new header 2
Capitol Notes
WI: Weekly Political and Legislative Update
TO: Clients/Friends of Capitol Consultants, Inc./Wimmer & Company, S.C.

FROM:  Capitol Consultants, Inc.
              & Wimmer Company, S.C.

DATE:  March 2, 2012

SUBJECT:  
 Weekly Legislative and Political Update
 
In This Issue
Recall Election Update
State Capitol Happenings
The Week Ahead

Recall Election Update 

On Tuesday, Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Democratic-leaning polling firm, released a poll that showed Governor Walker potentially vulnernable in an upcoming recall election. The poll of 900 Wisconsin residents conducted February 23 through February 26 shows that 47% of the state's voters approving of him to 52% who disapprove of the first-term Governor.

 

The poll demonstrates a pretty clear partisan divide when it comes to opinions of Walker with nearly all self-identified Republicans approving of him and nearly all self-identified  Democrats disapproving. However, according to the PPP poll, Walker's favorable and unfavorable numbers are 43% to 55% with independents (www.publicpolicypolling.com).

 

In head to head match ups with two leading potential Democratic opponents, Walker trails both of his most likely opponents in a possible recall election by narrow margins. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who Walker lost to in the 2010 governor's race and who has not announced yet whether he is running for Governor, leads 49%-46% in a hypothetical matchup, and former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who announced her candidacy last month, leads Walker by a 48%-47% margin.  The numbers represent improvement for both Barrett and Falk who trailed by 2 and 8 points respectively on PPP's last poll that was conducted in October of 2011 (www.publicpolicypolling.com).

 

This week, the Government Accountability Board (GAB) released a memo that the GAB could schedule Wisconsin's recall primaries for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and four state Senate districts as soon as May 1, and general elections by May 29.  However, it is most likely, that the GAB will call the recall elections for the first week of June to avoid conflicts with the May 28 Memorial Day holiday and to give municipal clerks enough time to complete their work on the April 3 spring election and presidential primary before preparing for recalls (www.madison.com).

State Capitol Happenings 
Joint Finance to Consider Mining Bill 
On Monday, the Joint Finance Committee will consider legislation that allows for the permitting of a mine in northern Wisconsin. The mining bill has caused consternation in the Capitol between Assembly leadership, who passed its version of the bill earlier this session, and two long-time state Senators - Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) - who offered an alternative bill late last week.

 

Governor Walker traveled the state this week looking for compromise on possible legislation saying, "I'd love to have a good bipartisan vote on this." He also added that the mine would create 700 jobs in its first phase and about double that in a second phase and added that 2,300 jobs could come to Wisconsin if the mine is built (www.chippewa.com).

Legislature in Next Week

Both the Assembly and the state Senate are expected to be in session next week. However, as of this wrtiting, only the Assembly has announced that it will be in session next Tuesday, March 6.

 

PROPOSED ASSEMBLY CALENDAR FOR 11 AM, TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012

Delayed Calendars

SB-153. Health Insurance/Local Employers (Wanggaard) Permits governmental employers not participating in the WRS to be covered in the local government health insurance plan offered by the group insurance board.

SB-422. Vehicles (Lazich)The length of vehicles that may be operated on a highway.

AJR-107. (Nygren) Memorial -  John Gower.

AJR-109. (Jacque) Commends the UW Badgers football team on an outstanding 2011 season.

 

Resolutions

AJR-105. (Vos) Memorial - Darin Arthur Renner.

AJR-119. (Kestell) Memorial - William Kiley.

AJR-99. (C. Taylor) Memorial - Barbara A. Bitters.

AJR-44. (Doyle) Memorial - former Rep. Virgil Roberts.

AJR-60. (Richards) Memorial - Federal Appeals Court Judge Terrence Evans.

AJR-102. (Richards) Memorial - Jean Lucey.

AJR-89. (Sinicki) Commends Ralph Bruno, the creator of the cheesehead hat.

AJR-49. (August) Election of the chief justice. (1st Consideration).

AJR-63. (Vos) Restricts reasons for recall of elected officers; code of ethics for government officials. (1st Consideration).

 

Assembly Bills

AB-110. Disabled Pupils (Litjens) Creates the Special Needs Scholarship Program for disabled pupils.

AB-175. Restraining Orders/GPS (August) Requires persons who violate certain restraining orders or injunctions to be monitored by GPS.

AB-242. Tax Checkoffs (Strachota) Limits the number of individual income tax checkoffs.

AB-322. UW/Tech College Accessibility (Knilans) Accessibility instructional materials for students with disabilities enrolled in the UW System or technical college system.

AB-376. Tax Credits (Knilans) Authorizes the sale or transfer of tax credits in counties experiencing high rates of unemployment.

AB-379.  Name Changes (Ripp) Keeps certain name changes confidential.

AB-417. Claims (Kramer) Procedures for establishing a claim (suggested as remedial legislation by the Office of the State Treasurer).

AB-440. Prescriptions (Stone) Electronic prescriptions for schedule II controlled substances.

AB-451. Work-Based Learning (Farrow) Payments to the Second Chance Partners for Education and other nonprofit corporations that operate programs in which disengaged pupils participate in work-based learning programs while earning high school diplomas.

AB-455. Restraints (Kestell) The use of seclusion and physical restraint on pupils in public schools.

AB-471. Disabilities (Severson) Changes terminology for those with an intellectual disability.

AB-472. Recalls Petitions (Wynn) Offering anything of value to induce someone to sign or not sign a recall petition.

AB-477. Family Care (Kaufert) Removes the cap on enrollment of Family Care and other long-term care programs.

AB-478. Fire Prevention (Strachota) Changes the date of fire prevention week from the week of October 8 to the week of October 9.

AB-481. Voter Registration (Thiesfeldt) Voter registration at high schools and certain tribal schools.

AB-489. Livestock Premise Registration (Tauchen) Financial assistance for the livestock premises registration program, a tax credit for livestock identification tags and tag-reading equipment.

AB-497. School Boards (Bies) Provides immunity from liability to a school board or the governing body of a charter school that provides public access to school grounds for certain recreational activities.

AB-502. Wolves (Suder) Hunting and trapping of wolves, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, extends the time limit for emergency rule procedures.

AB-508. WHEFA (Krug) Authorizes the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority to issue bonds to finance projects related to nonprofit facilities.

AB-511. Batteries (Tranel) Zinc air button cell batteries.

AB-518. Highways (Billings) Designation of highways as scenic byways.

AB-522. DOT (Honadel) The engagement of engineering and similar services by DOT.

AB-526. Political Subdivision (Weininger) Loans and repayment assistance by a political subdivision for energy and water improvements to premises and collection of the debt by special charge.

AB-534. Public Assistance (Krug) Intentional program violations of public assistance programs.

AB-535. Warrens (Radcliffe) Exception to local levy limits for the village of Warrens.

AB-536. Middleton (Kleefisch) ) Increases the allowable number of project plan amendments, and lengthens the time during which tax increments may be allocated and expenditures for project costs may be made, for Tax Incremental District Number 3 in the city of Middleton.

AB-542. Tax Refunds (Kerkman) The definition of municipality for purposes of tax refund setoffs.

AB-547. DSPS (Rivard) The authority and responsibility of the Dept. of Safety and Professional Services, requirements for obtaining certain licenses or other credentials for DSPS, weighing a product that contains opium or another controlled substance.

AB-548. Legal Notices (Marklein) The typeface used, and rates charged, for publication of legal notices.

AB-552. Statute of Limitations (Steineke) Statute of limitations for first-degree sexual assault, attempted homicide, and attempted first-degree sexual assault.

AB-558. Read to Lead (Kestell) The Governor's Read to Lead development fund, the Read to Lead Development Council, grants in support of literacy and early childhood development programs, teacher licensure, screening kindergarten pupils for reading readiness, remedial reading services for certain pupils, evaluating teacher preparatory programs and educator effectiveness.

AB-572. WEDC (Williams) Tax credit programs administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

AB-579. Milk (Jacque) Licensing of plants that process foods made with milk or milk products.

AB-601. Angel Investment (Kuglitsch) The angel investment and early stage seed investment tax credit programs.

AB-602. Agricultural Enterprise (Nerison) Designation, modification, and termination of agricultural enterprise areas.

AB-604. Insurance (Petersen) Surplus lines insurance, insurance security fund, automobile insurance.

AB-605. Pest Abatement (Nerison) The pest abatement authority of the Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

AB-606. Brucellosis Testing (Nerison) Brucellosis testing of milk, cream, and cattle and restrictions on moving or sale of American bison and other animal species.

AB-607.  WHEDA (Litjens) Economic development activities of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

AB-608. Highway Safety Council (Petrowski) Appointments to the Council on Highway Safety.

AB-609. Road Closures (Petrowski) Road closure barriers.

AB-610. Traffic Control (Kapenga) Authorizes local governments to appoint traffic control attendants.

AB-611. Railroad Crossings (Petrowski) Vehicles requires to stop at railroad crossings.

AB-626. Gasoline (Kapenga) Gasoline vapor recovery requirements.

 

Senate Bills

SB-104. Domestic Abuse (Zipperer) Requires persons who violate certain retraining orders or injunctions to be monitored by GPS.

SB-127. Sentencing (Harsdorf) Aggravating factors for a court to consider when sentencing persons.

SB-173. Juvenile Records (Darling) Disclosure of electronic juvenile court records to law enforcement agencies.

SB-271. Absentee Ballots (Lazich) Restrictions on absentee ballots.

SB-317. Controlled Substances (Vukmir) Electronic prescriptions for schedule II controlled substances.

SB-321. Tax Checkoffs (Grothman) Limits the number of individual income tax checkoffs and combining the breast cancer and prostate cancer checkoffs into a checkoff for cancer research.

SB-348. Corrections (Law Revision Com) Corrections Bill.

SB-353. Public Schools (Olsen) The use of seclusion and physical restraint on pupils in public schools.

SB-361. Work-Based Learning (Vukmir) Payments to the Second Chance Partners for Education and other nonprofit corporations that operate programs in which disengaged pupils participate in work-based learning programs while earning high school diplomas.

SB-377. Disabilities (Galloway) Changes terminology for those with an intellectual disability.

SB-378. Insurance (Lasee) Surplus lines insurance, insurance security fund, automobile insurance.

SB-380. Family Care (Moulton) Removes the cap on enrollment of Family Care and other long-term care programs.

SB-386. Voter Registration (Lazich) Voter registration at high schools and certain tribal schools.

SB-390. Notaries (Grothman) Appointment of notaries public, collection agencies, and community currency exchanges.

SB-395. Wine (Ellis) Homemade wine and fermented malt beverages.
 
SB-402. Water Pollution (Harsdorf) The waiver of requirements to the discharge of water pollution for certain research projects.

SB-421. Physicians Assistants (Vukmir) Authorizing medically related actions by physicians assistants.

SB-425. Political Subdivision (Cowles) Loans and repayment assistance by a political subdivision for energy and water improvements to premises and collection of the debt by special charge.

SB-440. Middleton (Grothman) Increases the allowable number of project plan amendments, and lengthens the time during which tax increments may be allocated and expenditures for project costs may be made, for Tax Incremental District Number 3 in the city of Middleton.

SB-458. Traffic Attendants (Lazich) Authorizes local governments to appoint traffic control attendants for special events.

The Week Ahead  

  

 

Mar 5 Mon Finance (Joint) (Executive Session)
10:00 AM
412 East
Items: Senate Bill 488; Assembly Bill 426
 
Executive Session
Mar 6 Tue Colleges and Universities (Assembly) (Executive Session)
9:30 AM
328 Northwest
Items: Assembly Bill 353
 
Executive Session
Mar 6 Tue Consumer Protection and Personal Privacy (Assembly) (Executive Session)
10:15 AM
300 Northeast
Items: Assembly Bill 634
 
Executive Session
Mar 7 Wed Natural Resources (Assembly)
9:30 AM
417 North (GAR Hall)
Items: Assembly Bill 616; Assembly Bill 627; Assembly Bill 643; Assembly Bill 573; Assembly Bill 595
 
Public Hearing
Mar 7 Wed Rural Economic Development and Rural Affairs (Assembly) (Executive Session)
9:30 AM
225 Northwest
Items: Assembly Bill 394
 
Executive Session
Mar 7 Wed Natural Resources (Assembly) (Executive Session)
9:31 AM
417 North (GAR Hall)
Items: Assembly Bill 201; Assembly Bill 589; Senate Bill 288
 
Executive Session
Mar 7 Wed Homeland Security and State Affairs (Assembly)
10:00 AM
300 Northeast
Items: Assembly Bill 567; Assembly Joint Resolution 118
 
Public Hearing
Mar 7 Wed Forestry (Assembly)
3:00 PM
417 North (GAR Hall)
Items: Discussion Issue: Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) Land Banking: First 5 Years Experience & Update; Discussion Issue: Status Update on Managed Forest Law Backlog Back Practices; Discussion Issue: Status Update on State Timbersale Backlog; Discussion Issue: Division of Forestry's Operation Plan for the Strategic Direction
 
Public Hearing