Wisconsin Legislative Spotlight

The Week of February 15, 2010

The next floorperiod for the Wisconsin Legislature is scheduled to run from February 16 to March 4, 2010. The schedule of floorperiods for the 2009-2010 Legislative Session was established by 2009 Senate Joint Resolution 1.

Check the Assembly and Senate Daily Floor Calendars for items which will be considered during floor sessions.

Committee Activity

For information on upcoming events refer to the Schedule of Committee Activities.

Recent Bill Introductions

As of February 15, 748 Assembly bills and 536 Senate bills have been introduced. Recently introduced legislation can be found on the Legislature's Searchable Infobases site.

Among the bills introduced in the last week:

• 2009 Assembly Bill 708, relating to creating a food animal veterinarian loan assistance program.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 709, relating to requiring access to toilet facilities in a retail establishment for persons with certain medical conditions.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 710, relating to inadmissibility in legal proceedings of a statement, a gesture, or conduct expressing apology or condolence by a health care provider.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 712, relating to a sales and use tax exemption for extended-range vehicles that are licensed for highway use (also SB-521).
• 2009 Assembly Bill 714, relating to creating an individual income tax deduction for amounts paid to process certain meat donated to a charitable organization.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 725, relating to instruction in CPR, cardiocerebral resuscitation, and use of external defibrillator to high school students.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 726, relating to nonrefundable individual and corporate income/franchise tax credit for contributions to certain public school programs and private school scholarship funds.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 729, relating to residential mortgage loan foreclosures.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 730, relating to prohibiting health insurance policies and self-insured health plans from excluding coverage for injuries based on use of alcohol or controlled substances.
• 2009 Assembly Bill 738, relating to limiting nonallocable segregated fee and resident tuition increases in the UW System.
• 2009 Senate Bill 518, relating to creating an ambulance driver safety program in the Department of Transportation (also AB-724).
• 2009 Senate Bill 525, relating to prohibiting institutions of higher education from engaging in certain activity regarding student credit cards and requiring such institutions to provide financial literacy information to students (also AB-745).
• 2009 Senate Bill 530, relating to regulating consumer small loans and limiting the areas in which a payday lender may operate.

Enacted Laws

As of February 15, Governor Doyle has signed 123 bills into law and vetoed 3 bills. A list of all enacted legislation from the 2009 session can be viewed at: http://www.legis.wi.gov/2009/data/acts/.

Among the recently enacted laws:

• 2009 Wisconsin Act 101, relating to the sale of home-canned food.
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 106, relating to licenses and limited X-ray machine operator permits to engage in the practice of radiography and creating a radiography examining board.
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 108, relating to designating an employee in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to serve as county fair coordinator.
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 109, relating to issuing annual fishing licenses to certain resident disabled veterans.
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 111, relating to changes in the regulation of boxing contests and regulating mixed martial arts fighting contests.
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 117, relating to requiring landlords to change locks upon request of a tenant.
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 123, relating to requiring a license to practice landscape architecture.

Resources from the LRB Library

Payday Loans

Senate Bill 530 is one of several bills introduced this session to regulate the payday loan industry in Wisconsin. All of the bills can be found under the subject “Small loan” in the Subject Index to Legislation.

The LRB Library Staff recommend the following resources for further information on the payday loan industry.

Regulation of Payday Loan Providers / prepared by Clark G. Radatz. Legislative Reference Bureau, May 2004. (Wisconsin Brief 04-9)

“Financing: Payday Loans” / Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions

Get Cash Until Payday! : The Payday-loan Problem in Wisconsin / Kelly J. Noyes. University of Wisconsin Law School, 2006. (Wisconsin Law Review ; v. 2006, no. 6, pp. 1627-1681) (call number: 332.85/N87)

“PayDay Loan Consumer Information” / Consumer Federation of America

“Payday Lending: Current State Laws” / National Conference of State Legislatures

Executive Orders Index

The executive orders index has been updated through December 9, 2009. The official title is: Subject index to executive orders of Governors Knowles, Lucey, Dreyfus, Earl, Thompson, McCallum, Doyle, Acting Governor Schreiber, Lieutenant Governors Olson and Flynn, and Secretary of State Zimmerman, January 1965 – December 9, 2009. The index can be found on the LRB Publications page under the heading “Special Publications.”

2009-2010 Wisconsin Blue Book

The 2009-2010 Wisconsin Blue Book has been published. The Blue Book is available online and is available for purchase from Department of Administration Document Sales for $8.75 plus sales tax if picked up in person; for mail orders, add $3 to the total to cover shipping.

Recent Publications

• The Legislative Reference Bureau library section has produced a Tap the Power bibliography on texting while driving. The bureau also released its biennial report.
• The Legislative Audit Bureau released audits of the Educational Communications Board radio and television networks and the Public Broadcasting Foundation.
• The Legislative Fiscal Bureau released Status of the State's General Fund.
• The Legislative Council Staff published its Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems on December 17 and an informational memo summarizing changes to operating while intoxicated law.

For more information about Legislative Service Agency publications, see the left panel of the Spotlight index page.

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Last revised: November 13, 2012