Democrats in the state Assembly launched their agenda for the fall session Tuesday, promising to create green energy jobs, look at home foreclosure rates and reform Supreme Court campaign financing.
Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, and Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna, said the agenda aims to ""stand up for families"" with the help of Assembly Republicans and the state Senate.
Rebekah Sweeney, spokesperson for Sheridan, said the Assembly will work to boost jobs through the creation of new wind-energy projects.
""Right now we have a patchwork of policies created by local governments, and what we would like to do is streamline that [and] create a level playing field [that will] hopefully support a growing green jobs economy,"" she said.
Jim Bender, spokesperson for state Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said he was surprised Democrats were not proposing more initiatives encouraging job creation. Fitzgerald will hold a news conference Wednesday announcing bills related to job creation.
Supreme Court campaign finance reform was another top priority outlined in the agenda.
Sweeney said concerns surrounding the influence of money in Supreme Court races contributed to the drafting of the bill. She said the bill aims to ensure members of the Supreme Court are impartial.
According to Bender, the campaign finance reform bill will be ""an interesting issue"" and support by rank-and-file members from both parties will be determined by the bill's funding mechanism.
Bender said the green energy jobs initiative and a bill that reforms drunken driving laws are ""hot item"" issues and will receive support from both sides of the aisle.
