Notes from the West Wing
By
State Representative Garey Bies
Phosphorous
During my tenure here in the State Assembly, I have tried to avoid getting tangled in partisan political wrangling. Now I’m not talking about being labeled a “partisan” simply because I voted to support a bill authored by a Republican and opposed by the Democrats, I’m talking about playing political games with legislation purely for the purpose of trying to make the other side look bad. Unfortunately, this week, in an indirect way, I became involved in just such an occasion. The reason? My legislation to restrict the sale of fertilizer containing phosphorous was used as a political sledgehammer.
Early in this legislative session, at the request of the Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department, I introduced legislation that would place restrictions on when phosphorous fertilizer could be used and how fertilizer retailers could market that fertilizer. My legislation had strong, state-wide support from many local organizations, counties, municipalities, residents, and legislators. Unfortunately, the legislation got bogged down in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee as certain industry concerns had the ear of certain Committee members. Then, at nearly the 11th hour, a compromise was reached between the Republican Committee Chair and the Ranking Democrat member and the Committee then voted unanimously to approve the legislation. While I would have preferred my bill to move forward without the amendment, I thought the changes were reasonable and they did leave the intent of the legislation intact.
Following this Committee action, I was optimistic that my proposal could be scheduled during the last week of session. This is, of course, where things turned sour. As the hectic schedule for the last week was unfolding, I was working trying to get my phosphorous bill added to the calendar. With a 14-0 vote in support of the legislation in Committee, and the huge support from around the state, I felt good about getting it scheduled. Then on Wednesday, the Assembly Democrats made a procedural attack on the bill by attempting to withdraw the legislation from the Rules Committee, which is the committee that schedules bills for the floor. Malevolent “pulling motions” are an attempt by the minority party to get the majority party to have to take a “bad vote.” The votes on these motions in no way reflect support of the proposal in question, but reflect the integrity of the legislative process. After all, my phosphorous proposal had significant bi-partisan support. Unfortunately it fell victim to political wrangling and with this wrangling, the bill died.
Now, not all the blame falls on the Democrat leadership here. They were only responsible for the final nail in the coffin. The Republicans are also to blame for dragging their feet for far too long leaving us in a position where one more nail sealed my proposal’s fate. Next to the Propane Safety Act, my phosphorous legislation was a major priority and I am profoundly disappointed that it didn’t get done this session. But life must go on, and this issue is not dead. I will reintroduce this legislation at the beginning of next session and use what we accomplished this time as the starting point for our efforts to get it signed into law. It is an important issue and worthy of this effort and I am confident it will become law in Wisconsin.
As always, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.wisconsin.gov or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001. You can also visit my website at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm01/news/.