By
Senators
Zien, A. Lasee, Welch, Stepp, Decker, Kanavas and Lazich; cosponsored by Representatives Vrakas, Gard, Suder, Kreibich, M. Lehman, Hines, Gronemus, Musser, Weber, Albers, Pettis, Kerkman, Kestell, Ott, Petrowski, Vruwink and Gunderson.
To committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy.
__________________
The committee on Agriculture, Financial Institutions and Insurance reports and recommends:
Assembly Bill 329
Relating to: the frequency of local lodge meetings.
Concurrence.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Cates
, Richard L.,
of Spring Green, as a member of the Board of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2009.
Confirmation.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Krome
, Margaret,
of Madison, as a Consumer Representative of the Board of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2007.
Confirmation.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Levit
, William H.,
of Milwaukee, as a member of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2009.
Confirmation.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Mayer
, Shelly A.,
of Slinger, as a member of the Board of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2009.
Confirmation.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Sims
, Deloris,
of Milwaukee, as a member of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, to serve for the term ending May 1, 2009.
Confirmation.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Senate Bill 191
Relating to: representations made regarding wild rice sold or offered for sale in this state, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.
Passage.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Senate Bill 202
Relating to: the purchase of health care coverage by individuals who are engaged in the business of farming through the Group Insurance Board, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.
Passage.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Schultz, Brown, Kedzie, Hansen and Lassa.
Noes, 0 - None.
Dale Schultz
Chairperson
The committee on Senate Organization reports and recommends:
In accordance with Senate Rule
21, it is moved that the Senate Committee on Organization create a special committee, to be named the
Senate Select Committee on Job Creation, consisting of five members, 3 majority and 2 minority, to be appointed as are members of Senate Standing Committees. The Chair of the Senate Committee on Organization shall name co-chairs of the committee. The special committee shall post meeting notices as a standing committee of the Senate, and shall be afforded the support afforded standing committees of the Senate. The special committee shall have the authority to introduce bills and to submit reports to the Senate.
Ayes, 5 - Senators
Panzer, Lasee, Zien, Erpenbach and Hansen
Noes, 0 - None.
Mary E. Panzer
Chairperson
__________________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
July 24, 2003
To the Honorable, the Senate:
The following bill(s), originating in the Senate, have been approved, signed and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State:
Sincerely,
Jim Doyle
Governor
Office of the Governor
July 24, 2003
The Honorable, The Senate:
I am vetoing Senate Bill 15 in its entirety. This bill does the following:
•
Creates a legislative Joint Survey Committee on State Mandates. The committee will consist of three majority and two minority party senators and three majority and two minority party representatives.
•
Provides the Legislature a report concerning each bill that would impose a mandate as well as to review existing mandates and evaluate their desirability as a matter of public policy, cost-effectiveness and financial responsibility.
•
Requires the Legislative Fiscal Bureau to identify all mandates, other than mandates that have a minimal fiscal effect, existing on the effective date of the bill and submit that information to the committee by May 1, 2005. The committee shall then introduce a bill in each house repealing each identified mandate that is wholly state-imposed and, according to the committee, has a negative uncompensated effect on local government units.
•
Additionally, Senate Bill 15 stipulated that if a bill containing a mandate is enacted after the effective date of this bill and does not provide funding or method of reimbursement to local units of government, the bill may not be enforced until the required appropriation is provided.
Senate Bill 15 is unnecessary. It duplicates existing efforts and processes that the Legislature possesses to review existing laws and new proposals. The bill creates another layer of bureaucracy at a time when state government needs to become more efficient.
While the intent of this bill may have been to provide relief to local units of government, this bill neither provides aid nor repeals any mandates. I look forward to working with the Legislature on legislation that would repeal specific mandates and provide real relief to local units of government.
Sincerely,
Jim Doyle
Governor
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
The Honorable, The Senate:
I have approved
Senate Bill 44 as
2003 Wisconsin Act 33 and deposited it in the Office of the Secretary of State.
Budgets reflect choices. When times get tough, budgets reflect tough choices. This budget – a very tough budget, more difficult than any in memory, perhaps more difficult than any in Wisconsin's history – should nonetheless rest firmly on the values Wisconsin has always stood for. It should reflect the priorities that Wisconsinites hold dear. Above all, this budget should embody the choices – the tough choices – that I told the people of Wisconsin I would make when they elected me as their Governor.
The following are the values, the priorities and the choices that should define Wisconsin's2003-05 budget.
First, no state tax increases – in order to grow Wisconsin's economy.
Second, control state spending – in order to bring the budget into balance, both now and in the future.
Third, protect the state's core mission – educate our children; provide health care to our elderly and disabled and working families; support our police officers, fire fighters and other providers of vital local government services; and safeguard Wisconsin's unique and precious environment.
Fourth, distribute the sacrifices fairly – because we're all in this together.
Fifth, fix the budget right, and fix it once – so we can move beyond the ordeal of budget-cutting to the task of growing Wisconsin.
The budget bill I am signing, once the many vetoes I have been compelled to make are incorporated, reflects these values, priorities and choices. It includes many difficult decisions and tough trade-offs. All are necessary to avoid a tax increase, reduce spending and bring the budget into balance, meet our core responsibilities, distribute the burden of sacrifice, and do the job right.
Regrettably, Senate Bill 44 became a partisan document – one that strayed far from Wisconsin's values, our state's historic priorities and the tough choices that we needed to make – between the time I introduced the budget in February and the time it passed the Legislature in late June. While I commend all legislators for passing the budget in a timely manner, I am deeply troubled by the budget bill the Legislature sent back to me.
Wisconsin does not want a state tax increase. My budget proposed none. But the Legislature's budget would raise income taxes by $23 million on thousands of Wisconsin farmers.
Wisconsin needs an honestly balanced budget. My budget cut spending, and matched estimated revenues to expenses, to produce a truly balanced budget. But the Legislature increased state government spending – and then assumed fictitious revenue to pretend that the budget was balanced.
The people of Wisconsin want state government to assist in educating our children, providing health care for the most vulnerable, sustaining local government and protecting the environment. My budget did all this. But the Legislature's budget cut funding for four-year-olds to attend kindergarten, underfunded Medicaid and BadgerCare while pricing our seniors out of SeniorCare, slashed support for our police officers and fire fighters, and endangered Wisconsin's environment. These actions do not reflect Wisconsin's values.
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Wisconsinites understand the need for shared sacrifice when times get tough. My budget carried through with this policy, making necessary reductions across all of state government. But the Legislature just didn't get it. Their budget tried to stick it our children, our seniors, our police officers and fire fighters, and our environment, while asking no sacrifice from special interests. Instead of sharing cuts equally, they picked winners and losers. They manipulated formulas to reward certain communities at the expense of others. They pitted low income farmers against those who own lots of land. They forced school districts to choose between small class sizes and special education. They devised an arbitrary and unfair scheme that raises educational benefits for a few veterans, but cuts them for others – including veterans who became disabled as a result of their service to our country.
