Chapter 5:
FISCAL ESTIMATE PROCEDURE
jr41
J
oint Rule 41.
When fiscal estimates required or permitted. jr41(1)(a)(a) All bills making an appropriation and any bill increasing or decreasing existing appropriations or state or general local government fiscal liability or revenues shall carry a fiscal estimate.
jr41(1)(b)(b) An executive budget bill introduced under section
16.47 (1) of the statutes is exempt from the fiscal estimate requirement under par.
(a) but may, if it contains a provision affecting a public retirement system or providing a tax exemption, be analyzed as to that provision by the appropriate joint survey committee.
jr41(1)(c)(c) For purposes of par.
(a), a bill increasing or decreasing the liability or revenues of the unemployment reserve fund is considered to increase or decrease state fiscal liability or revenues.
jr41(2)(a)(a) Fiscal estimates are required on original bills only and not on substitute amendments or amendments.
jr41(2)(b)
(b) A bill containing a penalty provision is exempt from the fiscal estimate requirement if the bill contains no other provisions requiring a fiscal estimate under sub.
(1) (a).
jr41(3)(a)(a) The joint committee on finance by the approval of a majority of its members, or either cochairperson of the committee, may transmit electronically a request for the legislative fiscal bureau, or through the department of administration for an appropriate state agency, to prepare a supplemental fiscal estimate on any bill or on a bill as affected by any proposed amendment or proposed substitute amendment if the committee or cochairperson believes that the fiscal estimate on the bill, or on the bill as affected by the proposed amendment, would be substantially different from the fiscal estimate on the original bill. A supplemental fiscal estimate prepared under this paragraph shall be transmitted electronically to the legislative reference bureau for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope.
jr41(3)(b)
(b) Upon a request of a bill's primary author, transmitted electronically unless directed otherwise by the presiding officer, the presiding officer of either house may transmit electronically a request through the department of administration for an appropriate state agency to prepare a supplemental fiscal estimate on any bill, or on a bill as affected by any proposed amendment or proposed substitute amendment, if the presiding officer believes that the fiscal estimate on the bill, or on the bill as affected by the proposed amendment, would be substantially different from the fiscal estimate on the original bill. Unless otherwise determined by the house in which the bill may be placed on the calendar, failure to receive a supplemental fiscal estimate requested under this paragraph on a bill that already has one or more original fiscal estimates does not delay consideration of the bill. A supplemental fiscal estimate prepared under this paragraph shall be transmitted electronically to the legislative reference bureau for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope.
jr41(3)(c)
(c) The department of administration may transmit electronically a supplemental fiscal estimate to the legislative reference bureau for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope if the department disagrees with a fiscal estimate prepared by a state agency.
jr41(3)(d)
(d) In addition to the original estimates prepared by state agencies, the department of administration shall, if appropriate, transmit electronically to the legislative reference bureau, for review by the requester under joint rule
48 and for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope, a consolidated fiscal estimate summarizing all original fiscal estimates prepared by state agencies relating to a specific bill.
jr41(3)(e)
(e) Any state agency may transmit electronically to the department of administration for transmission electronically to the legislative reference bureau for review by the primary author of an introduced bill under joint rule
48 and for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope an updated fiscal estimate supplementing the original estimate on any bill if the agency has available better or more current information.
jr41(3)(f)
(f) The legislative fiscal bureau or the department of administration shall, if it receives an electronic request under joint rule
48 (3), prepare a supplemental fiscal estimate. If a supplemental fiscal estimate is requested electronically the fiscal bureau or the department shall transmit electronically the prepared supplemental fiscal estimate to the legislative reference bureau for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope.
jr41(3)(g)
(g) A state agency shall transmit electronically any fiscal estimate requested electronically under joint rule
48 (2) to the department of administration for transmission electronically to the legislative reference bureau for review by the primary author under joint rule
48 and for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope.
jr41(3)(h)
(h) Any state agency may rewrite its original fiscal estimate as provided under joint rule
48 (4).
jr41(3)(i)
(i) The department of administration may correct any fiscal estimate prepared by a state agency as provided under joint rule
46 (5).
jr42
J
oint Rule 42.
General procedures. jr42(1)(a)(a) Fiscal estimates shall be prepared by all state agencies receiving the appropriation, collecting the revenue, administering the program, or having information concerning the subject matter of the bill. Bills containing provisions for both appropriations and revenues or either appropriations or revenues for more than one state agency shall receive estimates from each such agency.
jr42(1)(b)
(b) In addition, the department of administration shall, when appropriate, prepare a consolidated fiscal estimate as required under joint rule
41 (3) (d).
jr42(1)(c)
(c) For bills with a fiscal impact on general local government, the department of administration shall obtain the requisite information from all appropriate state agencies.
jr42(2)
(2) The name of the state agency preparing the estimate, and the date, shall be reproduced at the end of the estimate. The estimate shall also include the name and telephone number of a responsible official of the agency.
jr42(3)
(3) Each state agency shall prepare the fiscal estimate within 5 working days from the date on which it receives the bill, but the department of administration, on a limited basis only and upon an agency's request received before the end of the 5-day period and applicable to only one fiscal estimate, may extend the period for the specified fiscal estimate to not more than 10 working days if the bill necessitates extended research. Whenever the extension is granted, the department of administration shall immediately notify the legislative reference bureau.
jr42(4)
(4) The state agencies are requested to use the bills, substitute amendments, and amendments transmitted to them for official purposes only. In particular, no state agency may copy, or otherwise disseminate information regarding, any bill, substitute amendment, or amendment to it by "LRB" number, indicating that the bill, substitute amendment, or amendment transmitted has not been offered or introduced in the legislature.
jr43
Joint Rule 43.
Reliable dollar estimate. The estimate shall be factual in nature, and shall provide as reliable a dollar estimate as possible. The fiscal estimate shall contain a statement setting forth the assumptions used in arriving at the dollar estimate. Identification of technical or policy problems in the bill may not be included in the estimate but shall be transmitted electronically and separately in a technical memorandum.
jr44
J
oint Rule 44.
Bill jackets to display "FE." jr44(1)(1) The jackets of all bills carrying a fiscal estimate shall have the initials "FE" displayed on them.
jr44(2)(a)(a) The legislative reference bureau shall make a preliminary determination of whether the bill requires a fiscal estimate. Except as otherwise provided in joint rule
54 (2m), the legislative reference bureau shall indicate that a bill requires a fiscal estimate by displaying "FE" prominently on the jacket.
jr44(2)(b)
(b) A jacket on which the "FE" symbol has been defaced may not be accepted for introduction unless the deletion of the "FE" symbol has been initialed by the chief or the deputy chief of the legislative reference bureau.
jr45
Joint Rule 45.
Duties of legislative reference bureau. jr45(1)(1) After a proposed bill has been drafted the legislative reference bureau shall inform the requester that a fiscal estimate is required when it submits the draft to the requester. If authorized by the requester, the bureau shall promptly transmit electronically the proposed bill to the department of administration for preparation of a fiscal estimate. The requester may introduce the bill without the fiscal estimate, but when such a bill is introduced the legislative reference bureau shall promptly transmit electronically a copy of the bill to the department of administration for preparation of a fiscal estimate. The legislative reference bureau shall keep a record of the date on which each bill is thus transmitted electronically and its number.
jr45(2)
(2) If the fiscal estimate is procured before the bill is introduced, the legislative reference bureau shall transmit electronically a copy of the estimate to the requester. If the requester desires to introduce the bill, the reference bureau shall place the estimate and any worksheet at the end of the bill or in the jacket envelope, and prepare the bill for introduction. The fiscal estimate and any worksheet shall be reproduced at the end of the bill or as an appendix as are amendments. If the fiscal estimate is transmitted electronically to the legislative reference bureau after the bill has been introduced, the legislative reference bureau shall transmit electronically a copy of the estimate and any worksheet to the primary author of the introduced bill as provided under joint rule
48.
jr45(3)
(3) The chief clerk shall enter in the history file for a bill the dates when a fiscal estimate on an original bill is published, when a fiscal estimate on any bill as amended or as amended by any proposed amendment or substitute amendment is published, when a supplemental fiscal estimate is published and when a memorandum under joint rule
47 is inserted in the bill jacket. If a fiscal estimate is requested after the bill is introduced, the chief clerk shall enter in the history file for the bill the dates when a fiscal estimate on an original bill is requested, when a fiscal estimate on any bill as amended or as amended by any proposed amendment or substitute amendment is requested, and when a supplemental fiscal estimate is requested.
jr46
Joint Rule 46.
Duties of department of administration and state agencies. jr46(1)(1) The department of administration shall promptly review each bill received, determine all of the agencies that shall prepare a fiscal estimate, and transmit electronically the fiscal estimate request to those agencies, keeping a record of the date of electronic transmission to and electronic receipt from the agencies and the number of the bill.
jr46(2)
(2) The state agency shall prepare the estimate and any worksheet and such copies as are specified by the department of administration. It shall transmit electronically the estimate and any worksheet and the bill within 5 working days to the department of administration unless the department of administration, under joint rule
42 (3), extends the period for preparation of the estimate. The department of administration shall notify electronically the state agency of any bill not transmitted electronically to the department of administration within the deadline.
jr46(3)
(3) The department of administration shall promptly transmit electronically all fiscal estimates and any worksheets to the legislative reference bureau, retaining one copy of each estimate and worksheet.
jr46(4)
(4) The department of administration shall, when requested under joint rule
48 (3), prepare a supplemental fiscal estimate, and shall transmit electronically the supplemental fiscal estimate to the legislative reference bureau for reproduction and insertion in the bill jacket envelope.
jr46(5)
(5) The department of administration may correct any computation or other clerical error in a fiscal estimate prepared by an agency but may not make any substantive change. If the department makes such a correction it shall note on the fiscal estimate prepared by the agency the manner in which it has been corrected by the department and shall transmit electronically both the corrected and uncorrected fiscal estimates to the legislative reference bureau.
jr47
Joint Rule 47.
Duties of joint committee on finance. The joint committee on finance may, by the vote of a majority of its members, direct that any legislative fiscal bureau memorandum on a bill referred to the committee, other than a budget bill, be inserted in the bill jacket envelope. If the committee so directs, an electronic copy of the memorandum shall be transmitted electronically to all legislators and to the legislative reference bureau.
jr48
Joint Rule 48.
Review of agency-prepared fiscal estimates. jr48(1)(1) On the 6th working day after the legislative reference bureau transmits electronically a copy of a fiscal estimate for an introduced bill to the primary author, the bureau shall transmit electronically a copy of the fiscal estimate and any worksheet to the legislative fiscal bureau and to the chief clerk of the house of origin to be inserted in the bill jacket envelope and shall forthwith reproduce the estimate and any worksheet as are amendments.
jr48(2)(2) During the 5-day period under sub.
(1), the primary author of an introduced bill may transmit electronically to the department of administration a request to have a supplemental fiscal estimate prepared for the bill as affected by a proposed amendment or a proposed substitute amendment, whether offered for introduction or not, be prepared by the agency that prepared the fiscal estimate for the bill.
jr48(3)
(3) The primary author of an introduced bill may transmit electronically a request that the legislative fiscal bureau or the department of administration prepare a supplemental fiscal estimate if the primary author disagrees with the fiscal estimate for the bill prepared by the state agency.
jr48(4)(4) During the 5-day period under sub.
(1), the primary author of an introduced bill may transmit electronically a request that the agency that prepared the fiscal estimate rewrite its fiscal estimate. If the agency agrees to rewrite the estimate and the primary author agrees to a delay in the publication of the fiscal estimate, the agency shall immediately electronically notify the department of administration and the legislative reference bureau, and the rewritten fiscal estimate, notwithstanding sub.
(1), is the only original estimate reproduced and inserted in the bill jacket envelope, but both the rewritten and the initial fiscal estimate shall be retained by the legislative reference bureau.
jr49
Joint Rule 49.
Bills not conforming. jr49(1)(1) Any member may at any time that a bill is before the house raise the issue that the bill requires a fiscal estimate, and if the presiding officer determines that the bill (not having the estimate) requires an estimate, the presiding officer shall direct the legislative reference bureau to secure the requisite estimate.
jr49(2)
(2) Bills requiring fiscal estimates shall not be voted on by either house, and shall receive neither a public hearing nor be voted on by a standing committee, before the receipt of the original fiscal estimate for the bill.
jr49(3)
(3) If the fiscal estimate for the bill has not been provided to the members when the vote on passage is taken, the chief clerk shall read the fiscal estimate at length before the vote.
jr50
Joint Rule 50.
Waiver of requirement to transmit electronically. The president and speaker may jointly waive for a limited time any requirement under joint rules
41,
43,
45,
46,
47, and
48 for electronic transmission and permit, instead, transmission in paper form.
Chapter 6:
STYLE AND FORM OF PROPOSALS
jr51
J
oint Rule 51.
Use of LRB legal services. A proposal may not be introduced or offered unless it has been put in proper form by the legislative reference bureau. Only the persons authorized by this rule may use the drafting services of the legislative reference bureau to have proposals prepared for introduction. Persons authorized to use the drafting services are:
jr51(1)
(1) Any member or member-elect of the legislature and, on behalf of each committee thereof, the chairperson. The members and committees may authorize others to submit instructions for them, but for each draft prepared on such authorization the name of the member or committee authorizing the draft shall be made part of the record.
jr51(2)(2) Any agency, as defined in section
16.70 (1e) of the statutes, created under chapter 13, 14, 15, or 758 of the statutes.
jr51(3)
(3) The chief clerk of either house for drafting requests pertaining to the operation of the legislature.
jr51m
Joint Rule 51m.
Analyses on substitute amendments. The legislative reference bureau, if time permits, may prepare in plain language an analysis of a substitute amendment, to be reproduced with the substitute amendment when it is offered.
jr52
J
oint Rule 52.
Format; text display; structure of proposals. All proposals shall be reproduced on paper 8-1/2 by 11 inches. Each bill shall have a title, an enacting clause, and subject matter disposed of in one or more sections and shall have the arrangement and wording prescribed by the following:
jr52(1)
(1) The title of all bills shall state, in the fewest words practicable, the subject to which the bill relates and shall be drawn up in one of the following forms or a form similar to one of the following forms:
jr52(1)(a)
(a)
An Act to repeal....
;
to renumber....
;
to consolidate and renumber.... ;
to renumber and amend....
;
to consolidate, renumber and amend....
;
to amend....
;
to repeal and recreate....
;
and
to create.... of the statutes; and
to affect 19.. laws, chapter...., section.... [to 1981] and 19.. Wisconsin Act.... [starting 1983], section.... ;
relating to: .... .
jr52(1)(b)
(b)
An Act relating to: ( authorizing, providing, etc.) ..... .
jr52(1)(c)
(c) Any bill may include 2 or more types of actions and treat both general statutory law and nonstatutory law, but the various types of actions used shall be listed in the order shown in par.
(a), and, if both statutory and nonstatutory law are treated in the same manner, the statutory law must be cited first.
jr52(1)(d)
(d) The relating clause shall record any of the following:
1. Expressly granting rule-making authority, or providing an exemption from rule-making procedures, or providing an exemption from or extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures.
2. Requiring a referendum.
3. Expressly providing for a penalty.
4. Making, continuing, or renewing an appropriation.
jr52(1)(e)(e) Executive budget bills under section
16.47 (1) of the statutes, other lengthy bills that encompass multiple subjects and that are to be introduced at the request of the governor or the committee on organization of either house, bills proposing bulk revision of one or more entire chapters of the statutes, reconciliation bills introduced by the committee on organization of either house, and revisor's correction and revisor's revision bills are not subject to the requirements of pars.
(a) to
(d), and instead may use a descriptive title similar to the following example: "An Act to amend and revise chapter .... and to make diverse other changes in the statutes;
relating to:...."
jr52(2)
(2) The analysis by the legislative reference bureau shall follow the title.
jr52(3)(3) The enacting clause, required by section 17 (1) of
article IV of the constitution, shall follow the analysis and shall read as follows: "The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:"
jr52(4)
(4) The subject matter of the bill shall follow the enacting clause and be displayed in one or more sections that, except for budget bills or other bills of unusual length, shall be numbered consecutively. Substitute amendments may follow the section numbering of the bill. Each section shall begin in one of the following forms:
