Legislative Activity - Bills to be Acted on by
Governor
The following bills have passed both houses this
week and are now or will be enrolled and sent to the
Governor:
Senate Bills
SB-161.
Civil liability exemption for claims resulting from weight gain and
obesity.
SB-164.
Notice regarding unauthorized acquisition of personal
information.
SB-183.
Increases maximum amount of grants to certain organizations that
provide support to a manufacturing extension center.
SB-283.
Limits reasons for which a local government may withhold approval of
a permit.
SB-352.
Wisconsin Aerospace Authority.
SB-350.
Display of political signs in condominiums.
SB-375.
Metal fabrication tool builder liens.
SB-420.
Definition of a group health benefit plan.
SB-447.
Punitive damage awards.
SB-448.
Contractor notices.
SB-450.
Construction liens.
SB-459.
Utility public benefits program changes; energy conservation
programs.
SB-474.
Workers compensation law changes.
SB-477.
Licensing midwives.
SB-501.
Damages for frivolous claims.
SB-516.
Continuing education and certification requirements for building
contractors.
SB-578.
Confidentiality of health care review records; immunity.
SB-596.
Authorizes a city or village to make changes in TIF
districts.
SB-602.
Development zone credit for the license fees paid by certain
insurers.
SB-617.
Defined network plans.
SB-618.
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and SAGE Program
changes.
SB-623.
Damages to rental vehicles. Passed, voice vote.
SB-637.
Environmental remedial tax incremental district.
Assembly Bills
AB-69.
Driver license and ID cards for aliens.
AB-116.
Changes definition of industrial development project; limits scope
of certain projects.
AB-127.
Falsifying title insurance documents.
AB-129.
Late payments of property tax installments.
AB-156.
Allows certain counties to create TIF districts.
AB-208.
Rural enterprise development zones.
AB-298.
Tourism promotion and development under the room tax.
AB-299.
Effect of county shoreland zoning ordinances in territories annexed
by cities, villages or towns.
AB-456.
Prepayment penalties on variable rate residential mortgage
loans.
AB-536.
Prohibits register of deeds from recording document with more than a
partial social security number.
AB-588.
Railroad regulation.
AB-594.
Repossession of goods in consumer credit transactions and certain
consumer leases.
AB-597.
Remedies in certain actions concerning building code or zoning
ordinance violations.
AB-620.
Requires notice to persons affected by zoning actions and
comprehensive plans that change the allowable use of their
property.
AB-657.
Places limited restrictions on eminent domain power in response to
the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court Kelo decision.
AB-823.
Motor vehicle dealers.
AB-871.
Post-dated checks and checks given for past
consideration.
AB-907.
Requires contract with a data organization for collection, analysis
and dissemination of health care claims and information.
AB-912.
Allows individuals to restrict release of credit reports.
AB-926.
Group health care plans offered b health benefit purchasing
cooperatives.
AB-973.
Expands purpose for which a town may create a tax incremental
financing district.
AB-981.
MA funding changes.
AB-986.
Offenses against financial institutions.
AB-1008.
Authorizes city of Monroe to allocate positive tax increments from
one or more of its districts to another.
AB-1028.
Payments for natural disasters.
AB-1071.
Time limit for a person under 18 to bring an action against a health
care provider.
AB-1072.
Awards for malpractice; evidence of compensation for those
damages.
AB-1073.
Recovery of non-economic damages in medical malpractice
cases.
AB-1074.
Recovery of attorney fees in medical malpractice cases.
AB-1077.
Time period during which impact fees must be used and the refunding
of impact fees.
For additional information regarding the above bills, go
the Tidbits
Archive for more in-depth coverage of recent legislative
activity.
Ethanol Bill Dies in Senate
After two hours of
heated debate on the Senate floor yesterday, AB-15,
which would have required gasoline sold in the state to contain 10
percent ethanol, was killed by a vote to indefinitely postpone the
measure.
On a 17-15
vote, cast primarily along regional rather than party lines,
those opposed said the ethanol industry is gaining strength on its
own, and that consumers shouldn’t be told what to put in their
vehicles.
Supporters claim that the bill, which was also supported by
the Governor, would be a boon to Wisconsin corn growers and help
reduce dependence on foreign oil. Opponents raised concerns that
using ethanol would result in poorer fuel economy, higher gas costs,
and increased pollution during the ozone season.
Punitive Damages and Medical Malpractice Caps Pass
Legislature
In light of several Wisconsin Supreme Court
decisions of last year and Wisconsin’s plummeting national
“litigation atmosphere” reputation, legal reform has been at or near
the top of the Legislature’s priorities since the middle of last
year.
Numerous bills have been passed to address product liability,
risk contribution, medical malpractice noneconomic damage caps and
heightened standards for admission of expert opinion evidence. All
have been vetoed.
This past week, the Legislature addressed the issue of
re-establishing the cap on noneconomic damages (pain and suffering)
in medical malpractice cases for the second time this session by
passing AB-1073,
which sets a cap of $750,000, which is $300,000 higher than the
earlier cap enacted via AB-766.
The bill also devotes more legislative language to the “rational
basis” for its action.
The Governor has not stated his intentions regarding AB-1073,
but has indicated he needs to be convinced the bill is
constitutional and “clean,” meaning it does not include limitations
on plaintiff attorney fees.
The Legislature also passed SB-447,
which heightens the standards for the award of punitive damages in
civil cases. This bill responds to another Wisconsin Supreme Court
case of last March that “interpreted” a 1995 statute to establish a
weaker standard than the standard the Legislature thought was
intended by the 1995 enactment.
School Choice Gains Legislative Approval
On
Tuesday, March 7, the Assembly gave final
approval to a bill (SB-618)
to lift the cap on the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program by
50 percent to accommodate 22,500 students. The bill now heads to
Governor Doyle, who is expected to sign it into law.
In addition to raising the cap, the agreement calls for an
additional $25 million in SAGE funding, a statewide program aimed at
reducing class sizes for schools serving low-income children, as
well as increased accountability and accreditation standards for the
choice program.
Energy Bill Heads to Governor
The comprehensive
energy efficiency and renewable power bill (SB-459)
received a vote of 94-0 by the State Assembly Wednesday night.
The major elements of SB-459 are:
-
Public Benefits Reform: Reform the energy efficiency
program by securing funding at an appropriate level for
cost-effective energy efficiency programs.
-
Energy Independence for Wisconsin: Increase
utility renewable usage to 10 percent by 2015 to reduce dependence
on out-of-state energy.
-
Government Leading By Example: The bill also has
sections devoted to increasing conservation and renewable
purchases for state government.
-
Local Government and Agricultural Development: Finally, the bill requires a competitively bid program to reduce
property taxes by reducing energy costs of schools and local units
of government.
The bill now heads to the governor who is expected to sign
the bill in the coming weeks.
Honorable Diane Sykes Delivers Hallows Lecture
On
March 7, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge (and former Wisconsin Supreme
Court Justice) Diane Sykes delivered the Hallows
Lecture at Marquette University Law School. Her presentation,
“Reflections on the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” discussed Wisconsin
Supreme Court action that has drawn attention in the Wisconsin
Legislature and across the country. Sykes served on the Wisconsin
Supreme Court from 1999 to 2004.
Sykes was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and confirmed by the U.S.
Senate on June 24, 2004.
Past Hallows lecturers at Marquette University Law School
have included the Hon. Shirley S. Abrahamson, Chief Justice of the
Wisconsin Supreme Court, in 2003 and the Hon. Antonin Scalia of the
United States Supreme Court in 2001.
For more
information on legislation of interest to CTCW members, go to the CTCW
Tracking Report. |
