Wisconsin Legislative Spotlight

The Week of June 21, 2010

The final scheduled floorperiod of the 2009-10 legislative session ended on May 26. The legislature is in an interim period for the remainder of the biennial session. The schedule for the current legislative session was established by 2009 Senate Joint Resolution 1. Senate and Assembly committees will meet during the interim to consider administrative rules and conduct informational hearings.

Committee Activity

On June 30, Senator Mark Miller, chair of the Senate Committee on Environment, will convene a hearing of the committee. The subject of the hearing is Clearinghouse Rule 09-073, relating to safe drinking water design requirements for community water systems, and requirements for the operation and maintenance of public water supply system. The hearing will commence at 10:00 a.m. in Room 411 South, State Capitol.

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

Bill Statistics for 2009 Session

In the 2009 legislative session, 406 bills have been signed into law. Six bills have been vetoed in their entirety, and 5 bills have received a partial veto.

There were 978 assembly bills and 708 senate bills introduced during the 2009 session. Additionally, one senate bill was introduced during the June 2009 Special Session, and 2 assembly bills were introduced during the December 2009 Special Session. All introduced legislation can be found on the Legislature's Searchable Infobases site, or by using the Request text and history of legislative proposals function on the home page.

Legislative Council Committees, 2010 Interim

On May 27, the Legislative Council released a list of proposed study committees with the results of the balloting of the council. The committees are to report to the 2011 legislature.

From the LRB Library

As the school year wraps up around the state, the library highlights two recent acquisitions on high school graduation rates and dropouts:

“Diplomas Count 2010: Graduation by the Numbers: Putting Data to Work for Student Success,” an Education Week supplement. (Oversize 373.6/Ed83b/2010) [Also available: Diplomas Count 2007, 2008, and 2009]

Strategies for Improving Graduation Outcomes: Policy and Practice Considerations for Wisconsin, by Sara E. Wraight with Jane R. Best. “REL Midwest at Learning Point Associates prepared this report in response to a request from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and it includes material supplied by DPI.” (373.21/W92)

Also visit the Department of Public Instruction Web sites “Wisconsin Graduation Summit” and “Understanding Dropout Data”.

Recent Publications

• The Legislative Reference Bureau published Wisconsin Brief 10-3, "Energy in Wisconsin" and its veto brief for the 2009-10 legislative session.
• The Legislative Council Staff released an information memorandum titled “Smoking Ban” which relates to the statewide prohibition on smoking created by 2009 Wisconsin Act 12 and amended by 2009 Wisconsin Act 276, and which takes effect on July 5, 2010. The memorandum summarizes the legislation and provides answers to frequently asked questions.
• The Legislative Audit Bureau released a review of the Division of Emergency Management on May 27.
• The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has issued a publication on child care quality rating.

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