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July 18, 2003
For the past few
issues we have predicted that the signing of the State budget was
imminent. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (for those
of you old enough to know what a record is/was), there is mounting
speculation that the Governor will sign the bill, with numerous
line item vetoes, mid-to-late next week. (Perhaps after next
Tuesday’s special election?)
In the meantime, there have been additional budget related announcements,
the signing of a very important bill providing incentives for power plant
siting and significant gubernatorial action regarding ozone nonattainment
area designations. We also encourage you to visit the links provided, or
contact the Hamilton Consulting Group for additional background information
on these and other topical issues.
Wisconsin
Politics
Governor
Continues to Release Budget Intentions
Governor Doyle continued to release specific intended budget
actions this week, although he has not unveiled his intentions
regarding the property tax freeze. The Governor announced he would
use his veto power to strike two more Republican-sponsored
provisions: 1) the 50 percent increase in fees for teacher
licensure (see his July 11
release); and 2) the cuts to the Knowles-Nelson
Stewardship program, which was established to provide funding for
land conservation (see his July 14
release). On July 16, Doyle
announced he will approve the budget provision that
approves funding for a new nursing home facility for veterans in
Union Grove.
Meanwhile, Republican
legislators have begun calling on Doyle to take action on the budget without
further delay. On July 15, Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) sent a
letter to the Governor urging the him to call for the budget bill
and take final action. The next day, July 16, Senate Majority Leader Mary
Panzer (R-West Bend) sent the Governor a
letter, requesting that he complete budget action as soon as
possible.
Candidates Gear Up for
Heated Special Election
On July 22, Republican Mark Honadel (Milwaukee)
and Democrat Al Foekler (Oak Creek) will face off for the coveted 21st
Assembly District (South Milwaukee/Oak Creek). Recent reports anticipate the
race will be close for this traditionally Democratic, although competitive,
seat. Also to be determined by next week’s election is who will take the 71st
District (Stevens Point area) Assembly seat. Republican Jackie Szehner and
Democrat Louis John Molepske Jr., both of
Stevens Point, are
competing for this seat. The two districts were vacated by the election of
Democrats Jeff Plale and Julie Lassa, respectively, to the State Senate to
fill vacancies that existed in the upper house.
Coggs Will Take on George
in Recall Election
On July 17, State Representative Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee)
announced he will run in the upcoming recall election for the 6th
District Senate seat against long-time Senate member Democrat Gary George of
Milwaukee. The State Election Board
certified the petition to recall George on July 11, and ordered
the recall election. The board found that the minimum requirement of 8,071
petition signatures was met when they certified not fewer than 8,750
qualifying signatures to recall the State Senator. The recall election is
scheduled for Tuesday, Aug.19, 2003.
Tommy Thompson to Lead
Alliance of
Automobile Manufacturers?
It was reported in a July 11
news article that the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a
multimember trade and lobbying group from Detroit, is preparing to offer
former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson a position as Chairman of the
Alliance.
Policy Developments
Governor Limits
Ozone Recommendation
On July 15, Gov. Doyle’s
announced he had submitted to EPA his recommendation
for nonattainment area designations based on EPA’s new ozone
(8-hour) air quality standard. The Although DNR initially
suggested the Governor recommend Wisconsin collar counties, based
on concerns that those counties would violate the standard, or may
contribute to the nonattainment of other areas, the Governor
limited his recommendation to 10 eastern counties that are
currently not attaining the new standard. The Governor based his
recommendation on the most current ozone air quality data (three
year averages from 2000-02), which supported the finding that only
those 10 counties recommended are not currently attaining. (See
the Governor’s
letter to EPA, detailing his ozone nonattainment
recommendation.)
July 15 marked the deadline
for states to submit nonattainment area recommendations to EPA. Final
designation of nonattainment areas, however, will be promulgated by EPA;
these designations are expected by Apr. 15, 2004, once 2003 air quality
becomes available.
Governor Signs Utility
Siting Legislation
On July 15, Gov. Doyle signed
AB 378, as
Act 31, laws of 2003. The new law, viewed to promote economic
development, is directed at energy availability and reliability. (See The
Hamilton Consulting Group’s
Update on this legislation). The law will provide financial
incentives to communities that agree to site power plants. At the bill
signing ceremony, the Governor
commented that the law would help grow Wisconsin’s economy by
compensating communities who choose to participate in the effort to ensure
the state’s future energy needs are met by agreeing to site plants in their
localities. In signing the bill, the Governor made use of his partial veto
power to: delete a provision which would provide payments to communities
that are contiguous to a power plant; delete a provision that limits
incentive payments to communities that host cogeneration plants by providing
the incentive money only for plants completed before Dec.31, 2006, extending
the incentive payment allowance to plants completed after Dec.31, 2006; and
delete a third provision, elimination of which restores current PSC
authority regarding allowance of recovery for mitigation payments. See the
Governor’s
release regarding the partial vetoes.
Wisconsin Liability Systems May Impact Economic Development
As the Wisconsin Legislature heads into its fall floor period, its major
focus will be growing the state’s economy. While there are several factors
impacting Wisconsin’s economy, one factor may be the perceived
“reasonableness” or “fairness” of Wisconsin’s liability system (or,
“litigation climate”), as viewed by corporations looking for places to site
new businesses, or grow existing businesses. On Apr.9, 2003, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce
released the results of a
study, conducted by Harris Interactive polling service, that polled
senior corporate attorneys with the goal of exploring “how reasonable and
fair the tort liability system is perceived to be by Corporate
America.” Although Wisconsin was ranked 11th from the best
overall on perceived tort fairness by those polled, it was still given a “C”
or “average” overall grade. The study reported Wisconsin ranked high among
other states in the areas of judicial competence and jury predictability
(the state was ranked in the top five in both of these categories). Areas
where Wisconsin ranked lower than its overall 11th place included
timeliness of summary judgment/dismissal, scientific and technical evidence,
and judicial impartiality. The poll surveyed nine categories of states’ tort
climates, including those areas listed above.
The Legislature is expected
to address two civil justice bills in the fall floorperiod –
SB 49, relating to expert opinion evidence/junk science, and
AB 317, relating to products liability changes.
DOT Releases Cell Phone
Survey
On July 3, 2003, the Wisconsin State Patrol released a
report on the results of a survey, which focused on whether or not cell
phone use by drivers was a major contributor to motor vehicle crashes. The
report concluded that there is not a definable relationship between driver
cell phone use and motor vehicle crashes. The study also found there does
not seem to be a distinction in distraction levels between hand-held and
hands-free driver cell phone usage.
In an ironic twist of
timing, however, merely one week after the study was released, on July 14
there was a fatal crash in Dodge County involving alleged driver cell phone
usage. The driver ran a stop sign and killed a pregnant woman and her unborn
baby; he has been charged with two counts of homicide by negligent use of a
motor vehicle.
The accident prompted
Rep. Carol Owens (R-Oshkosh) to call renewed attention to
AB-58, which prohibits the use of both hand-held and hands-free cell
phones while operating a motor vehicle. The bill does contain an exception
that would allow the use of cell phones in emergencies. Rep. Owens is
calling on the Assembly Highway Safety Committee Chair to hold a public
hearing on the bill. (See a Jul.17 Journal Sentinel
news article on this issue.)
Federal Developments
Committee Votes
Yes On Asbestos Trust Fund
On July 11, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve
creation of an Asbestos Trust Fund to compensate victims of
asbestos-related illness. The Trust would be funded by business
and insurance groups, and would be managed by the federal
government. The Trust would replace state and federal lawsuits
against such business and insurance companies by asbestos-related
injured plaintiffs.
EPA Announces New Cleanup
at 11 Superfund Projects in Nine States
On July 17, the EPA
announced it will begin cleanup projects, authorized by the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA,
otherwise known as the “Superfund”), for 11 new sites in 9 different states
(Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Vermont
and Idaho).The new sites are in addition to the 450 sites currently being
cleaned up under Superfund. (Those 450 sites include 729 separate cleanup
projects.) To date, EPA has cleaned up 852 sites on the Superfund National
Priorities List (NPL).
Among other criteria, the
11 new projects were selected for cleanup primarily due to human health
risks posed by the sites.
Hatch Tapped to Help Forge
Compromise on Medicare Prescriptions
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was named as one of five Senate Republicans to the
House-Senate conference committee that will draw up the final bill to
strengthen and improve Medicare – including providing America’s 41 million
Medicare beneficiaries with prescription drug coverage.
The Senate bill,
the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act, is modeled after
efforts launched last year by Hatch, Finance Committee Chairman Charles
Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine),
and Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt), in attempts to develop a tripartisan Medicare
prescription drug bill that Congress could adopt free from partisan
politics. The bill includes a number of provisions authored by Hatch to help
Utah patients and providers.
In addition to Hatch, the
Republican Senators on the panel will be Grassley, Majority Leader Bill
Frist (Tenn.),
Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles (Okla.), and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Jon Kyl (Ariz.).
The Democratic conferees will be Minority Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.), Sen.
Max Baucus (Mont.), Sen. John Rockefeller (W.V.), and Breaux. The House
leaders have yet to name that Chamber’s conference participants.
Political News
Republicans lead state's representatives in fund raising: Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, July 18, 2003.
State hearing sought on DA deals: Appleton Post-Crescent, July 18, 2003.
George
recall election set for Sept. 16: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July
18, 2003.
Phase out
nursing homes, state board says: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July
18, 2003.
Crash
sparks cell phone debate: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17, 2003.
Bill
would permit concealed weapons: Wisconsin State Journal, July 17, 2003.
Concealed
weapons measure planned: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17, 2003.
Republicans
criticize Doyle for stalling over vetoes: Janesville Gazette, July 17,
2003.
State's
unemployment rate reaches 5.6%: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17,
2003.
It's not a pretty picture: Racine Journal Times, July 17, 2003.
Driver on
phone charged in crash: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 16, 2003.
Power
plant construction to bring aid to host cities: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, July 16, 2003.
Doyle against adding to list: Appleton Post-Crescent, July 16, 2003.
Utility
holding firm limits will stand: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 15,
2003.
Doyle to veto
cuts to land-buying program: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 15, 2003.
Ex-district attorney's deals draw state ethics investigation:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 14, 2003.
Officials probe ‘no call’ list role: Oshkosh Northwestern, July 13,
2003.
State may
challenge federal no-call rules: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 13,
2003.
Report pins down causes of Wisconsin’s high taxes (opinion): Oshkosh
Northwestern, July 13, 2003.
Superfund Sites: Insurors must pay some costs of cleanup: St. Paul Pioneer
Press, July 12, 2003.
Counties struggle with rising number of traffic fatalities: La
Crosse Tribune, July 13, 2003.
Motorcycle
deaths on the rise in state: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 13,
2003.
Upcoming Fundraisers
July 19, 2003
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