This week, the Wisconsin State Senate passed Senate Bill 344 with a 20-11 vote. The bill not only increases the amount of tax deduction available for a dependent but also allows a preborn baby, in whom a heartbeat has been detected, to be claimed as a 'dependent' for tax purposes.

We love this bill and have championed it from the beginning. Increasing the dependent tax deduction helps families and recognizing a preborn baby as a person by declaring it as a viable “dependent” is a major pro-life declaration. We applaud the senators who voted for this proposal and thank Senator Romaine Quinn (R-Cameron) for authoring this bill.

Senate Bill 344 is one bill in the four-bill “Embrace Them Both” package, all authored by Senator Quinn. Senate Bill 343 clearly defines abortion as the intentional killing of an unborn baby. Senate Bill 345 allows for $1,000,000 a year to go to Choose Life Wisconsin, Inc. to be distributed in grants of up to $50,000 to Wisconsin’s amazing pregnancy care centers. Lastly, Senate Bill 346 allocates $5,000,000 in a biennium to be distributed by the Department of Children and Families to established adoption agencies which will then give grants to qualified Wisconsin families seeking to adopt a child in Wisconsin. The Senate has now passed all four of the bills.

The Senate also passed Senate Joint Resolution 54 which would amend our state constitution clearly prohibiting the state or any agency of the state, or any unit or agency of local government, from ordering places of worship to close during a declared emergency, including a health emergency. The bill will need to pass in the Assembly this session and then pass again in both houses in the next legislative session. After that happens, the proposal would be put on a statewide ballot for the people of Wisconsin to vote. The vote in the Senate was 21-10, along party lines.

We learned the hard way that government can and will overreach, especially in emergencies, the very times our rights and freedoms should be most respected and protected. The vote today was a first step in making sure that government does not usurp our religious freedom clearly declared in our state constitution. We thank Senator Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) for authoring this resolution and the senators who have supported it. Hopefully, the Assembly will soon follow the Senate’s lead and pass this resolution on first consideration.