With the 101st Legislature officially convened for the 2013-14 Legislative Session, the Wisconsin Counties Association will begin providing a summary of major legislative activities of the past week, including those directly impacting county government and a preview of activities for the week to come. General information can also be found on The Wheeler Report or WisPolitics.com.
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Last Week in the Legislature: January 14-17, 2013
Governor Walker Delivers Third State of the State Address
On Tuesday, January 15, Governor Walker delivered his third State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature. The Governor touted the state's progress in eliminating its budget deficit, holding the line on property taxes and making headway on unemployment numbers. Click here to read the text of the Governor's speech. Other initiatives unveiled by the Governor include: - Mining Legislation: The Governor said he'd like to start with what Joint Finance ended with last session, make some "reasonable modifications," and sign the bill early this year.
- Venture Capital Legislation: The Governor indicated he looks forward to working with lawmakers in both parties on ways to improve the amount of investment capital available to help start-ups and other small businesses grow.
- Regulatory Reform: Regulatory reform for small businesses, including identifying "unnecessary, obsolete, and burdensome regulations" is a top priority for the Governor. Governor Walker and the Small Business Regulatory Review Board have identified over 300 rule modifications in 218 administrative code chapters to help businesses.
- Worker Retraining: Governor Walker wants to work with the legislature to enact a system to help connect workers to jobs in areas of great need from current and future employers.
- Higher Education: The Governor announced plans to partner with the Wisconsin Covenant Foundation to provide grants to technical colleges and employers in various regions to improve workforce development. He also touted the creation of UW Flex Option, the University of Wisconsin System's flexible degree program.
- K-12 Education Reform: The Governor is interested in reforming education through performance-based incentives. He also discussed plans to focus on: three-year old reading screening and reading mentoring; and, expanding the educational choices for families through traditional, charter, voucher, virtual and home school environments.
- Transportation Infrastructure: The Governor affirmed his commitment to a healthy transportation system, including roads, bridges, freight rail, ports and airports. He also discussed soft infrastructure investment and the need to ensure "access to cost-effective and reliable sources of power, preserve our clean water advantage, improve availability of high-speed internet connections and support our quality health care."
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Act 10 Upheld by Federal Appeals Court
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, January 18th overturned a district court ruling which had previously invalidated provisions in the law regarding payroll deductions and recertification votes. The court affirmed Judge Conley's finding that the State had a rational basis to grant different bargaining rights to public safety employees and general employees. The court reversed Judge Conley's findings regarding the constitutionality of the recertification requirement and the dues deduction prohibition. The Seventh Circuit found that both the recertification requirement and dues deduction prohibition are rationally related to a legitimate government purpose and are thus constitutional.
It is unclear what the implications of the Seventh Circuit's decision and what impact, if any, it may have on Judge Colas' decision in MTI v. Walker as that case awaits action at the state court of appeals. WCA will provide additional updates as they become available.
Read the decision here by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Mining Bill Circulating for Co-Sponsorship
On January 16th, Senator Tom Tiffany and Representatives Suder, Williams and Honadel sent a memo to members of the legislature seeking co-sponsors to their bill to rewrite the state's mining rules. According to the bill's authors, the legislation is designed to create an expedited process for obtaining Department of Natural Resources approval for ferrous metallic mining in the state and exempts ferrous mining from current state metallic mineral mining laws. The authors said that last year's Joint Finance Committee bill was the basis for the new draft.
Opponents quickly reacted to the legislation saying that the bill had clearly been written for the company (Gogebic Taconite), that it invited immediate litigation and the environmental exemptions in the bill are in conflict with Wisconsin's public trust doctrine.
See a copy of the mining bill here.
A Legislative Council summary can be found here.
Click here to review how the mining bill will impact counties.
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Joint Legislative Council Committee Meets
The Joint Legislative Council Committee met and voted to introduce two bills impacting county government. As reported last week, the first bill - recommended by the Special Committee on Review of Emergency Detention and Admission of Minors Under Chapter 51 - adds hospital representatives to County Human Services Boards creating potential conflicts of interest.
The second bill, recommended by the Special Committee on Reporting of Child Abuse and Child Neglect, would require all mandatory reporters to report all signs of bruising on children rather than 'severe or frequent' bruising, potentially diverting resources away from serious cases of abuse.
Some members of the Committee indicated a willingness to continue to try to better understand the issues and the ways in which counties could be impacted by the legislation.
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Next Week in the Legislature: January 21-25, 2013
Transportation Finance and Policy Commission to Unveil Final Recommendations
The 11-member Commission is scheduled to release its final recommendations on January 23. The recommendations are the culmination of more than a year's work in analyzing and assessing the state's transportation infrastructure needs. The Commission's findings are expected to indicate that the state is in a poor position to adequately fund its transportation infrastructure needs.
Of note to counties is the Commission's likely recommendation for increasing routine maintenance dollars by $33 million and general transportation aids by an amount equal to inflation. The Commission is also expected to make recommendations to increase the gas tax by five cents, to assess drivers' on their 'vehicle miles traveled' and, among other ideas for generating revenues, assessing a surcharge on hybrid and high-fuel efficiency vehicles.
Read a press release from the Commission.
Click here to read the Commission's preliminary report.
Special Committee on Permanency for Young Children in the Child Welfare System to Meet
The Special Committee on Permanency for Young Children in the Child Welfare System is scheduled to meet on Thursday, January 24 at 9:30 a.m. The Committee will hear testimony from the Office of the Director of State Courts. The Committee is also expected to review bill drafts regarding termination of parental rights and children in need of protective services (CHIPS).
Click here to view the Committee's agenda.
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Other News and Events
County Ambassador Program (CAP) Team Scheduled for January 23 in Madison
The County Ambassador Program (CAP), set to take place in Madison on January 23rd, is designed to provide member counties the opportunity to work side-by-side with the WCA legislative team to promote WCA's Legislative Agenda/Platform before the Wisconsin State Legislature and state agency officials.
All county officials are encouraged to participate as members of our CAP Team including county board chairs, supervisors, executives, administrators and department heads. If you are interested in participating in this event, please contact Sarah Diedrick-Kasdorf at WCA at 866.404.2700
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Member Services: WisPolitics & The Wheeler Report
Members of the Wisconsin Counties Association are eligible for a free email subscription for WisPolitics.com and The Wheeler Report. These daily email updates are an invaluable resource for those interested in keeping up with the day-to-day activities of the Legislature and include in-depth "insider" information on state politics.
To begin your free subscription, please contact Amy Dias of WCA at 866.404.2700 or with your name, your county name and the email address where you would like subscriptions sent.
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Wisconsin Counties Association
22 East Mifflin Street, Suite 900
Madison, Wisconsin 53718
866.404.2700
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