The Assembly met on Tuesday, March 17, to vote on a number of bills.  Getting the most media attention was Assembly Bill 27, which would increase the speed limit on Wisconsin's freeways and expressways to 70 miles per hour.  The Wisconsin Department of Transportation would retain the authority to impose lower limits as necessary (in high-traffic urban areas, for example).  According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 38 states - including all of Wisconsin's border states - allow drivers to go at least 70 m.p.h. on certain highways.  AB 27 passed on a bipartisan 76-22 vote.

The Assembly also took up Assembly Bill 56, which seeks to address academic performance in Wisconsin high schools, both public and private.  According to UW data collected by the bill's author, Rep. John Jagler, one in five freshmen entering UW System schools must take remedial English or math courses, based on their scores on placement tests.  AB 56 requires the UW Board of Regents to prepare an annual report that identifies each public or private Wisconsin high school that produced at least seven UW students who had to take a remedial course.  Only the high schools would be identified, not the students themselves.  The idea is not to use this report as a stick, but to encourage these high schools to better prepare their students for college-level work.  This would not only save money for the UW schools, since they would not need to offer as many remedial courses, but it will also benefit the students, since they would not need to spend time and tuition on remedial courses to get up to speed.  For these reasons, I voted for AB 56, which the Assembly passed on a voice vote.

One bill that I think will have a long-ranging positive effect is Assembly Bill 80, which requires state agencies to review their administrative rules on an annual basis and prepare reports of any obsolete rules, rules for which there is no statutory authority, or rules that duplicate, are superseded by, or conflict with state statutes, federal law, or court rulings.  AB 80 also creates an expedited process an agency may follow if it chooses to repeal an unauthorized rule, although the final decision would remain with the Legislature's Joint Committee on the Review of Administrative Rules.  Lastly, AB 80 creates a process for agencies to review new laws as they are published, so that any conflicts with existing agency rules will be identified immediately and the business of resolving them begun. 

AB 80 builds on the "Right the Rules" project the Assembly began last session and which continues this session as "Red Tape Review".  Think of Wisconsin's administrative code as a house.  When a house is really messy, a top-to-bottom cleaning is in order, but once that job is done, you should keep on top of things to make sure they don't get that bad again.  The Red Tape Review is the top-to-bottom cleaning, and AB 80, which the Assembly passed on a voice vote with my support, is a way to help the agencies keep on top of things going forward.

These bills and the others the Assembly passed Tuesday will now go to the Senate for further consideration.

As I mentioned in my last E-Update, the Joint Committee on Finance has scheduled a series of public hearings on the 2015-2017 state budget bill, Assembly Bill 21 and Senate Bill 21.  The first hearing was held in Brillion, near Appleton, on Wednesday, March 18, and the second hearing is being held today at Alverno College in Milwaukee.

The hearing closest to the 67th District will be held on Monday, March 23, in Rice Lake, at UW-Barron County's Fine Arts Theater, 1800 College Dr., from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Although I am not a member of the finance committee, I plan to attend this hearing.  Monday's hearing, like the others, will be streamed live on WisconsinEye and also be available for viewing afterward.  (The final hearing will be in Reedsburg on March 26.) 

If you aren't able to attend the hearing but would like to share your opinions on the budget with the finance committee, you may do so by e-mailing your comments to BudgetComments@legis.wisconsin.gov.  This address will be active through next Friday.

You may also follow the finance committee's activities via WisPolitics' Budget Blog.