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Capitol Update

March 28, 2018Like us on Facebook
Contents Include:
1. Legislature Calls Extraordinary Session on Special Elections
2. Governor Signs School Safety Act
3. WCC & Advocates Thank Legislators for Retaining Consumer Protections
4. New Bills of Interest
 
Legislature Calls Extraordinary Session on Special Elections
The Senate and Assembly Committees on Organization have announced that both chambers will hold an extraordinary session on changes to Wisconsin's special election laws. The Senate Committee on Organization has introduced Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 947 (Rep. Cody Horlacher, R - Mukwonago), which outlines several changes to the current special election process. After today's public hearing on the measure before the Senate Committee on Elections and Utilities, the full Senate plans to take up the matter on Wednesday, April 4, 2018.
 
Governor Signs School Safety Act
Governor Scott Walker signed a new school safety initiative into law as 2017 Wisconsin Act 143 . The measure establishes the Office of School Safety within Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ), which will administer grants targeted at improving school security and infrastructure. The law also requires that schools submit blueprints of structures to the Office for use by law enforcement. The measure also impacts school safety plans and institutes mandatory reporting requirements regarding threats of violence in or targeted at a school.
 
WCC & Advocates Thank Legislators for Retaining Consumer Protections
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) joined with other faith-based and consumer protection advocates in a press release thanking those legislators who opposed efforts to exempt rent-to-own (RTO) transactions from the Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA). As noted in the joint release, "Had either Senate Bill 637 or Assembly Bill 759 become law, the number of disreputable national RTO stores in the state would have significantly increased, consumers would have lost protections against deceptive business and abusive collection practices, and thousands of Wisconsin residents would have faced new financial hardships." The WCC is grateful for the efforts of legislators, advocates, and Wisconsin residents who opposed these bills.
 
New Bills of Interest  
SB-793 Child Care Reimbursement (Darling, Alberta) Child care reimbursement rates in Wisconsin Shares and making an appropriation. Referred to Joint Finance
 
SB-821 Teacher Protections (Craig, David) Rights of and protections for teachers. Referred to Senate Education
 
SB-825 Teacher Licenses (Fitzgerald, Scott) Lifetime licenses issued by the Department of Public Instruction and granting rule-making authority. Referred to Senate Education
 
SB-848 Special Ed Teachers (Marklein, Howard) Requirements for initial licensure as a special education teacher. Referred to Senate Education
 
SB-876 Restraint of Pupils (Olsen, Luther) The seclusion and physical restraint of pupils. Referred to Senate Organization
 
AB-987 Advance Directive Registry (Horlacher, Cody) Authorizing creation and implementation of an advance directive registry and granting rule-making authority. Referred to Assembly Health
 
AB-999 Special Ed Teachers (Tranel, Travis) Requirements for initial licensure as a special education teacher. Referred to Assembly Education
 
AB-1028 School Safety Grants (Novak, Todd) Grants to schools for school safety and safety-related upgrades to school buildings, equipment, and facilities; providing an exemption from rule-making procedures; and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Rules (See also  MR8 AB1 ).
 
AB-1029 Office of School Safety (Spiros, John) Creating an office of school safety in the Department of Justice and making appropriations. Referred to Assembly Rules (See also  MR8 AB2 ).
 
AB-1030 Suspected Violence Reporting (Rodriguez, Jessie) Mandatory reporting of suspected intent to carry out violence involving a dangerous weapon or explosive in or targeting a school and providing a criminal penalty. Referred to Assembly Rules (See also  MR8 AB3 ).
 
AB-1031 Model Bullying Policy (Krug, Scott) The Department of Public Instruction's model school policy on bullying by pupils. Referred to Assembly Rules (See also  MR8 AB4 ).
 
AB-1032 School Safety Plans (Ott, Jim) School safety plans. Referred to Assembly Rules (See also  MR8 AB5 ).
 
AB-1033 School Camera Footage (Summerfield, Rob) Allowing a school board to share safety camera footage with law enforcement. Referred to Assembly Rules (See also  MR8 AB6 ).
 
AB-1048 Restraint of Pupils (Quinn, Romaine) The seclusion and physical restraint of pupils. Referred to Assembly Education
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