Capitol Notes: Weekly Political & Legislative Update-- December 17, 2012

Capitol Notes

Wisconsin Political and Legislative Update

TO: Clients/Friends of Capitol Consultants, Inc./Wimmer & Company, S.C.

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

DATE: December 17, 2012

SUBJECT:   Weekly Political & Legislative Update

In This Issue

Joint Finance Committee Selections Made

Assembly and Senate Committee Assignments Taking Shape

DHS Secretary Smith discusses PPACA in Washington

Election Updates

Stay Connected

Legislative Budget Writing Committee Assignments Almost Complete

Majority Leader-Elect Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker-Elect Robin Vos (R-Burlington) have announced the majority membership of the Joint Committee on Finance.

Co-Chair of Joint Finance Committee Alberta Darling (R-River Hills)

On the Senate-side, immediately following his election as Senate Majority Leader, Senator Scott Fitzgerald announced that Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) will be the Senate Chair of the Committee. Senator Darling was previously chair of the Committee until Democrats captured control of the Senate in June.

Joining Senator Darling on the Committee are Republicans;

Previously Senate Democratic Leader-Elect Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), made his two appointments to the Committee;

Sen. Shilling has previously served on the Committee in both the Assembly and currently in the State Senate. Sen. Wirch last served on the Committee 10 years ago.

Assembly Co-Chair John Nygren (R-Marinette)

On the Assembly-side, Assembly Speaker Vos tapped Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette), to be the Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance. Rep. Nygren had previously served on the Committee during the 2010 session and also served as the Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee in previous sessions.

Republicans joining Representative Nygren on the Committee are two incumbent members of the committee in Representatives Strachota and LeMahieu, and three members of the 2010 class of Republican lawmakers in Representatives John Klenke, Dale Kooyenga and Dean Knudson.

On the Assembly Democratic side, currently Reps. Cory Mason (D-Racine) and Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) serve on the Committee, however Democratic Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) has not yet announced whether both or either will be reappointed to the Committee for this session.

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Assembly and Senate Committee Assignments Taking Shape

Assembly Speaker-Elect Robin Vos (R-Burlington) and Senate Majority Leader-Elect Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) named the Republican members of the 2013-2014 Legislative Committees over the past week.

Below please find the Committee rosters, with pictures of the chairs to date:

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DHS Secretary Dennis Smith Testifies in Washington

DHS Secretary Dennis Smith

On Thursday, Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith testified before the Health Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce as part of a panel entitled "State of Uncertainty: Implementation of PPACA's Exchanges and Medicaid Expansion."

In his remarks before the Committee, Secretary Smith noted that Governor Scott Walker has not yet made a decision on a Medicaid expansion.

During his remarks, Secretary Smith discussed the cost of Wisconsin's current Medicaid program, highlighting the impact on the state's budget:

"Without budgeting for the implementation of PPACA, we have requested an 8.9 percent increase in general revenues for state fiscal year 2014. This compares to the 3.6 percent request for all state agencies and a 3.8 percent increase in general purpose tax revenues. If our request is approved by the Legislature, my Department will take nearly half of all additional tax revenues coming into the state next fiscal year."

Secretary Smith noted his experience at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) during the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and compared it to the job facing the implementation of the PPACA. He stated the PPACA is much more complex than the MMA, but highlighted the lack of flexibility offered by the federal government in implementation of the PPACA as making its chance of success more difficult. Specifically, Secretary Smith stated:

"To increase the chance for success, the federal government needs more partners, not fewer. It needs to offer greater flexibility to solve problems, not less. But the hard line taken by the federal government, as further evidenced in the guidance this week, in response to state requests likely will mean federal officials and the American people will have to adjust their expectations for 2014."

Congresswoman (and Senator-elect) Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison), who currently sits on the House subcommittee, expressed disappointment in Wisconsin's decision not to implement a health exchange and encouraged Secretary Smith to participate in the Medicaid expansion.

"If it is uncertainty that we are concerned about, surely those 200,000 people people in Wisconsin deserve the certainty of knowing that quality and affordable care will be there for them," Baldwin said. (Wispolitics DC Blog post)

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Election Updates

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Professor Fallone

Marquette University Law Professor Ed Fallone announced last week that he will run for the Supreme Court.

"Attorneys, judges, elected leaders and citizens from around the State have urged me to run because they, like me, believe we need a change in the Supreme Court," Fallone said. "The increased politicization of the court and the court's dysfunction exemplified by its inability to credibly handle allegations of inappropriate behavior by Justice Prosser are clearly damaging the court's ability to deliver justice and serve the people of this state."
(complete release)

Fallone, joins Milwaukee Attorney Vince Megna, the self-described "King of Lemon Laws," as the only two candidates who have publicly announced their intentions to challenge incumbent Supreme Court Justice Pat Roggensack.

Justice Roggensack, who previously was an Appeals Court judge, was elected in 2003 to a ten-year term to the Court, defeating Barron County Circuit Court Judge Ed Brunner, 51% to 49%.

Professor Fallone Bio:

Associate Professor of Law Ed Fallone has been a member of the Marquette University Law School for the past 20 years. His primary focus is corporate and securities law. According to an interview he did with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fallone said he is motivated to run because he says the Supreme Court is not currently operating effectively due to personality clashes.

State Senate Special Election

Sen.-elect Farrow Representative Paul Farrow (R-Brookfield), the last state candidate on the ballot for 2012, won his unopposed election to the Wisconsin State Senate last week. The seat became open when former Senator Rich Zipperer resigned to join Governor Scott Walker's Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel. Farrow has been appointed the chair of the Senate Government Operations, Public Works and Telecommunications Committee.

Going into election night, there were rumors of a potential write-in campaign against Farrow, however that turned out to be nothing more than rumors as Farrow won 97% of the vote. Senator Farrow was sworn into the State Senate on Friday, December 14th.

Upcoming Assembly Special Election

Senator Farrow was also re-elected to his State Assembly seat in November and had to resign that seat on Friday as he was sworn in as a member of the State Senate. Governor Walker is expected to call a special election to fill the vacant Assembly seat.

Several interested candidates have made their intentions known either publicly or officially with the Government Accountability Board. They include:

Eric Prudent (D)- Prudent challenged Farrow on the November ballot and is expected to run again in the Special Election.
Adam Neylon (R)- Neylon is a small business owner and former aide to Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Bill Kramer.
Todd Greenwald (R)- Greenwald is a project manager in the architectural and construction industries.
Matt Morzy (R)- Morzy is an MBA student and former manager of the Brookfield office of Scottrade.
Jeanne Tarantino (R)- Tarantino is the former chief of staff to Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.

Others that have expressed interest include Village of Pewaukee police chief Edward Baumann and Waukesha School Board member Steve Edlund. Both would run as Republicans if they entered the race.