural Resources Board offer certain land for sale.
10/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 351
Relating to: the Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act.
10/19/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 342
Relating to: the exemption of bona fide administrative, executive, and professional employees from the overtime pay requirements of the wage and hours laws, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from rule-making procedures, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (FE)
10/15/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 340
Relating to: recycling grants for local governments and making an appropriation. (FE)
10/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 327
Relating to: regulation of persons that own or operate dental practices and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
10/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 325
Relating to: repeated acts of physical abuse of the same child and providing a criminal penalty.
10/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 326
Relating to: referral of cases of suspected or threatened child abuse or neglect to the sheriff or police department, coordination of the investigation of those cases, and referral of those cases to the district attorney for criminal prosecution. (FE)
10/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 323
Relating to: granting victims of certain crimes the right to be accompanied by a victim advocate. (FE)
10/14/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 60
Relating to: the life and service of Marty Beil.
10/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 314
Relating to: adverse possession against the state or a political subdivision. (FE)
10/9/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 311
Relating to: creating a nonrefundable individual income tax credit based on the federal tax credit for certain expenses for household and dependent care services. (FE)
10/9/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 308
Relating to: appointment of a successor guardian for a child in need of protection or services and eligibility of a successor guardian for subsidized guardianship payments, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
10/9/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 293
Relating to: behavioral health care coordination pilot projects, psychiatric consultation reimbursement pilot project, access to information on availability of inpatient psychiatric beds, and making appropriations. (FE)
9/30/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 280
Relating to: the age at which a person who is alleged to have violated a criminal law, a civil law, or a municipal ordinance and who has not been charged with certain violent offenses, and has not, after previously being convicted of a crime or adjudicated delinquent, been charged with a crime or alleged in a complaint or citation to have violated a civil law or municipal ordinance, is subject to juvenile court jurisdiction. (FE)
9/30/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 283
Relating to: authorized activities of Class A beer retailers and of brewers.
9/30/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 284
Relating to: methods of voting by members of a cooperative.
9/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 271
Relating to: reporting by treatment programs using methadone and requiring review of prescription drug monitoring database.
9/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 272
Relating to: pain clinic certification and requirements, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty. (FE)
8/26/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 240
Relating to: provider of last resort obligations of certain telecommunications providers. (FE)
8/20/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 232
Relating to: state procurement of products and services from businesses located in this state and setting a goal for local government to purchase a certain percentage of products and services from businesses located in this state. (FE)
8/20/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 47
Relating to: providing for an advisory referendum on the question of adopting a nonpartisan system for redistricting.
8/11/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 227
Relating to: a sales and use tax exemption for building materials that become a part of a facility for a local unit of government or nonprofit organization. (FE)
8/5/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 223
Relating to: retail licenses held by wineries.
7/31/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 46
Relating to: eliminating constitutional restrictions on marriage (first consideration).
7/22/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 215
Relating to: increasing school district revenue limits. (FE)
7/22/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 216
Relating to: increase funding for special education. (FE)
7/16/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 212
Relating to: closing hours for retail sales by wineries.
6/26/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 201
Relating to: political disbursements and obligations by corporations, cooperative associations, and labor organizations and the scope of regulated activity and reporting of certain activity under the campaign finance law.
6/17/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 196
Relating to: ratification of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and making appropriations. (FE)
6/11/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 194
Relating to: student loans, the individual income tax subtract modification for tuition and student fees, creating an authority to be known as the Wisconsin Student Loan Refinancing Authority, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)
6/5/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 41
Relating to: recognizing the nineteenth day of June, 2015, as Juneteenth Day.
6/2/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 39
Relating to: recognizing June 2015 as LGBT Pride Month.
6/2/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 192
Relating to: requiring the payment of health insurance premiums, and establishing a loan program, for survivors of a law enforcement officer, emergency medical technician, or fire fighter who dies, or has died, in the line of duty and making appropriations. (FE)
5/21/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 174
Relating to: Medicaid expansion and eligibility for BadgerCare Plus and BadgerCare Plus Core. (FE)
5/21/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 176
Relating to: preference in state and local government contracts and procurement for materials manufactured in the United States. (FE)
5/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 159
Relating to: sales and transfers of firearms and providing a penalty. (FE)
5/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 162
Relating to: entrepreneurial tax credit access grants.
5/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 163
Relating to: grants to technical college district boards and technical college faculty, staff, and students and making appropriations. (FE)
5/14/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 164
Relating to: charging resident fees to nonresident veterans and their family members attending technical colleges. (FE)
5/1/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 141
Relating to: the notification of relatives when a child is removed from the custody of the child's parent and placement of a child with a parent of a sibling of the child who has custody of the sibling.
5/1/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 145
Relating to: authorizing the circuit court to order a person who engages in discrimination in employment, unfair honesty testing, or unfair genetic testing to pay compensatory and punitive damages. (FE)
5/1/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 142
Relating to: waiver for prescription drug assistance for elderly program, use of excess moneys in prescription drug assistance for elderly program, and making an appropriation. (FE)
4/23/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 135
Relating to: the use of a cellular or other wireless telephone while driving a motor vehicle in a construction zone and providing a penalty.
4/15/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 120
Relating to: restrictions on the use of electronic devices used for inhaling or exhaling vapor or a vaporized solution.
4/8/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 112
Relating to: entrepreneurial assistance grants and making an appropriation.
4/8/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 113
Relating to: town zoning ordinances affecting shorelands.
3/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 98
Relating to: disclosure of contracts for frac sand mining on neighboring properties.
3/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 101
Relating to: notice requirements for zoning actions related to frac sand mining. (FE)
3/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 96
Relating to: fees for election recounts. (FE)
3/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 99
Relating to: county authority relating to exploration for a type of industrial sand. (FE)
3/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 100
Relating to: listing frac sand mining as a conditional or prohibited use in certain types of zoning ordinances. (FE)
3/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 97
Relating to: including orders pertaining to household pets in certain restraining orders and injunctions.
3/23/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 78
Relating to: requiring a private school participating in a parental choice program to employ certain special education staff and to comply with certain provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
3/10/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 73
Relating to: instruments filed or recorded with, and fees charged by, the register of deeds. (FE)
3/5/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 68
Relating to: premium and cost-sharing assistance for health plans through the Medical Assistance program. (FE)
2/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 58
Relating to: legislative and congressional redistricting. (FE)
2/27/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 48
Relating to: the appointment and term of service of the secretary of natural resources and vacancies on the Natural Resources Board.
2/24/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 45
Relating to: creation of a private retirement security plan and making appropriations. (FE)
2/19/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 39
Relating to: newborn screening for certain lysosomal storage disorders. (FE)
2/11/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 12
Relating to: an advisory referendum on an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
2/11/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 28
Relating to: permitting certain individuals to make requests for medication for the purpose of ending their lives and providing penalties. (FE)
2/3/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 19
Relating to: designating a lay caregiver during a hospital admission.
2/3/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 18
Relating to: the manufacture, sale, and distribution of products containing microbeads and providing a penalty. (FE)
2/3/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 10
Relating to: proclaiming Friday, February 6, 2015, to be National Wear Red Day in recognition of heart disease awareness and prevention.
1/30/2015: 2015 Senate Joint Resolution 7
Relating to: the life and service of Annette Polly Williams.
1/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 15
Relating to: the manufacture and acceptance for sale of products containing microbeads. (FE)
1/29/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 14
Relating to: posters regarding the national human trafficking resource center hotline. (FE)
1/23/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 9
Relating to: jurisdiction in matters relating to domestic abuse restraining orders and injunctions, child abuse restraining orders and injunctions, and harassment restraining orders and injunctions. (FE)
1/16/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 4
Relating to: invading an individual's privacy by viewing under or through clothing and providing a penalty. (FE)
1/16/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 2
Relating to: a state minimum wage, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from rule-making procedures, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (FE)
1/16/2015: 2015 Senate Bill 3
Relating to: accountability provisions for private schools participating in a parental choice program and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. (FE)
2/16/2016: 2015 ASA1-AB533
Relating to: criminal penalties under the unemployment insurance law and providing a criminal penalty.
2/16/2016: 2015 ASA1-AB743
Relating to: assisting University of Wisconsin System students in securing internships with businesses and making an appropriation.
2/16/2016: 2015 ASA1-AB742
Relating to: requiring the Department of Workforce Development to provide student internship grants and making an appropriation.
2/16/2016: 2015 AA2-AB820
2/11/2016: 2015 ASA1-AB647
Relating to: eligible applicants under the broadband expansion grant program, funding for the program, Medicaid expansion, eligibility for BadgerCare Plus and BadgerCare Plus Core, and making an appropriation.
1/26/2016: 2015 AA2-AB743
1/26/2016: 2015 AA1-AB743
1/26/2016: 2015 AA2-AB742
7/8/2015: 2015 AA11-SB21
7/8/2015: 2015 AA10-SB21
3/17/2015: 2015 AA1-ASA2-AB56
1/7/2015: 2015 AA2-AR3