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Capitol Update

April 18, 2017Like us on Facebook
Contents Include:
1.  Joint Committee on Finance Outlines Budget Process and Removes Items
2.  Upcoming Hearings of Interest
3.  New Bills of Interest
4.  Websites of Interest
 
JCF Outlines Budget Process and Removes Items
The co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) released a memorandum describing the Committee's process for the reviewing the proposed 2017-19 state budget ( Senate Bill 30 and Assembly Bill 64 ).  The document also listed 83 recommendations that were identified as non-fiscal policy items, which the JCF has determined should not be addressed in the budget, but instead considered in separate legislation.
 
The memorandum also indicated that the JCF will deviate from the review of the Governor's recommendations as regards the Department of Transportation's (DOT's) proposed budget and instead entertain motions amending the DOT's adjusted base budget rather than the Governor's recommendations.  Therefore, it will take a majority vote of the JCF for any proposal, including the Governor's recommendations, to advance through Committee.
 
Among the non-policy items eliminated from the budget are proposals that the WCC supported, including enhanced employment training for those exiting incarceration and changes to certain Parental Choice Program requirements for private school students and families.
 
Upcoming Hearings of Interest
(N.B. Only bills of interest are flagged.  In most cases, committees will be considering other bills as well.)
 
Assembly Health, 1 pm , Wed, April 19, 412-E
AB-128  Group Insurance Board Prohibition (Jacque, Andre) Prohibiting the group insurance board from contracting for or providing abortion services.
 
Joint Finance Public Hearing, 10 am, Wed, April 19,
Ellsworth High School Gymnasium, Ellsworth
AB-064  Executive Budget (Joint Finance) State finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 2017 legislature.
SB-030  Executive Budget (Joint Finance) State finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 2017 legislature.
 
Assembly Education, 2 pm , Thu, April 20, 417-N
AB-233 ESSA State Plan (Tusler, Ron) Submitting a state plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
 
Joint Finance Public Hearing, 10 am, Fri, April 21,
Marinette High School Auditorium, Marinette
AB-064  Executive Budget (Joint Finance) State finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 2017 legislature.
SB-030  Executive Budget (Joint Finance) State finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 2017 legislature.
 
New Bills of Interest
SB-121 IRA Donation to Charity (Marklein, Howard) Adopting a provision of the Internal Revenue Code related to the tax-free distribution from an individual retirement account to a qualified charitable organization. Referred to Senate Revenue, Financial Institutions & Rural Issues
 
SB-138 Stillbirth Tax Credit (Darling, Alberta) Creating a refundable individual income tax credit for the parent of a stillbirth. Referred to Senate Revenue, Financial Institutions & Rural Issues
 
SB-151 Racial Impact Statements (Johnson, La Tonya) Requiring racial impact statements for bills that create a new crime, modify and existing crime, or modify the penalty for an existing crime. Referred to Senate Public Benefits, Licensing & State-Federal Relations
 
SB-154 Abortion Prohibitions (Kapenga, Chris) Prohibiting performance of and funding or providing property for abortions and other services by certain employees and entities. Referred to Senate Health & Human Services
 
SB-157 Adoption Tax Deduction Eligibility (LeMahieu, Devin) Changing the individual income tax deduction eligibility requirements for certain adoption-related expenses. Referred to Senate Revenue, Financial Institutions & Rural Issues
 
SB-174  FoodShare Fraud Prevention (Cowles, Rob) Incentive programs for counties and tribes that identify fraudulent activity in certain public assistance programs, removing inactive FoodShare accounts, expunging unused FoodShare benefits, limiting the number of FoodShare replacement cards, requiring the exercise of rule-making authority, and making appropriations. Referred to Senate Public Benefits, Licensing & State-Federal Relations
 
SB-179  Marriage after Divorce Waiting Period (Ringhand, Janis) Waiting period for marriage after divorce judgment. Referred to Senate Public Benefits, Licensing & State-Federal Relations
 
AB-165 Article V Delegate Appointment (Bernier, Kathy) Appointing delegates for a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution. Referred to Assembly Federalism and Interstate Relations
 
AB-186   Prosecuting Prostitutes Under 18 (Billings, Jill) Prosecuting a person under the age of 18 with committing an act of prostitution. Referred to Assembly Children and Families
 
AB-190 Prohibiting Sanctuary Cities (Spiros, John) Prohibiting local ordinances, resolutions, and policies that prohibit the enforcement of federal or state law relating to illegal aliens or immigration status, authorizing certain elective officeholders to commence an enforcement action, providing a reduction in shared revenue payments, and creating governmental liability for damages caused by illegal aliens. Referred to Assembly Local Government
 
AB-193 Employee Break Time (Subeck, Lisa) Requiring an employer to provide reasonable break time for an employee who is breast-feeding her child to express breast milk for the child. Referred to Assembly Small Business Development
 
AB-195 Stillbirth Tax Credit (Ballweg, Joan) Creating a refundable individual income tax credit for the parent of a stillbirth. Referred to Assembly Ways and Means
 
AB-206 Abortion Prohibitions (Jacque, Andre) Prohibiting performance of and funding or providing property for abortions and other services by certain employees and entities. Referred to Assembly Science and Technology
 
AB-208 Adoption Tax Deduction Eligibility (Hutton, Rob) Changing the individual income tax deduction eligibility requirements for certain adoption-related expenses. Referred to Assembly Children and Families
 
AB-215 Nutrition Education (Petryk, Warren) Education about nutrition. Referred to Assembly Education
 
AB-216 Medication Request to End Life (Pope, Sondy) Permitting certain individuals to make requests for medication for the purpose of ending their lives and providing a criminal penalty. Referred to Assembly Health
 
AB-221 Pupil Instruction Pilot Program (Kremer, Jesse) Creating a pilot program under which certain school districts are not required to provide a minimum number of hours of direct pupil instruction. Referred to Assembly Education
 
AB-233 ESSA State Plan (Tusler, Ron) Submitting a state plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Referred to Assembly Education
 
AB-234  Interagency Council on Homelessness (Steineke, Jim) Creating an Interagency Council on Homelessness and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-235 Housing Grants (Snyder, Patrick) Housing grants. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-236  Housing Choice Voucher Waiting Lists (Pronschinske, Treig) Waiting lists for housing choice vouchers. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-237  Municipal Grants for Homeless (Rodriguez, Jessie) Grants to municipalities to connect homeless individuals with permanent employment and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-238 Voucher Work Requirements (Katsma, Terry) Work requirements for recipients of vouchers under the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-239  Young Adult Assistance Tax Credit (Novak, Todd) Creating a refundable individual income tax credit to provide assistance to young adults and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-241  Wisconsin Shares Benefit Drop-Off Mitigation (Rodriguez, Jessie) Mitigating the benefit drop-off in Wisconsin Shares. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-242 Work Experience Program Drug Testing (Horlacher, Cody) Substance abuse screening, testing, and treatment requirements for certain work experience programs, providing an exemption from emergency rule-making procedures, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-243 Unemployment Insurance Mobility Grants Study (Gannon, Bob) A study regarding offering mobility grants for unemployment insurance claimants. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-247  Going Armed with a Firearm (Felzkowoski, Mary) Going armed with a firearm and electric weapons, licenses for carrying a concealed weapon, trespassing while armed with a firearm, and providing criminal penalties. Referred to Assembly State Affairs

Websites of Interest
WisconsinEye - Independent, nonpartisan news service that provides uncut video coverage of state government proceedings, as well as interviews with lawmakers and policy experts.
 
To find out who your legislators are, go to the Wisconsin State Legislature's home page  and type your address in the top right hand corner under "Find My Legislators."

Capitol Update is a periodic e-mail on legislative issues from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
 
Wisconsin Catholic Conference
131 W. Wilson St., Suite 1105
Madison, WI 53703
608/257-0004