Point of order:
Representative Barczak rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 6 to Assembly Bill 234 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (c) because it was substantially similar to assembly amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 234.
The chair ruled the point of order not well taken.
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Senate Journal of February 18, 1982 .......... Page: 1529
Point of order:
Senator Bablitch raised the point of order that senate amendment 6 to senate substitute amendment 1 [to Senate Bill 570, relating to the definition of sexual contact] was not germane. The chair took the point of order under advisement.
[Note:] S.Amdt.6 was a floor amendment to the substitute as affected by the adoption of S.Amdt.5, which had also been a floor amendment.
S.Amdt.5 had inserted a semicolon to split one fact situation (sexually degrading or humiliating) into 2 situations: "sexually degrading; or humiliating". S.Amdt.6 reapplied the modifier "sexually" to the 2nd situation (or sexually humiliating).
Senate Journal of February 18, 1982 .......... Page: 1537
The chair [Pres. Risser] ruled the point of order raised by Senator Bablitch not well taken.
The question was: Adoption of senate amendment 6 to senate substitute amendment 1? Adopted.
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Assembly Journal of February 26, 1980 .......... Page: 2354
Point of order:
312 Representative Munts rose to the point of order that assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1054 [relating to permitting both parents of a minor to serve as custodians of an account established under the Wisconsin uniform gift to minors act] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f) [substantial expansion of scope]. The chair took the point of order under advisement.
[Note:] Under the uniform gift to minors act, only one person could serve as the custodian for a specific gift. 1979 AB 1054 proposed to permit both parents to serve as the custodian if the gift was money.
A.Sub.1 narrowed the change by permitting either parent, independently and without the consent of the other, to exercise the power of custodian in this situation.
Assembly Journal of February 28, 1980 .......... Page: 2411
The chair [Rep. Kedrowski, speaker pro tem] ruled not well taken the point of order raised by Representative Munts that assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1054 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
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Senate Journal of January 24, 1980 .......... Page: 1166
[Point of order:]
Senator Hanaway raised the point of order that senate amendment 2 to senate amendment 62 to senate substitute amendment 1 to Senate Bill 500 [relating to energy resources, granting rule-making authority, making appropriations and providing penalties] was not germane.
[Note:] S.Amdt.62 deleted from S.Sub.1 a proposed statute concerning rental unit energy efficiency. The new statute included a penalty and required a certificate of energy efficiency for any rental unit sale after 1/1/84.
SA-2 to SA-62 limited the scope of the deletion to the penalty and the energy certficate, but retained creation of the new statute in the bill.
The chair [Pres. Risser] ruled the point of order not well taken.
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Assembly Journal of January 31, 1978 .......... Page: 2730
Point of order:
Representative Tuczynski rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 1 to Senate Bill 49 [relating to protective headgear for operators of motor-driven cycles and headlamp requirements for motor-diven cycles] was not germane under Assembly Rule 50 (3) (f).
The speaker [Jackamonis] ruled the point of order not well taken because the amendment limited the scope of the proposal and was therefore germane under Assembly Rule 50 (4) (c).
Senate Journal of January 31, 1978 .......... Page: 1592
[Point of order:]
Senator Murphy raised the point of order that senate amendment 4 [to Senate Bill 554, relating to using dogs to hunt bear, requiring bear hunters to wear a back tag and providing a penalty] was not germane. The chair took the point of order under advisement.
Senate Journal of January 31, 1978 .......... Page: 1598
Earlier today Senator Murphy raised the point of order that senate amendment 4 to senate Bill 554 was not germane. The chair took the point of order under advisement.
Senate Bill 554 relates to "using dogs to hunt bear, requiring bear hunters to wear a back tag and providing a penalty." The bill would, among other things, allow licensed bear hunters to hunt bear with a dog (or dogs), but only after obtaining a permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
Only one permit may be issued per hunter which covers the use of no more than 6 dogs, as the bill was originally drafted. However no hunter or group of hunters may use more than 6 dogs while hunting bear.
Senate amendment 4, introduced by Senator Theno, seeks to entirely prohibit hunters from using dogs to hunt bear.
In this case the chair went to Mason's Manual, Section 402, paragraphs 3 and 6, which the chair believes has some application in this instance.
Paragraph 3 says: "To be germane, the amendment is required only to relate to the same subject. It may entirely change the effect of the motion or measure and still be germane to the subject."
Paragraph 6 says: "No independent new question can be introduced under cover of an amendment. But an amendment may be in conflict with the spirit of the original motion, and still be germane and, therefore, in order.
Senate amendment 4 does not relate to a different subject since it deals with dogs and bear hunting, as does the bill. Whether senate amendment 4 is intended to accomplish a different purpose or would require a title essentially different is questionable.
The question of germaneness has been described by past chairs as "at best a judgment call" ('73, 224). In this case it is the judgment of the chair that senate amendment 4 is germane.
Senator Fred A. Risser
President of the Senate
Germaneness: nature or purpose of proposal (not to be changed from title)
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Assembly Journal of March 15, 1994 .......... Page: 812
Point of order:
314 Representative Roberts rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 1 to assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 636 [relating to recalculation of shared revenue payments for the city of Onalaska] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
[Note:] The original bill was a special act, designed to increase shared revenue payments to the city of Onalaska based on revised October 1990, 1991 and 1992 population estimates. The fiscal estimate by the department of revenue explained that the necessary funds would be obtained "by an equal reduction in total shared revenue payments to all other municipalities and counties".
A.Sub.Amdt-1, offered by the committee on ways and means, made the proposal apply to any municipality for which the federal government brought in a corrected 1990 decennial census population. "Municipality" was not defined within the pages of the substitute amendment.
A.Amdt-1 to the substitute was not related to correction of shared revenue over- or under-payments resulting from census corrections. Instead, it proposed to exclude Menominee county from the maximum limit on regular shared revenue deficiency payments.
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of February 15, 1994 .......... Page: 632
Point of order:
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 1126 [relating to abolishing the property tax levy for school operations and establishing a school funding study committee] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
315 [Note:] On 2/15/94, the assembly spent about 7 hours wrangling over AB 1126, but finally passed the bill 81 to 18. In the process all 3 substitute amendments, and the following assembly amendments to the bill, were ruled "not germane": 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 25.
At issue was the "nature" of the proposal. The bill had been drafted with great care to give the broadest possible latitude to a 6-member committee including the governor, state superintendent, president of the senate, speaker of the assembly and the minority leader from each house, in developing a proposal for replacing the local school property taxes for school district operating expenses with state revenue from unspecified sources.
Although, ordinarily, the "narrowing" of a proposal is a germane amendment, in this case it was ruled that, because the bill placed absolutely no restrictions on the committee in trying to find revenue sources other than the property tax for the funding of school operations, any amendment giving instructions to the committee was an expansion of the scope of the bill's section establishing the mission of the school funding study committee, and thus changed the nature of the proposal.
A.Amdts 7 (advancing the property tax sunset date from 1997 to 1995) and 14 (committee report to describe several funding options) were germane and were adopted.
A.Sub-3 expanded the scope of the proposal by linking the abolition of the school operations property tax with additional school aids and school district cost controls.
A.Sub.Amdts-2 and 1 (below) proposed immediate increases in individual and corporate income taxes and sales and use taxes, and repealed the county tax levy rate limit.
A.Amdt-1 expanded the scope by including a separate legislative audit bureau study of public school per-student education costs.
A.Amdt-2 proposed to require referendum submission of any law enacted to replace the school operations property tax.
A.Amdt-5 prohibited legislative amendment of any report submitted to the legislature by the school funding committee.
A.Amdt-8 directed the school funding study committee to submit to the legislature recommendations and legislation to assure that educational opportunities in all school districts are as nearly equal as possible.
A.Amdt-9 required the school funding committee to recommend a plan that obtains at least 20% of its funding from reductions in existing general purpose revenue appropriations.
A.Amdt-10 directed the school funding study committee to make specific recommendations for school district cost controls.
A.Amdt-12 prohibited the school funding study committee from including a property tax for education in its recommendation.
A.Amdt-13 proposed to make abolition of the school operations property tax contingent on approval of that question in a statewide referendum.
A.Amdt-16 prohibited the school funding study committee from recommending increases in the personal income tax.
A.Amdt-17 prohibited the school funding study committee from recommending increases in the sales and use tax rates.
A.Amdt-18 required approval of any law providing funding for school operations in a statewide referendum at a spring election.
A.Amdt-19 proposed that the school funding study committee would consist of all member of the assembly.
A.Amdt-25 proposed a voucher-based funding system for primary and secondary education, not restricted to the public schools, as directed by the parent or guardian of each child.
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly substitute amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of February 15, 1994 .......... Page: 633
Point of order:
316 Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 5 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of February 15, 1994 .......... Page: 634
Point of order:
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 8 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 9 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of February 15, 1994 .......... Page: 635
Point of order:
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 10 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 12 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 13 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of February 15, 1994 .......... Page: 636
Point of order:
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 16 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 17 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair (Speaker pro tempore Carpenter) ruled the point of order well taken.
Representative Kunicki rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 18 to Assembly Bill 1126 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
