Rep. Shelia Stubbs Celebrates Assembly Passage of AB 182

MADISON, WI – After members of the Wisconsin State Assembly voted to pass Assembly Bill 182—relating to: a certification of rental readiness and funding to cover damages caused by certification of rental readiness holders and Assembly Bill 183—relating to: establishing and operating community reentry centers and making an appropriation, Representative Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) released the following statement:

“I would first like to thank those who served on the 2022 Legislative Study Committee on Increasing Offender Employment Opportunities for introducing these two pieces of legislation, including Senator Mary Felzkowski, the Representative Michael Schraa, Representative Evan Goyke, Representative Warren Petryk, former Senator Lena Taylor, and members of the community.

Professionally, I have seen firsthand the needs of our neighbors leaving the prison system. Too often, when these individuals re-enter the community, they are left without the resources to succeed in the outside world. These bills help address those needs by expanding access to housing and services for people with criminal records. People who have completed their sentences want to give back to the community and become contributing members of our society. They have a wide variety of skill sets and lived experiences that enrich our state and most importantly, they want to improve their lives beyond the circumstances that led to their incarceration.

Assembly Bill 182 gives previously incarcerated individuals another tool in their kit for reconstructing their lives after re-entering the community. Far too often, people with a criminal record run into increased obstacles to housing based on their previous convictions. By providing a certification of rental readiness to people who successfully complete rental readiness training while incarcerated, we can help address the prevalent issue of housing instability that disproportionately affects community members who have served time.

Assembly Bill 183 helps give people exiting the prison system the best possible chances of success by requiring the Department of Corrections to contract with community partners to establish community re-entry centers serving formerly incarcerated members of our community. These centers will assist with health services, identification services, financial services, housing services, employment services, education services, and supervision services. With this bipartisan bill, we have the opportunity to help our neighbors get back on their feet.

While there is still more work to be done to make our criminal justice system more rehabilitative and create better opportunities for formerly incarcerated community members, these bills are a step in the right direction.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.