Government Relations
Legislative Update
December 16, 2005
Holiday Break
The Legislative Update will take a holiday publishing break. No new Legislative Updates are planned until after the New Year. The Legislature is back in session beginning Jan. 17.Concealed Carry
This week the Assembly passed an amended version of the bill authorizing the carrying of concealed weapons (SB 403) on a vote of 64-32. The Assembly amendment (AA15 – adopted 71-25) expands the area around schools where guns are not permitted; requires recertification of permit holders; and makes it a felony to lie on applications. See vote on final passage of the bill at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/votes/av0415.pdf An amendment (AA8) offered by Reps. Molepske, Shilling, and Black to prohibit the carrying of a concealed weapon in buildings and grounds of a private or public university, college or technical college was tabled by a vote of 58-38. See vote at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/votes/av0400.pdf The bill now goes back to the Senate for action on the Assembly amendment early next year.
Informational Hearing on RA Bible Study
The Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee held an informational hearing on Dec. 13 to hear testimony on UW System policies with regard to Resident Assistants (RAs) leading Bible studies in their residence hall rooms. Speakers included: Lance Steiger, UW-Eau Claire student and RA; UW System President Kevin Reilly; Senator Ron Brown, and U.S. Congressman Mark Green. Please see President Reilly’s testimony at: http://www.uwsa.edu/president/speeches/2005/s051213.htm A committee of residence life professionals will report on recommendations in this regard early in the new year.
Legislative Activity on State Building Program
On Dec. 13 the Assembly passed SB 175 on a vote of 58-37. The bill adds the UW-Platteville housing project to the 2003-05 authorized state building program. The bill now goes to the Governor for action.
Legislation Introduced: Nursing Faculties, Academic Excellence Scholarship, Tuition Remission for Dependents of Disabled Veterans
AB 869 (Underheim) Prohibits the Board of Nursing from requiring that more than 75 percent of the faculty at nursing schools hold master’s or doctoral degrees in nursing. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Health. See full text at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-869.pdf A public hearing is expected early in February.
AB 877 (Towns) Limits eligibility for a Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarship to pupils who have earned, or who by the time of graduation are expected to have earned at least four credits of mathematics and four credits of science. The bill would take effect beginning with seniors in the 2009-10 school year. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Education Committee. See full text at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-877.pdf
AB 879 (Musser) Wisconsin 2005 Budget Act 25 provided tuition remission for spouses, children, or surviving spouses of veterans who entered the service while a resident of the state and either died while on duty or incurred a service-connected disability rated as 30 percent or more while a resident of the state. The bill removes the requirement that the veteran incurred the service-connected disability while a resident of this state. This bill adds eligibility to spouses, surviving spouses, or children of veterans if the veteran was a resident of the state for at least ten continuous years before the student registers and the veteran had incurred a service-connected disability that is 30 percent or more. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Military Affairs Committee. See full text at: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2005/data/AB-879.pdf
WHEG Cap Increase
Rep. Ballweg and Senator Harsdorf are expected to introduce their bill to increase the WHEG maximum from $2,500 to $3,000 shortly. Hearings may come as soon as Jan. 10 and Jan. 18.
Federal Update
Congress is finishing up its work and adjournment is anticipated this weekend.
According to Congress Daily, it is being reported that House and Senate Republican leaders have told their respective budget committees to finish negotiations on the budget reconciliation package (S. 1932) and prepare for conference. The Senate approved a motion offered by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) to instruct Senate conferees to retain in conference the Senate provisions that would increase need-based student financial aid and to reject the House provisions that would impose new fees and costs on students in school and in repayment.
Congress is also expected to approve the FY06 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations conference report. The House yesterday approved the revised version of the conference report by a narrow margin of 215 to 213, with 12 Republicans joining the Democrats in opposing the measure. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), chairman of the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, has said he will vote against the bill in protest of its low overall funding.
The agreement funds higher education programs at their FY05 levels; retains the Pell Grant maximum award at $4,050 and provides $4.3 billion to retire the program’s shortfall; and funds the National Institutes Health at $28.6 billion, which is an increase of $253 million, or less than one percent, over FY05. Because $100 million of the NIH increase would be transferred to the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative, the programmatic increase for NIH actually would be $153 million, for a net increase of 0.5 percent.
Those funding levels would drop if Congress includes a one-percent across-the-board cut in discretionary programs as part of the Defense appropriations bill, which is expected.
Also of interest to UW institutions, Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) introduced the National Innovation Act, legislation that responds directly to the recommendations made by the Council on Competitiveness for improvements in the nation’s ability to innovate and compete globally. U.S. Senator Herb Kohl is an original cosponsor.
The bill would create a Presidential Council on Innovation, authorize doubling research funding at the National Science Foundation by FY 2011, expand graduate fellowships and traineeships, and encourage federal research agencies to devote three percent of their research and development budgets to “high-risk frontier research.”
A section-by-section analysis of the National Innovation Act is available on the AAU Web site at: http://www.aau.edu/research/NIASBS_113005.pdf.
Finally, a three-month extension of the Higher Education Act (HEA) was introduced, an action that seems to indicate that the HEA will not be reauthorized this year either.
2006 U.S. House of Representatives Calendar
View 2006 U.S. House of Representatives Calendar calendar
Bills and Board of Regents positions are posted at:
www.uwsa.edu/execvp/govrel/pending/index.htm
For further information, contact Margaret Lewis at (608) 262-4464.
Information on the Web
UW System Government Relations:
http://www.uwsa.edu/govrel/
UW System Budget:
http://www.uwsa.edu/budplan/
Wisconsin Legislature:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/