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‘A partisan operation’ – Vos derides Evers’ approach on youth vaping

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Governor Tony Evers recently proposed a series of measures to combat youth vaping in Wisconsin, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington) on Tuesday said the governor’s approach has been partisan.

“He reached out to no one, spoke to no one, worked only with Democrats, and they’re introducing partisan bills,” Vos said. “What was the purpose of that, if you actually wanted to get something across the finish line, as opposed to just kind of posing for holy pictures and then never actually doing the hard work.”

Vos said Republicans are also working on the youth vaping issue. It’s a topic the governor is expected to touch on, in tonight’s State of the State address. “Certainly working in a bipartisan fashion would give him a better chance of success than a partisan operation,” Vos said.

Firefighting foam bill begins efforts to address PFAS

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A bill addressing concerns over dangerous Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances  (PFAS) chemicals is ready for the governor’s signature. Those chemicals are used in a variety of applications, and when used in firefighting foam, they can contaminate ground and surface waters

Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette) said PFAS contamination is “the number one issue” his office is dealing with. The bill prohibits use of the foam other than for testing or actual firefighting, as needed

Nygren acknowledges that more work needs to be done, to address the thousands of other PFAS chemicals and compounds currently in use.

Kulp won’t seek reelection in 69th Assembly District

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Rep. Bob Kulp

A Central Wisconsin legislator won’t be seeking re-election next year. Representative Bob Kulp (R-Stratford) announced on Thursday that he will not run for reelection when his term is up in January of 2021.

Kulp has served as representative for the 69th district since 2013 in a special election. “I’ve learned a lot personally, grown in every human way imaginable, but now it’s time to make way for someone new to bring their best to this job,” Kulp said in a statement.

Kulp said he plans to finish his term, which expires in January of 2021.

WSAU

Evers assigns ‘homework’ to legislative leaders

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Governor Tony Evers WRN image

Governor Tony Evers credits his education background, for a letter he sent to legislative leaders on Thursday. “Teacher turned governor, I thought it would be appropriate to assign the legislature some homework before adjourning this spring,” Evers said during a stop in Wausau.

“The people of Wisconsin deserve to have elected officials who show up and get things done, so I’m also asking the Legislature stay in session as long as is necessary to accomplish these important priorities,” said a press release from Evers’ office which announced the homework assignment.

If Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald’s reaction is any example, it didn’t go over well. In a tweet, Fitzgerald referred to Evers’ letter as “condescending” and “ridiculous.”

Evers identified priorities as capping copay amounts for insulin; closing the state’s “dark store” loophole; improving water quality; and addressing homelessness. He pointed to a bipartisan bill on homelessness and the results of the Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality, which on Wednesday unveiled its proposals.

Clean water bills headed to Capitol this week

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A package of bills focused on improving water quality will be introduced in Wisconsin Wednesday. 

Republican State Representative Scott Krug says one big part of the bill will be support for an already successful farm conservation program.

 “Giving folks a chance to locally collaborate on their own watersheds to fix their problems back home, I think is the best bang for our buck.”

Democrat Katrina Shankland says she’s pushing for a state cleanup fund to support best farming practices as well as septic and well remediation.  

“I think if we want for clean water for everyone in Wisconsin, we have to be willing to pay for prevention and enforcement, as well as best practices. And I think the Clean Water Fund is something that we should be able to get behind, but it might take some time.” 

The package of bills comes out of several months worth of public hearings with the state’s Water Quality task force. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos created the task force shortly after Governor Tony Evers declared 2019 as the Year of Clean Water.

Year ends with several Evers’ cabinet picks unconfirmed by Senate

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The year is ending with many of Governor Tony Evers’ picks for his administration still not confirmed by the state Senate. All were tapped to serve by the Democratic Governor a year ago, but several have yet to be confirmed. “We have to get these people approved, that’s the bottom line,” Evers said in a year-end interview.

Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (WRN)

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald noted that only one of Evers’ selections to head state agencies was a former legislator. “I think the governor – not on purpose – made a couple of judgement calls that maybe didn’t go his way,” Fitzgerald said.

Peter Barca was quickly confirmed as Revenue Secretary after representing the Kenosha area in the Assembly. Department of Financial Institutions Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Department of Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr and Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Mary Kolar have also been confirmed.

But Fitzgerald said some of his members have “concerns” – not all clearly specified – regarding some of Evers’ remaining picks. “But there are others that have garnered enough support, so I think we’ll definitely have a couple more (confirmation votes) on the calendar in January.

Craig Thompson (WRN)

Appointees yet to be confirmed include Craig Thompson at DOT, Caleb Frostman at Workforce Development, Andrea Palm at the Department of Health Services, and Sara Meaney at Tourism. During a year-end press conference, Fitzgerald was asked if some of those people may not be confirmed by the time the legislative session ends.

“Yeah, I think that is a possibility,” he said. “I do anticipate though, every month that we’re in, very calendar will include some secretaries. I know there’s some great concern with a couple of them still.”

Evers indicated he’d like to see the process prioritized. “I think it’s time to say ‘okay, let’s get these people done'” he said. The governor was in the Senate chamber on November, when Republicans rejected Brad Pfaff to lead the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Fitzgerald says property tax cut is legislative priority

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Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (WRN)

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Friday he’d like to address property taxes in the remainder of the current legislative session.

“I’m not saying everybody’s property tax bill went up, but it sounds like a number of people have experienced that already with the tax bill that they just received in the mailbox.”
In a year-end press conference at the Capitol, the Juneau Republican said state revenue projections lead him to believe that a property tax cut might be possible.

“We probably are going to have some new numbers that are going to increase what’s available. I would prefer to see that used to lower the property tax bill in Wisconsin.”

Fitzgerald also said there may not be Senate support for a package to address homelessness, and he also reiterated his opposition to medical marijuana.

Legislative panel approves some pay increases while rejecting others

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At the Capitol Wednesday, a Republican controlled committee turned down pay increases for Wisconsin State Patrol troopers. The Joint Committee on Employment Relations rejected increasing annual starting salaries by nearly 24 percent, to $54,000.

“We do value the service that the troopers give, but that $14,000 number per person is probably just too big,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).

“It is a disservice to our men and women in law enforcement that we are not bringing forward a package to help support the State Patrol,” said Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse).

Also rejected, Governor Tony Evers’ plan to raise the hourly minimum wage for state workers to 15 dollars. “There are immediate savings, of not including these things to the balance sheet,” said Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Ohskosh). “But I think the consequences include costs to service, to morale, to retention, to training, to the effective and efficient operations of state government.”

The panel did approve giving UW System and and state employees a two percent pay increase for 2020 and 2021. “The work that they do is valuable, and it certainly should be kept up with, as the rate of inflation continues to go up as well.

GOP says state is undercharging employees for rent on state properties

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Legislative Republicans say the state is undercharging its own employees on rental fees in state-owned housing.

Employees for the DNR or the UW-System live on site in those properties at parks and research stations. Representative Samantha Kerkman says a number of properties haven’t had their prices adjusted since 1995.  

“They’ve been complying with some of the law, you know some of the statute, but they haven’t been following through on their own procedures to actually set the market rate for rent.”

Kerkman says there are both rental and tax implications here. 

“When somebody does receive a benefit for their employment, that does have tax implications as well, so again we need to make sure we’re checking all the boxes.”

Republicans say the state undercharged employees over 60-thousand dollars in rent last year. 

Evers signs lemonade legislation

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Your kids’ lemonade stand is now fully legit. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Monday signed a bipartisan bill allowing children to sell lemonade and other goods on private property without having to get a permit, as long as they don’t exceed two thousand dollars a year in sales.

The Democratic governor also signed legislation allowing gasoline with no ethanol and gas that contains up to fifteen percent ethanol to be dispensed through the same hose. Evers signed a total of 11 bills on Monday.