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Legislative Update

November 4, 2005

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Governor Vetoes Cloning Bill

As expected, Governor Doyle has vetoed AB 499. The bill prohibited human cloning and cloning of human cells for research. Please see text of Governor’s veto message at: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=5302

Concealed Carry Hearing

On Wednesday, Nov. 2 a joint public hearing of the Assembly Criminal Justice and Homeland Security and the Senate Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy Committee was held on the concealed weapons carry bills AB 763/SB403. Sen. Zien expects the Senate committee to vote on the bill this week so that floor action can be scheduled promptly. The Board of Regents oppose position was registered with the committee.

Legislative Action

On October 25, the Assembly, on a voice vote, concurred in Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to AB 105. The bill requires an analysis of any outside contract over $25,000. The UW System had requested on several occasions an amendment to raise the contract limit so as to focus analysis on contracts where real savings could be achieved and limit administrative costs. The bill now goes to the Governor for action.

On November 1, the Assembly passed Substitute Amendment 1 to AB 383 by a vote of 96-0. In its original form the bill required a criminal history investigation of all applicants for certain state government jobs. The substitute amendment narrows the scope of these investigations to only those who are offered jobs and that have fiduciary responsibilities. The bill now goes to the Senate for referral to a standing committee.

Legislative Committee Action on Tuition Gift Certificates, Charter Schools

AB 27 and its companion bill SB 38 authorizing the board of Regents to create a program to offer tuition gift certificates for UW System institutions were passed by the Senate Higher Education and Tourism Committee by a vote of 5-0. The bills have been referred to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule for a vote by the Senate.

The Assembly Education Reform Committee held a public hearing on several charter school bills this week and took the following action:

AB 698 increases the enrollment of the charter school established by the UW-Parkside from 400 to 480 students. The 21^st Century Academy in Racine was designed as a K-8 school and adding two grades each year until all grades 1-8 were included. The original limit of 400 is not large enough to cover enrollments in the last two classes. Passage recommended, 8-1.

AB 730 would allow five additional charter schools to be established by UW institutions. Passage recommended 7-2. the board of Regents had taken a neutral position on these bills.

Senate and Assembly Calendars

AB 27 which authorizes a program for tuition gift certificates for University of Wisconsin System institutions is scheduled for floor action in the Senate on Tuesday, November 8.

AB 387 has been scheduled for Assembly floor action on Tuesday, November 8. The bill expands the nursing student loan program to include nurse educators. The UW System has been supporters of expanded funding to produce more nurse educators.

Legislative Activity on Campus Area Parking Rules

The Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee held a public hearing on Nov. 3. The committee heard testimony on SB 329 allowing local governments to restrict parking in front of residences located near the UW-Milwaukee campus. The intent of the bill is to protect the ability of homeowners to have parking on the streets in front of their homes. No executive action was taken. Neighbors must then be willing to allow the creation of parking ramps on or near campus.

Upcoming Legislative Hearing on Academic Excellence Scholarships

The Assembly Committee on Workforce Development is holding a public hearing Nov. 17 at 10:00 a.m. in room 415 NW on AB 774 which extends Academic Excellence Scholarship awards eligibility to a student enrolled in a 2-year, full-time vocational diploma program at a technical college.

Legislation Introduced: Tuition Remissions, Wisconsin ROTC Day

Senator Zien has introduced SB 414. Under current law, tuition remissions are granted for children and surviving spouses of ambulance drivers, correctional officers, emergency medical services technicians, fire fighters, and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. This bill extends this remission to include children and spouses for those covered occupations who develop a permanent work-related disability (qualifying disability) and forced to retire or reduce his/her work assignment and later dies from the qualifying disability. See full text of the bill at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/SB-414.pdf

Senator Fitzgerald has introduced SJR 49 which recognizes November 10 as “Wisconsin ROTC Day.”

See full text at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/SJR-49.pdf

Federal Update

AAU is reporting that House-Senate conferees completed work Friday afternoon on the FY06 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill (H.R. 2862). Funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) would be $5.653 billion, or $48 million above the Administration’s request and $180 million above the FY05 level. That is a 3.3 percent increase over FY05, and puts the NSF budget $10 million above the FY04 funding level of $5.562. House and Senate appropriators clearly made NSF a priority in the FY06 conference because the conference total is higher than either the House-approved level of $5.643 billion or the Senate-approved level of $5.531 billion.

NSF reports that the conference agreement would provide the Research and Related Account with $4.387 billion, an increase of four percent over FY05 and $10 million above the House-approved level. Education and Human Resources (EHR) would be funded at $807 million, which is the House-approved level and $70 million above the President’s request. Within the EHR total, the agreement provides $4 million for new grants in the Math and Science Education Partnership program (the Administration requested no funding for new grants). Major Research Equipment would be funded at the Senate- and House-approved level of $193.4 million, which provides full funding for ongoing projects.

For NASA, the conference agreement would provide the space agency with the President’s request of $16.5 billion, or about $260 million above last year, and give NASA flexibility in how it spends money for the Moon-to-Mars initiative. CQToday reports that conferees dropped House-passed language to restrict searches of library and bookstore records under the USA PATRIOT Act, which had prompted a veto threat.

NSF staff offer a caveat on the numbers. The conference apparently went over its budget allocation and will need to address the overrun before the report is filed on Monday. Although nothing is final, an across-the-board cut of 0.3 percent—or $17 million—is likely.