The capitol was very busy this week with multiple public hearings on controversial issues. Legislators held GAB Director Kevin Kennedy's feet to the fire at a hearing for legislation that would change up the agency charged with overseeing of elections, campaign finance, and lobbying, and in the same hearing legislators heard a new campaign finance reform bill, which you can read about in
Tidbits. On the same day, a bill attempting to begin solving Wisconsin's high capacity well permitting issues was examined in a six hour hearing. Also, read below about Wisconsin's transportation woes below; DOT has announced delays for five major projects, which the Governor, countless businesses, and citizens have been pressing the legislature to fund.
On top of all that, Governor Walker has appointed Judge Rebecca Bradley to fill the vacancy on the State Supreme Court, TIF Bills continue to move through the legislative process, and a federal court has stayed the Waters of the U.S. Rule nationwide. Read about all of this, in the articles below.
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| Wisconsin DOT Announces Projects Delayed |
Governor Urges Legislature to Release Additional Dollars
The recently-enacted biennial state budget bill reduced the level of bonding from Governor Walker's recommended $1.3 billion in new bonding to $500 million, and allows for an additional $350 million in general obligation bonds to be issued upon approval by the legislature's Joint Committee on Finance. This $350 million in contingent bonding may be used for either major highway development or state highway rehabilitation projects.
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| Capitol Busy with Campaign Finance Reform |
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester)
rolled out legislation
that will change current campaign finance laws in Wisconsin. While public reaction to the bill is mixed, the bills have been fast-tracked and will likely receive floor votes next week.
The bill, which comes in at over 100 pages and includes an amendment with over 100 revisions, is a complete rewrite of Chapter 11 in Wisconsin statutes.
Read more about the bill.
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| Federal Court Stays Waters of U.S. Rule Nationwide - Decision May Soon Be Overturned |
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, stayed the implementation of the "Clean Water Rule" (Waters of U.S. Rule) nationwide finding the petitioners have a substantial likelihood of success to win the case. However, the court may also overturn itself in just a few weeks as it has yet to decide whether it has jurisdiction to hear the case. Without jurisdiction the court cannot stay the implementation of the rule pending completion of its review of the rule on the merits.
The Sixth Circuit is hearing four actions against the law (including Wisconsin's) from around the country which have been transferred to and consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation for handling multi-circuit cases (consolidation is generally done for efficiency purposes and to not have conflicting rulings on an issue with nationwide implications). The petitioners (the 18 states challenging the rule) contend the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction (that the court does not have authority to hear the issues presented) to hear the case. However the petitioners also moved for a stay pending the ruling on subject matter jurisdiction. The court has to balance several interrelated considerations when granting a stay, the most important generally being whether or not the party requesting the stay is likely to win on the merits of the case.
Read more about the court's decision.
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| Presidential Debates Come to Wisconsin |
As the 2016 presidential election draws near, debates will continue to shape the nominating process in both parties. Both a Republican and a Democratic presidential candidate debate will be held in Wisconsin.
Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal will host the Republican presidential debate, which will take place in Milwaukee on November 10, 2015. The debate will be held at Milwaukee Theater. The debate will play a major role in the early stages of the nominating process, as the debate will be one of the final three remaining before the Iowa Caucuses.
Read more about the DNC debate that will be held February.
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| Vacancy on the Court - Gov. Appoints Judge Rebecca Bradley |
Governor Walker announced on October 9 he will appoint District I Court of Appeals Judge Rebecca Bradley.
Gov. Walker announced he would take applications to fill the vacancy on the court, and that applications would be due October 2. District I Court of Appeals Judge Rebecca Bradley jumped into the race to fill Justice Crooks' spot when he retired in 2016. Milwaukee County Judge Joe Donald, and District IV Court of Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg have also joined the race for the Supreme Court Seat.
The Supreme Court primary election will be held on February 16, 2016, and the general election will be April 6.
Read more about new Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley.
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| Bills of Note: A Constitutional Amendment and More TIF |
Constitutional Amendment to Eliminate State Treasurer Moves Forward
In an executive session on Thursday, the Assembly Committee on State Affairs and Government Operations passed Assembly Joint Resolution 5, which would eliminate the State Treasurer position from the Wisconsin Constitution. The resolution passed on party-line, 3-2 vote.
At a public hearing in September, State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk fully backed the resolution that would completely eliminate his office from state government. Adamczyk testified that he believes the position is a waste of taxpayer dollars, and that former duties of the treasurer are now handled more efficiently by other state agencies.
Read more about the movement eliminate the State Treasurer position from the state constitution.
TIF Bills Considered in Assembly
The
Assembly Ways and Means committee
held a hearing for numerous bills that are part of the tax increment financing (TIF) bill package. The package comes from recommendations from 2014 Legislative Council Study Committee on the Review of TIF. Some of the highlighted bill recommendations considered at the hearing are listed below.
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| Hamilton's Political Fundraising Calendar |
The Hamilton Consulting Group's
political fundraising calendar provides an excellent resource to find all upcoming fundraising events. The calendar lists all fundraising events for state and national elected officials who represent Wisconsin. Fundraisers provide a great opportunity to get to know current and prospective legislators, and other elected officials.
The information on the calendar comes from candidates and committees, so please be sure to RSVP to the person indicated in the event information, not the Hamilton Consulting Group.
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| Hamilton Consulting: Your Government Relations Easy Button |
The Hamilton team is working to make sure our clients have the tools necessary to accomplish their government relations goals. We encourage our clients to remember to make use of all the many services we provide:
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- News Clips - President Harry Truman once wrote that you can't get all the facts from just one newspaper, and without the facts, "you cannot make proper judgments about what is going on." The right column of Political Tidbits contains a selection of the most important news stories, but did you know you can always get the news sorted by subject on the Hamilton Consulting website?
- Political Fundraising Calendar - Hamilton's political fundraising calendar allows you to see all of the upcoming fundraising events and import them to your own calendar.
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