Government Relations
Legislative Update
February 13, 2004
TABOR
The UW System Board of Regents’ Business and Finance Committee discussed the “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights” (TABOR) proposal during a meeting today. Regent President Toby Marcovich asked the committee to review the proposal and recommend whether the full board should consider the issue. The Business and Finance Committee is chaired by Regent Mark Bradley and includes Regents Eileen Connolly-Keesler, Guy Gottschalk and Peggy Rosenzweig. Wisconsin Assembly leaders are currently working on a constitutional amendment they hope to take up in the Legislature before they adjourn in mid-March. The amendment is championed by Rep. Frank Lasee (R-Green Bay), who also participated in today’s meeting.
Recent Committee Hearings
The Assembly Colleges & Universities Committee heard testimony this week on two bills:
- AB-766, which authorizes UW police assigned to a given campus to make arrests anywhere in the county in which the UW campus is located if the Board of Regents authorizes them to do so, and the local municipality and the university adopt policies regarding investigations and arrests occurring off campus. It will likely receive a committee vote Feb 24.
- AB-799, which grants a nonresident tuition exemption to a dependent of an active member of the armed forces if the member is eligible for Wisconsin veterans benefits. It may receive a committee vote Feb. 24.
The committee also held an Executive Session on SB-85. As amended, this bill adds one new member to the UW System Board of Regents, namely a student of a University of Wisconsin institution who is at least 24 years old and represents the views of nontraditional students, such as those who are employed or who are parents. This bill was passed on a 12-0 vote and could be scheduled for Assembly floor action by the Assembly Rules Committee at any time.
The committee did NOT have a hearing on AB-813 which prohibits University of Wisconsin System administrators from serving on the board of directors of certain corporations. The bill could receive a hearing on Feb. 24.
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee held a public hearing Wednesday on a proposed audit of the state’s economic development programs. The motion to hold the audit passed by a vote of 8-0 (Senators Cowles and Darling were absent).
Upcoming Committee Hearings
The Joint Finance Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17, in Room 412-East, State Capitol, to vote on:
- AB-403. Regulates athlete agents
- AB-757. Increases bonding authority of UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority
- AB-830. Funding for engineering instruction at UW-Rock County
- SB-253. Independent charter schools established by UW institutions and college campuses
- SB-388. Increases bonding authority of UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority.
The Senate Transportation and Information Infrastructure Committee will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 18 to take up:
- SB-454. LICENSE PLATES (Harsdorf) Raises the fee from $20-$25 for a university license plate increasing by $37,000 available scholarship funds.
Legislation Introduced
- AB-826. GAS TAX (Plouff) Exempts UW System, cities, villages, towns, counties, school districts and technical college districts from motor vehicle fuel tax. To Tax Exemptions.
- AB-830. UW-Rock County (Towns) Funding for engineering instruction at the UW-Rock County campus. To Finance.
- SB-437. UW Rock County (Schultz) Funding for engineering instruction at the UW-Rock County campus. To Higher Education and Tourism.
- AB-835. LOCKER ROOMS (Schneider) Requires any person who owns or operates a locker room in the state to adopt a written policy on the use of recording devices in the locker room; includes camera, audio or video recorder or device that may be used to record or transfer sounds or images. To Small Business.
- SB-454. LICENSE PLATES (see above)
Other News
The UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Search and Screen committee has selected four finalists:
- Charles DeLisi, Professor of Science & Engineering, Professor of Physics, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Senior Associate Provost for Biosciences, Boston University (Boston, Mass.)
- Samuel Kirkpatrick, President, Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, Mich.)
- Roderick McDavis, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Va.)
-
Carlos
Santiago, Provost and Vice President
for Academic Affairs, University at Albany,
State University of New York (Albany, N.Y.)
Read the full release
State Sen. Mark Meyer (D-La Crosse), who has served in the Legislature since January 1993, will not run for re-election this fall. Meyer, who served four terms in the Assembly before winning the 32nd Senate District seat in 2000, said he made his decision based in part for personal reasons and because of frustration from being in the minority party for the past two years.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau revised the budget deficit estimates that were included in Act 33, the budget bill for 2003-05. The General Fund cash balance deficit will be $72 million—$32.2 million in deficit, plus $40 million that was included as a mandatory statutory reserve. Corporate tax revenue is increasing, which would lead to increased income and sales tax revenues in the coming year. The report, 2003-05 General Fund Tax Collections, is available at the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s website.
Several Democrats are preparing to run for U.S. Congressman Jerry Kleczka's 4th district seat. Announced are: State Rep. Shirley Krug (D-Milwaukee) and Attorney Matt Flynn. Exploring a run are State Sen. Gwen Moore (D- Milwaukee) and State Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee). Krug and Moore would have to give up their seats. Carpenter is halfway through his four-year Senate term.
For further information, contact Margaret Lewis at (608) 262-4464 or Doug Bradley at (608) 262-4463