Notes from the West Wing

By State Representative Garey Bies

Future Plans

            For the past couple of editions of Notes from the West Wing, I’ve provided a couple of small session wrap-up reports.  For this edition, I want to briefly talk about what my plans are for legislative proposals for next session. 

Just because the legislative session is over, it does not mean we’ve closed down the shop in Madison!  Quite the contrary.  With the hectic schedule of finishing up a session having eased, it now allows for legislators to start planning their legislative agendas for the following session. 

One of the first items I will work on next session will be a re-draft of Assembly Bill 923 from this session.  With initiating this proposal early in the session, it will be my hope that a thorough review of the legislation will appease the concerns of those who objected to it this session.  As I’ve mentioned before, AB 923 dealt with providing treatment for non-violent drug offenders as opposed to putting them in jail.  

Another proposal I will re-introduce is Assembly Bill 883 that revises the Interstate Compact for Juveniles.  This revision is being undertaken in state legislatures nation-wide and is very much needed.  The compact governs how states are responsible for the proper supervision or return of juveniles, delinquents and others.  The current compact dates from 1955 and does not adequately address the needs of law enforcement and other agencies today. 

I will also be reintroducing my Stewardship Program legislation, Assembly Bill 618, which creates a trust fund to which tax-deductible donations may be made.  The Stewardship Program would then have exclusive access to this trust fund to help cover expenses associated with the program.  It is a simple piece of legislation, but one that I believe is a good idea. 

Another piece of legislation I will re-introduce next session is Assembly Bill 751, my proposal to reform contract negotiations for schoolteachers.  People tend to refer to this legislation as the Qualified Economic Offer or QEO bill, but that is really not very accurate.  AB 751 is more about revising the entire contract negotiation process than eliminating the QEO.   AB 751 aims to level the playing field for contract negotiations between the teachers union and the school boards.  Yet perhaps the bigger purpose of AB 751 is to draw attention to not just the issue of teacher contract negotiations, but also the funding of public education in Wisconsin as a whole.  School funding and other educational issues should no longer be a ball that is kicked around as a campaign issue and used by legislators for the simple purpose of hitting each other over the head.  I think it is time we seriously try to address the problems facing the financing of public education.  I hope that this legislation will be the catalyst for such discussions.  

A proposal I will be working on next session at the request of the Door County Sheriff’s Department pertains to the forfeiture of money derived from a drug crime.  Under current law, local law enforcement may use proceeds from the sale of seized property from a drug crime to cover their costs associated with the investigation and prosecution of the crime.  However, if the seized property consists of cash, the money must be deposited into the school fund and law enforcement is unable to recover their costs.  My proposal would allow local law enforcement to use a portion of cash seized to cover their costs with the balance still being deposited into the school fund. 

I also plan on again introducing legislation regarding the Wisconsin Technical College System.  First, I will be reintroducing Assembly Bill 366 that aims to allow students greater ability to transfer educational credits between the Technical College System and the University of Wisconsin System.  Also, Senator Alan Lasee and myself plan on working to craft new legislation aimed at minimizing the duplication that exists between the Technical College System and the University’s 2-year College System.  My participation on the Speakers Task Force to Review the Wisconsin Technical College System made it very clear there is quite a bit of duplication between the two systems as well as a general lack of willingness by either system to effectively work together to both minimize that duplication as well as serve the educational needs of Wisconsin’s students. 

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.