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Capitol Update
November 12, 2019Like us on Facebook
Contents Include:
1. WCC Supports Pay Parity for State Public Defenders
2. Assembly Passes Pharmacist Prescribing Contraception Bill
3. Assembly Passes Suicide Prevention Bills
4. Upcoming Hearings of Interest
5. New Bills of Interest
 
WCC Supports Pay Parity for State Public Defenders
On October 31, the WCC submitted written testimony to the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) in support of SB-468  (Sen. Jerry Petrowski, R-Marathon) and companion AB-501 (Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton), which would fund the assistant state public defender pay progression plan for the 2019-2021 biennium and thereby create pay parity between assistant public defenders and assistant district attorneys.  The JCF took no further action on the bills.
 
Assembly Passes Pharmacist Prescribing Contraception Bill
On November 7, on a 82-13 vote, the Assembly passed Assembly Bill 304  (Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay), which allows pharmacists to prescribe certain hormonal contraceptives.   The WCC testified  in opposition.  The bill now awaits action in the Senate.

Assembly Passes Suicide Prevention Bills
On November 7, the Assembly passed a package of suicide prevention bills.  The WCC registered in support of three of them.  AB-525 (Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan) creates a suicide prevention program (passed 93-2).  AB-528  (Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield) provides grants to support peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs in high schools (passed 93-2).  AB-530 (Rep. Nancy VanderMeer, R-Tomah) provides grants for suicide prevention programming (passed 92-3).  The bills now await action in the Senate.
 
Upcoming Hearings of Interest
(N.B. Only bills of interest are flagged.  In most cases, committees will be considering other bills as well.)
 
Assembly Children And Families, Wed, Nov 13, 1:00 pm, 300-NE
AB-263  Parental Rights (Brandtjen, Janel) Termination of parental rights; the rights of alleged fathers in certain proceedings; and payments allowed in connection with an adoption.
 
Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Thu, Nov 14, 10:00 am, 225-NW
AB-480  Crimes Against Elder Persons (Macco, John) Increased penalties for crimes against elder persons, restraining orders for elder persons, freezing assets of a defendant charged with financial exploitation of an elder person; sexual assault of an elder person; physical abuse of an elder person; and providing a penalty.
AB-481  Financial Exploitation (Macco, John) Financial exploitation of vulnerable adults.
AB-482  Financial Exploitation with Securities (Macco, John) Financial exploitation of vulnerable adults with securities accounts, violations of the Wisconsin Uniform Securities Law, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.
 
New Bills of Interest
SB-467  Housing and Homelessness (Johnson, LaTonya) Housing and homelessness; workforce development; community action agencies; poverty reports; mental health; public assistance advisory committee; economic security; adverse childhood experiences reports; creating a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for household and dependent care services; reimbursement for nonemergency medical transportation services; urban mass transit aid; and making an appropriation. Referred to Senate Committee on Local Government, Small Business, Tourism, & Workforce. AB-508 (Subeck, Lisa) 

SB-468  Public Defender Pay  (Petrowski, Jerry) Funding the public defender pay progression and making an appropriation.  Referred to Joint Committee on Finance. AB-501 (Loudenbeck, Amy)
 
SB-490  Food Donations  (Petrowski, Jerry) Grants to support donation of farm and food products to food banks and emergency feeding organizations and making an appropriation.  Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Revenue, & Financial Institutions.  AB-540  
(Krug, Scott) 
 
SB-492   Health Care Practitioner Exemptions  (Tiffany, Tom) Providing complementary and alternative health care practitioners with exemptions from practice protection laws, requirements and prohibitions for individuals who provide complementary and alternative health care services, and providing a penalty.  Referred to Senate Committee on Health & Human Services.  AB-546   (Felzkowski, Mary) 

SB-495  Parental Choice Program  (Olsen, Luther) Application and  reporting  deadlines for the statewide parental choice program and evidence of accreditation for a private school participating in a parental choice program.  Referred to Senate Committee on Education. AB-554 (Jagler, John)  
 
SB-496  ID Card Info  (Olsen, Luther) Requiring that student identification cards include contact information for suicide prevention hotlines.  Referred to Senate Committee on Education.  AB-531  (Stafsholt, Rob) 
 
SB-498   Suicide Prevention Grants  (Darling, Alberta) Grants to support peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs in high schools, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.  Referred to Senate Committee on Education.  AB-528  (Duchow, Cindi) 
 
SB-499   Medication Requests  (Risser, Fred) Permitting certain individuals to make requests for medication for the purpose of ending their lives and providing a penalty.  Referred to Senate Committee on Health & Human Services.  AB-552  (Pope, Sondy) 
 
SB-503  Suicide Prevention Program  (Olsen, Luther) Implementing a suicide prevention program and making an appropriation.  Referred to Senate Committee on Health & Human Services  AB-525  (Ballweg, Joan) 

SB-504  Suicide Prevention Grants  (Olsen, Luther) Grants for suicide prevention programming and making an appropriation.  Referred to Senate Committee on Health & Human Services.  AB-530  (VanderMeer, Nancy) 
 
SB-513  Breast-Feeding Break  (Johnson, LaTonya) Requiring an employer to provide reasonable break time for an employee who is breast-feeding the employee's child to express breast milk for the child.  Referred to Senate Committee on Labor & Regulatory Reform. AB-506 (Subeck, Lisa)
 
SB-516  Caregiver Designation  (Testin, Patrick) Requiring hospitals to allow designation of a caregiver.  Referred to Senate Committee on Government Operations, Technology, & Consumer Protection. AB-584 (Skowronski, Ken) 
 
SB-517  Firearm Possession  (Kooyenga, Dale) The possession of a firearm by a person who has committed a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or by a fugitive from justice and providing a penalty.  Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety. AB-577 (Mursau, Jeff)

SB-521   Adoption Reports  (Jacque, Andre) Access by an adult adoptee to report of adoption.  Referred to Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children & Families. AB-579 (Tittl, Paul)
 
SB-524  Fetal Body Parts  (Jacque, Andre) Sale, use, and final disposition of fetal body parts, reporting of sex and fetal anomaly following induced abortion, and providing a penalty.  Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety. AB-590 (Brandtjen, Janel)
 
SB-527  Pupil Restraint  (Olsen, Luther) The seclusion and physical restraint of pupils.  Referred to Senate Committee on Education. AB-585 (Quinn, Romaine) 
 
SB-528  Lottery Purchases  (Darling, Alberta) Use of debit card for lottery purchase.  Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Revenue, & Financial Institutions.  AB-586   (Katsma, Terry) 
 
SB-530   Extreme Risk Protection Orders  (Taylor, Lena) Extreme risk protection temporary restraining orders and injunctions and providing a penalty.  Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety. AB-573 (Sargent, Melissa) 
 
SB-531   Permanency Plan  (Jacque, Andre) Providing permanency plan and comments to foster parents and foster children over the age of 12 in advance of a permanency plan review or hearing.  Referred to Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children & Families. AB-563 (Murphy, Dave) 
 
SB-532  Foster Parent Rights  (Darling, Alberta) The rights of a foster parent or other physical custodian of a child on removal of the child from the person's home.  Referred to Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children & Families. AB-562 (Plumer, Jon) 
 
SB-533  Adoption Assistance  (Darling, Alberta) Eligibility for adoption assistance.  Referred to Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children & Families. AB-564 (Mursau, Jeff) 
 
SB-534  Postadoption Contact  (Olsen, Luther) Postadoption contact agreements.  Referred to Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children & Families. AB-561 (Dittrich, Barbara)  
 
SB-548   Child Placement  (Olsen, Luther) Placement of a child with a relative under the Children's Code or the Juvenile Justice Code.  Referred to Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children & Families. AB-565 (Ramthun, Timothy) 
 
AB-474  Pupil Transport  (Novak, Todd) A contract between a school board and a parent or guardian to transport a pupil to and from school.  Referred to Assembly Education
 
AB-475   Lead Testing  (Thiesfeldt, Jeremy) Testing for lead in drinking water in facilities used for recreational and educational camps and child care.  Referred to Assembly Energy and Utilities
 
AB-476   Lead Testing  (Thiesfeldt, Jeremy) Lead testing of potable water sources in certain schools; providing loans for lead remediation in certain schools; and providing an exception to referendum restrictions for lead remediation. Referred to Assembly Energy and Utilities
 
AB-477   Restoring Voting Rights  (Emerson, Jodi) Restoring the right to vote to certain persons barred from voting as a result of a felony conviction, changing the information requiring on voter registration forms, and changing voting procedure for certain persons who are convicted of felonies.  Referred to Assembly Campaigns and Elections
 
AB-480   Crimes A gainst Elder Persons  (Macco, John) Increased penalties for crimes against elder persons, restraining orders for elder persons, freezing assets of a defendant charged with financial exploitation of an elder person; sexual assault of an elder person; physical abuse of an elder person; and providing a penalty.  Referred to Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety
 
AB-559  Grounds for CHIPS  (Dittrich, Barbara) Grounds for finding a child in need of protection or services or for terminating parental rights, right to a jury trial in a termination of parental rights proceeding, and permanency plan reviews.  Referred to Assembly Family Law

AB-560 Terminating Parental Rights (Snyder, Pat) Termination of parental rights if a child has been placed outside the home for 15 of the last 22 months. Referred to Assembly Family Law
 
AB-566  Terminating Parental Rights  (Kulp, Bob) The procedure in a CHIPS or JIPS proceeding for an involuntary termination of parental rights.  Referred to Assembly Family Law

AB-588  Passing School Bus  (Pope, Sondy) Applicability to private roads and driveways of certain rules of the road governing passing school buses.  Referred to Assembly Transportation  
Capitol Update is a periodic e-mail on legislative issues from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
 
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