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Late last Thursday, May 4, the State Senate and Assembly
adjourned the Regular Session of the 2005-06 Legislature. Bills that did
not pass both the Senate and Assembly with identical language are dead for
this session and no new bills may be introduced. Both houses were also
working concurrently in an Extraordinary Session that has been recessed
but not adjourned and, therefore, a few bills still pending could be dealt
with if the Legislature decides to reconvene the Extraordinary
Session.
During its last week, the Legislature gave final approval to a
number of bills, some of which are referenced below. Of significant note,
however, was the failure of a proposed constitutional amendment to place
limits on the growth of government spending. As noted last week, the
Assembly passed a version which would have placed limits on state
government only, and would have left much of the detail to implementing
legislation. The Senate failed to act on that proposal with several
Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The opposition among
Republicans was split between those who opposed amending the constitution
for the purpose of limiting spending and those who believed that the
proposal was no longer strong enough.
Both Houses of the Wisconsin Legislature did pass a bill
(AB-1163) to repeal the “shareholder liability” provision in Wisconsin law
that is cited as a major impediment to capital investment in Wisconsin.
The statute in question provides that shareholders of a corporation are
personally liable for an amount equal to the par value of (and probably
total value paid for) their shares owned for all wages owing to employees
for up to the preceding six months. The existing provision is out of sync
with virtually every other state in the country.
There are currently 104 measures that have passed both houses
and are awaiting action by the Governor, who has until May 30 to act.
Under Wisconsin law, any bills not acted upon by the deadline,
automatically become law.
We at The Hamilton Consulting Group join others in
extending our condolences to Gov. Doyle and his family on the passing of
his mother, Ruth Doyle. Mrs. Doyle was an exceptional person who made
substantial contributions to the betterment of the state of
Wisconsin.
| In this Issue |
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Bills
Awaiting Action by the Governor
Ruth Doyle Remembered |
| Policy Developments |
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Bills
Awaiting Action by the Governor
The following
“selected bills” passed the second House last week and are enrolled
for gubernatorial action.
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AB
33: Provides an
exception to confidentiality requirements for treatment
records.
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AB
958: Civil liability
exemption for assistance provided as the result of an
emergency.
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AB
1163: Repeal of shareholder liability.
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AB
1186: Unincorporated
cooperative associations.
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SB
99: Time period for
service of a responsive pleading.
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SB
136: Creates income and franchise tax credits for
businesses located in an airport development zone and a loan
program for certain construction projects in an airport
development zone.
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SB
358: Establishes a
prohibition on charging excessive prices during a period of
declared emergency.
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SB
563: Creates income and
franchise tax credits for expenses related to film production
services and for capital investments made by a film production
company.
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SB
567: Limits eligibility for public assistance programs
to U.S. citizens and qualifying aliens.
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SB
616: Uniform Real
Property Electronic Recording Act.
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SB
639: Payment of interest
on property tax refunds for manufacturing property.
For more
information on legislation of interest to CTCW members, go to the CTCW
Tracking Report. |
| Wisconsin Politics |
|
Ruth Doyle Remembered
On Saturday, May 6, after a
long battle with Parkinson's Disease, Ruth Doyle, mother of Gov. Jim
Doyle, passed away.
In 1948, she became one of the first women elected to the
Wisconsin Legislature. When she was elected to the Assembly,
she was the first Democrat in decades and the first woman ever to
represent Madison. She is also remembered for her notable service as longtime assistant to the Dean of
the UW-Madison Law School.
She went on to serve with distinction as the only female
member of the Dane County Board and was the first female president
of the Madison School Board. In 1990, the School Board named
the district's administration building in her
honor. |
| In the News |
|
Doyle orders deal on piers into effect; most meet
rules: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 9,
2006. Republicans say he overstepped his authority.
3 Wisconsin cities called smart places to
live: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 9,
2006. La Crosse, Madison and Oshkosh rank on Kiplinger's
Personal Finance list.
Your
Legislature in action: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 8, 2006.
State lawmakers tackled a variety of measures in just-finished
session.
Legislative
session marked by 'politics of conflict': La Crosse Tribune, May
8, 2006. Here's a look at how the action in Madison will affect the
state's 5.5 million residents.
Strategy
session fuels more Tommy talk: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May
8, 2006. Recent poll showed Thompson trouncing Doyle by 58%-30%,
with the rest undecided.
Feingold
critical of Hayden nomination for CIA: Green Bay Press-Gazette,
May 8, 2006. Bush announced the nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden in
the Oval Office this morning.
54th
contenders expect attention: Oshkosh Northwestern, May 7, 2006.
Hintz, Pung Leschke, Didlo readying to run.
Supporters
of spending limit amendment say lessons learned: Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, May 6, 2006. Start earlier, stay consistent and
market better, they say.
Referendums
may boost GOP: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 6, 2006. Death
penalty, marriage votes likely to energize Republicans, experts
say.
Defeat
of ethics bill a lost opportunity (opinion): La Crosse Tribune,
May 6, 2006. They could have done much more.
Giving
the people reason to believe (opinion): Beloit Daily News, Ma 5,
2006. The best argument we can see for adopting new ethics
legislation is to send a message.
7 from GOP
reject spending limit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 5, 2006.
Senators reject state spending limits, defeating 3-year effort for
amendment.
For more Wisconsin News,
go to Hamilton
Consulting News Clips. |
| Upcoming Fundraisers |
|
May 10
-
Scott Walker (R), Milwaukee
-
Rep. Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), Madison
-
Paul Bucher (R) AG candidate, Wauwatosa
May 12
May 13
May 15
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Rep. Tom Lothian (R-Williams Bay), Fontana
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U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R), Green Bay
-
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D), New York
May 16
May 17
For details, go to Hamilton
Consulting Fundraiser Calendar. |
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.
To unsubscribe, go to: http://www.ctcw.org/form-unsubscribe-tidbits.html.
© 2006 The Hamilton Consulting Group |
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