Hi folks! Welcome back to Tammy Tuesdays, our weekly update email on Tammy’s work and the big fights she’s taking on for Wisconsin families.
Tammy knows that there’s more that unites us than divides. She understands that Wisconsin’s middle-class families all want good paying jobs, affordable health care, and the same freedoms their parents and grandparents had.
Read below for highlights of what Tammy worked on this week:
Commemorating Juneteenth
Last week, Tammy commemorated Juneteenth by celebrating the groundbreaking of Madison’s Center for Black Excellence and Culture. Additionally, Tammy attendedthe 2024 Milwaukee Juneteenth Parade, which is one of the oldest and largest Juneteenth celebrations in the country. Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day, and is a day on which we celebrate our Black communities in Wisconsin and across the country who have made our nation stronger, better, and unified.
Although Juneteenth was just recognized as a federal holiday two years ago, our Black communities are the ones who put in years-long work to make it happen and have been keeping Juneteenth celebrations, like Milwaukee’s, alive for generations. Tammy understands that while Juneteenth is a celebration of the progress our country has made, it is also a reminder of how much work we still have to do. With constant attacks on our freedoms, Tammy promises that she will always fight to make Wisconsin a place of inclusivity, safety, and opportunity for all who live here.
Read Tammy’s op-ed commemorating Juneteenth HERE.
Standing Up for American Workers
Tammy knows that America has the best workers in the world who can make anything. Unfortunately, for the last two years, workers who lost their jobs because of unfair trade have been without critical support.
To address this, Tammy introduced legislation last week to reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which expired in 2022. The TAA program provides crucial assistance to workers who have lost their jobs or experienced reduced hours or wages as a result of unfair foreign trade. Too many big companies lay off American workers and send their jobs overseas, hurting Wisconsin families and communities. Currently, over 118,000 workers, including more than 900 in Wisconsin, have been unable to receive the TAA assistance they might have qualified for since 2022. Tammy is dedicated to fighting to keep our manufacturing jobs here in America. But if a company does wrong to our workers, she is committed to making sure they have the resources and tools to land on their feet.
Bolstering Job Training Programs
Everyone should have access to a good paying job, whether they went to college or not. That’s why Tammy is committed to working with Republicans and Democrats alike to build new programs to get our workers trained up, help them find apprenticeship programs, and connect them with a good job that pays the bills.
Last week, Tammy was proud to announce that Western Technical College will receive more than $2.2 million to bring technical education to underserved communities. This initiative aims to expand apprenticeship programs and establish new opportunities in various career fields, focusing on rural areas. Tammy is a proud supporter of apprenticeship programs and knows these programs are a valuable chance for Wisconsin workers to learn new skill sets while earning a good paying wage. Right now, Tammy is leading the bipartisan National Apprenticeship Act, which would invest in public-private partnerships between schools and local businesses that are training future workers. This landmark legislation would bolster Wisconsin’s apprenticeship programs and provide the next generation of Wisconsin workers with the skills they need to succeed.
Respecting LGBTQ+ Americans Who Served Our Country
As our country’s first openly gay U.S. Senator, Tammy is determined to protect the freedom and full equality of every LGBTQ+ Wisconsinite.
Last week, Tammy led the introduction of a Senate resolution that acknowledges and apologizes for the mistreatment of and discrimination against LGBT individuals who have served our nation as civil servants or members of the Armed Force and Foreign Service. Despite the honorable service of hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals, many of whom have fought and died in wars around the globe, the federal government maintained policies for decades that explicitly barred them from government and military service. This resolution is a step towards respecting LGBT Americans who have served our nation and reaffirms our commitment to treat all public servants with fairness and equality, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. While there is still more work left to do, Tammy is confident that we will keep moving Wisconsin and our country forward in the fight for equality and justice.
