This week, one of the bills that I authored with Sen. Tiffany this session, Assembly Bill 484 and Senate Bill 391, had a public hearing in the Assembly Committee on Environment and Forestry and the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Commerce and Local Government.
Rep. Swearingen Testifying on SB 391 in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Commerce and Local Government alongside Oneida County Planning and Zoning Director Karl Jennrich, and Three Lakes Northernaire Sanitary District Commissioners Ralph Blum and Jared Landwehr
Rep. Swearingen Testifying on AB 484 in the Assembly Committee on Environment and Forestry alongside Oneida County Planning and Zoning Director Karl Jennrich, and Three Lakes Northernaire Sanitary District Commissioners Ralph Blum and Jared Landwehr
Assembly Bill 484/Senate Bill 391 makes a simple change to the residency requirements for town sanitary district commissioners. Under current law, if commissioners are elected or appointed and if the sanitary district is composed of primarily summer resort property, at least one of the commissioners must be a full time resident of the district. Additionally, any commissioner that doesn’t reside in the district must own property within the sanitary district.
My office was notified earlier this year by Oneida County that in some of our rural and tourist driven Wisconsin communities, it can be quite difficult to find a qualified commissioner that resides within the sanitary district. In my district alone, the Town of Three Lakes Northernaire Sanitary District is experiencing this problem where a multi-family development has no year round residents living within the development.
As a result of not being able to find full time residents to serve on town sanitary districts as directed under current law, there can be an even-number of sitting commissioners on the district. This can lead to tie-voting issues when votes take place on budgets or to provide ongoing maintenance or repair for projects under the sanitary districts purview.
This bill eliminates the requirement that one of the commissioners is required to be a resident of the district. Under this bill, any commissioner who is not a resident of the district must still own property within the district to be a commissioner. This will streamline the process for towns to elect and appoint members to their town sanitary districts in rural and tourist driven areas.
We had some familiar faces from the district come down to Madison to testify on this piece of legislation. I would like to thank Oneida County Planning and Zoning Director Karl Jennrich, Three Lakes Sanitary District President Jared Landwehr and Three Lakes Sanitary District Commissioner Ralph Blum for making the trip to Madison to testify in both committees!
Assembly Committee on State Affairs Update
Now that the state budget has been signed into law, the committee process will start picking up again this fall. On September 20, the Assembly Committee on State Affairs, which I chair, held a public hearing on Assembly Bill 494, voted Assembly Bill 450 out of the committee and introduced two Red Tape Review bills. As you may recall from previous e-updates, the goal of the Red Tape Review initiative is to review each chapter of the administrative code, working to remove unnecessary, burdensome, and outdated regulations.
Rep. Swearingen Discussing Assembly Bill 450 during the State Affairs Executive Session on September 20
Executive Session
Assembly Bill 450: Relating to: retail sales of alcohol beverages at the Ozaukee County fairgrounds.
Beginning in 2012, the Ozaukee County Board received approval by the Department of Revenue to permit licensed vendors to sell liquor on the premises of the Ozaukee County Fairground for special events. The Department of Revenue has recently interpreted Chapter 125: Alcoholic Beverages, differently and informed the Ozaukee County Board that vendors will not be approved to sell liquor and wine in the exposition buildings on the Ozaukee County fairgrounds.
AB 450 allows a retailer to sell alcohol beverages off the retailer's licensed premises if the sale occurs at the Ozaukee County fairgrounds, the retailer is approved by the Ozaukee County Board of Supervisors, and the retailer's licensed premises are located in Ozaukee County.
LRB 4008/1 (AB 513): Relating to: repealing an administrative rule of the Department of Safety and Professional Services related to music, art, and dance therapists.
This legislation eliminates administrative code SPS 141.07, regarding licensure for music therapists registered before January 1, 2003. This rule can be eliminated because the entire section relates to licensure for people who registered before January 1, 2003 and requires the person to apply before July 1, 2003.
LRB 4009/1 (AB 514): Relating to: repealing administrative rules of the Department of Safety and Professional Services related to grants for construction career academies.
This legislation eliminates administrative code SPS Chapter 304, regarding grants for construction career academies. This chapter was eliminated in Act 55, the Governor’s 2015-2017 biennial state budget. The rules within the chapter can be eliminated as the statute no longer exists.
Public Hearing
Assembly Bill 494: Relating to: allowing local public officials to receive anything of value that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation or the Department of Tourism is authorized to provide.
Current law allows a state public official to receive anything of value from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for the purpose of taking a trip to a foreign country primarily to promote trade or hosting individuals in order to promote business, economic development, or tourism. Current law also allows a state public official to receive anything of value from the Department of Tourism for the purpose of housing individuals in order to promote tourism. This bill allows a local public official to receive anything of value from WEDC or the Department of Tourism that a state public official is allowed to receive.
Assembly Committee on Environment and Forestry Update
In addition to holding a public hearing on the AB 484, relating to the Town Sanitary District commissioners, the Assembly Committee on Environment and Forestry, which I am a sitting member of, held a public hearing on three other pieces of legislation. Below you can find a breakdown of the bills that were on the agenda this week.
Assembly Bill 118: Relating to: disclosure of burial sites located on residential real estate and various changes relating to the preservation and disturbance of burial sites.
Assembly Bill 416: Relating to: a higher wild animal protection surcharge for the unlawful taking of deer.
Assembly Bill 388: Relating to: the discharge of dredged or fill material into artificial wetlands and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority.
Beef-A-Rama
Thousands of visitors flooded to downtown Minocqua this weekend to take part in the annual Beef-A-Rama festival. The 53rd Beef-A-Rama featured games, live music, and activities for all ages to enjoy. The tradition started as a way for local businesses to give back to the residents and tourists who enjoy all that Minocqua has to offer throughout the summer months. The town always does a great job hosting the event and makes it a fun time for the whole family. It was an honor to take part as a judge of this year’s roast beef contest. I want to congratulate Krystal Westfahl and the Minocqua Chamber of Commerce on another great event. See everyone next year!
Beef-A-Rama Judges Jim Franklin of Coyote 93.7 Radio, Lane Kimble of WJFW Channel 12, and Rep. Swearingen
Stoxen Home Town Professional Pharmacy Tour
I had the great honor to meet Tabitha Bennish, the new owner of the Stoxen Home Town Professional Pharmacy located in Rhinelander. Tabitha took over the pharmacy from the previous owner, Corky Stoxen. I would sincerely like to thank Corky for his decades of service and wish him well now that he is moving into full retirement. The pharmacy remains in good hands as Tabitha, a 2015 University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy graduate, is committed to providing the best care and services possible to all her customers. I know Tabitha will do a great job, and I wish her the best as she begins her new role.
Corky Stoxen, Tabitha Bennish, and Rep. Swearingen
2017-2018 Blue Books Now Available
The 2017-2018 Wisconsin Blue Books arrived last week and are now available upon request. If you would like to request a copy of the 2017-18 Wisconsin Blue Book, please reply to this email with your name and full mailing address. Additional requests can be made by emailing Rep.Swearingen@legis.wi.gov or calling my office at 608-266-7141 or toll free at 888-534-0034. My office will be processing the requests over the next couple of weeks prior to shipping them across the 34th Assembly District.
You can view previous versions of the Wisconsin Blue Book online by clicking here.
DNR Outdoor Report
Published September 28, 2017 by the Central Office
For current statewide information on statewide fall color, log onto the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's Fall Color Report (exit DNR).
The warm weather of the past week may have slowed the early fast pace of fall colors coming on, but much of the state is at 25 to 50 percent fall color on the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's Fall Color Report (exit DNR) and some far northern areas are close to peak. Tamarack needles are turning yellow and soon to fall off. It is the only conifer in Wisconsin to shed its needles.
The warm weather made fishing difficult, the northern zone duck season opener hot and buggy and grouse hunting grueling. Boaters were happy to get another weekend of perfect weather in. The beach at Whitefish Dunes State Park was crowded on Saturday, an unusual occurrence for a Lake Michigan beach in late September. Hunters and fisherman alike look forward to cooler days ahead.
Anglers are still picking up decent numbers of perch and walleyes on Lake Winnebago. Some walleye and smallmouth were being caught in the Menominee River and anglers floating the Peshtigo River report catching good numbers of smallmouth bass and northern pike. A few salmon have been seen in the Peshtigo River.
Last weekend's unseasonably hot weather brought out more recreational boaters than anglers on Green Bay. Perch fishing out of Little Sturgeon Bay and Sawyer Harbor was good with many boats coming back with fish and a few even hit their limit.
Chinook are just starting to move into the Sturgeon Bay shipping canal for the fall run. Some were seen jumping on the east end of the canal as they make their way to Strawberry Creek.
Along Lake Michigan, anglers at Kewaunee experienced the first taste of the salmon run this season thanks to a drastic drop in lake temperature two weekends ago that sent a good push of chinooks upstream. Action was intense at the start of the week although the fresh, hard-fighting chinook didn't let anglers land them easily. A few chinook salmon were caught on the Sheboygan River but none were caught this week on the Root or Pike rivers but shore anglers at Racine did very well last weekend in the harbor and a few anglers had some luck casting and trolling in the Kenosha harbor and in front of the Pike River.
Opening weekend of the Northern Zone Waterfowl season was slow due to the heat. The southern duck opener is this weekend and many ducks are still prevalent including wood ducks, teal, mallards, and mergansers.
Bachelor groups of bucks have been observed by archery hunters who braved lasts week's heat and mosquitoes. Due to the hot temperatures elk bulls haven't been bugling much but may start up again as temperatures are dropping and depending on how much competition there is with other bulls.
Regulations recently changed in regards to tagging deer and turkey--the requirement to validate and attach a tag has been eliminated, but hunters must still register their harvest as data is still needed to manage populations.
American painted lady butterflies are being seen along with some monarchs. Purple asters and goldenrod are still blooming.
Fall color festivals and events kick off this weekend with Art in the Park at Copper Falls State Park and fall festivals at Governor Thompson and Roche-A-Cri. Bikers will be out in force taking in the Fall Color Festival Bike Rides on the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit's renowned John Muir Trails. Celebrate National Public Lands Day on Saturday at the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area and lend a helping hand collecting native prairie seed. And don't forget SturgeonFest at Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee will give you a chance to release live sturgeon. For all programs, search the DNR website for Get Outdoors.
Woodruff DNR Service Center area
Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest - The fall color seems to be hit or miss on the forest. Some trees are bare at the top and still green at the bottom. There is a lot of browning of the leaves also before they turn their full color leading to the hit or miss statement. Most ferns have turned brown and the grasses and cattails are fully ripened. Asters and goldenrod still dot the countryside with color, and the past warm weather brought out some late Monarchs and American lady butterflies to feed on the asters. It is a quiet time on area trails making any hike a peaceful one. - Rosalie Richter, visitor services associate
Community Events
Please click the following links for upcoming community events!
