November

While redistricting has been the most contested legislative issue over the last few months (click here for our most recent coverage), the Wisconsin Legislature and governor have also been working on other priorities. The Senate and Assembly each met once during November to vote on redistricting proposals and other matters.

Notably, both houses in November passed Senate Bill (SB) 588, which would make various technical and administrative changes to the statutes administered by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI). The Assembly also passed two bills from the Senate, SB 71 and SB 94, that are intended to improve the state’s procedures for processing sexual assault evidence kits and prevent a backlog of untested kits from accumulating in the future.

On November 5, Governor Tony Evers (D) announced that he had taken action on 11 bills. He signed ten bills into law, including two bills (AB 300 and 302) to make the approval process for water utility projects more efficient, and another (AB 190) requiring law enforcement agencies to maintain and review employment files and requiring the Law Enforcement Standards Board to regulate jail and detention officer training.

The governor vetoed SB 454, which would have replaced the state’s current reading readiness assessment program for young children with a three-tiered early literacy screening program.

October

As we reported previously, each house of the Wisconsin Legislature met once in September and twice in October to vote on a variety of measures. Both houses devoted one of their October floor days largely to bills related to abortion, all of which face a near-certain veto from the governor. The Assembly’s other October floor day focused on a package of workforce housing policies.

Notably, both houses in October voted to pass SB 125, which would create a new income tax deduction for tuition paid for apprenticeship programs. The bill passed the Senate 19-13 and the Assembly 60-35. The bill has yet to be presented to the governor for his consideration.

Additionally, at one of it’s October days, the Assembly approved several bills related to pharmacy services:

• SB 255: Reimbursement of pharmacist services under the Medical Assistance program.
• SB 300: Providing for the registration and practice of pharmacy technicians.
• SB 308: Licensing and regulation of pharmacies and remote dispensing sites under the pharmacy practice law.

All three of these bills were passed by the Senate during previous floor periods. Now, the bills will be returned to the Senate until leadership formally presents them to the governor for his approval or veto.

Both houses also met on September 28; we covered the Assembly’s floor calendar here and the Senate’s here. All of the items on each house’s calendar that day were passed.