What Did the Wisconsin Legislature Accomplish?

Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

Joan Sanstadt, News Editor

It depends on who you ask.

The agricultural community may well look at the just concluded legislative session as “a mixed bag.”

When each political party controls just one house in the legislature there abound to be different priorities. Those priorities become even more important in an election year when all members of the Assembly will be up for re-election, along with half of the State Senate.

For agriculture, two of the biggest disappointments involve the two industries that represent the largest share of the state’s $52 billion ag industry and both involve ag investment tax credit bills.

Assembly Bill 732, introduced by Rep. Al Ott (R-Forest Junction), would have provided meat processors with a refundable tax credit of up to 10 percent of qualified investments in a taxable year, with credit eligibility capped at $200,000 per processing plant. This industry represents $12.3 billion to the state’s economy and has nearly 88,000 jobs related to meat processing, according to testimony from Jeff Lyon, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s (WFBF) director of governmental relations, at a legislative hearing.

Passage of this measure was considered especially important because the federal government is expected to allow the interstate selling of meat from state-inspected meat facilities n something the state has been requesting for many years.

Assembly Bill 763, authored by State. Rep. Brett Davis (R-Oregon), would have allowed members of a dairy cooperative to claim the credit for the modernization or expansion expenses paid by the cooperative based on the volume of milk each farmer delivers to the cooperative. Eighty-five percent of all milk produced in Wisconsin is marketed through cooperatives. Nearly 60 percent of the state’s cheese is produced and marketed through cooperatives.

Although both of these bills had hearings by appropriate committees where wide support was expressed n the State Senate did not bring them to the floor for a vote. Bills that are not voted on during a regularly scheduled session are essentially dead. For passage, the bills would have to be introduced n and go through the hearing process - all over again in the next session which doesn’t begin until January, 2009.

Freshman Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Education, devoted her entire weekly column this week to what she called “Playing the Game of ‘Gotcha’.”

Here is a portion of Vinehout’s column:

“In the waning days of the 98th Legislative Session there seems to be much activity related to the coming election cycle and little real legislative achievement.

“Far too many games are being played. The effect is that important legislative proposals are not being enacted into law because of election year politics.

“One game is to pass poor legislation that is guaranteed to fail in the other house.

“I am learning that legislation designed for political purposes surfaces far more than it ought to. It becomes a game of ‘gotcha.’ The game forces an opponent to take a bad vote everyone knows is not real n not real in the sense that nothing real happens as a result of the vote.

“In the final days of my first session in the Senate, far too much was done for political reasons. Legislation that had absolutely no chance of passing the other house was passed. And good legislation was not passed for political reasons. There was frequently no effort to find a bipartisan solution to a problem n only to take a political vote for the next campaign.

“Two examples of a good bill that suffered for political reasons: one was a simple bill I and others authored to change the label on money spent by the UW-La Crosse. The bill would give students more financial aid without costing the state any more money. Another bill created a youth hunting mentoring program. Neither bill was political, but both bills failed to pass after they were caught in political crossfire.

“On other bills, some that address serious problems, there was little effort to find a solution. Both sides would rather create issues for the next election than solve problems and put the problems behind us. The times I tried to change a bill to improve its chances of actually being enacted into law, I met resistance from my own party.

“I understand that politics is part of everything we do, but it should not be all that we do. Passing good legislation regardless of who gets credit should be a goal we all share. And wasting time on bills intended only to become campaign issues is not a wise use of taxpayers’ dollars.”

Well said, Senator.

Passed

Here are some of the bills we’ve followed that have passed both houses of the legislature and are ready for the governor’s action:

- AB 334 n Introduced by Rep. Lee Nerison (R-Westby), this bill makes it illegal to possess, introduce, stock or release feral pigs into the wild. (Last year an outbreak of pseudorabies was traced to feral swine.)

- AB 83 n Authored by Rep. Al Ott (R-Forest Junction, this bill creates a council to focus on agriculture education and workforce development.

- AB 118 n This is the bill that got a lot of serious consideration. It addresses concerns of drainage districts, local governments and realtors.

Gov. Doyle last week signed SB 473, a measure that creates stiffer penalties for anyone who knowingly buys or sells stolen scrap metal. Wisconsin Farmers Union President Sue Beitlich hailed the new law saying, “it will create better recourse for farmers who experience metal theft on the farm. Thieves steal anything from copper and aluminum wiring from machinery to stainless steel bulk tanks to metal culverts and parts.” Lead authors of the bill were Senator Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) and Rep. Phil Montgomery (R-Ashwaubenon).

Great Lakes Compact

Gov. Jim Doyle said last Friday he would call a special session of the legislature to address the Great Lakes Compact if it appears both sides can agree on a version of the proposal.

The Compact has already been approved by the State Senate but the Assembly has not voted on the measure. Rep. Scott Gunderson (R-Waterford), chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, said he thought a compromise could be reached.

Film credits work

In 2007, the Wisconsin Legislature approved a Film Production Services Tax Credit Program bill that the governor signed into law.

The pay off came quickly.

This week scenes for the movie Public Enemies are being shot in Columbus and in Darlington. Starring in the film is Johnny Depp.

“Many UW graduates work in the film industry,” Senator Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) noted. “For example, Michael Mann, the director for Public Enemies is a UW graduate.

Depp plays bank robber John Dillinger in the movie.

It is expected that the film will mean between $15 to $20 million to the state’s economy.

Resolutions

In a year when examples of real bipartisanship are hard to find n both at the state and national levels n during the month of March members of the Wisconsin Legislature found agreement on four resolutions honoring people who have made a real contribution to the state.

The first honoree was Robert M. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, founder of the Progressive movement who went on to serve three terms as governor, three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and four terms in the U.S. Senate. He also ran for president in 1924. Lawmakers designated June 14, La Follette’s birthday, as “Fighting Bob La Follette Day.

Next came Brett Favre, who had just announced his retirement from the Green Bay Packers. Not only was the quarterback honored for leading the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XXXI, he was also honored for being the only NFL player to be honored three times as the league’s most valuable player. It also honored Favre for his record-breaking career when he set new NFL records for passing touchdowns, completions, attempts and quarterback victories. It also commended both Favre and his wife, Deanna, for their charity work.

Jolene Anderson, UW-Madison Women’s Basketball player from Port Wing, was honored for being named Big Ten Player of the year, the first Badger player ever to be so honored. She was also honored for making UW history by becoming the all time leading scorer for both men and women. She is just the ninth Badger to earn first team status in the Big Ten and multiple year conference honors.

It was with sadness that lawmakers honored Richard “Dick” Burke, the founder of Waterloo-based Trek Bicycles, who died at a Milwaukee hospital on March 10. Known as a generous philanthropist and family man, Burke’s firm gained national attention when Lance Armstrong rode Trek bicycles to his seven Tour de France wins.

Earth Day

Earth Day, initiated by former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, is observed on April 25. But this year’s celebration in the village of Coon Valley will have a special meaning.

That’s because it will also mark the 75th anniversary of the historic Coon Creek Watershed in Vernon County.

The event begins at 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hall. The program will include Congressman Ron Kind (D-La Crosse); Arlen Lancaster, chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); and Stan Trimble, UCLA hydrologist, who has conducted research on the Coon Creek Watershed for more than 30 years.

Local speakers will include long-time conservation farmer Ernest Haugen and photographer John Lee.

In the afternoon a bus tour of the Coon Creek Watershed is planned, along with many other educational Earth Day activities. 

In 1933, Coon Creek Watershed became a national showcase for new ways to combat devastating soil erosion that had caused the dust Bowl. The effort was led by the NRCS, which was then known as the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.

Coffee will be served at 9:30 a.m., followed by the program, a noon lunch and bus tour at 1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public but advance registration is requested.

To make a reservation for lunch or the bus tour, e-mail mailto:judy.pulvermacher@wi.usda.gov or call 608-662-4422 ext 241.

Will Doyle run?

Speculation that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle intends to seek a third term in 2010 was fueled last week when his campaign website was changed to: http://www/jimdoyle2010.com.

However the governor’s campaign finance director Mike Edmondson said the decision on a third term has not yet been made. As of Dec. 31, 2007, Doyle had more than $942,000 in his campaign fund.

Capitol Notes:

- The World Stem Cell Summit will be held in Madison Sept. 22-23. In the past few weeks, three important stem cell patents for work done by UW Researcher Dr. James Thomson have withstood challenges from California schools.

- Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) says there is an important issue involving seniors and the economic stimulus rebate checks to be distributed over the next several months. “Many seniors and others on limited incomes, who receive Social Security and/or some VA benefits don’t generally file income tax returns,” Baldwin said. “Nevertheless, they may be eligible to receive a rebate check as part of the stimulus package,” she added. To receive a rebate check you must file a tax return by April 15, if your income in 2007 from Social Security benefits, certain VA benefits and other earned income was at least $3,000. For more information call 608-258-9800 or e-mail http://www.tammybaldwin.house.gov.

- Voters in Walworth County will decide on April 1 whether to reduce the size of its county board from 25 county board supervisors to 11. No doubt other counties will be watching what happens in this southeastern Wisconsin county.

- Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson has been named an advisor to BidRx.com, a web-based marketplace for prescription medications.

- AT&T has announced it intends to offer video service (television) to its customers in parts of Madison, Janesville, Beloit and some other areas in southern Wisconsin. Altogether, the company said 349 communities might someday be offered its new internet-based television and video services product called U-verse. The company was able to obtain a statewide franchise agreement because of the cable competition bill the governor signed into law last December.

- “Originality Rules” is the state’s new brand positioning statement sponsored by the Department of Tourism.

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