The month of March feels to me like Legislative chaos! It is not at all unusual to have two or three Assembly Committee meetings scheduled concurrently in order to churn out last-minute bills for consideration during our final major floor period. A Legislator learns the art of being "in two or more places at one time."
Tuesday, March 12th provides a good illustration. At 8 a.m., I arrive at the Assembly Education Committee meeting. 1 note my presence during the roll call. I cast votes on a couple of measures and then excuse myself at 8:30 a.m. to dash over to the Criminal Justice Committees meeting to note my presence and indicate that I will return shortly. I then run to the Insurance Committee meeting (also at 8:30 a.m.) to testify on behalf of a bill I have authored and answer questions from Committee members. Then its back to Education, where I am permitted to cast votes on the bills which were considered while I was out of the room. The same occurs in Criminal Justice, where I then settle until the meeting adjourns in time for our floor session.
Once on the floor, we consider roughly 25 bills that day. Most of them are relatively non-controversial. This is in stark contrast to the next day when only four bills are scheduled. One of the four bills, however, is expected to generate many hours of debate, accounting for the light calendar. Upon adjournment typically somewhere between 4:00 and 7 a.m., we return to our offices to retrieve phone messages, read our mail, sign correspondence, and collect our homework. Our homework consists of the bundles of bills which will receive consideration the next day (either in Committee or on the floor). We retire home with our stack of bills to an evening of (dry) reading. We determine whether we will offer amendments in Committee or on the floor. We draft outlines on points that we want to make during the floor debate. And we draft a few letters, asking (sometimes begging) various Committee Chairs or Legislative Leaders to consider scheduling our bills for a vote before it's too late.
This is typical for March in the Legislature. So what sort of legislation is being pushed through during this chaotic March floor period? Highlights of the first week of our floor period included Assembly consideration of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) Welfare Reform Bill and Senate consideration of the 24-hour Abortion Waiting Period Bill.
In the Assembly, the W-2 debate was tremendously emotional for me. I have held five public forums on W-2 around my district since the measure was introduced last year. Many of the issues and concerns raised by my constituents about W-2 were never addressed during the course of Committee consideration of the bill. I am convinced that families I represent will fall through the cracks in this new program. I am also convinced that community-based charitable and religious organizations will not be able to provide an adequate safety-net for those who do fall through the cracks. On the floor of the Assembly, all amendments to W-2 were rejected on partisan votes. I offered an amendment to exempt terminally ill single parents from the 40 hour a week work components of W-2, so that they might be permitted more time with their children, and time to put their affairs in order before they die. I was appalled and deeply saddened to see that amendment rejected on a party line vote.
In the Senate, the 24-hour Abortion Waiting Period bill picked up two amendments. The underlying bill requires a woman seeking an abortion to receive in-person counseling at least 24 hours prior to having an abortion. However, the legislation dictates the content of the counseling rather than leaving it up to trained health care providers. With the recent prevalence of anti-abortion demonstrations, the in-person counseling requirements have raised many concerns. In other states, these provisions have led to instances in which women have been blockaded from clinics, had their license plate numbers recorded, and received threatening phone calls between appointments.
The Senate adopted one amendment to the bill creating an exception for women who are pregnant as the result of rape or incest. The other Senate amendment reduces the minimum amount of punitive damages that can be levied against a physician for violation of the bill's provisions from $5,000 to $1,000. The passage of these amendments means that the bill will return to the Assembly for concurrence in the Senate's changes.
1.A bill known as the "Fifth Standard" which creates new criteria for involuntary civil commitments to mental institutions for persons with mental illness,
2.A bill which revises (and significantly weakens) Wisconsin's Family and Medical Leave Act,
3.A bill to place a question on the Death Penalty on the November ballot,
4.A Constitutional Amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution relating to the right to bear arms, and
5.A bill to declare English as the official language in Wisconsin.
I am working hard to convince legislative leaders to act on several pieces of legislation that I have authored over the course of the session. They include:
A bill to provide collective bargaining rights to state public defenders (the only non-confidential group of state employed attorneys without collective bargaining rights).
A bill which would regulate the viatical settlement industry. Viatical settlements occur when an individual purchases the right to receive another personÕs life insurance death benefit. The value of viatical settlements is the opportunity for a terminally ill individual to obtain cash for medical and living expenses during the last years of his or her life, especially if he or she cannot work. The industry, however, has seen some abuses. My bill would regulate the industry, especially in light of the vulnerability of the population with which this industry deals.
A bill which will allow computer access to the data filed with the State Elections Board. Currently, you can only learn who is trying to influence the outcome of elections by paging through tomes of paper at the State Elections Board. Electronic filing and access will make Wisconsin's open records law meaningful once again.
A bill which will repeal the Home Health Care Caps placed on individuals with severe disabilities. An amendment to the 1995-1997 State Budget requires individuals whose home care services exceed a specified cap to either move to a nursing home or to do without the services in excess of the cap. Either alternative is inhumane and unconscionable in my eyes. My bill would repeal those caps.
I invite you to keep in touch with me on issues of concern to you.
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