Wausau: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Tours Northcentral Technical College and Bull Falls Brewery

WAUSAU, WI – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today toured Northcentral Technical College and Bull Falls Brewery in Wausau.

At Northcentral Technical College, Senator Baldwin met with faculty and students to tour the campus and discuss their manufacturing programs. Senator Baldwin highlighted her efforts to make higher education more affordable and help advance Wisconsin’s technical colleges.

Senator Baldwin has supported action to tackle the national student debt crisis and signed on as an original cosponsor of the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. Last week, she also introduced an amendment to the Senate budget resolution to make two years of community college free for high-achieving students throughout the country. The cost would be paid for by implementing the ‘Buffett Rule’, which ensures that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes. In January, Baldwin introduced legislation to establish the ‘Buffett Rule,’ the Paying a Fair Share Act. Senate Republicans rejected the Baldwin amendment and she voted against the Republican budget.

Senator Baldwin, Co-Chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus, has been a strong advocate for Wisconsin community and technical colleges and college affordability. Baldwin received the Association for Career and Technical Education’s 2014 “Policymaker of the Year” award for her work on behalf of career and technical education. Senator Baldwin has introduced two bills to address the larger issue of student debt and college affordability, the Working Student Act and CTE Opportunity Act. The legislation targets students who work their way through school and students enrolled in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

At Bull Falls Brewery, Senator Baldwin toured the brewery floor with Bull Falls Brewery’s owner. Senator Baldwin discussed the importance of craft breweries in our Made in Wisconsin economy.

Senator Baldwin has stood up for Wisconsin brewers and is fighting against trade initiatives that would change the common names for beers Wisconsinites enjoy every day. Current trade negotiations could ban beers like Bull Falls Brewery’s Oktoberfest Lager. Senator Baldwin called on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee to reject any efforts that would restrict the ability of Bull Falls Brewery and other Wisconsin brewers to use the generic names that they have used for their beers.

In February, Senator Baldwin also introduced the bipartisan Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act or Small BREW Act. The Small BREW Act would enable Wisconsin’s craft breweries to reinvest over $1.5 million into their businesses each year with a reduction in the excise tax on each barrel of beer brewed by small brewers.