Bills of Note: Heroin Prevention, TIF, and a Constitutional Amendment

Nygren Announces HOPE Agenda Legislation Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette) announced a bill package that if passed would provide additional heroin, opiate prevention and education to combat the heroin and opiate epidemic in Wisconsin. The bills are a continuation of Rep. Nygren’s plan to combat the heroin epidemic. The four new bills, which have yet to […]

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U.S. Senate Takes on “Litigation Finance” Industry

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Senate Majority Whip, are calling for more transparency in the litigation finance industry. Litigation finance firms fund plaintiffs to pursue lawsuits, taking a cut of the recovery if plaintiffs win or settle with the defendants. Critics of the industry say that firms […]

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Wisconsin Slips in Institute for Legal Reform’s Rankings of State Liability Systems

Rankings Drop Driven in Part by Judicial Behavior The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) routinely conducts a survey of in-house general counsels, senior litigators, and other senior executives at companies with at least $100 million in annual revenues with recent litigation experience in each state (within the last four years). 75% of survey […]

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Gov Appoints New CEO to WEDC

Governor Walker has appointed a new CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Governor Scott Walker today announced the appointment of banking executive Mark R. Hogan as CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Hogan replaces Reed Hall, who announced his retirement last month. “Mark Hogan is a proven and respected leader in finance […]

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LFB Reports Higher than Anticipated Revenues

On August 26, Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) released a memo on the preliminary general fund tax collections for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Using the Department of Revenue latest collection numbers, the final general purpose revenue (GPR) collections totaled $14.54 billion. This is a 4.3 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. LFB compared the actual […]

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Fitzgerald Announces Committee Reassignments

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has announced that he has disbanded the Senate Committee on Education Reform and created the Senate Committee on Public Benefit and Regulatory Reform. Sen. Fitzgerald states that he made the changes to the standing committees to reflect changes in Senate membership, particularly the recent election of Senator Chris Kapenga. Members […]

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DOJ Files Motion to Dismiss Redistricting Suit

Attorney General Brad Schimel and the state Department of Justice have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed last month by 12 state democrats arguing the 2011 redistricting map, Act 43, created a partisan gerrymander. The case is brought against members the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB), which runs elections but do not draw […]

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Walker Announces Staff Changes

At the end of August, Governor Scott Walker announced several staff changes, including naming a new chief of staff. As reported in our last edition of Tidbits, it was announced that Walker’s chief counsel Brian Hagedorn was appointed Court of Appeals Judge for District II. Another big departure is Chief of Staff Eric Schutt, who […]

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Talgo, State, Settle Lawsuit Over Trains

A three-year-old lawsuit between the state and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo was recently settled for approximately $50 million. The state could end up getting $9.7 million of the settlement back if Talgo sells the two trains the state was previously contracted to buy. The case had been set to go to trial in December, but […]

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Duchow Wins 99th Assembly District Primary Election

Cindi Duchow won Tuesday’s Republican primary election to represent the 99th Assembly District in Waukesha County. Duchow received 1,341 votes in the election to defeat three other candidates. Dave Westlake, a small business owner and West Point graduate who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010 received 1,099 votes; Scott Owens, owner of an American Family […]

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