Hamilton Political Tidbits – November 20, 2023

Articles in this edition of Political Tidbits:

• Gov. Evers Signs Six Bills Into Law, Totaling 39 This Session
• Senate and Assembly Floor Sessions: November 14 (Brewers Stadium, Alcohol Regulation, Special Session Bill, PFAS)
• Assembly Floor Session: November 9 (Election Policy)
• Senate and Assembly Floor Sessions: November 7 (Education, Natural Resources)

Other updates in this edition:

• Bits & Pieces
• News Clips

If you have additional questions, please contact a member of the Hamilton Consulting team.

Bits & Pieces:

• Evers Sues Over Joint Committee Powers: On Halloween, Gov. Evers announced a lawsuit alleging that several joint committee oversight powers of the Wisconsin Legislature are unconstitutional “legislative vetoes” that violate the separation of powers, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case directly as an original action. The lawsuit lists actions by the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (withholding UW System pay raises budgeted for 2023-25), Joint Committee on Finance (objecting to several Stewardship Program projects), and Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (blocking DSPS rules on the commercial building code and ethics standards for several licensed professions). News coverage available here and here; initial responses to the court are due tomorrow.

• SCOWIS to Hear Redistricting Arguments: Tomorrow, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the legality of Wisconsin’s state legislative maps. The petitioners, a group of Wisconsin voters, allege that “the existing legislative maps are an extreme partisan gerrymander that violates various parts of the Wisconsin Constitution.” The named respondents are the Wisconsin Elections Commission and its commissioners and administrator, and the 17 state senators elected in 2022 under the current maps. The petitioners ask the court to enjoin the current maps from being used in any future election, consider remedial maps proposed by parties, and order the senate districts elected in 2022 to stand for a special election in 2024. Our coverage is available here, court records here.

• AI Task Force Updates: October 26, Gov. Evers announced that he had appointed 30 members to the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence, including government officials, academics, businesspeople, and government affairs representatives. Meanwhile, the Assembly Speaker’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence has so far held three meetings in Madison, Green Bay, and Eau Claire, each featuring testimony from invited speakers and a public comment period. More about the task forces here; related news coverage here.

• Microsoft Promises More at Foxconn Site: It was recently announced that Microsoft has expanded its plans to build a data center in Mount Pleasant at the industrial site prepared for Foxconn. Subject to a final agreement with the village and county, Microsoft will own a total of 1,345 acres of land and guarantee a minimum of $1.4 billion in new taxable land and development value by the beginning of 2028. News coverage is available here, here, and here.

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