WILL Press Release | WILL Applauds New Reforms Signed by Gov. Walker

Apprenticeship, Right to Try Bills Limit Scope of Government

March 28, 2018 – Milwaukee, WI – The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) applauds Governor Scott Walker and the legislature for passing two important limited government bills and getting them signed into law. In a signing ceremony today, Gov. Walker signed AB 69 / SB 84, a “right to try” bill that provides terminal patients with access to experimental drugs and treatments, and AB 508 / SB 411, a reform that addresses the skills gap by making it easier for businesses to hire apprentices.

The apprenticeship bill, which changes the government mandated apprenticeship to supervisor ratio, arrives at a crucial time as our state tackles the skills gap. Wisconsin’s complex and often arbitrary apprenticeship ratios created an unnecessary bottleneck for aspiring workers at a time when our workforce needs are too often going unmet. Creating uniform 1:1 apprenticeship ratios ought to serve to expand opportunities for aspiring workers in Wisconsin, lower costs for consumers and employers, and serve to align Wisconsin with national apprenticeship trends. WILL’s Natalie Goodnow has testified and written about this issue.

Right to try legislation, now law in more than 38 states, is a gift of hope for terminally or seriously ill patients. Given that clinical trials can sometimes last more than a decade, right to try provides liability protection to pharmaceutical companies so terminally or seriously ill patients can gain access to investigational drugs and treatments. The success of this bipartisan reform adds Wisconsin to the growing list of states where patients have the freedom to try and save their lives.

More information on right to try can be found in an op-ed by WILL’s Collin Roth here.

WILL President Rick Esenberg:

“The one thing these two reforms have in common is they get the government out of the way of people in search of solutions. The successful passage makes Wisconsin a better place to work and live. We applaud Gov. Walker and the legislators who successfully drafted and passed this legislation.”

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