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June 19, 2009
The Wisconsin Senate this week passed the budget
bill 17-16, with Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) the lone Democrat joining
all 15 Republicans voting in opposition.
Similar to the Assembly, the Senate removed the
contributory negligence provisions—joint and several liability, combined
fault, and jury instructions—from the bill. The most significant change to
the budget was the Senate’s decision to remove the oil tax assessment as a
transportation funding mechanism and replace it with revenue from an
increase in the capital gains tax (see below for more information).
Both houses have now passed a version of the
budget bill. Since there are significant differences between the Senate and
Assembly versions, a conference committee will be created to reconcile the
remaining issues. The budget could be resolved as early as next week and
sent to the Governor for his signature.
While the budget bill has dominated the news in
the Capitol, legislative committees are continuing to meet and pass bills.
The Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities this week voted to pass
Assembly Bill 256, which would add new regulations for siting wind mills for
renewable energy (see below for more information). In addition, the Assembly
Committee on Elections and Campaign Reform passed two bills dealing with
public financing for judicial races and placing new limitations on issue
ads. (See below for more information on the bill.)
Wisconsin Developments
Senate Eliminates Oil
Franchise Fee; Replaces Transportation Funding with Increase in
Capital Gains Tax
The Senate on Wednesday voted to remove from the budget the controversial
oil franchise tax, which prohibited oil companies from passing the tax on to
consumers. In its place the Senate voted to eliminate the capital gains tax
exclusion and use a portion of the new revenue to fund transportation. The
new capital gains tax would not apply to certain farming assets. The tax is
estimated to raise $485 million in new revenue; of that amount $260 million
would be used to fund transportation.
Last week the Assembly also voted to remove the oil franchise fee that
contained the “anti-pass through” provision. The Assembly version allows
oil companies to pass on the tax at the pump, but caps how much the
wholesaler can pass on (4.48 cents a gallon).
The issue will be resolved by the conference committee likely next week.
Senate Removes Liability Provisions
Similar to the Assembly, the Senate this week removed the controversial
contributory negligence provisions (joint and several liability, combined
fault, and jury instructions) from the budget.
The Governor’s budget sought to amend Wisconsin’s joint and several
liability law by requiring a person as little as one percent at fault pay
100 percent of a plaintiff’s damages. After an outpouring of opposition by
over 70 organizations—including business, tourism, local government and
health care—the provisions were removed from the budget by the Assembly.
Since the Senate was working off of a version of the budget that still
contained the liability provisions, prior to this week’s vote it wasn’t
certain whether the Senate would seek removal, amend the provisions, or
adopt the proposal as introduced by the Governor.
Other Senate Amendments to Budget Bill
In addition to the above-mentioned changes to the budget bill, below are a
few of the other notable amendments by the Senate Democrats:
-
Restores Governor Doyle’s proposal to repeal
the QEO effective the date the budget bill is passed. The Joint Finance
Committee and Assembly versions repealed the QEO but set the repeal date
at July 1, 2009.
-
Increases fees collected by clerks of courts
from $5 to $10 for judgments, writs, execution, liens, warrants, awards
and certificates.
-
Removes a provision that would have required
that legal notices be posted on an agency or constitutionally recognized
Web sites rather than the official state newspaper.
-
Removes a provision that required the
Department of Transportation to issue a drivers card for undocumented
immigrants.
Bills Pass Out of Legislative
Committees
While the budget bill dominated the Senate’s workload this week, the
Assembly got back to work on separate bills. Below are a few bills that were
passed this week by various legislative committees:
Assembly Bill 63: Introduced by Kristen Dexter (D-Eau Claire), the bill
increases reporting requirements for groups that run issue ads within 60
days of an election. The bill passed out of the Assembly Committee on
Elections and Campaign Reform this week on a 6-1 vote, with Rep. Jeff Stone
(R-Greendale) casting the lone dissenting vote.
Assembly Bill 65: Introduced by Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh), the bill
creates a system of full public financing of state Supreme Court elections.
The bill passed out of the Assembly Committee on Elections and Campaign
Reform on a party-line vote (4-3) with Democrats voting in favor of the
regulations.
The bill would increase the state income tax check-off from $1 to $3, with
the additional $2 going towards funding public financing for judicial races.
Under current law, individuals filing tax returns have the option of
directing $1 of their return towards public financing for legislative races.
If a judicial candidate accepts public financing, under AB 65 that candidate
would receive $100,000 for primary elections and $300,000 for the general
election. If the opposing candidate declines to accept public financing and
expends five percent more than the candidate who chooses public financing,
the candidate who accepts public financing will receive extra funding to
match the amount spent by his or her opponent (this amount is capped at
three times the amount of public financing). The government also provides
the judicial candidate who accepts public financing extra funding if an
independent expenditure exceeding 20 percent of the public financing is made
by a third party. (The matching public financing is capped at three times
the amount of the independent expenditure.)
Assembly Bill 256: Introduced by Rep. Jim Soletski (D-Green Bay), the
bill regulates wind siting in Wisconsin. The bill passed 10-2 out of the
Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities.
Under current law local governments are not allowed to place any
restrictions on the installation of wind energy systems. AB 256 would
require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to issue rules establishing
common standards for local governments. The bill states that the PSC rules
must specify the restrictions that a local government may include, such as
setback distances, visual appearances, electrical connections to the power
grid, and interference with radio, telephone, or television signals. Under
the bill, if a local government decides to regulate a wind energy system,
its regulations cannot be more restrictive than PSC’s rules.
News
Wisconsin state budget deal in limbo: Appleton
Post-Crescent, June 19, 2009. Legislators' delay means they
could meet secretly.
State Senate approves budget that drops oil company tax,
eliminates capital gains break: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
June 19, 2009. The 17-16 vote endorsed a two-year spending plan
that totaled $62.5 billion - about $300 million more than the
budget recommended by the state Assembly on Saturday.
Officials divided on budget Wirch: Kenosha News, June 19,
2009. Package adequate; Kedzie: Tax-and-spend.
Don't
go back to bad old days at Wisconsin state Capitol (opinion):
Madison Capital Times, June 18, 2009. Gov. Jim Doyle and the
state Assembly need to stop the Senate's shameful move before
final budget negotiations between the two houses conclude in the
coming days.
State budget deal bought with earmarks: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, June 16, 2009. As they erased a $6.6 billion, two-year
deficit, Assembly Democrats added $36.7 million in regional
favors, according to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau summary.
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