| Wisconsin political news has slowed down now that the state budget has been signed into law and Governor Walker is officially on the presidential campaign trail. However, this week's Tidbits is still packed with updates! This edition includes details on the governor's 104 vetoes, a summary on the State Supreme Court's decision on the John Doe case and information on a recently filed lawsuit regarding redistricting. You can also find news about the recent opening in the 99th Assembly District seat, the Bucks arena legislation, and how Walker's road to the White House is shaping up at this point. Read about all this and more in today's edition. Get the full, printable version of the Hamilton Consulting Group State Budget Summary here. Stay up to date on the state budget process! Check our State Budget Issue Update page and follow us on Twitter. If you wish to receive additional information about a topic addressed in Tidbits, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Hamilton Consulting Team.
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| 2015-2017 State Budget Summary |
Governor Scott Walker signed the
$73 billion-plus state budget on Sunday, July 12
, just days after the legislature passed the budget bill and hours before his presidential election announcement. Before signing the budget, the governor issued 104 vetoes - double the number of vetoes he issued in previous budgets.
Throughout the budget process, which began in early 2015, legislators wrestled with numerous controversial and headline-grabbing issues ranging from prevailing wage reform, teacher licensing, the University of Wisconsin system cut and a proposed new Bucks arena. Furthermore, the budget process stalled at the end, while members faced tough fiscal decisions pertaining to funding for transportation, prevailing wage reform and financing for the Bucks arena, which was ultimately removed from the budget and is being taken up as separate legislation.
The budget floor sessions in both the Senate and the Assembly did not go as late as previous years, due to predetermined periods for the debate. The budget vote in the Assembly was closer than expected, with 11 Republicans voting with the Democrats against the budget. Many of those Republicans who voted against the budget come from purple districts heading into 2016 elections, signaling desire to appeal to independent voters. The Senate passed the spending plan almost on party lines, 18 - 15, with Republican Senator Robert Cowles voting against it.
One of the most covered items vetoed by the governor was a provision that would have allowed payday lenders to offer additional financial services, including selling insurance, annuities and providing financial advice. The governor also changed the new measure that would have required food stamp applicants to take and pass drug tests by removing the requirement that would limit the tests to those who fall under reasonable suspicion. Additionally, the governor used the veto pen to make changes to Family Care and IRIS provisions
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| Bucks Arena Legislation Passes Senate with Amendments |
The state senate has passed an amended version of the legislation that would allow a new arena to be built for the Milwaukee Bucks with state money.
The Senate passed the amended legislation, Senate Bill 209, in a 21-10 vote with very mixed party lines.
The Assembly plans to take up SB 279 on July 28. However, Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke has said he would need 15 to 20 Democrats to vote for the bill if the legislation is going to pass and there may need to be further changes to the bill.
Read more about the changes to the legislation, and the senate vote tallies.
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| Walker Formally Joins the Presidential Race |
Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker officially threw his name in the hat for the 2016 presidential election. On Monday July 13, just a day after the governor signed the state budget into law, the governor held a rally at Waukesha's Expo Center. The governor impressed journalists and political insiders alike, giving a 30-minute speech without a teleprompter or podium.
No matter how exceptional his memorization skills are, coming off as extraordinary in a field of 16 serious Republican candidates and scores of other less serious options will be difficult. Walker's first chance to make himself known nationally will be on August 6 when the first Republican national debate will be on Fox News at 9 p.m./8c. With a crowded field, the rules are set so that only those candidates polling in the top 10 will be on the primetime debate stage. On August 4, debate organizers will take the average of national polls and those in the top 10 will be on the primetime debate stage. The remaining six candidates will participate in a "roundtable" debate, which will air an hour before the primetime debate. The second Republican debate will be on September 16 and CNN will host.
Read more about Governor Walker's chances of getting to the top 10, and to see who else is running for president.
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| WI Supreme Court Rules on John Doe Decision |
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Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an over 300-page decision relating to the John Doe investigation into alleged unlawful coordination activities surrounding the 2011 and 2012 recall elections. The court, in a 4-2 decision, ended the investigation.
Judge Gableman, writing for the majority, made it clear on several occasions that the investigation was to be shut down. "[B]ecause special prosecutor's legal theory is unsupported in either reason or law," it cannot continue in its current form. If the special prosecutor wants to start a new investigation, he would need to demonstrate coordination involving express advocacy communications and, according to today's decision, he has not alleged such actions.
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| Dems Sue State Over 2011 Redistricting |
Twelve Wisconsin Democrats have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Madison against state election officials over the 2011 Wisconsin Assembly redistricting map. Republican leadership did the redistricting after the 2010 census. The plaintiffs claim that this redistricting is in violation of the First and Fourteenth amendments and has created "one of the worst partisan gerrymanders in modern American history."
In a 30-page lawsuit, the group claims that there was intent to "systematically disadvantage" voters based on particular partisan viewpoints. In addition, they argue that their Democratic political beliefs have been burdened and underrepresented under the First Amendment right of free association.
The law firm Michael, Best & Friedrich, LLP was hired by Republican Leadership to represent the Wisconsin Senate and Wisconsin Assembly in connection with redistricting after the 2010 census. The plaintiffs claim the firm was hired to assist in "planning, drafting, negotiating, and gaining the favorable vote of commitments of a majority of Republican legislators."
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| Kapenga Wins 33rd Senate District Race |
On Tuesday night, state Representative Chris Kapenga defeated Sherryll Shaddock in a special election for the 33rd Senate District.
Receiving 7,143 votes, Kapenga took 72% of the vote in the heavily Republican district. Kapenga will replace outgoing Senator Paul Farrow, who had his last day in the Senate on Friday after being elected Waukesha County Executive in April.
Kapenga has represented the 99th Assembly District for the past 4 years and was an advocate for prevailing wage reform.
A special election will now be held to replace Kapenga's seat in the 99th district. So far, only Republican Dave Westlake has declared he is running. Westlake is a Heartland resident and a small business owner. No election date has been set.
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| Supreme Court Rules on Oneida Seventh Generation Corp. v. City of Green Bay |
The state supreme court struck a large blow in favor of permit holders when it ruled in a 6-1 decision that the City of Green Bay did not have discretion to revoke a conditional use permit because there was no substantial evidence in the record to support the Green Bay Common Council's claim of misrepresentation.
The Green Bay Common City Council granted Oneida Seventh Generation Corporation a conditional use permit to allow it to operate a solid waste-to-energy facility. The facility also received the proper permits from the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Energy. However, after public opposition to the project grew the common council requested that the city plan commission determine whether they were misled about the potential for harmful emissions from the facility during Oneida's application for the permit. The plan commission unanimously stated they were not misled and recommended that the permit not be revoked. The city did not follow the commission's recommendation and revoked the permit on the grounds that the corporation made untruthful statements to the city about the potential for harmful pollutants to be emitted from the plant.
Read more about the case and the court's decision.
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| Michigan v. EPA - SCOTUS Rules EPA Must Consider Costs in Initial Decision to Regulate |
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Scalia, writing for the Court, stated that "[EPA] gave cost no thought at all, because it considered cost irrelevant to its initial decision to regulate," he continued, writing, "It is unreasonable to read an instruction to an administrative agency to determine whether 'regulation is appropriate and necessary' as an invitation to ignore cost." With that the Court found the Obama Administration's most monumental environmental regulation to date unreasonable and remained to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The regulation in question was the EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). MATS required coal-burning power plants to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic and lead by installing control technologies or retiring plants. The rule was finalized in December 2012. While reducing the amount of hazardous emissions may seem admirable, the direct benefits of the regulation were valued at $4 million to $6 million, while the annual cost to industry would be approximately $9.6 billion. EPA contested the direct benefit of the program saying that, fully implemented, the MATS would yield between $37 billion and $90 billion in health benefits. EPA did not contest the cost of the program.
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| WMC's 2 Minute Drill: The $73 Billion State Budget |
This short video put together by Wisconsin Manufactures & Commerce (WMC) gives a quick breakdown of the $73 billion 2015 - 2017 state budget. The video examines where state revenue is generated and how funds are allocated in the next biennial budget. Lastly, the video highlights the biggest wins for the business sector in the state budget.
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| Wisconsin Receives Mixed Grades on Manufacturing Climate |
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Recently, Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research and Conexus Indiana, a private sector led initiative to capitalize on opportunities in advanced manufacturing, released their 2015 Manufacturing & Logistics Report Card. This report ranks states on several different sectors of the economy that contribute to the success of manufacturing. The rankings are assessed an A-F grading scale. Nine different categories were graded: manufacturing industry health, logistics industry health, human capital, worker benefit costs, tax climate, expected fiscal liability gap, global reach, sector diversification, and productivity and innovation.
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| Hamilton Consulting: Your Government Relations Easy Button |
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