The Assembly Committee on Forestry, Parks and Outdoor Recreation held a hearing about Every Kid Outdoors bills in Wisconsin. Please take action to help this bill cross the finish line! If it passes both the Assembly and Senate committees, it will head to the full legislature for a vote.
Background on the effort to create an Every Kid Outdoors program in Wisconsin: https://www.sierraclub.org/wisconsin/blog/2022/08/where-every-kid-outdoors-act-wisconsin-stands-today
Petition: https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/state-parks--land-conservation/petition
Please support Assembly Bills 11 and 30 by contacting the committee members:
- Rep.Mursau@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Callahan@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Bodden@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Edming@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Green@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Moses@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Pronschinske@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Swearingen@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Tittl@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Tusler@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Andraca@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Bare@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Joers@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Palmeri@legis.wisconsin.gov
- Rep.Snodgrass@legis.wisconsin.gov
Sample email language:
I am writing today to support an implementation of an Every Kid Outdoors program in Wisconsin through the passage of AB11 and/or AB30. I believe that increasing access to the outdoors for children and their families is important [because.... INSERT PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE].
There are parts of each of the proposed Every Kid Outdoors programs in Wisconsin that I am excited about, and I am hopeful that the committee will take the strongest parts of each bill to make the best program for Wisconsinites.
AB 11's programmatic details and funding appropriation will assure effective implementation. However, the administrative burden for families to register for this program is relatively high, especially when compared to the federal Every Kid Outdoors program and AB30. I hope the committee will amend the bill so it allows for parents/guardians to apply for the pass more than one time so that each 4th grader in the state can benefit from this program, rather than just one child in a family unit. This additionally would allow teachers to integrate state parks field trips into 4th grade curriculum more easily, as families would not be limited to one pass.
AB 30's mirroring of the federal Every Kid Outdoors program allows for every 4th grader to benefit from the program and provides an ease of use for kids and families who want to use the pass. This could help assure that the program is more widely used than AB 11's version of this program.
Thank you for your work to support Wisconsin's outdoor recreation, and I hope that you will pass a strong Every Kid Outdoors program to continue to expand access to our beautiful parks and forests.
Sincerely,
Your Name, Your address