Leah Vukmir



Leah Vukmir is a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing District 5. Vukmir’s current committee assignments include: Education, Education Reform, Health and Healthcare Reform, and Public Health.

An ALEC Wisconsin Foot Soldier
Sen. Leah Vukmir is the chair of the Wisconsin Senate’s Health Committee, and she is also the current ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Co-Chair, a role she held in 2011. She received the ALEC Award for “Legislator of the Year” in 2009. Her corporate co-chair is Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company, which sells insurance in Wisconsin and stands to benefit from the ALEC agenda of this task force.

In 2012, Vukmir was appointed to the ALEC National Board of Directors.

Sen. Vukmir and fellow ALEC member Rep. Michelle Litjens introduced AB 110, the Special Needs Scholarship Program Act, modeled on the ALEC bill of the same name. The bill, which did not pass, was subject to a hearing in which legislative supporters visibly ignored the concerns being raised about the bill. The Wisconsin Department of Public Education objected to the bill in the strongest terms: “It strips special education students of due process rights and rights to services. It allows for the segregation of students based on disability. It will devastate funding for public education in select districts. It will result in the largest expansion of private school regulation ever seen in Wisconsin and, at the end of the day, no one will have any data to show if it resulted in a better education.”

Senator Vukmir and Health and Human Services
Senator Vukmir is the Public Sector Chair of ALEC's Health and Human Services Task Force. The following bills were introduced or co-sponsored by Senator Vukmir during the 2011-2012 Session:
 * Senate Bill 2, relating to the creation of Health Savings Accounts. Authored by Senator Vukmir. Compare with ALEC's Health Savings Account Act.
 * JR1AB12, Family and medical leave: state law construed as an enactment of statewide concern and preempts city, village, town, or county ordinances
 * Assembly Bill 110, Special Needs Scholarship Program established; LAB duty and report required