Civil Trial Counsel of Wisconsin



	Political Tidbits	Compiled by The Hamilton Consulting Group April 4, 2006

Political Tidbits returns after a brief “spring break,” during which the Governor took action on many of the approximately 260 bills that were before him when the Legislature itself took a six week break beginning March 9^th. (According to Dick Wheeler of The Wheeler Report, the Governor still has about 130 bills to act on before April 20. Wheeler has also reported that the 1,834 bills introduced thus far this session represent the largest number of bill introductions since the 1993 Session.)

Below are selected bills that have been acted upon since the Legislature recessed at the end of the second week in March. The links are to the Acts, which now represent new law in Wisconsin. The Governor did sign a bill to re-establish a cap ($750,000) on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. The Governor had vetoed an earlier version adopted by the Legislature that would have provided a lower cap. The Governor also signed a proposal that places some restrictions on eminent domain powers relating to the taking of private residences for economic development purposes.

Bills are continuing to be introduced and there has been significant committee activity indicating that the last week in April and first week in May (the final regular session floor period) will address more issues than many of us had anticipated. Perhaps the most high- profile issue still pending is the proposed constitutional amendment (first consideration) to place limits on state and local government revenues and spending. The proposal, known as the Taxpayers Protection Act, or TPA, remains controversial and it is uncertain if sufficient votes exist for adoption. At the very least, the proposal is expected to be amended to respond to major concerns before being put to a vote in the Legislature.

On March 28 there were two major announcements that will impact the gubernatorial election this fall and the Supreme Court election in the spring of 2007. Scott Walker announced that he would no longer seek the Republican nomination for governor and threw his full support behind Mark Green in the race to unseat incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle. That same day, Jon Wilcox announced he will not be seeking re-election to the Court and will retire when his term expires next year.

In this Issue

Bills Signed into Law/Vetoes

Wisconsin Ranking for “Litigation Atmosphere” Falls Again

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Wilcox to Retire

Gottleib to Finance; Jensen’s Assembly Seat to be Filled at General Election

Policy Developments

Bills Signed into Law/Vetoes

ACT (Bill #)

125 (SB 618): Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

126 (AB 69): Operator's licenses and identification cards for aliens.

128 (AB456): Prepayment penalties on variable rate residential mortgage loans.

135 (AB 298): Tourism promotion and development under room tax law.

138 (SB 164): Notice regarding unauthorized acquisition of personal information.

139 (AB 536): Prohibiting a register of deeds from recording certain instruments that contain a social security number and providing a penalty.

140 (AB 912): release of credit reports.

141 (AB 459): Renewable energy.

164 (SB 510): Reporting requirements related to area cooperation compacts.

171 (SB 283): Limiting reasons local government may withhold approval of a permit.

172 (SB 474): Making various changes in the worker's compensation law.

173 (SB 623): Damages to rental vehicles.

179 (AB 588): Railroad regulation.

180 (SB 183): Manufacturing extension centers.

181 (AB 736): Drug and alcohol testing of prevailing wage employee.

183 (AB 1073): Recovery of noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases.

186 (AB 366): Neighborhood improvement districts.

187 (AB 683): Authorizes medically related actions by advanced practice nurse prescribers.

194 (AB 617): Coverage of certain health care costs in cancer clinical trials.

200 (SB 516): Continuing education and certification requirements for building contractors.

201 (SB 448): Claims against certain contractors and suppliers of dwellings.

203 (AB 1077): Impact fees.

204 (SB 450): Construction liens, requirements for securing payment for work on publicly financed projects.

205 (AB 127): Falsifying title insurance documents.

206 (AB 650): Nonprobate transfer of real property at death.

208 (AB 620): Zoning actions and comprehensive plans that change the allowable use of property.

211 (AB 981): Decreasing Medical Assistance reimbursement, transferring moneys from the general fund to the Medical Assistance trust fund, increasing the Medical Assistance reimbursement rate for nursing homes, supplementing the Medical Assistance reimbursement for nursing homes.

212 (AB 986): Offenses against financial institutions.

215 (AB 1037): regulation of insurance premium finance companies, mortgage bankers, loan originators, and mortgage brokers.

217 (SB 584): Regulation of bank branches, mergers and acquisitions of banks.

227 (AB 116): Industrial development projects.

228 (AB 907): Collection, analysis, and dissemination of health care claims information.

231 (AB 926): Group health care plans offered by health benefit purchasing cooperatives.

233 (AB 657): Prohibiting the condemnation of property under certain circumstances.

241 (AB 614): The settlement of personal property taxes on improvements to leased land.

246 (SB 637): Authorizing the town of Madison to reduce the territory of an environmental remediation tax incremental district.

249 (SB 150): Making technical and minor substantive changes in the administrative rule-making process.

255 (AB 594): Repossessions of motor vehicles and providing a penalty.

VETOED

AB 597 (Veto message): Remedies in certain actions concerning building code or zoning ordinance violations.

SB 268 (Veto message): Regulation of rental-purchase agreements.

Wisconsin Ranking for “Litigation Atmosphere” Falls Again
The United States Chamber of Commerce chose Madison, Wis. to release the results of the 2006 Institute for Legal Reform/Harris State Liability Ranking Study [Executive Summary, 34 pp; Full Report, 113 pp.] on March 27. Wisconsin is now ranked 23^rd in the country after being an enviable 10^th only two short years ago. The U.S. Chamber release cited “recent anti-business supreme court rulings and vetoes of legal reform legislation by Governor Doyle” as primary factors for the significant drop in national rankings.

The announcement was made by Tom Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber, who was joined by Humphrey Taylor, Chair, Harris Poll; Jim Haney, President, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce; Bill Smith, NFIB, and president of the Wisconsin Coalition for Civil Justice; and, Sens. Dale Schultz and Ted Kanavas and Reps. Mike Huebsch and Steve Wieckert.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Study cites worst states for legal fairness - Wisconsin ranked 23.
Institute for Legal Reform. Wisconsin legal system headed in the wrong direction.
Wisconsin Coalition for Civil Justice. Comments on liability crisis - new drop in national rankings.
WMC. Urges Legislature to re-approve liability reforms - US Chamber ranking drop shows need for swift action.
Wisconsin Economic Development Association. Major economic development concern worsens.
Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers. Statement on US Chamber of Commerce study. Wisconsin economically competitive.

For more information on legislation of interest to CTCW members, go to the CTCW Tracking Report.

Wisconsin Politics

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Wilcox to Retire
Justice Jon Wilcox, a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court since his appointment in September of 1992, announced he will not seek re-election when his current term expires on July 31, 2007. An election to replace Justice Wilcox will be held on April 3, 2007.

Wilcox, who was re-elected to a full 10-year term in 1997, will have served 15 years on the Court when he retires. He also served 13 years as a trial judge and six years as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

A day after the Justice Wilcox announcement, Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler of Washington County announced her candidacy for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Linda Clifford, an attorney in Madison had announced her candidacy last fall. There is, of course, speculation of other potential candidates and we will report on any future announcements.

Gottleib to Finance; Jensen’s Assembly Seat to be Filled at General Election
Assembly Speaker John Gard has appointed State Representative Mark Gottlieb (R-Port Washington) to the Joint Committee on Finance to fill the vacancy created by Scott Jensen’s recent resignation from the State Legislature. Gottlieb, who is in his second term in the State Assembly, is also co-chair of the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules and is the former Mayor of Port Washington.

Governor Doyle recently announced that he will not call a special election before the general election in November to fill the Assembly vacancy created by Jensen’s resignation.

In the News

Road funding realities (opinion): Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 4, 2006. Now there's a crisis. To meet it, the state can stop raiding the fund and re-evaluate the state's needs to build only those projects that are really needed, when they are really needed.

Eminent domain limits become law: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 31, 2006. Doyle signs bill restricting land acquisitions to public service projects.

Governor vetoes rent-to-own bill: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 31, 2006. Doyle's decision was a surprise to supporters of the bill, who thought Doyle might sign it over the objections from consumer groups and advocates for poor and older people.

Wilcox to retire in '07 from Supreme Court: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 31, 2006. He will have served as Wisconsin justice for 15 years.

Green urges election curbs: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 28, 2006. He asks governor to limit spending, sign clean-campaign pledge.

In governor's race, the rules have changed: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar. 28, 2006. Doyle, Green will spar for months instead of weeks.

For more Wisconsin News, go to Hamilton Consulting News Clips.

CTCW Political Tidbits is a weekly newsletter on Wisconsin political and policy developments prepared for CTCW members by The Hamilton Consulting Group. Employees of CTCW member organizations can subscribe at: http://www.ctcw.org/form-subscribe-tidbits.html.
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For Further Information

For further information on these initiatives, contact Jim Hough at The Hamilton Consulting Group.