Wisconsin Legislative Spotlight

The Week of January 30, 2012

The most recent legislative floorperiod began on January 17, 2012, and concluded January 26. The next scheduled floorperiod is February 14 through 23.

State of the State

Governor Scott Walker delivered his annual State of the State address on January 25 in front of a joint meeting of the legislature. Video and a transcript of the speech is available at the governor's Web site.

Mining Bill

The Assembly passed Assembly Bill 426, relating to the regulation of ferrous metallic mining and related activities, on January 26, by a vote of 59-36 (2 paired). An Assembly Substitute Amendment was adopted by a vote of 59-37. The bill will now go before the Senate for approval.

Other Recent Floor Action

Open Enrollment Changes

After a year of debate, the Senate and Assembly have come to an agreement on Senate Bill 2, related to changes to the timing of the application process under the open enrollment program. On January 17, the Senate receded from its position on Assembly Amendment 3, which allows a resident school board to have a say in whether a child can transfer to a nonresident school district, but also approved another amendment to allow the Department of Public Instruction to override that decision. The Assembly concurred in that amendment on January 26.

Report Date for UW Restructuring Task Force

On January 26, the Assembly approved an amendment to Senate Bill 184, which would allow the Special Task Force on UW Restructuring and Operational Flexibilities more time to submit its report to legislative standing committees. The original version of the bill changed the date, set by the Biennial Budget, Act 32, from January 2012 to January 2013. The Assembly amended the language to change the date to July 31, 2012, with an optional delayed date of August 2012. The bill will return to the Senate for concurrence.

Also approved

The Assembly also passed the following bills on a voice vote on January 26:

• AB-176, which would prohibit minimum harvest requirements for obtaining a commercial fishing license in the Great Lakes;
• AB-334, relating to the possession of small game animals killed by a vehicle;
• AB-467, which would prohibit the DNR from considering certain greenhouse gas emissions in determining the requirements applicable to a stationary source of air pollution, as long as the prohibition is consistent with federal law;
• SB-89, which would increase the exemption amount from income tax withholding requirements for employees of a county fair association to $500. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 31-0 on October 27;
• SB-125, which would eliminate the specific immunity exception under which cities, villages, towns, and counties may be held liable for an insufficiency or want of repairs of a highway. It would not affect the immunity exception under which cities, villages, towns, and counties may be held liable for damages of up to $50,000 for the accumulation of snow or ice. The bill was passed by the Senate on November 2 by a vote of 21-11.

The Senate passed the following bills on a voice vote on January 24:

• SB-315, related to use of law enforcement or juvenile court records to take disciplinary action against a pupil under a school district's athletic code;
• SB-335, which would authorize a school board to grant a vocational high school diploma;
• SB-339, related to the noncompetitive appointment of certain disabled veterans to classified positions in the state civil service system;
• SB-341, which would allow a law enforcement officer, a fire fighter, or emergency medical personnel to open and leave open any door of an authorized emergency vehicle when the vehicle is stopped, standing, or parked and the person is performing official duties;
• SB-353, which would prohibit an employee of a public school (including a charter school) and certain other individuals who provide services for the benefit of a public school from using seclusion or physical restraint on a pupil at a public school except under certain conditions;
• SB-356, relating to increasing, from 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent, the limitation on the amount of donations and grants a credit union may make and requiring that any donation or grant be approved by the credit union's board of directors based on a determination that the donation or grant is in the best interest of the credit union and is reasonable given the size and financial condition of the credit union.

Stay Updated

The Legislature has RSS feeds for both recently introduced legislation and recent session activity. Our Facebook page also has links to recently introduced bills.

Committee Activity

Legislative committee activity is available on the Schedule of Committee Activities.

Signed Into Law

As of January 27, 113 acts have been signed into law. You can find them here. All bills awaiting action by the governor from the previous floorperiod can be found under the enrolled bills section of the Legislative Documents site.

Recall Petitions

The 60-day recall petition drive ended on January 17, and petitioners claim to have the required number of signatures to trigger recall elections for the following state offices: Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, Senator Scott Fitzgerald, Senator Van Wanggaard, Senator Terry Moulton, and Senator Pam Galloway. The petitions are currently being reviewed by the Government Accountability Board (GAB). For more information on recalls, see the GAB Web site.

Candidates Selected for Presidential Primary

On January 3, Wisconsin’s Presidential Primary Selection Committee selected seven Republicans and one Democrat to appear as candidates in the Presidential Primary vote on April 3, 2012. The Republican candidates on the primary ballot will be Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. The Democratic candidate will be Barack Obama.

2011-2012 Blue Book

The 2011-2012 Wisconsin Blue Book is now available online. It may be ordered from the Department of Administration, Document Sales Unit (search Document Sales Catalog for "Wisconsin Blue Book"), (608) 266-3358. The price is $10.30 with shipping and $7.30 without. State Legislators are provided with complimentary copies to give to their constituents. You may contact your state senator or representative to ask about receiving one.

The Legislative Reference Bureau issued two study guides for the 2011-2012 Wisconsin Blue Book. Study Guide to the 2011-2012 Blue Book is geared toward high school students. Inside the 2011-2012 Wisconsin Blue Book is geared toward elementary school students.

Recent Publications

• The Legislative Council released three informational memoranda related to the mining bill, AB-426, which can be found on the agency's home page.
• The Legislative Reference Bureau recently released Governing Wisconsin #34: The Executive Order. The Governing Wisconsin series is aimed at high school civics students. Also recently issued: The Wisconsin Scorecard: How Wisconsin Compares to Other States.

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

Spotlight Home

Prior Spotlight issues

Send comments to LRB.Reference@legis.wisconsin.gov

Last revised: November 19, 2012