My legislation

Four bills I authored were approved during today's floor session and have been sent to Governor Evers for his signature. The following is a summary of these proposals:

Assembly Bill 101: Parenting Plans:

Under current law, divorcing parties are required to file a parenting plan with the court only after mediation fails or if mediation is waived. Assembly Bill 101, which has bipartisan support and was approved unanimously via voice vote, requires parents to submit proposed parenting plans to family court services or the mediator at least ten days prior to mediation. Parents are not required to exchange parenting plans with each other prior to mediation. This bill originated from the Legislative Council Study Committee on Child Placement and Support.

The parenting plans must include greater emphasis on co-parenting, rather than financial arrangements. Co-parenting proposals are effective in helping parents focus on a child's needs and determining arrangements that work best for the family, without litigation. The effectiveness of the current parenting plan process is largely lost, and this bill remedies the current system's failure. 

Assembly Bill 104: Calculating child support and elimination of family support:

Assembly Bill 104, which passed unanimously via voice vote and had widespread bipartisan support, updates current DCF administrative rules relating to child support formulas to reflect that shared physical placement arrangements are now very common and should not be considered special circumstances. This bill originated from the Legislative Council Study Committee on Child Placement and Support.

This bill will help avoid switching to a new methodology for calculating child support payments. Formulas used to calculate child support amounts are not changed. 

Child support should allow a child to share in both parents' income as if the family were intact, and is based on national studies of family expenditures. Assembly Bill 104 makes updates to reflect current practice.

In addition, Assembly Bill 104 eliminates new family support orders. Currently, family support combines portions of child support and maintenance into a single payment. For tax purposes, family support payments are considered maintenance payments, so the payment is deductible to the payor-spouse and taxable to the recipient-spouse. 

Under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, maintenance payments, such as family support, are no longer deductible for the payor and not included as income to the recipient. Therefore, family support would not be used and become obsolete. 

Due to this tax change at the federal level, Assembly Bill 104 was introduced. This bill eliminates new family support orders to ensure that these payments are consistent with current state and federal tax laws.

Assembly Bill 107: Physical Placement Factors:

Assembly Bill 107 specifies that if a court grants less than twenty-five percent physical placement to a parent, a finding of fact must be entered as to the reason greater placement with the said parent is not in the best interest of the child. This bill originated from the Legislative Council Study Committee on Child Placement and Support.

Currently, parents have no understanding of why they are not being awarded placement. This bill allows parents to have clear knowledge of which factors they are not meeting. This allows them to work on these issues. Given the trend in shared and substantially equal placement arrangements, there is value in having a court explain that reasoning when physical placement with one parent is limited.

In addition, Assembly Bill 107 reorders statutory best-interest factors, but specifies that the factors are not necessarily listed in order of importance. This bill eliminates two considerations: the stability in placement and the availability of child care services. This idea originated in a State Bar Family Law Section working group whose members thought these considerations were already covered in other factors.

Assembly Bill 107 was approved via voice vote and had bipartisan support. 

Senate Bill 46: The Riparian Rights Bill:

Senate Bill 46, which had bipartisan support and passed unanimously via voice vote, quite simply, protects the riparian rights of individuals who own property on a man-made body of water. Furthermore, the bill establishes that landowners, whose property abuts a flowage or artificial waterway, are afforded the ability to exercise all riparian rights established under the law unless the deed states otherwise. 

It is imperative to denote that Senate Bill 46 does not make any changes to environmental standards or easier to erect or maintain a pier. 

Why is this bill necessary? To quote Justice Rebecca Bradley, "Riparian rights in Wisconsin are sacred." The protection of private property rights is of paramount importance. Senate Bill 46 ensures that owners of waterfront property are afforded the same rights as non-waterfront property owners. 

Assembly floor session

During this week's floor session, we passed the following bills:

Assembly Bill 26: Ethan's Law:

Current law prohibits the juvenile court from placing a child in an out-of-home placement with a relative other than a parent or with an unlicensed person, if the person has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent of certain offenses, including crimes against a child. The bill extends the prohibition to include a person who has pled no contest to one of those charges or has had a charge dismissed or amended as a result of a plea bargain.

Assembly Bill 26 was named after a seven-year-old boy, Ethan Hauschultz, who tragically died after being placed with a caregiver who had a history of violence. If this bill had been in effect, Ethan would be alive today. 

Ethan's law has widespread bipartisan support and was approved, unanimously, via voice vote, in both houses of the legislature. 

Assembly Bill 44: Increased penalties for crimes against elder persons:

Assembly Bill 44, which has widespread bipartisan support and was approved via voice vote, would help deter bad actors from abusing our elderly by increasing penalties for crimes against an elder person. 

More specifically, Assembly Bill 44 does the following:

• Modifies the law to require a sexual assault of a person over the age of 60 to be a Class B felony. Currently, there is no enhanced penalty for a forcible sexual assault of an elderly person.
• Bring the physical abuse of an elder person in line with the age definition of other statutes.
• Establishes a mechanism in criminal law for freezing assets in elder financial abuse cases. If a person is charged with a property crime against an elderly person, a prosecuting attorney may request the defendant's assets be seized for the purpose of preserving the assets for restitution of the victim.

Assembly Bill 45: Preventing financial exploitation of vulnerable adults with securities accounts:

In a June 2018 report, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission cited research findings that more than six percent of the senior population is exploited each year, with more cases going unreported. By 2025, that will correspond to more than four million instances of financial exploitation annually.

Assembly Bill 45, which has widespread bipartisan support and was passed via voice vote:

• Allows securities industry professionals to provide the Department of Financial Institutions, adult protective service agents, and other individuals notice of suspected financial exploitation of individuals ages sixty and older, 
• Allows broker-dealers and investment advisers to temporarily delay transactions or disbursements when financial exploitation is suspected and the broker-dealer notifies the division, an APS agency, or a law enforcement agency, and
• Any delay of a transaction or disbursement expires if there is a determination by the broker-dealer or investment adviser that the transaction or disbursement is not likely to result in financial exploitation of the vulnerable adult

Assembly Bill 46: Preventing financial exploitation of vulnerable adults:

Assembly Bill 46, which has widespread bipartisan support and passed via voice vote, does the following:

• Allows financial service providers to delay transactions if a service provider suspects that financial exploitation of an adult has occurred or has been attempted, the financial service provider may, but is not required to, refuse or delay a financial transaction on an account of the vulnerable adult. 
• Requires certain notices if a financial service provider refuses or delays a financial transaction under these circumstances and establishes certain time limits applicable to the refusal or delay of the financial transaction. 
• Provides a process for financial service providers to create a list of individuals that a vulnerable adult authorizes to be contacted if financial exploitation is suspected. 
• Allows financial service providers to refuse to accept an acknowledged power of attorney if the principal is a vulnerable adult and the qualified individual has reasonable cause to suspect that the principal is or might be the victim or target of financial exploitation by the agent or person acting for or with the agent.

Assembly Bill 47: Newspaper Legal Notices:

Assembly Bill 47, which has broad bipartisan support and was approved unanimously, makes government operations more transparent by giving more community newspapers the opportunity to print legal notices.

Currently, notices are required to be published in a newspaper for certain government and legal activities. For example, most governmental unis must print the agendas and minutes of their meetings. Those newspapers must also meet certain requirements in order to be considered eligible to receive compensation for publishing legal notices.

Some communities in Wisconsin do not have a hometown newspaper that can meet the criteria outlined in state statutes. Assembly Bill 47 outlines specific guidelines that would allow for these publications to be compensated for printing notices.

Furthermore, the bill takes advantage of modern technology by requiring all newspapers to also publish their legal notices on their websites. The legal notices section must be available to the public at no cost. 

Assembly Bill 51: Public Notice of Noncandidacy:

Assembly Bill 51, of which I am a coauthor, has bipartisan support and was approved unanimously, requires any office of record for non-state elections (school board, local, county, etc.), to provide public notice of an open seat election via an internet posting on their website. If the office of record does not have a website, they must provide a posting in three public areas, the same as current open meetings law requirements. 

The public notice would increase awareness of an open seat that might otherwise go unnoticed. In addition, many individuals might be interested in public service, while also not wanting to run against an incumbent. Public notice of an open seat would give those individuals the chance to re-evaluate their desires to run in light of an incumbent leaving office.

Also, there have been many instances around the state where an incumbent is essentially able to handpick his or her successor by only telling a certain 'approved' individual to file candidacy papers for the election. This bill would prevent incumbents from having such influence over their successor. 

Assembly Bill 59: Expanding School Choice:

Assembly Bill 59, of which I am a coauthor, increases income eligibility for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program from two-hundred-twenty percent of the Federal Poverty Level to three-hundred percent of the Federal Poverty Level for the 2012-2022 school year. 

Under current law, a pupil is limited in the number of schools they can apply to under the open enrollment program. This bill would allow a pupil to submit full-time open enrollment applications to as many school districts as they would like during the 2021-22 school year. Currently, there is an alternative application procedure under the open enrollment program. If a parent wants his or her child to open enroll to a different school district during the school year, he or she can apply to a non-resident school district. However, the resident school district's board can deny the application if it determines that the circumstances for the student using the alternate application process does not apply to the student.

According to this bill, if the parent of the pupil and non-resident school district find it best for the pupil, the resident school district cannot deny the alternative application procedure.

Assembly Bill 94: Homeschooled election inspectors:

Assembly Bill 94, of which I am a cosponsor, allows homeschooled students who are sixteen or seventeen years old and maintain a 3.0 GPA or meet other requirements put together by the administrator of the home-based private educational program, to be an election inspector with approval from the student's parent or guardian and the municipal clerk.

The bill affords the rights public, private, and tribal students currently enjoy to those who are homeschooled. 

Assembly Bill 142: Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act:

In 2018, an amendment was added to the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which broadened the child protective services immunity that states receiving CAPTA funds are required to provide. For the state to continue receiving federal funds, Wisconsin must come into compliance with this provision by September 20, 2021. 

Assembly Bill 142, which has robust bipartisan support and was approved via voice vote, expands current language and extends immunity to a person who, in good faith:

• Assists in the medics examination of a child or expectant mother
• Otherwise provide information, assistance, or consultation in connection with a report, investigation, or legal intervention.

Assembly Bill 143: Qualified Residential Treatment programs:

Assembly Bill 143, which has widespread bipartisan support and was approved unanimously via voice vote, brings Wisconsin into compliance with federal law to continue receiving Title IV-E child welfare funding. This money provides the base funding for Wisconsin's child welfare system.

In 2018, when the federal Family First Prevention Services Act was signed into law, it altered the type of congregate care settings that are eligible for Title IV-E child welfare funding. Under FFPSA, a Qualified Residential Treatment Program is the only type of congregate care setting eligible for Title IV-E funding. None of the current congregate care settings in Wisconsin match QRTP criteria. Wisconsin must enact provisions that allow for the creation of ORTP's to continue receiving federal funding after September 29, 2021. Wisconsin received $8.2 million and $8.3 million in fiscal years 2019 and 2020, respectively.

A QRTP must include the following components:

• Use a trauma-informed treatment model,
• Have access to twenty-four-hour nursing care and critical individualized medical and psychological treatment and support for children,
• Engage the family throughout the treatment, and
• Provide aftercare services to children and families once they leave the QRTP.

Assembly Bill 154: Hmong-Lao Veterans Day:

Assembly Bill 154, which has strong bipartisan support and passed unanimously, recognizes Hmong individuals who served alongside the United States during the Secret War in Laos during the Vietnam War, by designating May 14th as Hmong-Laos Veterans Day. Following the war, the new governments in Vietnam and Laos began persecuting individuals who resisted communism, including our allies in the Secret War, many of whom were evacuated when the persecution began. May 14th was chosen because May 14th, 1975, is the last day Hmong officers and their families were airlifted from the covert headquarters in Laos to the refugee camp in Thailand.

In addition to designating Hmong-Lao Veterans Day, the bill also requires the governor to issue a proclamation observing Hmong-Lao Veterans Day each year and calls for the flags at the State Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in honor of their sacrifice. 

Lastly, Assembly Bill 154 encourages schools to acknowledge and discuss the accomplishments and sacrifices made by Hmong Veterans on May 14 each year. This legislation is long overdue to give proper attention and gratitude to our Hmong allies in the Vietnam conflict and Secret War.

Assembly Bill 171: Paddlewheel Raffles:

Charitable organizations may be inadvertently breaking the law with fundraising paddlewheel raffles. Currently, unless a game of chance offering a prize is explicitly permitted by law, it is considered illegal and a felony. We passed legislation last session to allow rubber/plastic duck races for that reason. 

Assembly Bill 171, of which I am a cosponsor, stipulates that an organization utilizing a paddlewheel raffle with a prize would be allowed to offer this activity as long as it holds a Class B raffle license and follows any other rules.

Assembly Bill 172: WEC meeting minutes published online:

Assembly Bill 172, of which I am a cosponsor, and has bipartisan support, requires the Wisconsin Elections Commission to post meeting minutes and motion language from their meetings on its website within a reasonable amount of time--48 hours.

Typically, WEC waits until their next meeting to approve the previous meeting's minutes and post them online for public viewing. Due to the need for transparency in something as important as our elections, and because commissioners often vote on policies and procedures which impact elections, this bill requires WEC to post draft preliminary meeting minutes online in the interim until the WEC's next meeting. Election transparency is a bedrock of our republic. Wisconsinites deserve to know, in a timely manner, what actions were or were not taken at these meetings. 

Assembly Bill 173: Private money for elections:

Assembly Bill 173, of which I am a cosponsor, prohibits local clerks and elections boards from applying for or receiving private funds for the purpose of administering Wisconsin elections. If private funds are unsolicited and received by local elections officials, the funds must be transferred to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The commission is responsible for distributing the funds equally on a per-capita basis to all municipal clerks and boards of elections, ensuring fair and impartial access to the funding. 

Additionally, this bill requires ballot tabulators to take an oath of office like every other elected official and prohibits employees of political campaigns from serving as poll workers. 

Assembly Bill 226: The Star-Spangled Banner Act:

Assembly Bill 226, of which I am a coauthor, requires that the United States National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," is played or sang at any sporting event that is held in a venue constructed at least in part with public dollars. 

Assembly Bill 231: Road America alcohol beverage permits:

Road America is a legendary four-mile, fourteen-turn circuit for some of the best racers for more than sixty years. Their six-hundred-forty acre property straddles two municipalities, neither of which have had a liquor license available for many years. They have been receiving their liquor licenses through the banquet facility exception and a public license. 

Assembly Bill 231 allows Road America to apply to the Department of Revenue for a Class B liquor permit for their eleven concession stands on the grounds that are operated by multiple local groups, including non-profits and local businesses.

This legislation specifically carves out Road America's property so they are the only entity meeting the criteria. The legislation also allows sponsors to have a cash bar by allowing an exception that caterers can do a face-to-face transaction off-licensed premises, similar to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay or Heritage Hill State Park. 

Assembly Bill 277: State Fair Park Alcohol Permits

Assembly Bill 277, which has strong bipartisan support, contains provisions similar to 2019 Assembly Bill 869 which was introduced in response to an issue regarding the process State Fair Park has historically used to allow approved vendors to sell alcoholic beverages on SFP grounds. That bill passed the Assembly but was not taken up by the Senate due to COVID-19. 

Assembly Bill 277 is limited to alcoholic beverages at State Fair Park only. Specifically, it creates a licensing exemption for retail sales of alcoholic beverages at SFP which will allow SFP-approved vendors to sell intoxicating beverages for consumption on SFP property without a separate municipal license.

Assembly Substitute Amendment 1: Will allow the State Fair Park Board to issue permits to vendors to allow alcohol sales at the State Fair Park grounds.

• The process for issuing permits is analogous to the process the Department of Revenue uses for airports and other unique venues,
• In order to receive a permit to sell alcohol, vendors must have a current vendor contract and follow the rules and regulations in Chapter 125 with a few exceptions. 
• The amendment also creates an exemption to allow the Wisconsin Winery Association to sell bottles of wine without a separate municipal license.
• The provisions in the amendment would align Wisconsin statutes with current and historic procedures for vendor alcohol sales at SFP. 

Spring budget survey

Thank you for taking my spring budget survey, I have enjoyed reading your thoughts regarding the state's most consequential issues. At this writing, nearly four-hundred surveys have been completed, returned, and entered by my staff into our constituent database. In the months ahead, we will compile the data and include the results in an e-update. If you have yet to take the survey, you may do so here. 

Events

The following are events that will be held this week in the 60th Assembly District. If you have any upcoming events you would like included, please contact my office. 

Port Washington Winter Market (online), May 15, Port Washington

The Value of Art, May 13, Cedarburg

Walking through Cedarburg, May 13, Cedarburg

Live Music at the Dock-Java Dock, May 15, Port Washington

Bosom Buddy 5K Run/Walk, May 15, Cedarburg

Stay up to date

One of the best ways to date with what is happening in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking system. This service affords you with the opportunity to track legislative activities in Madison. Upon creation of a free account, you can sign up to receive notification about specific bills of committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject (i.e., health care, education, etc.).