Democrat Governor Tony Evers today signed the legislative maps into law which were last week approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature. The new maps were drawn and previously submitted by the governor to the state Supreme Court. He approved the maps despite concerns from legislative Democrats that they could be challenged in federal court. (more…)
The end of session is a hectic time. Since time is short and things are rushed, the standard of review and vetting of legislative proposals is often limited. There are exceptions, but often these late session bills aren’t necessarily meant to become law, but rather stake out positions for lawmakers to use in their reelection platforms.It can also be a strange time and a good example of this was the vote in the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care on Assembly Bill 1016. This bill, authored by Rep. William Penterman (R-Columbus, pictured), would mandate that public and private voucher schools offer at least 3 hours of “physical activity” per week to all students during school hours with the argument that this will help combat childhood obesity. The bill had an amendment curiously championed by Rep. Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee, pictured) recommended unanimously by the committee that removed the requirement for the “physical activity” to be offered during school hours. Then things got interesting. (more…)
The business before the end of session continues this week with the announcement of two Assembly floor sessions and a Senate Education Committee executive session. Education focused proposals will take up a large portion of the Assembly agenda in the coming days. The chamber is set to take up the legislative packages for the Task Forces on Human Trafficking, Childhood Obesity, and Truancy in K-12 Education. Also on the docket are several curricular mandates, teacher licensing pathway changes, a grant program for threat detection software, private choice/independent charter school funding and regulation, and school accountability issues including introducing bidding thresholds for schools.Today in anticipation of the final Senate sessions, the Senate Education Committee will be voting on the proposals it heard testimony on last week in its public hearing. Read below to find more information on the bills receiving action this week. (more…)
With the clock ticking on the legislative session, lawmakers in Madison will meet for a busy week as they hold votes on their final policy initiatives before adjourning. K-12 education issues will take a central focus this week, with the Senate voting tomorrow on 6 bills previously heard by the Senate Education Committee. The Assembly Education Committee will also be meeting tomorrow to vote on the bills the committee heard testimony on last week. It is expected that the Assembly will also be convening at the end of next week. This means the bills recommended for passage by the committee tomorrow, will likely form the bulk of the chambers remaining education-focused action.
Read below to see the bills set to see action this week. As always, please reach out to the Government Relations Team if you have any questions. (more…)
The resolutions adopted by the 2024 WASB Delegate Assembly have been posted on the WASB website. You can access that document HERE.
Resolutions adopted by the annual Delegate Assemblies set the policy direction for the WASB and its lobbying efforts. Once adopted, these resolutions remain in force unless amended or repealed.
More information can be found on the Delegate Assembly website.