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April 24, 2006
The Legislature is back in session
for the final two weeks of the regular floor period. Proposals not
acted on by May 4 are dead for this session, unless formal action
is taken to extend the floor period, including a listing of those
bills being carried forward. The exceptions to this general
provision are bills introduced by the Joint Committee for the
Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR,) which remain alive until
the December floor period scheduled for the purpose of addressing
JCRAR bills. Also, no new regular session bills can be introduced
after May 4.
Perhaps the highest profile issue expected to be addressed during the next
two weeks is the proposal to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to place
limits on the growth of government revenues and spending. The proposal,
which has been labeled the Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA), faces a very
uncertain future, and several alternative approaches to the original
proposal have surfaced over the last week. Not surprisingly, local
government organizations have been vocal in their opposition since the
proposal was originally floated. Recently, statewide organizations
representing realtors, builders, and economic development professionals have
publicly expressed their opposition and concerns regarding the very detailed
constitutional amendment proposal and the potential impact on growth,
bonding and tax incremental financing. Serious consideration is being given
to a scaled down version of a constitutional amendment that would leave most
of the detail to future legislative statutory enactments while still
mandating spending controls.
The Assembly is scheduled to vote on one or more proposals on Thursday of
this week, and much work remains to determine whether a consensus can be
reached.
The Governor has been busy over the past few weeks signing and vetoing
bills; many of those actions are covered below.
Policy Developments
Assembly Calendar Highlights for
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
AJR-99. Declares May as Manufacturing Month in Wisconsin.
SJR-33. Proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit partial
vetoes from creating new sentences (1st Consideration).
AB-937. Evaluation of the SAGE program.
AB-954. Income/franchise tax credit for workplace wellness programs.
AB-955. Income/franchise tax credit for information technology equipment
used to maintain medical records in electronic form.
AB-999/SB-546.
Identification and cleanup of properties that are environmentally
contaminated; properties with residual contamination; modifies environmental
remediation tax incremental financing program; exempts local governmental
units from solid waste management standards with respect to certain
properties; liability of certain persons for environmental contamination on
property on which a cleanup has been conducted.
SB-619. Business mergers, conversions and other business combinations.
Senate Regular Session Calendar Highlights for Tuesday, April 25
Confirmation vote on DOA secretary Stephen Bablitch and Commerce
secretary Mary Burke.
SB-145. Deferred prosecution
agreements: bad checks;
SB-677. Village of Kimberly TIF.
Senate Extraordinary Calendar Highlights for Tuesday, April 25
SB-483. Income/franchise tax credit for sales and use taxes paid on
purchase of Internet equipment used in the broadband market.
SB-563. Income/franchise tax
credits for expenses related to film production services and for capital
investments made by a film production company.
AB-4. Nonrefundable individual
income tax credit for certain amounts relating to health savings accounts
that may be deducted, or are exempt from, federal income taxes.
Governor Bill Signings and Vetoes Over the Past Three Weeks
ACTS
Assembly Bills (Act number, followed by Bill number)
261 (AB-1014):
Obtaining, selling, or soliciting a telephone record that pertains to
another person without the person’s consent.
330 (AB-973):
Expands purpose for which a town may create a tax incremental financing
district
331 (AB-1008):
Authorizes city of Monroe to allocate positive tax increments from one or
more of its districts to another.
339 (AB-230):
Licensing of motor vehicle salvage dealers.
340 (AB-122):
Medical assistance reimbursement for transportation by specialized medical
vehicles.
349 (AB-129):
Late payments of property tax installments.
357 (AB-156):
Allows certain counties to create TIF districts.
361 (AB-208):
Rural enterprise development zones (JOBZ).
368 (AB-387):
Eligibility of a person enrolled in a program that confers a master’s degree
in nursing for a loan under the Nursing Student Loan Program.
Senate Bills
322 (SB-386):
Immunity from civil liability for providing safety services related to the
inspection and installation of child safety restraint systems in motor
vehicles.
325 (SB-161):
Civil liability exemption for claims resulting from weight gain and obesity.
328 (SB-596):
Authorizes a city or village to make changes in TIF districts.
303 (SB-350):
Display of political signs in condominiums.
335 (SB-352):
Wisconsin Aerospace Authority.
336 (SB-375):
Metal fabrication tool builder liens.
259 (SB-602):
Development zone credit for the license fees paid by certain insurers.
292 (SB-477):
Licensing midwives.
VETOES
Assembly Bills
AB-299. Effect of county shoreland zoning ordinances in territories
annexed by cities, villages or towns or incorporated at cities or villages.
Veto message.
AB-509. Liability of local units for damages caused by an insufficiency
or want of repair of a highway.
Veto message.
AB-871. Post-dated checks and checks given for past consideration.
Veto message.
AB-1060. Virtual charter schools.
Veto message.
AB-1071. Time limits for persons under 18 to bring action against a
health care provider.
Veto message.
AB-1072. Awards for malpractice; evidence of compensation for those
damages—collateral source payments.
Veto message.
AB-1074. Recovery of attorney fees in medical malpractice cases.
Veto message.
Senate Bills
SB-68. Supplementing special education funding with lapsed SAGE contract
money.
Veto message.
SB-420. Group health benefit plans.
Veto message.
SB-447. Punitive damage awards.
Veto message.
SB-501. Damages for frivolous claims. Veto
message.
SB-578. Confidentiality of health care review records; immunity.
Veto message.
SB-617. Defined network plans.
Veto message.
JOBZ Act Signed into Law with Partial Veto
Governor Doyle on April 19 signed
AB-208, which creates an enterprise zone program. The program, to be
administered by the Department of Commerce, will provide an estimated $10
million in refundable tax credits for businesses located in designated zones
anywhere in the state that create jobs and train their workers.
Governor Doyle exercised a number of partial vetoes [Partial
veto message] to include Madison and Milwaukee in the business
development program. The bill was originally intended to help rural areas of
the state, which was deleted by the partial veto according to
Rep. Kitty Rhoades and
Reps. Zien and Suder.
Governor Signs Bill Limiting Obesity Lawsuits/Vetoes Punitive Damages Reform
After vetoing vrtually identical legislation last session, Governor Doyle
signed a bill (SB-161)
that provides liability exemptions relating to claims for
damages for injuries based on weight gain or obesity by virtue of food
consumption.
On the same day, Governor Doyle vetoed legislation intended
to make the recovery of punitive damages more difficult and restore a
standard the Legislature thought it had adopted in the 1995 session.
Road to the Future Committee Conducts Hearings
On February 8, Assembly Speaker John Gard and Senate Majority Leader
Dale Schultz created the Road to the Future Committee to study ways to
ensure the security of transportation funding and find efficiencies that
will save state funds.
The
first of five hearings held last week indicate much discussion will be
forthcoming in future meetings. Testimony regarding the need for more money
for freeways in southeastern Wisconsin raised concerns for the future of
funding for local road systems in northern and western Wisconsin.
Members of the committee are: Sen. Daniel Kapanke and Rep. Mark Gottlieb,
co-chairs; Sens. Scott Fitzgerald, David Zien, Glenn Grothman, Russell
Decker, and Robert Wirch; and Reps. Jeff Stone, Donald Friske, Dean Kaufert,
Josh Zepnick, and Michael Sheridan.
Midwife Licensing Bill Signed into Law
On April 10, Governor Doyle signed
2005 Senate Bill 477, creating
2005 Wisconsin Act 292, requiring the licensing of midwives.
On
April 20, the Governor also signed
AB-387, which extends eligibility of the Nursing Student Loan Program to
include students pursuing master's and doctoral nursing degrees. Under
current law, only nursing students enrolled in associate or bachelor degree
programs are eligible for the loans.
Wisconsin
Politics
Recent Polls Show Doyle and Green
in Close Race
Two new independent polls show the race for governor a close
call. The first poll, conducted by Wisconsin Public Radio and the
St. Norbert College Survey Center, shows Republican challenger
Congressman Mark Green trailing Doyle 35 percent to 43 percent.
The poll of 400 Wisconsin voters was conducted from March 29 –
April 7 and had a margin of error of 5 percent.
The
second set of results comes from an April 7-9 survey of 800 likely voters
conducted by nationally-known polling firm Strategic Vision, LLC. That poll
shows Green and Doyle tied at 43 percent.
Political News
Drunken driver bill nears deadline: Oshkosh Northwestern, Apr. 24,
2006.
Want lower transportation taxes? Drive less (opinion): Tomah Journal, Apr.
24, 2006.
Is more than cell phone regulation needed to make roads safer?
Racine Journal Times, Apr. 24, 2006.
Republicans look for a way to cap government spending: Wisconsin
State Journal, Apr. 23, 2006.
Tax limit
plan might crumble: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 24, 2006.
Tax limit law, not amendment? Madison Capital Times, Apr. 20, 2006.
Doyle veto
a win for trial lawyers: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 20, 2006.
City's case upheld in appeal over room taxes: Sheboygan Press, Apr.
20, 2006.
Bill to cut importing garbage ends on Legislature's trash heap:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 20, 2006.
Doyle
vetoes bill on virtual schools: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 19,
2006.
Building
only what's needed (opinion): Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 19,
2006.
Green goes
for anti-tax message: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr. 18, 2006.
Doyle, Green off and running with dueling area press conferences:
Green Bay Press-Gazette, Apr. 18, 2006.
Green:
Tough tax days will end under new plan: Janesville Gazette, Apr. 17,
2006.
Don't add 2,000 words to state Constitution (opinion): Tomah Journal
Sentinel, Apr. 17 2006.
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