The Assembly met on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, and I am happy to say that both the Assembly and Senate passed Assembly Bill 683, which I introduced and which establishes standards for licensing electricians.  As I mentioned in last week's E-Update, AB 683 will make it possible for the Department of Safety and Professional Services to enter into reciprocity agreements with other states that have equivalent standards so that a qualified Wisconsin electrician will be able to travel to areas where electricians are in demand without having to, among other bureaucratic requirements, take a separate test in each state.  This means more job opportunities for Wisconsin electricians and more money for their families and businesses.  AB 683 will now go to Governor Walker for his approval.  I would again like to thank all of the parties with whom I have worked over the past year to develop an acceptable consensus, and I look forward to Wisconsin's electrician licensing requirements taking effect this spring.

On Wednesday, I testified to the Senate government operations committee on behalf of Assembly Bill 429, a bill I introduced at the request of the Wisconsin County Clerks Association.  AB 429 requires that a person be at least 18 years old to officiate at a marriage ceremony, and it also repeals an outdated, unnecessary requirement that clergy from other states obtain a "letter of sponsorship" if they want to officiate at a marriage ceremony in Wisconsin.  The Assembly passed AB 429 last week on a voice vote, and I look forward to the Senate acting on it in the near future.

As the 2013-2014 legislative session nears its end and legislators scramble to get their bills through, the lists of bills the Assembly takes up during each floor session grows longer and longer.  Here are just a few of the many bills the Assembly voted on this week:

Senate Bill 73:  SB 73 creates workplace wellness program grants under the Department of Health Services.  The bill allows small businesses that implement health or fitness programs for employees to apply for grants to cover up to 30% of their costs to provide such programs.  The ultimate goal of these programs is the improve employees' health and consequently drive down healthcare costs.  The Senate passed SB 73 last November, and the Assembly, with my support, concurred in an amended version on Tuesday.  The Senate must now concur in the Assembly amendment.

Assembly Bill 750:  Under current law, living wages ordinances are prohibited except for employees or contract employees of local governments and employees performing work funded by local governments.  AB 750, as amended by Assembly Substitute Amendment 1, extends the prohibition to those employees if they perform work that is wholly or partially funded by state or federal funds that pass through the state treasury.  I supported AB 750 because it ensures that taxpayers in one municipality or county are not footing the bill - through their state and federal taxes - for living wage ordinances in other municipalities or counties, where they have no representation.  Local officials may still choose to implement an inflated wage ordinance, but it must be done using the local government’s own tax dollars.  The Assembly passed AB 750 56-37.

Assembly Bill 770:  AB 770 creates an emergency heating assistance loan guarantee program under the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, to help middle-class families during declared states of emergency relating to heating costs or heating fuel shortages .  AB 770 was introduced in response to the recent propane shortage.  The Assembly passed AB 770 on a 94-1 vote.

(On a related note, Governor Walker has announced an agreement between the state, Madison Gas and Electric, and We Energies to access over 117,000 gallons of propane for Wisconsin residents who qualify for low-income energy assistance.)

Senate Bill 547:  SB 547 establishes a variance from wastewater discharge limits for phosphorus for facilities (point sources) that are unable to meet current phosphorus discharge limits without major upgrades.  SB 547 does not change the phosphorus discharge standards themselves, but, if the Department of Administration concludes that it is not feasible for a given facility to meet the current limits, the facility may request a variance that comes with two conditions: 1) it must set up a schedule under which it will come into compliance within 20 years and meet increasingly higher benchmarks every five years during that time; and 2) it must take a course of action designed to reduce phosphorus pollution from non-point sources (like agricultural runoff).  A facility may pay the local county $50 per pound of phosphorus pollution it generates above the discharge standard, up to $640,000 per year; the county would use this money to fund projects to reduce phosphorus pollution in the same water basin as the facility and/or to model and monitor phosphorus discharges.  A facility could also enter into an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources that it will implement phosphorus reduction projects itself or enter into an agreement with a third party to carry out such projects.

The Senate passed SB 547 on Tuesday, and the Assembly concurred on Thursday in a bipartisan 76-19 vote.  I supported the bill because it leaves current standards in place while allowing facilities to ease into them, avoiding considerable expenses that immediate upgrades may entail, as long as they take steps in the meantime to reduce phosphorus pollution through other means.  SB 547 will now go to Governor Walker for his approval.

The next floor session period begins March 11.