The Chair [President Risser] ruled the point well taken.
Senate Journal of February 27, 1992 .......... Page: 686
[Point of order:]
Senator Moen raised the point of order that Senate substitute amendment 2 [to Assembly Bill 655, relating to establishing a group health insurance plan for employes of small employers, creating a board to oversee the plan, creating a fund for catastrophic claims and a catastrophic claims fund board, creating an individual income tax deduction for certain medical care insurance costs paid by certain self-employed persons, granting rule-making authority and making an appropriation] was not germane.
[Note:] S.Sub.Amdt-2 to 1991 AB 655, which substituted a universal health plan affecting all residents of Wisconsin for the limited "health insurance plan for employes of small employers" of the original proposal, was a nongermane expansion of the proposal's scope and altered the nature of the proposal.
The Chair [President Risser] ruled the point well taken.
Senate Journal of February 25, 1992 .......... Page: 665
[Point of order:]
Senator Chvala raised the point of order that Senate amendment 2 [to Assembly Bill 388, relating to limits on wrongful death actions for loss of society and companionship] was not germane.
The Chair [President Risser] ruled the point of order well taken.
189 [Note:] S.Amdt-2 attempted to expand the scope of the proposal by including, under the wrongful death award ceiling of section 895.04, any medical malpractice award "recoverable under ch. 655 for wrongful death".
S.Amdt-3 attempted to impose a $16,500 ceiling on attorneys' fees in "any settlement or award for loss of society and companionship".
S.Amdt-4 required that the amount of any damages for loss of society and companionship be deducted from "any other awards made to that person for economic or noneconomic damages arising out of the wrongful death action".
[Point of order:]
Senator Chvala raised the point of order that Senate amendment 3 [to Assembly Bill 388] was not germane.
The Chair ruled the point of order well taken.
[Point of order:]
Senator Chvala raised the point of order that Senate amendment 4 [to Assembly Bill 388] was not germane.
The Chair ruled the point of order well taken.
Senate Journal of February 6, 1992 .......... Page: 618
[Point of order:]
Senator Burke raised the point of order that Senate amendment 1 to Senate substitute amendment 1 [to Senate Bill 401, relating to duties of the regional transportation authority concerning public transit security] was not germane.
The Chair [President Risser] ruled the point well taken.
[Note:] 1991 WisAct 39, the biennial budget, directed the counties of Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha to create a regional transportation authority. The authority was required to submit its recommendations on certain issues to the governor and legislature in November 1992.
While original 1991 SB 401 proposed to include in the authority's responsibilities "transit security and other public safety considerations of transit programs", S.Sub.Amdt-1 reduced the scope so that the creation of a transit security force would be just one of the issues on which the authority was to submit its November 1992 recommendations.
S.Amdt-1 expanded the scope of the proposal as contained in the substitute by mandating annual budgets for the regional transportation authority, to take effect only if approved in a region-wide referendum at annual November elections.
S.Amdt-2 expanded the scope of the proposal as contained in the substitute by mandating 2 referenda to be held in each county within the authority at the November 1992 election. The first referendum was to require a county board to withdraw from the authority unless a majority of the votes on that issue, within the county, authorized continued participation. The 2nd referendum prohibited the creation of a transit security force unless a majority of the votes cast, within all the counties of the authority, authorized the creation of a transit security force.
[Point of order:]
Senator Burke raised the point of order that Senate amendment 2 to Senate substitute amendment 1 [to Senate Bill 401] was not germane.
190 The Chair ruled the point well taken.
1 9 8 9 A S S E M B L Y
Assembly Journal of March 20, 1990 .......... Page: 941
Point of order:
Representative Duff rose to the point of order that assembly substitute amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 24, Oct. 1989 Spec. Sess., [relating to eliminating the sunset of the limit on medical malpractice noneconomic damages] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f) [substantial expansion of scope].
The speaker [Loftus] ruled the point of order well taken.
[Note:] Oc9-AB 24 was limited to the elimination of a sunset date from 2 statutes restricting medical malpractice noneconomic damage awards to $1,000,000. Eliminating the sunset made the maximum permanent.
A.Sub-1 removed the sunset date from the same 2 statutes and, in addition, reduced the maximum amount to $250,000.
Under existing law, the maximum amount was to be adjusted annually by the director of state courts to reflect changes in the consumer price index for a probable increase in the dollar figure. A.Sub-2 also removed the sunset date from the same 2 statutes and, beginning with the act's effective date, held the maximum amount to $1,000,000 so that the actual value of the maximum was reduced over time by the rate of inflation.
Point of order:
Representative Hauke rose to the point of order that assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 24, Oct. 1989 Spec. Sess. was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The speaker ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of November 1, 1989 .......... Page: 427
Point of order:
Representative Wood rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 588 [relating to unauthorized release of animals and providing a penalty] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3).
[Note:] The bill imposed penalties for the unauthorized release of animals "lawfully confined for farming, commercial or exhibition purposes".
A.Amdt-1 expanded the proposal's scope by prohibiting also the release of animals lawfully confined for scientific or educational purposes.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of October 31, 1989 .......... Page: 417
Point of order:
191 Representative Hubler rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 3 to assembly substitute amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 429 [relating to establishing an
emergency medical services fee to be collected by the department of transportation, creating an emergency medical services assistance board, funding local emergency medical services, training and administrative support and technical assistance for emergency medical services, revising regulation of emergency medical services personnel, granting rule-making authority and making appropriations] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3).
[Note:] A.Amdt-3 to A.Sub.Amdt-1 expanded the scope - nongermane under A.Rule 54 (3) (f) - of the proposal by proposing to add the creation of "an injury prevention program" to the bill which was limited to changes in emergency medical services.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of June 27, 1989 .......... Page: 255
Point of order:
Representative Krug rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 15 to Senate Bill 65 [relating to the authority of a metropolitan sewerage district established by a 1st class city to recover capital costs and to expand its boundaries] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54.
[Note:] The purpose of 1989 SB 65 was to remedy "procedural defects in the enactment of 1983 WisAct 27 and 1985 WisAct 29, and thereby validate the authority of the Milw. metropolitan sewerage district (MMSD) to recover capital costs and expand its boundaries.
A.Amdt-15 proposed to divert $22,323,900 of the moneys recovered by MMSD to provide point source pollution abatement grants to 26 cities, towns, villages, Indian tribes, town sanitary districts and metropolitan sewerage districts throughout the state.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of June 27, 1989 .......... Page: 249
Point of order:
Representative Krusick rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 112 [relating to pay and benefits to deputy sheriffs suspended or dismissed in populous counties] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54.
[Note:] The bill, limited to Milwaukee county, prohibited suspension or dismissal of a deputy sheriff, without pay or benefits, until the matter was disposed of by the civil service commission and the time for beginning an appeal expired.
A.Amdt-2 removed the Milwaukee county limitation and proposed to make similar procedures available statewide.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
192Assembly Journal of May 25, 1989 .......... Page: 186
Point of order:
Representative Fortis rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 6 to Assembly Bill 129 [relating to the coverage and enforcement of the clean indoor air law and providing a penalty] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
[Note:] The bill added private offices and prisons to the list of places where smoking is prohibited. It also created a $25 fine for violation of the no-smoking law.
A.Amdt-6 proposed to add "use or nonuse of tobacco for smoking" to the statutory listing of unfair discrimination in employment practices.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of April 26, 1989 .......... Page: 132
Point of order:
Representative Radtke rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 95 [relating to passenger capacity of vessels eligible for alcohol beverages permits] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f) [expansion of scope].
The speaker [Loftus] ruled the point of order well taken.
[Note:] The bill proposed to reduce, from 100 passengers to 50 passengers, the minimum size of vessels for which the department of revenue may issue alcohol beverage permits.
A.Amdt-2 proposed to move the venue, for alcohol related crimes committed on passenger vessels, from the place of occurrence to the vessel's regular place of mooring.
A.Amdt-3 (below) was considered a matter of particularized detail. It provided that if the passenger vessel's regular place of mooring was a municipality in which bartenders are licensed, then bartenders working on that vessel have to obtain bartender's licenses from the municipality.
Point of order:
Representative Radtke rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 95 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (f).
The speaker ruled the point of order not well taken.
Assembly Journal of March 14, 1989 .......... Page: 87
Point of order:
Representative Prosser rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 2 to Senate Bill 6 [relating to increasing payment for certain facilities that provide care to medical assistance recipients with respect to certain direct care costs, active treatment and operating deficits and making an appropriation] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54.
193 [Note:] The bill received from the senate was limited to changes in chapter 49, stats. The amendment proposed an expansion of the proposal's scope, in violation of A.Rule 54 (3) (f), by directing the secretary of health and social services to seek a federal waiver change for the community integration program under s. 46.277 (2), stats.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
Assembly Journal of February 2, 1989 .......... Page: 46
Point of order:
Representative Black rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 14 [relating to notification of the release into the environment of genetically engineered organisms and providing penalties] was not germane under Assembly Rule 54.
[Note:] As introduced, the bill had the limited purpose of providing for a coordinated framework of biotechnology in which Wisconsin state agencies (DNR and DATCP) may review the release, in this state, of any genetically engineered organism that was already subject to federal regulation.
Nothing in the amendment related to state review of the release of federally regulated, genetically engineered organisms. Instead, the amendment prohibited (with 4 exceptions), the use of "genetic material derived from human sources" in any product or in product development research. The amendment covered one individual proposition while the bill covered a different individual proposition. Thus, the amendment was a nongermane amendment prohibited by A.Rule 54 (3) (a).
Nothing in the bill related to the use of "genetic material" derived from human sources in products or product development research. Instead, the bill was limited to "genetically engineered organisms". While "organism" was not defined in the bill, the dictionary defined it as a living being with "a complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole". Genetic material derived from human sources is not an organism.
Consequently, adding the amendment to the bill expanded the scope of 1989 Assembly Bill 14. An amendment that substantially expands the scope of the proposal is a nongermane amendment prohibited by A.Rule 54 (3) (f).
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order well taken.
1 9 8 9 S E N A T E
Senate Journal of March 22, 1990 .......... Page: 920
[Point of order:]
194 Senator Strohl raised the point of order that senate amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 765, relating to appearances before or negotiations with state agencies by former state public officials, requests for increased appropriations to state agencies, composition of the ethics board, administration of the lobbying regulation law, prohibited lobbying practices and lobbying disclosure; prohibiting certain university of Wisconsin system officials from
serving on boards of directors of certain types of business associations, establishing an institute on ethics in government at the university of Wisconsin-Madison; creating a merit system protection board, protecting disclosures by state employes, creating a committee to study the state civil service system, placing certain state positions in the classified civil service, changing the method of removal of state officers; and rewards and protection from retaliatory actions for private persons who report improper activities in state government and making appropriations] was not germane.
The Chair [President Risser] ruled the point well taken.
[Note:] The bill made various changes in the lobbying regulation law and the code of ethics for state public officials and employes.
Sen. Amdt. 3 proposed to create a new crime of bribery involving a state or local public official.
Sen. Amdt. 4 (below) would have required the judicial commission to issue advisory opinions at the request of any judge "on any matter under its jurisdiction" to which the judge is or may become a party.
[Point of order:]
Senator Adelman raised the point of order that senate amendment 4 was not germane to Assembly Bill 765.
The Chair ruled the point well taken.
Senate Journal of March 15, 1990 .......... Page: 855
[Point of order:]
Senator Chvala raised the point of order that the amendment [senate amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 723, relating to designating a portion of the Rock river a scenic urban waterway] was not germane.
