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[Music] [Music] [Music] Representative Sylvia Ortiz, thank you for being with us today.

Thank you for having me here today.

Can you tell us what reasons got you to start on this bill regarding the Hispanic Heritage Month?

Well, when I wrote the co-sponsorship memo and the legislation, I wanted to focus on Wisconsinbased facts and talk about the contributions of Latinos and Hispanics here in Wisconsin because I wanted to show that we contribute and there's a lot of things that we contribute to Wisconsin.

The second thing I wanted to focus on, I certainly wanted to focus on the values that bind us together so that everyone could feel that they were welcomed to be there at the table.

And when we think about Hispanic and Latino Wisconsinites, we share the same core values that are cherished all across our state.

Faith, hard work, family, and commitment to community and country.

What are the most pressing issues that you observe the Latino community is facing in our state?

Um, right now it's all the uncertainty of all the things that are going on um at the federal level mainly and a lot of that is a lot of unlawless behavior which is very concerning to all of us in our state.

certainly when it comes to inaliable rights also racial discrimination um because if you look like me whether you're a citizen or not people's rights are being violated.

How did you build this bipartisan support for creating this bill?

I think the most important part was just making sure that people understood that we have all these shared values.

We're just like everyone else and we're part of Wisconsin and we contribute to our state.

Um, and I want to thank all of the overwhelming 50 or more co-sponsors.

It was bipartisan that it received and especially in a time of now, this is the first time in our state that Latino Hispanic Heritage Month has been recognized by the assembly through a joint resolution that has been messaged to the Senate.

There was a national recognition, but there was not an state recognition.

This is the very first time in our state that an aid an assembly joint resolution has passed the assembly and has been messaged to the senate where it will likely pass as well.

What does it tell us about Wisconsin?

I think it tells us that there's hope that people can come together and that we're all in this together and that we always have to find the common good for the common ground and that we can do it together.

What is the importance of using a joint resolutions instead of bills?

A bill if it was just an AJ would only be able to be passed in the house alone because it's an assembly joint resolution.

It can be messaged and it has been to the Senate and passed in both houses.

How does your personal heritage connect this work of you with the resolution?

Well, when I wrote the bill, I actually put a lot of myself into it because, you know, when I think about who I am, that those are the most important things to me.

faith, my family in my community, and my service to my country.

And so I feel like I'm just a part of our community and our state.

I just reflected those values in the resolution, and it was, I believe, reflective of who we are as a state as well.

What concrete actions do you hope come from this resolution?

My hope is that we can see more recognitions of our community.

I'm very hopeful that Latino veterans will be honored in November for the first time in our state.

My husband actually was is a deceased US veteran who served in the US Army.

So, it's something that's very personal to me and important that we honor uh the sacrifices of Latino veterans in our state.

How do you feel at this time of your work as a representative when these things are happening?

I feel more hopeful and more focused to get more work done and to talk to more people for the betterment of Wisconsin.

And I'm willing to work with anyone who wants to better our state.

Representative Ultes, thank you so much for being with us again in Adelante.

Thank you.

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