Candidates at all levels continue fundraising and campaigning as the
primary and general elections later this year inch closer. The Democratic Party
of Wisconsin held its state convention last week in Middleton. Milwaukee Mayor
Tom Barrett heads the state ticket as the only Democratic gubernatorial
candidate. Barrett will face the winner of the Republican primary featuring
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and home builder Marc Neumann. At the
convention, Madison businessman Henry Sanders won a straw poll in the primary race for lieutenant governor. The
Democratic Party also backed incumbent State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass and
incumbent Secretary of State Doug LaFollette.
While legislative and gubernatorial races continue, state agencies are
rushing to issue a number of regulations before the end of the year. The
Wisconsin Natural Resources Board is set to approve a rule implementing
phosphorus water quality standards for rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs and
Great Lakes. The DNR has also scheduled public hearings on proposed rules to
implement the Great Lakes Compact. (For more information on these and other
rules, please see below.)
Political Tidbits will provide continuous
updates on election news and other government news. Also, please visit Hamilton Consulting Group's Blog for timely updates.
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Wisconsin DNR Moving Forward On A Number of Environmental Regulations
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The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has posted its agenda for its two-day meeting on June 22 and 23.
The most notable item on the agenda is a request by the Department of
Natural Resources to the Board that it adopt proposed phosphorus rule (WT-25-08). The proposed rule is somewhat
controversial due to the significant costs it will impose on municipalities and
industrial dischargers.
The DNR is also proposing a rule to increase air permit fees for reviewing
applications to construct or modify sources of air pollution. The fees would
increase for a number of permits, including major source construction (33
percent increase), major and minor modifications (50 percent and 70 percent
respectively); and, MACT, BACT, and LAER (67 percent increase).
Another notable rule the Natural Resources Board will vote on is AM-06-09 (affecting NR 433 pertaining to the implementation of Best Available
Retrofit Technology (BART) requirements).
In addition, the Board will act on a request seeking authorization for a
public hearing on a proposed rule (AM-34-05) affecting NR 411, pertaining to the indirect source air permit
program. The most notable change is the DNR's rewriting of the rules to allow
the agency to regulate diesel exhaust emissions.
The DNR has also set public hearings for three rules implementing the Great Lakes Compact. The three rules include the following:
The public hearings are scheduled for June 28 (Milwaukee), June 29
(Green Bay; Ashland), and June 30 (Madison and Wausau).
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Latest Study Provides Mixed Reviews for Wisconsin's Civil Justice System | |
A new study prepared by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) ranks
Wisconsin 9th in its latest "Tort Liability Index." On its face, the report
appears to provide a positive snapshot of Wisconsin's civil justice
system. However, when using a different set of variables, i.e., tort laws and
procedures on the books, the report drops Wisconsin to a low 35th place.
Moreover, the study groups all 50 states into four areas: saints,
sinners, salvageables, and suckers. Wisconsin is placed in the
"suckers" group with eight other states. The study describes the
"suckers" group the following way:
[These states] have weak tort rules on the books because they currently
have relatively low monetary tort losses and/or low tort litigation risks and,
therefore, believe that reform is not needed. These states are a
personal-injury lawyer's next green pasture. In the game of lawsuit
"Whack-a-Mole," the suckers are the states where plaintiffs and their
lawyers will pop up to pursue abusive lawsuits because these states have not
preemptively closed off opportunities for excessive litigation.
A similar study prepared by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal
Reform released in March ranked Wisconsin 22nd in the nation. That study's
final results were based on interviews of 1,482 in-house general counsels,
senior litigators or attorneys, and other senior executives knowledgeable about
litigation matters at public and private companies with annual revenues of at
least $100 million.
The takeaway from both studies is that although Wisconsin is not one of
the worst states in the country in terms of civil justice, there is still room
for improvement when it comes to its current tort laws.
One thing is for certain- Wisconsin would have ranked much lower in both
studies had the numerous anti-business bills supported by the plaintiffs' bar
not been defeated in the Legislature last session.
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Court Affirms Judge's Right to State Political Party Affiliation
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The United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals this month ruled that
the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct's prohibition on
judicial candidates or judges announcing a political party is
unconstitutional.
Pointing to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the Court of Appeals
determined that Wisconsin's political party affiliation ban for
judges violates the First Amendment by forbidding "speech on the
basis of its content." According to the court, the rule violates a judge's
or judicial candidate's political views and qualifications for office.
The Court of the Appeals, however, reversed other portions of the lower
court's decision, which found that prohibitions on partisan endorsements
and personal solicitations of campaign contributions by judges and judicial
candidates violated the Constitution.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment's protections
do not extend to judges endorsing other political candidates or seeking
personal solicitations of campaign contributions, nor do those rules violate
existing campaign finance laws.
The full decision, Seifert v.
Alexander, et al., (No. 09-1713), can be read here.
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EPA Sets New Air Quality Standards for Sulfur Dioxide
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The EPA this month issued a final rule for sulfur dioxide (SO2) limits under the Clean Air Act. The
new rule establishes a new one-hour standard at 75 parts per billion
(ppb). In addition, the EPA is revoking the current 24-hour and annual SO2
primary standards because, according to the EPA, those standards do "not
provide additional health benefits." The two existing standards were 140
ppb evaluated over 24-hours, and 30 ppb evaluated over an entire year.
The new rule also creates new monitoring requirements, such as placing
monitors in more populated areas. Specifically, the regulations require
monitors to be placed in Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) based on
population weighted emissions index for the area. Those requirements take
place January 1, 2013.
To learn more about the new SO2 standards, click here.
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U.S. Senate Rejects Measure Overturning EPA's Endangerment Finding
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The U.S. Senate recently voted (53-47) against a resolution that would
have essentially stripped the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases
under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Last year, the EPA issued two findings (known as
"endangerment" and "contribution" findings) that triggered
the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the CAA. Under those two
findings, the EPA determined that greenhouse gases endanger the public health
and welfare, and that emissions from motor vehicles contribute to
concentrations of key greenhouse gases.
Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) resolution would have reversed the endangerment and
contribution findings, and thus removed the EPA's authority to issue
regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources.
All 41 Republicans and six Democrats voted for the measure. While the
vote was a victory for the Obama Administration, the larger question remains
whether there is enough support to pass comprehensive climate change legislation
this summer before the November elections.
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Upcoming Fundraisers
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For details, go to Hamilton Consulting Fundraiser Calendar.
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HTML clipboardWDC Political Tidbits is a newsletter on
Wisconsin political and policy developments prepared for WDC members by
The Hamilton Consulting Group. |
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Updates
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In-Depth Updates provide analysis and
discussion of key legislative and regulatory initiatives, and related
developments.
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Related News
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Ron
Johnson postpones tea party sessions: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 17,
2010. Conservatives unsatisfied by U.S. Senate candidate's responses.
Oshkosh
Corp. wins $24.3M Army contract: Green Bay Press-Gazette, June 17, 2010. The
Army is buying 439 palletized load-system trailers, and the company is expected
to fulfill the contract by Sept. 30.
Small
company generates big energy ideas (opinion): Oshkosh Northwestern, June
17, 2010. Oshkosh company is an example of how innovative and ingenuity can
develop alternative energy sources.
ALRC
recommends ordinance penalizing stores that sell to problem drinkers:
Wisconsin State Journal, June 16, 2010. City officials and liquor industry
representatives still need to iron out how a first-offense penalty will be
administered.
Americans
tighten their wallets: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 16, 2010.
Northwestern Mutual survey finds a conservative shift in consumer spending.
DNR
Halts Waukesha's Water Request: Milwaukee Express, June 16, 2010. Rule out
all other alternatives, DNR Secretary Frank says.
Wind
turbines pose groundwater, health issues, panel says: Green Bay
Press-Gazette, June 16, 2010. Board of Health advises against wind farms in
southern Brown County.
Contractors
wait for lead licenses: The Daily Reporter, June 16, 2010. Wisconsin on
April 22 enacted new rules requiring home-renovation contractors train workers
in lead abatement to get a state license before working on houses built before
1978.
Root
for more risk-takers (opinion): Wisconsin State Journal, June 15, 2010. Encouraging
smart people with big ideas to act boldly is key to Wisconsin's success in the
changing, knowledge-based economy.
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| Links | Hamilton Consulting Regulatory Watch
A web site for timely updates and analyses of federal and
Wisconsin regulatory programs.
Wisconsin Civil Justice Council
Promoting Fairness and Equity in Wisconsin's Civil Justice System
Wisconsin Defense Counsel Website
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