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Capitol Update

February 12, 2018Like us on Facebook
Contents Include:
1. Heal Without Harm Action Alert
2. WCC Opposes Rent-to-Own Bills
3. WCC Testifies on Special Session Welfare Reform Bills
4. New Bills of Interest
5. Websites of Interest
 
Heal Without Harm Action Alert
The Heal Without Harm (HWH) Legislative Initiative - SB 423 / AB 549 and SB 424 / AB 550 - ban the sale and use of the body parts of aborted babies and instead encourage the donation of tissue for research from children who are stillborn or miscarried. These bills are authored by Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) and Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc). Without notice, AB 549 and AB 550 have been pulled from their previously assigned committees and put into the Committee on Assembly Organization. The public has a right to know why these bills were moved and if the committee has any intention of sending them to the floor for a vote. Please call your representative and ask him/her to contact members of the Committee on Assembly Organization with the following questions:
  1. Why were AB 549 and AB 550 moved to this committee?
  2. Does the committee intend to advance these bills so they can receive a floor vote?
Questions? Take some time to visit our Q&A to learn more about this critical issue.
 
WCC Opposes Rent-to-Own Bills
On January 30, the WCC testified before a joint hearing of the Senate Agriculture, Small Business and Tourism Committee and the Assembly Jobs and the Economy Committee in opposition to Senate Bill 637 (Sen. Terry Moulton, R- Chippewa Falls) and Assembly Bill 759 (Rep. Warren Petryk, R-Eleva), which removes regulation of rent-to-own (RTO) transactions from the Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA). Neither committee took further action on the bills, though the Assembly Committee is expected to take action on Wednesday, February 14.
 
WCC Testifies on Special Session Welfare Reform Bills
On January 31, the WCC testified before a joint hearing on the January Special Session welfare reform bills - Senate bills , Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) / Assembly bills , Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).  Of the 10 bills, the WCC supports two, opposes three, has concerns about two, and takes no position on three.  All 10 bills are quickly progressing through the Legislature.
 
New Bills of Interest
SB-729 UW Foster Care Grants (Olsen, Luther) University of Wisconsin and technical college tuition remissions for and grants to support foster care and other out-of-home placement students and making an appropriation. Referred to Senate Universities and Technical Colleges
 
SB-734 Teen Dating Violence Prevention (Petrowski, Jerry) Teen dating violence prevention education. Referred to Senate Education
 
SB-742 Medical Assistance (Darling, Alberta) Intensive care coordination program in the Medical Assistance program. Referred to Senate Health & Human Services
 
SB-744 Physicians at Camps (Petrowski, Jerry) Temporary practice by physicians at camps. Referred to Senate Health & Human Services
 
SB-764 IRS References Update (Marklein, Howard) Updating references to the Internal Revenue Code relating to certain individual income tax provisions, limiting the income tax deduction for certain tuition payments, clarifying the duties of the College Savings Program Board, a sales and use tax exemption for title holding entities for certain tax-exempt charitable organizations, and computing depletion for income and franchise tax purposes. Referred to Senate Revenue, Financial Institutions and Rural Issues
 
SB-770 Health Carrier Reinsurance (Senate Organization) Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan, reinsurance of health carriers, reallocating savings from health insurer fee, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making appropriations. Referred to Joint Finance
 
SB-786 Organizations Speaking to Pupils (Nass, Stephen) Allowing certain youth membership organizations to speak to pupils during the school day. Referred to Senate Education
 
SB-787 Text-Based Suicide Prevention (Taylor, Lena) Grants to the Center for Suicide Awareness, Inc. and making an appropriation. Referred to Joint Finance
 
AB-777 UW Foster Care Grants (Novak, Todd) University of Wisconsin and technical college tuition remissions for and grants to support foster care and other out-of-home placement students and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Colleges and Universities
 
AB-885 Health Carrier Reinsurance (Novak, Todd) Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan, reinsurance of health carriers, reallocating savings from health insurer fee, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making appropriations. Referred to Assembly Insurance
 
AB-890 Income Tax Modification (Vruwink, Don) Creating an individual income tax subtract modification for certain low income residents of rural areas. Referred to Assembly Ways and Means
 
AB-891 Farm Start-Up Grants (Vruwink, Don) Creating a small farm start-up grant program, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Agriculture
 
AB-892 Income Tax Credit (Vruwink, Don) Creating an individual income tax credit for certain property tax increases and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Ways and Means
 
AB-910 IRS References Update (Kooyenga, Dale) Updating references to the Internal Revenue Code relating to certain individual income tax provisions, limiting the income tax deduction for certain tuition payments, clarifying the duties of the College Savings Program Board, a sales and use tax exemption for title holding entities for certain tax-exempt charitable organizations, and computing depletion for income and franchise tax purposes. Referred to Assembly Ways and Means
 
AB-916 Wisconsin Shares (Shankland, Katrina) Child care provider rates under Wisconsin Shares, funding for Wisconsin Shares child care subsidies, and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Public Benefit Reform
 
AB-920 Health Care Groups (Zimmerman, Shannon) Employer groups for self-funded health care coverage. Referred to Assembly Health
 
AB-924 Child Care Reimbursement (Born, Mark) Child care reimbursement rates in Wisconsin Shares and making an appropriation. Referred to Joint Finance
 
AB-931 Active Shooter Training (Barca, Peter) Active shooter safety training provided by the Division of Emergency Management, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety
 
AB-933 Student Loan Tax Deduction (Thiesfeldt, Jeremy) Creating an income tax deduction for interest and principal paid, and an add back for certain federal deductions taken, on student loans and requiring lenders to provide additional principal and interest information to persons from whom student loan payments are received. Referred to Assembly Ways and Means
 
AB-938 Text-Based Suicide Prevention (Rohrkaste, Michael) Grants to the Center for Suicide Awareness, Inc. and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Mental Health
 
AB-944 Child Tax Rebate (Peterson, Kevin) A sales and use tax rebate for certain dependent children, a sales tax holiday in August 2018, and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Ways and Means
Websites of Interest
WisconsinEye - Independent, nonpartisan news service that provides uncut video coverage of state government proceedings, as well as interviews with lawmakers and policy experts.
 
To find out who your legislators are, go to the Wisconsin State Legislature's home page  and type your address in the top right hand corner under "Find My Legislators."

Capitol Update is a periodic e-mail on legislative issues from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
 
Wisconsin Catholic Conference
131 W. Wilson St., Suite 1105
Madison, WI 53703
608/257-0004