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Jan. 16, 2009
Plans aplenty, details few on
the next steps the Wisconsin legislature will take to address the budget
shortfall and to jumpstart the state’s economy. Finance co-chairs have
talked of a state stimulus plan, but they may have to wait to see what the
Feds do, and the state budget could have to wait on both. Governor Doyle is
scheduled to deliver his State of the State Address on January 28th, and
Budget address on February 10th. It is expected that details will start to
trickle out over the next couple weeks, but actual language will be seen
shortly before the budget address.
While most Wisconsinites would
welcome any sort of climate change this week, climate change policy issues
were numerous. Against the Governor’s request the EPA designated 6
Wisconsin counties as non-attainment zones. The EPA also issued policy
easing emission regulation for new coal-fired power plants. Additionally,
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit reversed
its earlier decision that struck down the
Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), and reinstated the rule until the EPA
drafts new regulations.
Legislatively, Senate Democrats
unveiled their first three bills of the session and Speaker Sheridan put in
place a rule banning fundraising by Assembly members during the budget
process.
As we follow the 2008-09
Legislative session, we hope you will find interesting and timely news in
Tidbits, as well as keep updated by checking out the new
Hamilton Blog.
Wisconsin Developments
2009-10 Legislative
Session Begins
It’s a new
year and a new legislative session, and not surprisingly, the biggest issue
facing Gov. Jim Doyle and the newly Democrat-controlled Wisconsin
Legislature is the economy.
A new
study by the Wisconsin
Department of Revenue
paints a dire economic picture, predicting that jobs will continue to
decline in 2009 with employment decreasing another 2.2 percent, or by 65,000
jobs.
To combat the
economic downturn, elected officials both at the federal and state levels
are discussing “stimulus packages.” Gov. Doyle last week attended
President-elect Barack Obama’s news conference in Washington, D.C. where the
incoming president called for a federal stimulus package reaching $750
billion over the next two years. According to Gov. Doyle, Wisconsin could
receive two percent of any federal spending package.
In comments to the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel,
Gov. Doyle acknowledged that while it will be difficult to determine which
projects get funded from the pending federal stimulus package, he and the
legislature must ensure that the laws and regulations “are lined up to take
full advantage of it.”
Rep. Mark
Pocan (D-Madison), co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, speaking to
reporters said that a pending stimulus bill might also include tax increases
and budget cuts to balance the projected $5.4 billion shortfall.
The 2009-10 legislative session began when
the new legislature was sworn in on January 5, 2009. Floorperiods this month
are scheduled for January 13 and for January 27 through February 10.
State Democrats Introduce First Bills
of Session
The
first three bills of the new session have been introduced in the Senate.
-
Senate Bill 1
will raise the minimum wage and is authored by Sen. Decker. The bill
would increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.60 and then index it
for inflation.
-
Senate Bill 2
is the Employee Wage Protection Act, authored by Sen. John Lehman
(D-Racine). The bill makes payment of unpaid wages a priority when a
company goes out of business. It also closes a loophole created by a 7th
Circuit Court of Appeals decision that held Wisconsin wage lien laws
would not apply in bankruptcy cases.
-
Senate Bill 3
will require insurance companies to cover treatment for children with
autism and is authored by Senator Judy Robson (D-Beloit). The bill would
require every individual and group health insurance policy and plan,
including defined network plans and cooperative sickness care plans, to
cover the cost of treatment for insured persons with autism, Asperger’s
syndrome or other pervasive developmental disorders.
Hamilton Consulting is Blogging
The
Hamilton Consulting Group has started the
Hamilton Blog. The Blog will provide up-to-date information regarding
Wisconsin legislation, regulations, politics, legal cases, and news.
Because policies that affect Wisconsin citizens do not just occur in
Madison, the Hamilton Blog will also provide timely information regarding
regulations and laws that are enacted and promulgated in Washington, D.C.
Interested readers can subscribe to the Blog and receive email updates when
new posts appear on the site.
EPA Designates Six Wisconsin Counties
as Nonattainment Areas
under the Clean Air Act
The United States EPA
Administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, last month
issued a letter to Gov. Jim
Doyle
outlining the agency’s decision to designate five Wisconsin counties as
PM2.5 nonattainment areas, and a portion of a sixth county (Columbia).
Under the
Clean Air Act,
the EPA is required to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
for several types of air pollutants. One of those air pollutants is
fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is a mixture of extremely small
particles and liquid droplets.
In September 2006 the
EPA strengthened the 24-hour
fine particulate standard.
The agency lowered the standard by 50 percent, from 65 to 35 micrograms per
cubic meter. As result of the new standard, the EPA required states to
submit a list of nonattainment, attainment, and unclassified areas to the
EPA.
In a
letter dated October 20,
2008, Gov.
Jim Doyle requested that the EPA not designate any Wisconsin counties as
failing to meet the PM2.5 standard. In his letter, Gov. Doyle explained that
Wisconsin had taken a number of measures to greatly reduce the pollutant,
including implementing the
Mercury Multipollutant rule.
The
Wisconsin Manufacturers and
Commerce
and
Wisconsin Economic
Development Association also
sent letters to the EPA explaining why no Wisconsin counties should be
designated as nonattainment status.
Despite the Doyle
administrations’ request, the EPA decided to designate six Wisconsin
counties as nonattainment areas: Brown, Dane, Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha,
and a portion of Columbia. According to the EPA, the designations were
based on air quality monitoring data for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007. The
designations take effect 90 days after the Federal Register notice, most
likely in April, 2009.
As a result of the new
designations, new businesses and power plants will have to install more
expensive pollution controls and meet more rigorous permitting requirements.
DNR to Hold Meetings on Revised Ozone Standard:
Three public information
meetings will be held related to a Department of Natural Resources
draft technical
support document which presents options for identifying areas as
nonattainment (not meeting the federal standard) for the revised ozone
standard.
The
meetings will include a presentation on the options in the technical support
document and an opportunity to ask questions before a formal hearing on the
document is held on February 9.
January 30, Bristol
February 3, Sheboygan
February 4, Sturgeon Bay
EPA Issues Policy Easing Emission
Regulations for New Coal-Fired Power Plants
EPA Administrator Stephen L.
Johnson
issued a memorandum
last month that set an agency-wide policy prohibiting controls on carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions from being included in air pollution
permits for coal-fired power plants and other facilities.
The memo was written in
response to a decision by the Environmental Appeals Board – an EPA panel –
that had denied construction of a new coal-fired power plant on the site of
an existing plant in Utah. The EPA originally granted the permit in
2007, but that decision was appealed by the Sierra Club.
According to Mr. Johnson,
“The current concerns over global climate change should not drive E.P.A.
into adopting an unworkable policy of requiring emission controls” in cases
dealing with coal-fired plants.
Environmentalists argue that
the EPA’s decision runs counter to the
U.S. Supreme Court’s
decision
last year where it ruled that the agency could regulate greenhouse gases
under the
Clean Air Act.
While environmental groups
criticized the new policy, a former E.P.A. official claims that it could
actually help the incoming Obama administration in regulating greenhouse
gases.
In comments to the
New York Times,
Jeff Holmstead, who now works for the Electrical Liability Coordinating
Council, said, “I think if you’re Lisa Jackson [President-elect Barack
Obama’s choice for EPA Administrator] you have to be pretty grateful. She
has the opportunity to go through a rule-making and see how to deal” with
the issue.
However, environmental
groups argue that the EPA’s decision will mean a number of new coal plants
will be permitted without the EPA having to take into consideration
greenhouse gas emissions.
Doyle Proposes Revised Hospital
Assessment
In collaboration with Governor Jim Doyle and the Department
of Administration, the Department of Health Services has unveiled a revised
hospital assessment proposal. The new plan would increase the assessment on
hospital revenues. According to DHS, the plan would:
-
Collect the assessment
retroactive to July 1, 2008, consistent with federal law and Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services requirements, allowing Wisconsin
hospitals to realize the benefit of increased payments for fiscal years
2009, 2010, and 2011;
-
Claim approximately $300
million per fiscal year in new federal revenue for Medicaid rate
increases to hospitals, with the required non-federal share provided
from assessment revenue;
-
Raise acute care, children’s
and rehabilitation hospital Medicaid rates to almost triple the average
Fee-For-Service outpatient visit rate, and raise inpatient rates by an
average of 47% per discharge;
-
Provide needed support for
the Medicaid program, reinvesting approximately $300 million in the
program over three years;
-
Allow Wisconsin to extend
access to affordable health insurance to nearly 41,000 additional
Wisconsin citizens through statewide expansion of the BadgerCare Plus
Core Plan for Childless Adults.
Federal Developments
Federal Court Reinstates Clean Air
Interstate Rule
The
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed
its earlier decision that struck down the
Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), and reinstated the rule until the EPA
drafts new regulations.
In
2005 the EPA issued CAIR, which established an emissions trading program to
control nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) from power plants in
28 states. The rule was challenged by the state of North Carolina and a
number of electric utility companies.
In
its July 2008 decision, the court vacated the regulation ruling that EPA’s
method for allocating emissions allowances for upwind states and its
interpretation of protections for downwind states violated the Clean Air
Act. (North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 2008)).
Shortly after the court’s decision the EPA and most of the opposing parties
petitioned the court for a rehearing. As a result of this extraordinary
position, the court requested that the parties address whether any party
wanted the court’s vacatur decision to stand. In addition, the court asked
the parties whether the court should stay a mandate implementing its
decision until EPA issued a revised rule.
In
its opinion reversing its prior decision, the court ruled:
Having considered the parties’ respective
positions with respect to the remedy in this case, the court hereby
grants EPA’s petition only to the extent that we will remand the case
without vacatur for EPA to conduct further proceedings consistent with
our prior opinion.
The
court’s decision has ramifications throughout the country, including
Wisconsin. The court’s previous decision vacating CAIR had caused
uncertainty, leaving many companies unsure of how much they should invest in
emissions controls. While thes decision provides some short-term certainty,
Scott Segal, an electric utility lobbyist, told
Greenwire (subscription required) that the opinion “still left
significant uncertainty about the future fate of the rule.”
House Stimulus Package Seeks $825 Billion
The
House Appropriations Committee, led by chairman Rep. David Obey, on
Thursday unveiled an $825 billion economic stimulus package that includes
$550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts to individuals and
businesses over two years.
Some of the largest components include $87 billion for a temporary increase
in aid to states for Medicaid costs; $79 billion in aid to local school
districts and public colleges to prevent cutbacks; $90 billion in
infrastructure spending; and $54 billion to encourage energy production from
renewable sources.
In the News
Wisconsin Assembly speaker aims for bipartisanship with budget:
Oshkosh Northwestern, Jan. 15, 2009.
Green
vs. green lawns (opinion): Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan.
14, 2009.
Wis., Minn. governors plan joint initiative: Wisconsin State
Journal, Jan. 12, 2009.
Wisconsin's representatives in Washington eager to pursue priorities in 2009:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 10, 2009.
Drunks, water and unfinished business (opinion):
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 10, 2009.
The need to lead on OWI reform (opinion):
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 10, 2009.
Number of women in state Legislature declining:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 10, 2009.
Obey calls for quick passage of stimulus package: Superior Daily
Telegram, Jan. 12, 2009.
Job No. 1 for Madison and Wisconsin in 2009: More jobs (opinion):
Wisconsin State Journal, Jan. 11, 2009.
Even during recession, some Wisconsin companies are hiring: Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, Jan. 11, 2009.
Builders at the home show see small signs of hope: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, Jan. 11, 2009.
Plan could put heat on first-time drunk drivers: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, Jan. 11, 2009.
Forward Janesville puts pedal to the metal for project: Janesville
Gazette, Jan. 11, 2008.
Congresswoman backs Winona route for high-speed rail from Chicago to St.
Paul: La Crosse Tribune, Jan. 10, 2008.
Credit crunch makes cash king: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 10,
2009.
Statewide smoking ban debate stirred up: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram,
Jan. 10, 2009.
Local municipalities get $1.7 million from WisDOT; Manitowoc Herald
Times Reporter, Jan. 9, 2009.
Stricter rules sought on ash from coal-fired plants:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 8, 2009.
Measure would ban phosphorus from lawns:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 7, 2009.
Panel: Fuel taxes should be increased: Eau
Claire Leader-Telegram, Jan. 1, 2009.
Upcoming Fundraisers
Jan. 26, 2009
For
details, go to
Hamilton Consulting Fundraiser Calendar.
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