Government Relations

Legislative Update

April 16, 2007

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In this issue:

STATE UPDATE

Biennial Budget

NEW The public hearing phase of the 2007-2009 biennial budget is now complete. 

Traditionally (at least the last decade), voting by the Joint Finance Committee begins in the last week of April or first week in May.  However, before those votes can begin, the Co-Chairmen must agree to what items they will remove from the budget bill as "non-fiscal policy items."  While Committee membership is very different from the previous budget, we are sharing the final list from the 05-07 budget for your review.  2005-07 Non-fiscal Policy Items List 

As debate begins about possible increases to certain fees and taxes in the bienniel budget, we thought we'd share this recently released Legislative Fiscal Bureau Document State Tax and Fee Modifications Included in the Governor's 2007-09 Budget Recommendations  

April 18 -- The Joint Finance Committee will hold an informational briefing and public hearing, at 1:00 p.m. in room 412 East, State Capitol on the 2007-09 state building program.  The informational briefing will be given by staff from the Department of Administration and members of the State Building Commission.  Following the briefing, the Committee will hold a public hearing on the building program.

NEW President Reilly will testify along with David Miller, Assistant Vice President for Capital Budget and Planning on the UW System’s building programs.

Here is the LFB memo related to the Building Program for JFC consideration that day.  Building Commission Recommendations for 2007-09 Building Program

David Miller, Assistant Vice President for Capitol Planning and Budget will be presenting this memo before the Joint Finance Committee:   Capital Budget Message Summary

While the JFC Committee that day starts with an informational briefing for invited guests only, it subsequently changes into a public hearing.   Those institutions who may be affected by a project recommended should strongly consider their role in this public input process, particularly if students, alumni, or other representatives  are already in Madison for the Posters in the Rotunda/Spirit Day events. 

Please contact Jessica Tormey at jtormey@uwsa.edu or Grant Huber at ghuber@uwsa.edu if you have questions.

Budget Tools/Resources

NEW

Growth Agenda for Wisconsin –   Please view recently posted fact sheets and endorsements. 

The Biennial Budget Bulletin – UW System Summary of the 2007-09 Governor’s Budget

For on-the spot coverage of Joint Finance Committee action on the budget, please visit this public blog hosted by Wispolitics.com.   (no password required)

LFB Summary of Governor’s Budget

LFB Informational Paper on the UW System

History of Biennial Budgets 1997-2007 shows the timeline of the passage of budgets since 1997.  You may want to share this with your colleagues!

State Legislation Update

Legislative Activity

April 10 -- The Assembly Colleges and Universities committee held a public hearing on AB 65 (Wieckert/Plale), creates a nonrefundable individual and corporate income tax credit based on interest received from bonds or notes issued by the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority for purposes related to an educational facility and authorizing the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority to issue bonds to finance a project undertaken by the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities related to an educational facility; and AB 151 (Hahn/Leibham), which makes a college student who is convicted of possessing, with intent to manufacture, distribute, or deliver, a controlled substance ineligible for state student financial aid.  The Committee also heard a presentation by Charlie Hoslet on economic development from the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations.

April 17 – On Tuesday, both the Senate and Assembly will meet for floor session, one of only two days when they will meet in April are the 17th and 24th.  Both houses will be hearing joint resolutions, authored by Sen. Vinehout and Rep. Murtha, supporting UW System, its students, and Undergraduate Research Day (aka Posters in the Rotunda).

Upcoming Legislative Committee Hearings

April 18 – The Joint Audit Committee will hold a public hearing on at 10:00 a.m. in room 411-South related to the Economic Development Audit.  On the agenda will be a discussion of information presented in audit follow-up letters submitted by the Department of Commerce, Wisconsin Technical College System and UW System.  Invited speakers only.

April 18 – The Joint Finance Committee will hold an information briefing and a public hearing at 1:00 p.m. in room 413 East on the 2007-09 state building program.

April 18 – The Senate Committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs will take executive action on Senator Erpenbach and Rep. Pope-Roberts recently introduced bill SB 80, which would regulate traveling sales crews, defined as two or more individuals who are employed as salespersons or in related support work, who travel together in a group, for the purpose of selling good or services to consumers from house to house. Under the bill, a person may not employ, offer to employ, or otherwise recruit an individual to work as a traveling sales crew member without first obtaining a certificate of registration from the Department of Workforce Development.  At this time, the UW System has no official position on the bill.  View additional sponsors and full text  

April 19 – The Senate Agriculture and Higher Education Committee will hold a public hearing at 11:00 a.m. in room 201 Southeast.  President Reilly and UW-River Falls Chancellor Don Betz will brief the Committee on the “Growth Agenda for Wisconsin.” 

May 4 -- The Special Committee on Affirmative Action will meet on May 4 at 10:00 a.m. at the Milwaukee Public Schools Central Administration Building, Rooms 206-208, 5225 W. Vliet Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.    Presentations by invited speakers will be heard on the following topics:  veteran’s issues related to affirmative action; employment and contracting policies of the Milwaukee Public Schools’ employment policies of the City of Milwaukee; affirmative action workforce data published by the Department of Workforce Development; and affirmative action and equal employment regulatory compliance by businesses.  Following the presentations, a discussion of committee members’ recommendation for legislative action will take place.  A second meeting is scheduled for June 1 at 10:00 in the state Capitol.  Agendas for these meetings have not yet been finalized, except for the appearance of Prof. Frank. H. Wu, Dean of Wayne State University Law School.  Dean Wu is the author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White and also co-author of Race, Rights and Reparation:  Law and the Japanese American Internment.

Legislation Introduced or Added Since Last Update

Rep. Molepske/Erpenbach has introduced AB 252 which would increase Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board (WHEG) education grants to undergraduates enrolled at least half-time at public higher educational institutions from a maximum of $3,000 per academic year to a maximum grant amount at 50 percent of the highest resident undergraduate academic fees charged to attend an institution within the University of Wisconsin System.  The bill has been referred to the Colleges and Universities Committee.  View additional sponsors and full text   

Senator Kanavas/Moulton has introduced SB 139 which creates an income and franchise tax credit for expenses related to nanotechnology and providing an exemption from emergency rule-making procedures.   The bill has been referred to the Economic Development, Job Creation, Family Prosperity and Housing.  View additional sponsors and full text 

Please note that UW System legislative bill positions that have been approved by the UW System Board of Regents are posted on the web.  View Bill Positions.

FEDERAL UPDATE

Earmarks

Please see Congressman Obey's letter to colleagues regarding earmarks in FY08 appropriations bills:  Obey’s letter on Earmarks

Legislative Activity

The House is currently adjourned for the spring district work period.  The Senate approved legislation, by a vote of 63-34, to expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research (S. 5).  The vote margin was not sufficient to override the President’s promised veto of the legislation. The Senate also approved, by a vote of 70-28, a measure (S. 30) promoted by its sponsors as an alternative that calls for using only embryos that are “naturally dead.”  There is no House counterpart to S. 30.  It is being reported that the House expects to approve S. 5 when it returns from the spring recess.  The House approved a similar bill earlier this year (H.R. 3), but the Senate bill contains added language encouraging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pursue other forms of stem cell research. 

Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, will hold a hearing April 25 to take testimony from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on “unethical practices and conflicts of interest” in the student loan industry.  Mr. Cuomo has been leading a widely publicized investigation into the relationships between student lenders and school financial aid officers, and between lenders and federal student aid officials. 

President Reilly has asked the UW financial aid directors to develop an inventory of current practices and a system-level policy regarding relationships with lending institutions.  The working group will provide their recommendations to President Reilly by the end of April so that these matters can be discussed with the Board of Regents at their May meeting.

UPCOMING EVENTS     

April 18 
Posters in the Rotunda (undergraduate research display in Capitol Rotunda)
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Formal program at noon
Contact Laurie Dies at ldies@uwsa.edu

Spirit Day (community, alumni, legislator visits), 2:00-4:30 p.m.
Legislative Reception, 5:00-7:30 p.m., Inn on the Park, $8/per person
Guest Speaker:  UW-Madison Badgers Football Coach Bret Bielema
Contact Mike Fahey at  mikefahey@uwalumni.com

April 20
8th Annual UW System Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

May 8
“Door County Legislative Day” with evening reception and authentic Door County fish boil.

May 10-11
UW System Board of Regents Meeting, Madison

June 7-8
UW System Board of Regents Meeting – at UW-Milwaukee

AROUND THE STATE

UW-River Falls will address campus and regional sustainability issues of economic, environmental and social change through a new Institute.  View news release

Web Resources

Contact

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