March 7, 2018


Transportation

This week's e-update, the fifth in a series of articles focusing on legislative and budgetary accomplishments from the current session, centers on transportation and environmental regulation. This session, the legislature enacted several initiatives designed to appropriate more funding for transportation and improve infrastructure.

The following represents a summation of transportation-related legislation and appropriations enacted during the 2017-19 legislative session:

  • Provided an additional $10 million into the Local Roads Improvement Fund

  • Increased aid to the Local Bridge Improvement fund by $10 million

  • Passed the largest budget for county transportation funding in state history: $13 million for the biennium

  • Reduced transportation bonding to its lowest level in ten years

  • Reduced Transportation Fund Supported Borrowing by $308 million (transportation bonding is just over $400 million)

  • Established additional registration fees for hybrid and electric vehicles (Hybrid: $75; electric: $100)

  • Required a fifty state study to examine and determine best practices in engineering and construction from our neighbors

  • Eliminated prevailing wage on all state building projects and highway projects

  • Eliminated two-hundred positions from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Despite making tremendous strides on transportation and infrastructure investment, there is still a lot of work to be done. My staff and I have been in frequent contact with the Department of Transportation regarding projects that affect Ozaukee and Washington Counties. If you have specific questions regarding current or forthcoming transportation projects in the Sixtieth Assembly District, do not hesitate to contact my office.


Environmental Regulation


Like transportation, the legislature enacted a number of legislative initiatives, this session, relating to environmental regulation. Protecting Wisconsin's pristine natural resources is of paramount importance to every legislator. I was proud to have supported legislation that increased funding for our natural resources, protected our drinking water, and kept harmful pollutants out of our air and water. The following represents a smattering of the environmental regulation initiatives enacted by the legislature during the current session:

  • Passed bipartisan legislation restoring the Conservation Corps

  • Enacted legislation providing homeowners with the ability to apply for grants and low-interest loans to replace portions of lead-containing water service lines

  • Approved legislation designed to increase funding for contaminated well owners to remediate wells and allow local governments to remediate contaminated wells with the property owners' permission

  • Increased funding for the county conservation program by $900,000

  • Maintained current funding and program structure of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program

  • Audited the forestry account to ensure that funds were being spent responsibly (this included a $5 million investment in natural disaster relief)

  • Provided additional funding for soil and water resource management grants

  • Allocated an additional $500,000 in aquatic invasive species education and control grants

  • Established two new positions designed to oversee CAFO permitting

  • Provided flexibility to increase state park fees by an additional $5

  • Restored funding for ATV safety enhancement grants

  • Maintained the Farm-to-School program which provided school districts with locally sourced foods


Industrial hemp license applications are now open


Industrial hemp licensing applications are now available for Wisconsin's research pilot program, and the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, will begin accepting applications immediately. The deadline to apply for the 2018 growing season is May 1.

Individuals who want to grow or process industrial hemp in Wisconsin will need to apply for a license, and at the same time, register their intent to grow or process hemp in the state this year. Both can be done online, or via a printable form on DATCP's website.

Congress included a provision in the 2014 farm bill allowing states to conduct research pilot programs into industrial hemp production, if authorized by their legislatures. The Wisconsin legislature passed a law in November that directed DATCP to write an emergency administrative rule within ninety-days of the bill's passage. The rule establishes the regulatory framework for the pilot program. The rule, known as DATCP 22, is now finished and is effective March 2nd. The industrial hemp program it established is based largely on those in the thirty-one other states with programs.

The law requires growers and processors to pass a background check to show that the licensee has no state or federal drug convictions. Growers will pay a one-time licensing fee of $150 to $1,000, depending on how many acres they intend to plant. Processors will also need a one-time license, at no cost. Both will have to register with DATCP this year, and annually to remain the program, with growers paying a $350 annual fee and processors, a $100 annual fee.

DATCP inspectors will sample plants from each field and variety grown, and take them to the department's laboratory for analysis. The plants can contain no more than 0.3 percent THC. Growers will have reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and will be required to enter into a research agreement with DATCP.

Industrial hemp was a major crop in Wisconsin during the first half of the twentieth century, mainly harvested for its fiber to make rope. Hemp products today are very diverse, and are available in the United States, but have been largely made from hemp produced in other nations.

 

Have a great week,


Stay up to date


One of the best ways to stay up to date with what is happening in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking service. This service affords you with the opportunity to track legislative activities in Madison. Upon creation of a free account, you can sign up to receive notifications about specific bills or committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject area (i.e. real estate, education, health). You can sign up for this service at any time. 

You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter to see what I have been doing in Madison and around the 60th Assembly District. Please recommend the page to your friends and family members.

 


As always, if you have any comments or thoughts regarding the subject of this e-update, please feel free to contact me.

If you would like to be removed from future mailings, email me to unsubscribe.

State Capitol Room 309 North-PO Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708

(608) 267-2369

Email: Rep.Rob.Brooks@legis.Wisconsin.gov