The Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety voted unanimously in favor of Assembly Bill 615 on Wednesday at the state Capitol to create a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls.
State Rep. Shelia Stubbs proposed the bill with co-authors Sen. Jesse James, Rep. Michael Schraa, and Sen. LaTonya Johnson.
“This bill has been a monumental effort with exceptional promise for the African American women and girls of Wisconsin, and I am overjoyed that it has made it one step closer to becoming law,” said State Rep. Shelia Stubbs in a press release. “However, there is more work to be done to get this bill across the finish line, and we cannot allow ourselves to lapse into complacency. We must continue to center the protection and healing of victims and their families, and we must bring our missing relatives home.
“We owe it to our Black mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and neighbors to remain vigilant and persistent in our pursuit of justice. We must continue to advocate for this legislation, for their sake. The rate of missing and murdered African American women and girls has reached a point of crisis in our state. This task force will be the key to healing the deep racial disparities in violent crime victimization in Wisconsin.”
The next steps for this bill are to get a floor hearing for the Assembly in the month of February, according to an e-mail from State Rep. Stubbs’ office to Madison365, and for the Senate to take up a hearing on AB 615 in the Committee on Government Operations.
