Capitol Update

Senate Session
This week, the State Senate was in session. During this time, three bills that I am supportive of were passed in the Senate:

Senate Bill 15 – Manufacturing Products with Microbeads

This bill generally prohibits, with certain exceptions, the manufacture of a personal care product containing microbeads (small, non−biodegradable plastic particles) beginning December 31, 2017.
Under this bill, a person may not manufacture a personal care product that is an over−the−counter drug containing microbeads beginning December 31, 2018, and may not accept such a product for sale beginning December 31, 2019.

Plastic microbeads have absorptive capacity allowing them to act like sponges saturated with harmful chemicals like PCB’s and other known carcinogens. Fish often mistake these polluted beads as food and chemicals can bio-accumulate causing human health concerns. Alternatives to microbeads include apricot or pecan shell pieces, oatmeal and other biodegradable ingredients.

This bill would affect things that many of you use on a daily basis, such as, hand soaps and facial washes. This legislation passed unanimously.

 

Assembly Bill 11 – Newspaper Recycling Fees

Under current law, a newspaper publisher is required to pay a newspaper recycling fee based on the cost of newspaper used to print the newspaper, unless at least 33 percent of the fiber of the newsprint is delivered from post consumer waste.

At the time this requirement was put into place, 35% of the old newsprint was being recycled. Today over 73% of old newspapers are recovered and recycled. The demand for old newspapers in other products is so great that newspaper publishers have difficulty getting the required 33% under current law. Many of the publishers are having to import old newspapers from places like Texas in order to meet the requirement.

Current law only applies to Wisconsin-based publishers, putting Wisconsin publishers at an economic disadvantage compared to publishers located outside the state, many of whom publish Wisconsin papers. A newspaper published in Platteville pays the fee, but a Dubuque, Iowa publisher that sells newspapers in Platteville does not pay the fee.

This bill eliminates the newspaper recycling fee and the minimum percentage of post consumer waste content in newsprint. This legislation passed unanimously.

An Evolving Legislature
The Wisconsin state senate is the “oldest” since at least 1943. The average age of senators in the new session is 57, with a range from 34 to 87. Only three senators are under 40, while 15 are 60 or over. The average age of state representatives is 48 years old, with a range of 24 to76.

The election of Senator Mary Lazich as Senate President in 2015 marks the first time a woman has served as presiding officer of either house. Currently, a total of 33 women are serving in the Wisconsin legislature: 11 in the senate and 22 in the assembly. The 11 female senators is the most in history, matching previous peaks in 1999 and 2001. The largest number of female representatives was 33 in 1989.

Through history, 132 women have held seats in the state legislature. The number peaked at 37 in 1989 and 2003. (Legislative Reference Bureau).

I look forward to continuing to work with all of my Senate colleagues this session!

As a part of my effort to communicate with the residents of the 17th Senate District, I include a section of data in every E-update. The intent of this effort is to connect you with the newest information available from your state government.

In this week’s E-Update, the following data shows each UW institutions’ budgeted expenditures per full-time equivalent student for 2004-05, 2009-10 and 2013-14. This spending DOES NOT include research, public service, financial aid and GPR debt services. It should be pointed out that the UW-Madison data includes all of the professional programming (e.g.: Medical School, Law School, etc.).

The data was provided by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB). The LFB used the UW System’s annual budget document called the Red Book to create this table. For more information about the University System budget and the Red Book, please visit: https://www.wisconsin.edu/budget-planning/annual-operating-budget/

The intent of sharing this information is to show you the differences in per student spending on all of our state’s campuses. As a member of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), this is the type of data that I use to help in my decision making as we continue to study the state budget. I am not taking a position or making a statement by sharing this data. I am simply offering it to you for your reference and personal consideration.

UW System All Funds Budget Per FTE Student by Institution
2004-05, 2009-10, and 2013-14*

Source: Legislative Fiscal Bureau
*Excludes budgeted amounts for research, public service, financial aid, and GPR debt service
 

Disclaimer: Senator Marklein is pleased to provide this legislative E-Update to the constituents of the 17th State Senate District. Please feel free to share this update with other interested citizens and taxpayers. You are receiving this update because you have either subscribed or contacted Senator Marklein directly.

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