The Assembly kicked off its February floor days on February 10 by taking up bipartisan legislation to update the statutes governing the Opportunity Attraction & Promotion program, as well as a series of remedial bills to clean up various state agency statutes. The headlining bill of the day was the WisconsinEye plan, a rare bipartisan effort to support the network. The Assembly unanimously passed AB 974 (96-0), creating an endowment using $10 million previously set aside in the state budget to provide WisconsinEye with a long-term, stable funding source through earned interest. The bill also imposes governance, transparency, and reporting requirements on WisconsinEye, though its prospects in the Senate remain uncertain.
Below are the votes on the highlighted bills and the link to the full calendar.
February 10 – Full calendar
AB-813 Opportunity Attraction and Promotion (Kurtz, Tony) The opportunity attraction and promotion program administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-928 DATCP Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Required livestock premises activities (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-930 DFI Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Correcting a cross- reference related to enforcement of regulations applicable to earned wage access service providers (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Financial Institutions). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-932 DOJ Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Fixing a cross-reference in a definition of “violent crime” and updating terminology to reflect changes in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (suggested as remedial language by the Department of Justice). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-933 DPI Remedial Legislation (Allen, Scott) Updating references to PI 34 of the administrative code and eliminating an obsolete grandfather provision related to a license to teach industrial arts (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Public Instruction). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-934 DOR Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Eliminating the definition of relative for purposes of the lottery; the definition of taxable property in a tax incremental district; the order of certain withholdings and deposits in income tax computations; and eliminating an adjustment made to the economic development surcharge for certain businesses (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Revenue). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-935 DVA Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Repealing expired programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs; definition, terminology, and grammatical changes for the Department of Veterans Affairs, mental health services for post-traumatic stress disorder; reporting on rules proposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs; asset calculation for determining eligibility for veterans assistance payments; and deceased veterans’ graves (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Veterans Affairs). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-936 DWD Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Definition of personal assistance services for the purposes of vocational rehabilitation; updating reference to federal vocational rehabilitation law; updating references to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014; updating reference to federal law for certificate of registration as a migrant labor contractor; updating statutory reference to federal Social Security Act; and updating references to federal law for safety standards for vehicles used to transport traveling sales crews (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Workforce Development). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-938 Courts Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) An optional final hearing by affidavit for the dissolution of a marriage (suggested as remedial legislation by the Office of the Director of State Courts). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-939 SPD Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Eliminating obsolete provisions regarding the term of a state public defender and the removal of the state public defender (suggested as remedial language by the State Public Defender). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-940 WEDC Remedial Legislation (Law Revision Committee) Eliminating defunct references to certain economic development positions (suggested as remedial language by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation). Passed, (Voice Vote).
AB-974 WisconsinEye (Neubauer, Greta) A public affairs network trust fund, grants to the WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network, and making an appropriation. Passed, 96-0.