Imagine working just a few days and then calling it quits for the year.
This isn’t just a fantasy—it was reality last week in Madison as the Assembly held two marathon sessions and voted on more than 180 bills, then shut its doors for the rest of the year, the earliest that chamber has adjourned since 1970. The Senate met as well but likely will schedule one more day of work in March.
Perhaps it’s a good thing that the Assembly isn’t going to resume its work until January 2017. The bills it passed last week were a sad bunch that the Republican majority apparently hopes will appeal to its base right-wing voters and special-interest cronies during the fall elections.
Not all of the Assembly’s bills will become law, of course. Although the state Senate is scheduled to meet on March 8-17 with a few dates open after that, we’ve been told that Republicans want to meet just once more, on March 15, to finish out their year. The Assembly could meet again, too. Some of last week’s bills have gotten Senate approval while others are new and some are slightly different than the Senate’s version and need another vote. All of these bills require Gov. Scott Walker’s signature as well.
A few of the worst bills likely won’t make it through the Legislature this session. Republicans seem to have given up on efforts to ban the sale of fetal tissue from abortions, which would also impact life-saving research; the water privatization bill, written at the behest of an out-of-state water company; an unnecessary transgender bathroom bill; and the bill that would make it easier to build on historic Native American burial grounds. The anti-immigrant ban on sanctuary cities, approved by the Assembly amid a massive Day without Latinos rally on Thursday, has a shaky future in the Senate as well.
Here’s a tour of some of the worst Assembly bills passed last week, and how they’ll affect you.
Sticking It to Suburban Debtors
It’s back! Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele couldn’t get enough votes for his bad debt collection scheme when it was packaged as part of the Bucks arena financing bill last year, but it returned in a flash last week. On Tuesday, a committee heard testimony and voted on it in the same day, a highly unusual move. On Thursday at 11 p.m., the full Assembly passed it 55-40 with four members not voting.
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Abele’s scheme is a horrible one and its quick approval last week shows how desperate he and his Republican allies are as he faces re-election. The bill would authorize the state to collect the county’s delinquent debts, such as property taxes, and use them to pay off the $80 million tab for the Bucks arena and also commit the county to use some of its collections for workforce development. The state is withholding $4 million annually from the county for 20 years to pay off the Bucks arena.
When he signed on to the scheme last summer, Abele didn’t consult the independently elected comptroller to see if the county had enough bad debt to pay off the $4 million the county owes for the arena each year. He should have. According to Comptroller Scott Manske, the county doesn’t have that amount of unpaid debt in the long run and, in addition, the county already collects almost all of its delinquent debt and uses the fees on the payments as revenue in the county’s general budget.
In addition, Abele’s scheme unfairly places the burden of paying off the $80 million for the Bucks arena on suburban property taxpayers, since the City of Milwaukee has its own debt collection program and wouldn’t be affected by this bill.
Interestingly, those opposing it were Comptroller Manske, Milwaukee Clerk of Circuit Court John Barrett and County Treasurer David Cullen, three elected officials who are responsible for handling the county’s debt.
In committee, all Republicans voted for it, with just one Democrat—Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa—voting in favor. On the Assembly floor at 11 p.m. on Thursday, when they thought no one was watching, Zamarripa once again voted for it, along with Milwaukee Democrat Josh Zepnick of Milwaukee. Zamarripa and Zepnick accepted $500 maximum donations from Abele in 2015.
The bill now moves on to the Senate, where Abele’s close ally Alberta Darling of River Hills is the co-sponsor. Another Senate co-sponsor, Democrat Lena Taylor of Milwaukee, pulled her name off of the bill last Tuesday. Taylor accepted the maximum $1,000 donation from Abele last year.
Ban on Local IDs
State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-West Allis) took the lead on prohibiting counties and towns from issuing local identification cards. Although cities may do so, under Sanfelippo’s bill they’re forced to adhere to state-imposed restrictions. The problem is that Sanfelippo is creating a problem where none exists—and he’s showing an unhealthy disrespect toward the state’s Latino community as well.
The problem Sanfelippo is creating is that the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County have passed resolutions to create a local identification card for those who cannot obtain a state ID. Both units of government have set aside funds to develop their program and are trying to set up a task force to study how best to craft the local IDs and how they would be used. Sanfelippo’s bill throws their plans into disarray.
Those likely to seek out local IDs are domestic abuse survivors, transgender individuals, the homeless and immigrants. Although they can’t be used for voting in Wisconsin, those with a municipal ID would probably be able to open bank accounts, get a library card, attend cultural institutions for free or at a reduced rate, and use them when reporting a crime to the police. The New York Times in December 2015 declared that city’s municipal ID program to be “a resounding success” that should be accepted more widely, especially at banks. Unfortunately, Sanfelippo isn’t looking at evidence of local ID cards’ success elsewhere. He’s merely stirring up anti-immigrant fears before a big election.
The bill whipped through the Legislature. It was introduced in January and passed by both houses last week, so it goes to Walker for his signature.
Defunding Planned Parenthood
Walker isn’t an official candidate for president anymore, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not interested in scoring more political points since he has a large debt he is trying to pay off. He may also try another run for office although sources tell us he likely isn’t going to run for governor in 2018 and may not even finish out his term.
Once again, Walker has attacked Planned Parenthood to solidify his reputation as a “100% pro-life” Republican. This time around, he signed two bills that “defund” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin by blocking its receipt of federal funding for women’s health services, including preventive care, cancer screenings and birth control, and also lowering its Medicaid reimbursement rate for prescriptions. An estimated 50,000 Wisconsinites will be impacted. In fact, if Walker truly were “100% pro-life,” he’d allow the funds to continue to flow to Planned Parenthood, because the money will help to prevent unwanted pregnancies and serious health problems. Planned Parenthood estimates it will lose $4 million a year.
It wasn’t so long ago that Republicans like Tommy Thompson and Alberta Darling realized that providing reproductive health care to low-income Wisconsinites saves the state money in the long run and improves the health and well-being of the recipients of this health care. Sadly, Republicans now see public investment in health care as one more thing to cut as they run for higher office and appeal to increasingly right-wing primary voters.
Fortunately, the federal government needs to OK these bills, and the Obama administration likely won’t go along with Walker’s anti-woman agenda.
Little Relief for Student Loan Holders
Earlier this year, Walker pitched a package of bills intended to reduce the burden of higher education debt. But he forgot one key piece of the puzzle—the sky-high interest rates on these loans, which, unlike mortgages or car loans, cannot be refinanced. Walker’s omission means that the entities that issue these loans will continue to rip off Wisconsin’s student loan holders.
Last week, the Assembly passed Walker’s student affordability bills at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. They’ll now head to the Senate, where they’ll likely pass. As we’ve said before, the Higher Ed, Lower Debt bill, which would allow student loan holders to refinance their loans, is a much better alternative than Walker’s bills, but has no chance in this Republican-led Legislature.
Another Attack on Milwaukee’s Local Control
Republicans already let the utilities—specifically, We Energies—off the hook so they won’t have to pay for moving their infrastructure to make way for the planned Milwaukee Streetcar, even though utilities typically pick up those costs for a public works project. Now, the GOP-led Assembly passed a bill prohibiting the state or Milwaukee County from paying anything toward the construction or operation of the streetcar. We join the Democrats in asking: Isn’t this a matter of local control, which the Republicans historically have supported? This is an issue that Milwaukee residents and leaders should decide, not outstate legislators who have nothing to do with it. That’s right—state Republicans only believe in local control when they’re in charge at the local level. Then, when they grab power at the state, they become big fans of big government intervention in local affairs.
Bring on the Strip Searches
The City of Milwaukee just settled a $5 million suit involving illegal strip searches made by Milwaukee police officers and the U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the department’s practices amid a nationwide conversation about police abuses and racial profiling. So how does the Assembly respond to these real concerns about policing? If you’re state Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), husband of the lieutenant governor, you make it easier for police to strip search those who have been accused of felonies or misdemeanors. The bill already passed the Senate so it will go to the governor’s desk for signing.
