Legislative Update
Senate committee sets hearing on financial literacy, opioid antagonist mandates
The Senate Committee on Education will take public comments at a hearing at 10 am on Tuesday, May 23 in room 330 SW (State Capitol) on the following legislation:
Senate Bill 115–Requiring one-half credit of personal financial literacy for high school graduation.
Under current law, a school board may grant a high school diploma to a pupil only if the pupil meets specific statutory requirements, including earning a certain number of credits in various subjects in the high school grades. read more…
Assembly committee sets hearing on bills relating to teacher licensure, new instructional mandate and advisory committee membership
The Assembly Committee on Education will hold a public hearing on three bills after voting to recommend two bills from a previous hearing. The committee will meet at 9:30 am on Thursday, May 25 in room 417 North (State Capitol).
Reminder: an executive session is a vote of the committee on whether to recommend the legislation for passage by the full Assembly. It usually includes a discussion among committee members but no public comment is taken. A public hearing includes public comment on the proposals. read more…
New LFB projections: tax collections to grow slightly less than previous estimates
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) today projected state tax collections over the next two years would come in $755.1 million lower than what the agency expected just four months ago. Even with that dip, Wisconsin’s budget forecast still shows the state collecting about $6.9 billion more than anticipated by the end of this June.
From the Associated Press: “The projection from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that taxes collected over the next two years will be down about $755 million, or about 1% less than the previous forecast made four months ago. Taking into account other short-term cost savings, the surplus shrank from $7.1 billion to nearly $6.9 billion. read more…
School-related mandates included in Assembly GOP shared revenue package
School-related unfunded mandates have been reported to be provisions included in a package being developed by legislative Republicans to fund shared revenue to local governments. According to Wispolitics.com, the plan includes a mandate requiring all schools statewide to collect and maintain statistics on crimes that happen on school property during the week, similar to a proposal (2023 Assembly Bill 53) that has failed to pass as stand-alone legislation for several legislative sessions. Also included is a mandate requiring the Milwaukee Public School District Board to have school resource officers present at schools during normal hours, as well as other activities as needed. This is similar to legislation introduced earlier this session (Assembly Bill 69). The WASB opposed the former bill on local control grounds and provided comments suggesting changes to the latter bill. read more…
Federal Clean School Bus (CSB) Grant Program seeks applications
The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program is now accepting applications from qualifying school transportation providers for its second round of grant funding intended to fund the replacement of existing school buses with clean and zero-emission (ZE) school buses. The deadline for applying is August 22, 2023.
The EPA anticipates awarding approximately $400 million in competitive grant funding under the 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Grants Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Funding for this program was approved as part of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
Eligible school districts, tribes, contractors, and nonprofit school transportation associations may apply for funding to replace diesel-powered buses with new non-diesel models, including zero-emission electric school buses, and propane, or compressed natural gas (CNG) school buses.
JFC to start budget votes on Tuesday, plans to remove 545 items from governor’s plan
Many of Governor Tony Evers’ budget proposals will be on the chopping block Tuesday (May 2) as the GOP-controlled, budget-writing Joint Finance Committee (JFC) takes its first votes on the budget.
In a memo to committee members released on Friday (April 28), JFC Co-chairs, Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) outlined the process the Committee will follow in reviewing the 2023-25 state budget.
The Co-Chairs’ memo also stated their intention to draft a motion to remove a list of 545 of Evers’ proposals from further budget consideration. The full list of items was contained in the memo.
The meeting notice for Tuesday’s (May 2) executive (voting) session was also released Friday (April 28). That notice included the draft motion and list of items to be removed. (See page 2 of the notice.)
The list of items slated for removal that are related to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is provided below.
Interestingly, the governor’s recommendation to provide $10 million per year for early literacy and reading improvement is not on the list of items slated for removal. That item can be found at page 493 of the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) summary document. It is item #6.
2023-24 State Bill Tracker online
The State Bill Tracker for the 2023-24 session of the state legislature is now up on the WASB website.Access the tracker here: https://wasb.org/advocacy-government-relations/wasb-bill-tracking-chart
Record amounts of Library Aid to be paid to public schools this year
The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands has informed the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) that a record $52 million is available for payment to school districts as Library Aid this year. As a result, aid for school libraries from the Common School Fund in the 2022-23 school year will be $45.38 per census student.
By comparison, last year, school districts across the state received a then-record $40.6 million in Library Aid, with a per census student distribution equal to about $35.31.
Library Aid is disbursed annually to public school libraries across the state in April. Each school district receives an allocation based its reported resident census count and the per child amount.
Library Aid, which is generated from investment earnings on the state’s Common School Fund, is to be used by school librarians and library media specialists primarily to purchase books and technology for students to use in school libraries. Funds are to be used in the same fiscal year as they are received.
Senate Education Committee to hold hearing on April 25
The state Senate Education Committee will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, April 25 at 10:00 am on two bills and the confirmation of several appointments. The committee, chaired by Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown, pictured), will meet in Room 201 Southeast of the State Capitol.
You can view the public hearing notice here.
The committee will hold a public hearing on the following two bills:
OSS: Critical Incident Response training session applications open
From the Office of School Safety (OSS): The first session of Critical Incident Response (CIR) training is scheduled for May 1st – May 3rd, 2023. There are 3 CIR training opportunities scheduled throughout the state in May & June 2023. The training will provide participants with best practices in crisis response and recovery techniques and the ability to further support school communities that may be impacted by a crisis event. CLICK HERE for more information and session applications.Priority registration will be given to participants serving in CESA Regions 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 12.
Dates & Locations: read more…
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