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June 20, 2003
Wisconsin
Politics
Senate and
Assembly Approve Budget
After all-night debates Wednesday into Thursday (Senate) and
Thursday into Friday (Assembly), both houses of the Wisconsin
Legislature approved the 2003-05 $49 billion biennial budget bill
– with one minor amendment pending. The Senate will not meet today
to consider the Assembly amendment, but will do so on Monday or
Tuesday of next week. Our
Budget Update has been revised to highlight the changes made
by Senate and Assembly action.
Senate
- Early
Thursday morning the Senate passed
Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to SB 44, as amended by two
Republican sponsored amendments,
Senate Amendment 119, and
Senate Amendment 121, by a vote of 17-16. (See the
roll call for this vote.) Democrats offered 120 amendments, none of
which were passed. The final vote included 16 Republicans for the budget,
plus one Democrat, Sen. Gary George, District 6. Voting against the budget
as amended were 14 Democrats plus Sen. Cowles (R-Green Bay) and Sen. Ellis
(R-Neenah).
On Tuesday, Sens. Cowles
and Ellis
announced they would not vote for a budget with a structural
deficit in the amount that remained in the JFC version of SB 44. (See their
letter sent Tuesday to the Governor, Senate Majority Leader, and
Assembly Speaker.) Efforts to address the two Republicans’ concerns via SA
119 fell short in getting their support. Thursday morning Sen. Ellis
expressed his continued concern that the amendment would not
correct the problem.
Democrat Sen. George
announced that his decision and vote to approve the budget
resulted from the positive gain for his district due to several provisions
in the adopted amendments. These include:
-
funding for a Hmong
cultural center in
Milwaukee;
-
funding for a faith-based
initiative that will work to create job opportunities and provide
counseling to families impacted by gun violence; and
-
creation of a Uniform
Minority Business Certification Program that will streamline the
application process for minority businesses wanting to do business with
the state and local governments
Other highlights contained
in the Senate changes to the Joint Finance version of the budget include:
-
Exempts permanent or
project employees of the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority from the JFC
provision that half-time to three-quarter time employees pay 50% of their
health care premium.
-
Provides that $2 million
of the $8 million GPR provided in JFC for the Graduate Medical Education
program be used for indirect GME costs. Under the JFC version, the entire
$8 million was for direct GME costs only.
-
Creates a refundable
income tax credit for nursing home residents who pay the bed assessment.
The credit is allowed on $43 per month (difference between current bed tax
of $32 and $75 approved by JFC) and would first be available in tax year
2003 for assessments paid after July 1, 2003. Estimated cost of $4.4
million annually once fully implemented.
-
Modifies the JFC
provision that would transfer 20% of the sales tax on vehicles from the
general fund to the transportation fund beginning in 2005-06 by reducing
the transfer to 10% of the sales tax collected.
-
Deletes $50,000 annually
provided to DOJ for administration of a hotline established to receive
tips regarding dangerous weapons in public schools.
[See
SA 1 to SA 119,
SA 119, and
SA 121] [Also see
LFB memo on SA 119, & SA 121]
Assembly - On
Thursday evening, the Assembly took up the Senate-passed version of the
budget bill and rejected 54 of 55 amendments debated throughout the night.
The bill was passed, as amended by Assembly Amendment 55, around 4:45 a.m.
on Friday by a final vote of 58-37 (59-38 with pairs) with all Republicans
voting for and all Democrats, except Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer voting against.
Following the vote, Ziegelbauer
announced his support of the budget, sharing his belief that
Joint Finance added many fiscally sound provisions to the Governor’s “great
start.” Ziegelbauer reiterated the difficulty of achieving a perfect budget
in the present fiscal climate, and expressed his belief that since the
budget process began, he has believed “we must solve our problems by
restraining government spending, not by raising taxes.”
The lone Assembly Amendment
(AA
55) restored $50,000 in DOJ, but not the authority to operate a
dangerous weapons hotline. Instead the money is directed for support of the
Amber Alert system and a drug hotline. The amendment also deleted special
levy limit adjustments related to the Town of
Fond du Lac
and City of Fond du Lac annexation. (The Assembly plans to include the
provision in a separate “trailer bill” to be taken up in extraordinary
session next week.)
The bill now returns to the
Senate for action on the Assembly Amendment, which is expected early next
week.
Governor - Following
Senate action next week, the budget bill returns to the Governor for his
final review and action. Despite persistent media speculation, we do not
expect the Governor to veto the entire legislative-approved budget. We do,
however, anticipate that the Governor will make extensive use of his partial
veto authority before signing the bill.
Early Action
- Legislative
adoption of the 2003-05 budget before the end of June represents the
earliest budget adoption in many years. The Governor is also expected to
move as quickly as reasonably possible. Both the Democrat Governor and the
Republican Legislature have been and are aware that delay merely adds to the
state’s financial woes.
Nettles Confirmation
This week, the Senate Economic Development Committee unanimously voted to
recommend confirmation of Cory Nettles’ appointment as Secretary of
Commerce.
Wisconsin Housing
Preservation Corp. and WHEDA Sue Each Other
On Tuesday, The Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corp.
filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Authority (WHEDA),
alleging that WHEDA has unlawfully tried to take over the Housing
Preservation Corp., a non-profit group made up of former WHEDA members that
provides housing to low income people. Later the same day, WHEDA
announced it would file (and did file) suit against the Housing
Preservation Corp. alleging that a small group of then WHEDA officials
improperly spun off the Corporation from the state and are now profiting
from their actions.
Chvala Files Brief to
Dismiss Four of the Criminal Counts Against Him
Former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala of Madison filed a brief
Tuesday with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. The brief asks the Court
to dismiss four of the State’s 19 felony charges against Chvala –
specifically, it asks for dismissal of four counts of felony misconduct in
office, for hiring and directing Senate Democratic Staff people to work on
campaigns. Chvala challenges these counts on grounds of unconstitutional
vagueness, improper Separation of Powers, and unclear guidelines within the
Senate policy manual for defining proper (and thus, improper) “political
activities.” The State based part of its complaint against Chvala upon the
Senate policy manual’s guidelines.
Meanwhile, State of
Wisconsin vs. Charles Chvala moves closer to trial. The final pre-trial
hearing is scheduled for July 3, with jury selection scheduled to begin on
August 6, 2003.
Policy
Developments
New Ozone Nonattainment
Designations
By July 15, 2003, Gov. Doyle must submit to EPA recommendations on which
counties should be designated nonattainment for the new 8-hour ozone
standard. (EPA makes its decision later this year using new ozone data from
2003.) Initially, DNR pushed for a broad nonattainment designation,
including 11 counties currently meeting the new standard. Along with the
nonattainment designation comes various regulatory mandates affecting
industrial and transportation sectors.
Pressure from state and
local business groups, economic development organizations, chambers, and
local officials helped in convincing DNR management to
recommend only those counties actually violating the standard be
designated nonattainment. However, DNR staff appeared to be developing an
alternative means of getting attainment counties designated nonattainment.
In a June 18 presentation to the Clean Air Act Task Force, DNR staff said
they will ask the Governor to include in his recommendation a comprehensive
“contribution analysis” that supposedly validates DNR staff position that
the 11 attainment counties contribute to the ozone problem in those counties
along Lake Michigan that are in violation of the standard. (EPA
representatives who were at the meeting stated they would consider this
analysis when making their final decision.) Over the next several years, we
expect significant developments relating to the implementation of the new
ozone standard in Wisconsin.
Extraordinary Session
Called for Economic Development Initiatives
After voting to approve the budget early this morning, the Assembly adopted
a resolution by voice vote calling an Extraordinary Session for next week to
address several economic development related bills. The session is scheduled
to begin on Monday, but the Assembly is not expected to hold a floor period
until Tuesday. Consideration of each bill will pick up where consideration
left off before adoption of the resolution. Bills that will be addressed in
the special session are:
Single Sales Factor:
On Monday, the Senate Economic Development Committee recommended
passage of
SB-197, the single sales factor bill, and referred the bill to the Joint
Finance Committee. On Tuesday, Governor Doyle
expressed his support of this
bill, which, if passed, could improve the economic climate in Wisconsin.
(See
last week’s tidbits for more on this bill). The Governor
urged the legislature to pass the bill, stating that “moving to a single
sales factor is the best way to attract new employers and encourage job
growth” in the State.
The Assembly companion
bill,
AB 413, was referred directly to Joint Finance on June 13. On
Thursday, JFC met to address the two bills. The Committee voted to recommend
passage of both bills as amended by
Assembly amendment 2 and Senate substitute amendment 1 (identical to the
Assembly amendment), and with emergency statements attached to allow these
bills to be acted upon before final action on the budget.
Local Payments to
Public Utilities:
On Tuesday, the Joint Finance Committee voted to adopt
Assembly amendment 1 to
AB 378, the bill creating new incentive aid payments for
municipalities and counties that host power plants. (For further discussion
on this bill, see the Hamilton Consulting Group’s
Special Update). Additionally, the Committee voted to adopt
Assembly amendment 5 to AB 378. The amendments alter the bill as follows:
AA 1:
-
Creates an additional
appropriation for the new aid payment structure
-
Adds to the definition
of repowering a facility to include renewable facilities
-
Changes the effective
date for ending mitigation payments from June 1 to June 10th 2003.
AA 5:
The Joint Finance Committee
further adopted a substitute amendment conforming
SB 180, the Senate companion bill to AB 378, to actions taken on AB 378.
It is also expected there will be adoption of a still – to - be introduced
amendment, altering the payment amounts to the City of Madison, from an
estimated $200,000 per year to an estimated $350,000. (Following hours of
floor debate on the budget, Assembly Republicans agreed to the amendment
after Madison Democrat David Travis continued to block passage of the budget
on a procedural motion in order to obtain a concession on payments to
Madison under the power plant siting bills.)
Other Bills To Be Addressed In the Extraordinary Session Next Week:
-
AB-394 and
SB-194, relating to powers and duties of a transmission company with
responsibilities for electric transmission in
Wisconsin.
-
AB-275 and
SB-117, prohibiting MTBE in automotive gasoline.
-
AB-379 and
SB-188, extending the expenditure period and life of tax incremental
districts in Kenosha.
-
AB-167 and
SB-25, extending the expenditure period and life of a tax incremental
district in Sheboygan.
0.08 Blood Alcohol Content
Bill Nearing Federal Deadlines
On Tuesday, the Senate Transportation Committee held a public hearing on
AB 88. No executive action was taken, although Committee chair Leibham
announced at the close of the hearing that committee members would be
discussing this bill, and concerns raised by Tuesday’s hearing, over the
following few days and would likely vote on the bill before the end of the
week.
In order to receive certain
federal incentive money, counted on by the JFC budget version, the 0.08 BAC
bill must be signed by the Governor by July 15, 2003, and become law by
October 1, 2003.
Federal Developments
Asbestos
Legislation Remains Contentious
As the Senate Judiciary Committee began marking up the Fairness in
Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003, there was agreement
between Republican and Democratic Committee members on several
provisions, but not all. Division along party lines remains in
some of the most contentious areas of the bill. So far, the
mark-up session, which began this week and is expected to continue
into next week, has revealed that the Committee has agreed to
these changes:
-
preventing payments from
Medicaid or private insurance from offsetting awards owed to victims;
-
doubling the statute of
limitations for filing an asbestos claim from 2 years to 4 years; and
-
providing compensation to
exposed victims in Libby Montana, a mining town with documented high rates
of asbestos-related illness.
Remaining to be sorted out,
however, are:
-
a definition of what
“fair medical criteria” consists of, for evaluating alleged asbestos
victims;
-
amount of awards for
victims; and
-
ways to ensure that the
victim compensation trust fund does not run out of money.
Although Chairman Hatch
would like to see the bill pass quickly, he reportedly stated he did not
intend to force a vote if it continues to look as if compromises can be
reached, and an agreeable plan worked out.
Competing Clean Air
Legislation May Not Carry Identical Price Tags
It was reported Monday that the Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works, Senator Inafe, may request review of the
economic impacts of two clean air bills currently being considered in the
Senate – Bush’s “Clear Skies” initiative and Sen. Carper’s bill.
While the two bills are
reportedly similar on several counts, Carper’s bill would regulate carbon
dioxide in addition to emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxide and sulfur
oxide; Bush’s plan would not. Carper’s bill, if passed, would cost more
money to implement.
Corporate Political
Contributions Still Unconstitutional, Says Supreme Court
On Monday, The Supreme Court handed down a ruling banning contributions from
incorporated advocacy groups to political campaigns. In a 7-2 majority
opinion, authored by Justice Souter, the court rejected the claim that the
ban on contributions was unconstitutional; the effect is a broadening of the
32 year old federal rule against such contributions.
The Court weighed freedom
of speech against Congress’ right to control the effects of corporate money
on politics, and said that the Constitutional freedom does not trump
Congress’ intentions for retaining the federal ban. (See a related
news article).
Political News
State
Assembly passed budget: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 20, 2003.
GOP plan may soon face veto from governor.
Veto question looms over budget: Appleton Post-Crescent, June 20, 2003.
Governor ponders how to use his power.
Cowles, Hansen vote against budget bill: Green Bay Press-Gazette, June 20,
2003. The two have said the state would face a $1.6 billion built-in deficit
in 2005-07 under the finance committee’s plan.
Gov's veto
pen poised as budget heads his way: Madison Capital Times, June 19, 2003.
Assembly approval of the bill came on a 58-37 vote.
Senate
approves fix to the state's $3.2 billion deficit: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, June 19, 2003. While fixing current shortfall, Wisconsin would
have a deficit of $1.1 billion at the beginning of the two-year budget
in 2005.
Budget gets narrow Senate OK: Appleton Post-Crescent, June 19, 2003.
Ellis, Cowles lone GOP members against proposal.
Proposed bill aiming to assure more legal representation for poor:
Manitowoc Herald Times, June 19, 2003. Rep. Terri McCormick, R-Grand Chute,
introduced a bill that would update the standards.
New state economic chief listening to businesses: Green Bay
Press-Gazette, June 19, 2003. With the state ranking 47th in new
business formation, Wall has his job cut out for him.
Senate
kills loophole fix: Madison Capital Times, June 19, 2003. Corporate tax
reform dies.
Legislative panel backs business tax break: Appleton Post-Crescent, June
18, 2003. The measure already has received support from the governor.
Sentencing
study dropped: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 18, 2003. Measure deleted
from state budget proposal had critics among judges.
State needs
to develop young workers: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 18, 2003.
Attracting minorities crucial, economist says.
Doyle urges approval of tax break for businesses: Appleton
Post-Crescent, June 17, 2003. bill would implement a system that
calculates corporate taxes based only on sales of goods or services.
Job market
gains ground: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 17, 2003. Manpower
predicts more local hiring.
DNR to issue rules on spreading of PCB-laden waste: Green Bay
Press-Gazette, June 17, 2003. will set maximum annual rates for
application of contaminated sludge.
Give
states flexibility over farm air pollution (opinion): Wisconsin State
Journal, June 17, 2003. should allow states flexibility in application and
ability to impose stricter regulation if they see fit.
Doyle laments cuts in fee hikes: Appleton Post-Crescent, June 17, 2003.
Governor: DNR, groups backed budget proposal.
Tobacco marketing increases: Wisconsin State Journal, June 17, 2003.
Spending in Wisconsin on tobacco prevention and cessation programs will
be $15 million this fiscal year.
State workers
'at risk': Madison Capital Times, June 16, 2003. 568 are latest to be
facing layoffs.
Fireworks liability exemption bill adds to confusion of current restrictions:
Racine Journal Times, June 16, 2003. bill approved by a legislative committee
last week.
Bill may
raise income limits for public defense: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
June 16, 2003. Would not add to the state's budget deficit because
public defenders would be paid for by counties.
Mercury:
It's no fish story (opinion): Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 16, 2003.
in the absence of federal action, it makes some sense for states to move on
their own.
Plug
loophole, pay for health: Madison Capital Times, June 16, 2003.
Black would bite biz for SeniorCare.
Drug bill
amendment would impact specialty hospitals: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, June 16, 2003. Senate version would end physician ownership.
State Democrats favor Dean in informal poll: Green Bay
Press-Gazette, June 15, 2003. primary in Wisconsin will carry more
importance in the 2004.
Brown County eludes ozone tag: Green Bay Press-Gazette, June 14, 2003. But
steamy summer could unfavorably shift region’s levels.
Upcoming Fundraisers
Saturday, June
21:
Sunday, June 22:
Monday, June 23:
-
Candidate for Alderperson
Stephanie Harling (14th), Milwaukee, WI, 5:00 p.m.
-
State Rep. Dave Cullen
(D-13), Milwaukee,
WI,
5:00 p.m.
-
State Rep. Tony Staskunas,
West Allis,
WI,
4:30 p.m.
-
State Rep. Mary Williams
(R-87), Medford,
WI,
5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 24:
Wednesday, June 25:
-
Birthday Party for
Kathleen Falk,
Madison,
WI,
5:00 p.m.
-
State Rep. Curt Gielow
(R-23), Milwaukee,
WI,
5:00 p.m.
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