|
| Wisconsin: Legislative & Political Weekly Update
|
|
|
|
TO: Clients & Friends of Capitol Consultants, Inc. and Wimmer & Company
FROM: Capitol Consultants, Inc.
and Wimmer & Company
DATE: April 3, 2009
SUBJECT: Weekly Political and Legislative Update
|
JOINT
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE WRAPS UP PUBLIC HEARING PROCESS
|
Today, the Joint Committee on Finance wrapped up the last
of its seven public hearings on the 2009 Assembly Bill 75, Wisconsin's biennial
budget, with its final public hearing in Cambridge, Wisconsin.
Indications from the Co-Chairs of the Committee have been
that voting by the Committee will begin the week of April 13th, with
Co-Chair Mark Pocan (D-Madison) suggesting earlier that Thursday, April 16th
may be the target first day of voting.
Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Mark Miller (D-Monona)
indicated in an interview with Wispolitics.com that he does not expect the
Committee to remove policy items that Governor Doyle included in the budget,
that it is a decision of the chairs what stays in and what is removed.
|
|
GOVERNORS DOYLE AND PAWLENTY ANNOUNCE 80
PROJECTS THAT WI AND MN CAN COOPERATE ON
|
On Tuesday, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Minnesota
Governor Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday announced at press conferences in St. Paul, MN
and Eau Claire, WI 80 projects where the two states could collaborate and
realize some economic efficiencies.
The joint programs focus largely on pooling state
purchasing and resources and easing transactions between states.
In general,
initiatives fell into one of five broad categories:
-
Joint Procurement &
Best Practices - Collaboration to save on purchased goods or
services, learning and improving from practices in other states
- Cross Border
Collaboration - Opportunities to improve by partnership along
or across the Border
- IT Systems - Sharing, developing, or leveraging IT resources to improve
government
- Reciprocity - Making government work better by making borders permeable for
customers
-
Shared Resources - Sharing resources to improve their utilization or unit cost
A full list of the projects can be found at: MN-WI Project List (PDF)
|
|
ELECTION DAY ON TUESDAY
|
|
About 20 percent of eligible Wisconsinites will head to the
polls on Tuesday April 7th to cast ballots in the Spring Election
contests according to a projection by the Government Accountability Board, the state's
election agency.
On the statewide ballot there are two contested races of
note for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court and for the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
Wisconsin
State Supreme Court:
Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson is running
for re-election against Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Randy Koschnick.
Chief Justice Abrahamson was appointed to the Supreme Court
in 1976 by Governor Patrick J. Lucey, and she has won re-election since. She has served as Chief Justice since
1996. In her last election, Abrahamson
won re-election with 63% of the vote and carried 71 of 72 counties.
Judge Koshnick was elected to the Jefferson County Circuit
Court, Branch 4, in 1999 and re-elected to the bench in 2005.
Fundraising: Abrahamson's
campaign reported Monday that it had raised $1.3 million through March 23 and
had $169,152 on hand for the final days of the race. Her advisers said they raised $290,319,
including loans that total $50,000, between Feb. 4 and March 23. They also said
the average donation was for about $104 and 95% of the money was given by
Wisconsin donors. Koschnick earned
$70,335 during the same period and $124,008 overall. Koschnick spent $53,774
and had $62,091 worth of funds on-hand, campaign figures stated.
Polling: The
late-February poll, conducted by a professional pollster for the MacIver
Institute, had Abrahamson leading - by a 41% to 13% margin. But the remaining
46% of those who responded were either undecided or didn't know either
candidate. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage
points. (Taken from: JS Online)
Superintendent
of Public Instruction:
Deputy Superintendent of Public
Instruction Tony Evers and former president of the Wisconsin Association of
Virtual School Families Rose Fernandez are vying to replace retiring
Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster.
Evers has spent the last 34
years as a teacher, principal, superintendent, regional administrator, and for
the last seven years has served as Deputy State Superintendent. This is his second run for Superintendent.
Fernandez is the former president
of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families. The group successfully
pushed legislation in early 2008 that allowed virtual schools to remain open
and continue to receive state funding after a court ruled the schools violated
state school aid and teacher licensing rules.
Fernandez received a bachelor's degree in 1979 from Northern Illinois
University and a master's degree in nursing in 1989 from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Fundraising: Evers raised $130,000
between Feb. 3 and March 23. For the year he's raised about $160,000 and has
about $80,000 cash on hand for the closing days of the race. Fernandez's campaign raised about $75,000 for
the same period, bringing her total for the year to about $78,000. Fernandez
has about $50,000 on hand.
|
|
SENATOR PLANS FOR HEARINGS ON HEALTHY WISCONSIN UNIVERSAL
HEALTH-CARE PLAN FOR SUMMER
|
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach
(D-Waunakee) said Thursday he hopes that Congress acts on President
Obama's health-care reforms, but he still plans to hold public hearings on
a revised Healthy Wisconsin plan in case of federal inaction.
"We still think Healthy Wisconsin is a
good plan," Erpenbach said at a Capitol press conference held by groups
asking that Congress adopt President Obama's proposed federal budget.
Erpenbach led the 2007 push
that added the Healthy Wisconsin universal health-care plan to the Senate's state
budget. Then, opposition to it from Gov. Jim Doyle and Assembly
Republicans blocked the plan of Senate Democrats from advancing. Democrats now
control the Assembly, however.
It would be
"wonderful" if Congress acts to provide universal coverage, allow consumers
to choose their medical professionals and give them a choice of plans,
Erpenbach said. But Healthy Wisconsin is still a viable option, if
Congress doesn't act or does not pass a comprehensive plan, he added.
Erpenbach said he plans to hold
public hearings statewide on his revised Healthy Wisconsin plan this
summer, after the Legislature adopts the 2009-'11 state budget.
(Taken from: JS Online
) |
NEXT WEEK'S LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR
|
Schedules for dates from 4/5/2009 to 4/11/2009
Apr 7 Tue
Personal Privacy (Assembly)
10:00 AM
415 Northwest
Items: Assembly Bill 29; Assembly Bill 30;
Assembly Bill 137; Assembly Bill 171
Public Hearing
Justice Reinvestment Initiative Oversight
(Legislative Council)
10:00 AM
411 South, State Capitol, Madison
Items: (None)
Overview: · Presentations by the Council of State Governments (CSG)
Justice Center, relating to the final analyses of Wisconsin's correctional
system including: o Prison population projection. o Law enforcement and
public safety. o Substance abuse and mental health. o Reentry and
employment strategies. o Community corrections revocation mapping. ·
Presentations by the CSG Justice Center of a framework for designing policy
solutions to address the issues raised in the above analyses. · Discussion
of committee assignment.
Study Meeting
Urban and Local Affairs (Assembly)
2:00 PM
300 Northeast
Items: Assembly Bill 175; Assembly Bill 174;
Assembly Bill 165; Assembly Bill 173
Public Hearing
Apr 8 Wed
Labor (Assembly)
10:00 AM
225 Northwest
Items: Assembly Bill 95; Assembly Bill 105;
Assembly Bill 31; Assembly Bill 142; Assembly Bill 172
Public Hearing
Consumer Protection (Assembly)
10:00 AM
300 Northeast
Items: Assembly Bill 93; Assembly Bill 121
Public Hearing
Apr 9 Thu
Transportation (Assembly)
10:00 AM
417 North (GAR Hall)
Items: Assembly Bill 32; Assembly Bill 133;
Assembly Bill 157; Assembly Bill 158; Assembly Bill 177; Assembly Bill 178
Public Hearing
Transportation (Assembly) (Executive Session)
10:30 AM
417 North (GAR Hall)
Items: Assembly Bill 59
Executive Session
| |
|
|
|
|
|
