Notes from the West Wing

By State Representative Garey Bies

To Do List

            In actuality, there is not much in the way of earth-shattering news to report!  So, for this week’s Notes from the West Wing, I thought I’d just provide a quick budget update and what is on the schedule for legislative action next week. 

            This past week saw the Joint Finance Committee begin to make their changes to the Governor’s Budget Bill.  As mentioned in the previous Notes from the West Wing, this is where the legislature’s work really begins.  Word from the Committee is that they hope to have finished their work on the Budget Bill by the first part of May.  Then, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau will do a comparative analysis between the Committee’s version and the governor’s version.  Then it will be time for the Assembly and Senate to get to work. 

            In other legislative news, for the week of April 28^th, the Assembly will be considering several pieces of legislation, a few of which I’d like to mention here.  Once such item is Assembly Bill 51, which forbids sexual contact between Department of Corrections staff and individuals under the supervision of the Department.  Wisconsin is one of 4 states in the Nation that does not explicitly forbid such contact.  This proposal, prior to being scheduled for floor action, was referred to the committee that I chair, the Assembly Committee on Corrections and the Courts.  We held a public hearing on this proposal where the need for this legislation was made quite apparent. 

            Another proposal to be on the floor is Assembly Bill 27, which relates to landowners obtaining turkey licenses.  This bill will eliminate the requirement of landowners to allow others to hunt their property in exchange for receiving a turkey-hunting license for the area in which their property is located.  This seems a very sensible piece of legislation to me, as it does to the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, which expressed their unanimous, bi-partisan support of the proposal. 

            Also to receive consideration this week is Assembly Bill 106, which relates to bear hunting.  This proposal will allow and individual who holds a Class A bear license to make a one-time transfer of that license to a minor.  

            Of particular interest to many has been Senate Bill 24, known commonly as the “Curves” bill.  This legislation stems from a discrimination claim against the Curves Fitness centers for Women.  This proposal will allow the Curves Fitness centers to maintain their exclusivity for women.  I am a co-sponsor of this proposal and hope to see it succeed in the Assembly. 

            Lastly today I want to briefly mention a proposal that is not yet introduced.  The proposal, the authors of which are currently seeking additional legislators to sign their names to the bill, would, starting in 2005, exempt a certain amount of pension income from state income tax.  I have already signed on as a Co-Author of this proposal, which I think, is a great idea.  Exemptions would start in the year 2005 with $2,500 of pension income tax-exempt.  The tax-exempt amount would reach $20,000 by 2009 under the proposal. 

As always, if you have questions or comments on this column or any other topic you might see or read in the news, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.state.wi.us or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001.