2017-2018 Legislative Session Update

The Assembly completed its floor work for the 2017-2018 Legislative Session on Thursday after a flurry of sessions in the past two weeks. More than 90% of the bills that became law this session had bipartisan support. I am proud of what the Assembly has accomplished this session, and I strongly believe that Wisconsin continues to move forward in the right direction!

The last two weeks have seen several positive initiatives successfully pass in the Assembly, including a package of 13 bills focused on improving Wisconsin’s foster care system. The bipartisan Speaker’s Task Force on Foster Care has worked extremely hard on this initiative, and it is great to see real change come about. The bills aim to better support families, improve the child welfare system and provide additional resources for foster children throughout the state. I am proud to have supported these bills! To learn more about the Speaker’s Task Force on Foster Care, please click here.

Another special session was held on Thursday, February 15^th focusing on the issue of welfare reform. The Assembly approved ten bills which aim to encourage personal responsibility, promote accountability and prevent fraud and abuse with the central goal being to help individuals move from government dependence to independence. There is a certain pride that a person obtains from earning an honest paycheck, and I am proud of the welfare reforms we passed during the last Thursday’s Special Session.

Below you can find a breakdown of some of the others bills passed in the last two weeks:

Floor Session 2/13

Assembly Bill 835: Relating to sparsity aid, the revenue limit ceiling for school districts, and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 754: Relating to: vehicle weight limits, and permits for vehicles transporting certain loads, on certain state trunk highways in Ashland County and Vilas County.

Assembly Bill 850: Relating to: transfer of hunting, fishing, and trapping approvals to persons with disabilities.

Assembly Bill 805: Relating to: excluding certain college credit in high school programs from the Early College Credit Program.

Senate Bill 604: Relating to: fingerprinting and conducting background investigations of employees in the state civil service or of a political subdivision, and of individuals performing contractual services for the state, who have access to federal tax information.

Floor Session 2/15

Assembly Bill 676: Relating to: classifying county jailers as protective occupation participants under the Wisconsin Retirement System and the treatment of county jailers under the Municipal Employment Relations Act.

Assembly Bill 804: Relating to: merit scholarships for certain University of Wisconsin System students and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 737: Relating to: increased maximum terms of imprisonment for domestic abuse repeaters and providing a criminal penalty.

Assembly Bill 872: Relating to:  career and technical education incentive grants for school districts and completion awards for students and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 734: Relating to: creating individual and corporate income and franchise tax deductions for tuition paid for apprenticeship programs.

Floor Session 2/20

Assembly Bill 585: Relating to: alerts for missing veterans who have a service-related health condition.

Assembly Bill 632: Relating to: grants for Alzheimer's disease and dementia awareness and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 732: Relating to: pilot program to provide outreach, support, and mental health and substance abuse services for veterans and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 793: Relating to: the limit on tax credits that may be certified under the historic rehabilitation tax credit.

Assembly Bill 848: Relating to: emergency outpatient mental health treatment for minors.  

Assembly Bill 885: Relating to: Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan, reinsurance of health carriers, reallocating savings from health insurer fee, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making appropriations.

Floor Session 2/21

Assembly Bill 953:  Relating to: juvenile correctional facilities, youth aids, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 91: Relating to: undesignated felonies.

Assembly Bill 598:  Relating to: eligibility for physician, dentist, and health care provider educational loan assistance programs. 

Senate Bill 56: Relating to: mandatory minimum incarceration period following illegal possession of a firearm.

Senate Bill 53:  Relating to: expungement of certain offenses committed before the age of 25 and making an appropriation.

Floor Session 2/22

Assembly Joint Resolution 100: Relating to: encouraging the use of television white space technology to increase access to the Internet.

Assembly Bill 693: Relating to: rights of and protections for teachers.

Assembly Bill 851: Relating to: a pilot grant program to support college courses taught in high schools and making an appropriation.

Assembly Bill 917: Relating to: Telecommuter Forward! community certification and creating a Telecommuter Forward! council.

Assembly Bill 944: Relating to: a sales and use tax rebate for certain dependent children, a sales tax holiday in August 2018, and making an appropriation.

 DNR Outdoor Report

Published February 22, 2018 by the Central Office

While the southern half of the state saw some significant rainfall and even some flooding this week, areas of northern Wisconsin received up to nearly a foot of new snow. Snowmobile trails remain in good to excellent condition in nearly 20 of the most northern tier counties on the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's Snow Conditions Report (exit DNR). Cross-Country Ski Trail Conditions are also good to excellent across the north.

A kids fisheree on Lake Noquebay in Marinette County last weekend produced some very nice fish including perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye, northern, and trout. The lake ice was nearly 2 feet thick. There have been good northern pike catches on the back waters of the Wolf River.

Whitefish fishing has remained pretty decent up and down the entire Bay of Green Bay. Some anglers are targeting perch too but with moderate to poor success. Whitefish were still being caught off the Oconto breakwater in decent numbers. Toward the end of the week anglers from Sawyer Harbor had good luck and were able to come in with their limits of whitefish after a half day out on the ice. Anglers fishing the Fox River at Voyageurs park report fishing slowed with a few walleyes and whitefish still being caught.

There were 31 sturgeon harvested from Lake Winnebago on Thursday, Feb. 22, bringing the season total to 871 fish system wide. There were 28 sturgeon harvested Wednesday, 11 harvested Tuesday and 21 on Monday. The season is now more than three-quarters of the way through on the Winnebago System and only three days remain.

This week's snow and snow in the forecast for the remainder of the week is good news for the 44th Annual American Birkebeiner Ski Race that will be held Friday and Saturday in Cable and Hayward. The race is the largest cross-country ski race in North America, with the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation reporting the combined races over the weekend are expected to attract nearly 13,000 skiers to Wisconsin's Northwoods.

The nearly foot of new snow near Superior is also timely for Pattison State park, which will host Winterfest this Saturday, Feb. 24, with crafts, bonfire, s'mores, chili, hot chocolate, coffee, sledding and snowshoeing and culminating with a candlelight hike. This is the second to last winter candlelight event at state park system properties, with the final event next Saturday at Rib Mountain.

This week saw the first good signs of spring migration in southern Wisconsin. Birders reported an increase in duck numbers and diversity at various sites such as Lower Mud Lake and the Yahara River in Dane County. Among them were the first greater white-fronted geese, both mute and tundra swans, and no fewer than 13 duck species. A great blue heron was reported in Dodge, the first sandhill cranes in both Dane and Walworth counties and the first red-winged blackbirds were reported from multiple counties in southeastern Wisconsin. The winter 2017-18 will go down as one of the SNOWiest on record in Wisconsin with an estimated 280 snowy owls documented through February 1, eclipsing the previous high of 253 tallied in 2013-14.

Bald eagles are much more common in Wisconsin than a generation ago but seeing them is still special. There are a lot of bald eagles being seen in Central Wisconsin and this weekend is Bald Eagle Appreciation Days (exit DNR) in Prairie du Chien, Feb. 23-24, with opportunities to see these majestic birds up close in nature and in live educational programs.

Woodruff DNR Service Center area

Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest - The Northern Highland received a few inches of snow and a thin layer of ice earlier this week making for some crusty conditions and beautiful landscapes. Conditions are ideal for the silent sports enthusiasts to get outside, especially with the daylight lengthening of this past month. One can feel a little warmth when basking in the sun out of the wind! It is a great time to get outside for some of that "fresh air poisoning!" - Rosalie Richter, visitor services associate

The Escanaba, Madeline, McNaughton and Raven cross-country ski trails are all in good condition. All trails were groomed from Feb. 18-20. Classic loops are in good condition. The winds from the previous couple days left a little bit of debris in the trail. Overall, trails are in good condition. Dusting of snow earlier this week covered the existing 14 inches of snow in the woods. Expect firm pole plant and tracks. - Tony Martinez, parks and recreation specialist

 Rhinelander Area Scholarship Foundation Spring Fling