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April 4, 2006
Political Tidbits returns
after a brief “spring break,” during which the Governor took
action on many of the approximately 260 bills that were before him
when the Legislature itself took a six week break beginning March
9th. (According to Dick Wheeler of The Wheeler
Report, the Governor still has about 130 bills to act on before
April 20. Wheeler has also reported that the 1,834 bills
introduced thus far this session represent the largest number of
bill introductions since the 1993 Session.)
Below are selected bills that have been acted upon since the Legislature
recessed at the end of the second week in March. The links are to the Acts,
which now represent new law in Wisconsin. The Governor did sign a bill to
re-establish a cap ($750,000) on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice
cases. The Governor had vetoed an earlier version adopted by the Legislature
that would have provided a lower cap. The Governor also signed a proposal
that places some restrictions on eminent domain powers relating to the
taking of private residences for economic development purposes.
Bills are continuing to be introduced and there has been significant
committee activity indicating that the last week in April and first week in
May (the final regular session floor period) will address more issues than
many of us had anticipated. Perhaps the most high- profile issue still
pending is the proposed constitutional amendment (first consideration) to
place limits on state and local government revenues and spending. The
proposal, known as the Taxpayers Protection Act, or TPA, remains
controversial and it is uncertain if sufficient votes exist for adoption. At
the very least, the proposal is expected to be amended to respond to major
concerns before being put to a vote in the Legislature.
On
March 28 there were two major announcements that will impact the
gubernatorial election this fall and the Supreme Court election in the
spring of 2007. Scott Walker announced that he would no longer seek the
Republican nomination for governor and threw his full support behind Mark
Green in the race to unseat incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle. That same day, Jon
Wilcox announced he will not be seeking re-election to the Court and will
retire when his term expires next year.
Policy Developments
Bills Signed into Law/Vetoes
ACT (Bill #)
125 (SB 618): Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
126 (AB 69): Operator's licenses and identification cards for aliens.
128 (AB456): Prepayment penalties on variable rate residential mortgage
loans.
135 (AB 298): Tourism promotion and development under room tax law.
138 (SB 164): Notice regarding unauthorized acquisition of personal
information.
139 (AB 536): Prohibiting a register of deeds from recording certain
instruments that contain a social security number and providing a penalty.
140 (AB 912): release of credit reports.
141 (AB 459): Renewable energy.
164 (SB 510): Reporting requirements related to area cooperation
compacts.
171 (SB 283): Limiting reasons local government may withhold approval of
a permit.
172 (SB 474): Making various changes in the worker's compensation law.
173 (SB 623): Damages to rental vehicles.
179 (AB 588): Railroad regulation.
180 (SB 183): Manufacturing extension centers.
181 (AB 736): Drug and alcohol testing of prevailing wage employee.
183 (AB 1073): Recovery of noneconomic damages in medical malpractice
cases.
186 (AB 366): Neighborhood improvement districts.
187 (AB 683): Authorizes medically related actions by advanced practice
nurse prescribers.
194 (AB 617): Coverage of certain health care costs in cancer clinical
trials.
200 (SB 516): Continuing education and certification requirements for
building contractors.
201 (SB 448): Claims against certain contractors and suppliers of
dwellings.
203 (AB 1077): Impact fees.
204 (SB 450): Construction liens, requirements for securing payment for
work on publicly financed projects.
205 (AB 127): Falsifying title insurance documents.
206 (AB 650): Nonprobate transfer of real property at death.
208 (AB 620): Zoning actions and comprehensive plans that change the
allowable use of property.
211 (AB 981): Decreasing Medical Assistance reimbursement, transferring
moneys from the general fund to the Medical Assistance trust fund,
increasing the Medical Assistance reimbursement rate for nursing homes,
supplementing the Medical Assistance reimbursement for nursing homes.
212 (AB 986): Offenses against financial institutions.
215 (AB 1037): regulation of insurance premium finance companies,
mortgage bankers, loan originators, and mortgage brokers.
217 (SB 584): Regulation of bank branches, mergers and acquisitions of
banks.
227 (AB 116): Industrial development projects.
228 (AB 907): Collection, analysis, and dissemination of health care
claims information.
231 (AB 926): Group health care plans offered by health benefit
purchasing cooperatives.
233 (AB 657): Prohibiting the condemnation of property under certain
circumstances.
241 (AB 614): The settlement of personal property taxes on improvements
to leased land.
246 (SB 637): Authorizing the town of Madison to reduce the territory of
an environmental remediation tax incremental district.
249 (SB 150): Making technical and minor substantive changes in the
administrative rule-making process.
255 (AB 594): Repossessions of motor vehicles and providing a penalty.
VETOED
AB 597 (Veto
message): Remedies in certain actions concerning building code or zoning
ordinance violations.
SB 268 (Veto
message): Regulation of rental-purchase agreements.
Wisconsin Ranking for “Litigation Atmosphere” Falls Again
The United States Chamber of Commerce chose Madison, Wis. to release
the results of the 2006 Institute for
Legal Reform/Harris State Liability Ranking Study [Executive
Summary, 34 pp;
Full Report, 113 pp.] on March 27. Wisconsin is now ranked 23rd
in the country after being an enviable 10th only two short years
ago. The U.S. Chamber release cited “recent anti-business supreme court
rulings and vetoes of legal reform legislation by Governor Doyle” as primary
factors for the significant drop in national rankings.
The
announcement was made by Tom Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber,
who was joined by Humphrey Taylor, Chair, Harris Poll; Jim Haney, President,
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce; Bill Smith, NFIB, and president of the
Wisconsin Coalition for Civil Justice; and, Sens. Dale Schultz and Ted
Kanavas and Reps. Mike Huebsch and Steve Wieckert.
Wisconsin
Politics
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
Wilcox to Retire
Justice Jon Wilcox, a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
since his appointment in September of 1992, announced he will not
seek re-election when his current term expires on July 31, 2007.
An election to replace Justice Wilcox will be held on April 3,
2007.
Wilcox, who was re-elected to a full 10-year
term in 1997, will have served 15 years on the Court when he retires. He
also served 13 years as a trial judge and six years as a member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly.
A day after the Justice Wilcox announcement,
Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler of Washington County announced her candidacy
for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Linda Clifford, an attorney in Madison had
announced her candidacy last fall. There is, of course, speculation of other
potential candidates and we will report on any future announcements.
Gottleib to Finance; Jensen’s Assembly Seat
to be Filled at General Election
Assembly Speaker John Gard has appointed State Representative Mark
Gottlieb (R-Port Washington) to the Joint Committee on Finance to fill the
vacancy created by Scott Jensen’s recent resignation from the State
Legislature. Gottlieb, who is in his second term in the State Assembly, is
also co-chair of the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules and
is the former Mayor of Port Washington.
Governor Doyle recently announced that he will not call a
special election before the general election in November to fill the
Assembly vacancy created by Jensen’s resignation.
Political News
Road
funding realities (opinion): Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April
4, 2006. Now there's a crisis. To meet it, the state can stop
raiding the fund and re-evaluate the state's needs to build only
those projects that are really needed, when they are really
needed.
Eminent domain limits become law: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
Mar. 31, 2006. Doyle signs bill restricting land acquisitions to
public service projects.
Governor vetoes rent-to-own bill: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
Mar. 31, 2006. Doyle's decision was a surprise to supporters of
the bill, who thought Doyle might sign it over the objections from
consumer groups and advocates for poor and older people.
Wilcox to retire in '07 from Supreme Court: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, Mar. 31, 2006. He will have served as Wisconsin justice
for 15 years.
Green
urges election curbs: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 28,
2006. He asks governor to limit spending, sign clean-campaign
pledge.
In
governor's race, the rules have changed: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, Mar. 28, 2006. Doyle, Green will spar for months instead
of weeks.
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