“Jobs Act II” Bill on Tuesday’s Assembly Floor Calendar
AB 278 which is being touted as “Jobs Creation Act II” is scheduled for floor debate and vote on Tuesday, April 12. AB 278 addresses litigation reform by heightening the standard for expert opinion evidence, bringing Wisconsin in line with the federal system and 33 other states; limiting shareholder liability for wages to encourage venture capital; and prohibiting nuisance lawsuits where businesses are in compliance with existing law. The Assembly will also take up AB 277, a trailer bill to Jobs Creation Act I relating to air pollution control permits.
Other items on the Tuesday Assembly calendar include: AB 208 relating to rural enterprise development zones; AB 241 relating to the business employee’s skills training grant program; and AB 206 providing income/franchise tax credit for certain R & D conducted in the state by state corporations.
TIF Bill Back on Senate Calendar
On April 5th, the Assembly unanimously concurred in SB 83 relating to clarifying changes to last session’s landmark TIF legislation. The Assembly added a technical amendment which will require concurrence by the Senate (on Tuesday, April 12) before being sent to the Governor for his signature. The TIF trailer bill will allow additional communities to benefit from the legislation passed last session. (Please see March 11 Tidbits for a summary of the bill’s provisions.)
Other items before the Senate tomorrow include: SB 129 which transfers the BEST grant program to the Technical College System Board; and, SB 147 which establishes a state preemption for the minimum wage, prohibiting local ordinances from exceeding the state minimum wage.
Joint Finance to Begin Voting on Budget This Week
After some additional public discussions with DOA Secretary Mark Marotta on Tuesday of this week, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) is scheduled to begin voting in executive session this Thursday on items to be included in its version of the 2005-07 state budget. Majority Party members of JFC from both Houses have been given specific issue area assignments to work with and gain input from non-JFC colleagues as the voting process proceeds.
JFC Co-Chairs, Representative Dean Kaufert and Senator Scott Fitzgerald, have also created a list of “fiscal policy” v. “political” items in the Governor’s proposed budget for the Committee’s consideration in moving forward. The Committee is also expected to meet in executive session next week on the 19th, 20th and 21st.
Assembly Passes Health Insurance Tax Credit Bill
The State Assembly unanimously passed AB 6 aimed at making health insurance more
affordable for Wisconsin families and retirees. The proposal would provide a 100 percent tax deduction for individuals whose employers do not contribute to their health insurance. Current law provides only a 50 percent deduction. In addition, the bill phases in over the next few years a deduction for non-employed individuals including retirees. The legislation now moves to the Senate where it is expected to receive bipartisan support.
Voter ID Bill Sent to Full Senate
The Senate Labor and Election Reform Process Committee recommended passage, by a bipartisan 4-1 vote, of photo ID legislation (SB 42) that would require Wisconsin’s voters to present a valid photo ID before voting. This action comes on the heels of a series of statewide hearings held by the committee across Wisconsin. Legislation to allow funding for the ID cards to be provided without charge by the Department of Transportation (SB 119) was also recommended by the Committee on an identical 4 to 1 vote.
Supreme Court Holding Session in Fond du Lac
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will move its proceedings to Fond du Lac to hear three cases on April 12. This trip is part of the Court’s Justice on Wheels program, begun in 1993 to make the Court’s work more accessible to the people of the state. The Fond du Lac visit marks the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 15th Justice on Wheels trip and the first time to the Fox Valley city.
Supreme Court Changes Rules Regarding Frivolous Lawsuit
The Wisconsin Supreme Court approved a petition to adopt Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and repeal the current state statutes governing frivolous actions, ss. 802.05 and 814.025.
The petition had received broad support in the legal community including organizations that don’t often see eye to eye on public policy issues. This broad based support was based on concerns that language in an earlier Court decision could expand the interpretation of the statute to encompass activity not intended by the statute. The petition was brought by four organizations: American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin (CTCW); Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers (WATL): and the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
The petition resulted in two significant changes:
1) Trial judges would have discretion in the awarding of costs and attorneys fees when the court determines an action is frivolous.
2) Parties would have a 21-day “safe harbor” within which they could withdraw a frivolous pleading and avoid sanctions.
The Court was not, however, unanimous in its action as evidenced by the 4-3 vote. Justice Roggensack said the court did not have the authority, either statutorily or constitutionally, to repeal s. 814.025 "because it is a substantive law that was duly created by acts of the legislature." She said the court has the power to revise s. 802.05 "in certain instances because it began as a Supreme Court rule..." But, she said, the revisions made by the majority "are contrary to the interests of the public."
Local Governments Receive Share of Fuel Tax, Registration Fees
Governor Jim Doyle has announced that quarterly checks totaling $96.8 million for General Transportation Aids, Connecting Highway Aids, and Expressway Policing Aids have been mailed or electronically transferred to Wisconsin units of local government.
The Governor said that the April payments from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) included $93.3 million in General Transportation Aids to 1,923 units of government; $3.2 million to 123 municipalities for Connecting Highway Aids; and $260,200 to Milwaukee County for Expressway Policing Aids.
Study Finds Annexation Creates Jobs
Every acre of land annexed into a Wisconsin city or village creates, on average, 11 jobs, according to a study by the Wisconsin Economic Development Institute (WEDI). Although the state doesn't keep figures on all annexations, the institute estimated that 10,300 jobs per year are created in annexed areas. That's a third of all the jobs created in the state last year. During development of the annexed land, there are nearly 29,000 people at work creating the infrastructure necessary to accommodate the development or supporting the infrastructure creation off-site, the study estimated.
Annexations are the most common form of boundary changes between minor civil divisions. The report contends that for such an often-controversial process, relatively little is known about its economic development impacts. This purpose of the report is to provide a summary of such impacts in Wisconsin.
Motor Fuel Tax Increased
On April 1, the tax on motor fuel was automatically adjusted and increased one cent to 29.9 cents. The automatic adjustment of the motor fuel tax was established by the 1983 Wisconsin Legislature when a formula based on the rate of inflation was created. On April 1, Senator Tim Carpenter introduced 2005 Senate Bill 156 which would repeal the automatic adjustment of the motor fuel tax rate.
Wisconsin Joins Federal Lawsuit for Mercury Emissions
Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Wisconsin will join with nine other states in a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging EPA’s recently finalized mercury rules. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the reductions announced earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency, do not go far enough to satisfy Clear Air Act requirements. The reductions aim to cut mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants by nearly half within 15 years.
On Mar.15, 2005, EPA issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule. The rule is the first ever federally-mandated that coal-fired electric utilities reduce their emissions of mercury. Its promulgation triggers a requirement in Wisconsin’s mercury rule that DNR revise its rule to assure consistency with the federal program. The key issue in the upcoming development of the state version of the rule is how closely it will track the federal program. (For more on the state mercury program, see Hamilton Consulting’s Mercury Rule Update).
State Audit Accounts for Federal Funds
On Friday, April 8, the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) released its annual Single Audit report (Report Summary, pdf doc, 4 pgs; Full Report, pdf doc, 235 pgs.), which details the expenditure of funds allocated to the State by the federal government. The audit includes 23 recommendations to improve state agency administration of federal grant programs.
The audit found that the State administered more than $9.3 billion in federal financial assistance in fiscal year 2003-04. Approximately 93 percent of the federal cash and non-cash assistance received by the State was administered by five state agencies, including the Department of Health and Family Services, the Department of Workforce Development, the University of Wisconsin System, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Public Instruction. |
