Legislative Update
Senate committee holds hearing on two bills impacting Wisconsin schools
Office of School Safety secures funds to maintain operations for 2023-24 school year
From an OSS press release: Attorney General Josh Kaul today is announcing that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS) has secured one-time funding to temporarily continue it’s current, lifesaving operations to keep Wisconsin kids safe. Since its inception in 2018, OSS has become a critical resource for students, teachers, school administrators, and educational communities across the state of Wisconsin by implementing practices proven to prevent violence in schools.
“We’re committed to doing everything we can to keep our kids safe by preventing tragedy, and that’s exactly what these funds will help us continue to do,” said Attorney General Kaul. “It remains essential, however, for the state legislature to take action in the current legislative session. We must not allow critical Office of School Safety programs to be gutted at the end of 2024.” read more…
Gov. Evers signs into law legislation to allow board members to volunteer as school bus drivers
Gov. Tony Evers signed Assembly Bill 233 into law today as 2023 Wisconsin Act 26 allowing school board members to serve as volunteer school bus drivers. The WASB supported this bill and appreciated the governor’s action. The bill was signed in New Glarus to recognize the advocacy efforts of the New Glarus School Board on the issue. Below is the release from the Governor’s office on the bill signing:GOP legislators circulate draft to eliminate restrictions on low revenue ceiling
State Senator Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point, pictured) and Representative Chanz Green (R-Grandview) are circulating a bill draft to their legislator colleagues that will repeal the statutory restriction on low-spending districts not being able to utilize the increase in the low revenue ceiling to $11,000 per pupil if they have a failed operational referendum in the previous three years. We applaud Sen. Testin and Rep. Green for circulating this draft. Lawmakers have until Wednesday, August 11 to sign on to support the bill. PLEASE contact your state legislators and urge them to sign on as a cosponsor of LRB-3997 from Sen. Testin & Rep. Green. Liberal groups petition state Supreme Court to overturn state legislative maps
From WisPolitics.com: “A coalition of progressive legal interests today asked the state Supreme Court to overturn GOP-drawn legislative maps, calling them an extreme partisan gerrymander that violates parts of the Wisconsin Constitution.
“The filing comes one day after Justice Janet Protasiewicz — who called the current maps “rigged” to favor Republicans — joined the court and flipped it to a 4-3 liberal majority. read more…
Put your board’s imprint on the WASB’s policy direction
When WASB members ask about how the WASB’s legislative priorities are set, we point them to the WASB Resolutions Book. Resolutions adopted by the annual WASB Delegate Assemblies set the policy direction for the WASB and its lobbying efforts. The WASB resolution process is meant to be member-driven. Each member board has an opportunity to put its imprint on the WASB’s policies. The process begins when member boards submit resolutions proposing new language or changing or repealing existing resolution language. Those board resolutions must be submitted to the WASB by Sept. 15.
Please keep this in mind as you set board agendas for your August and September board meetings. For more background information on the resolutions process and guidance about submitting resolutions, please refer the Delegate Assembly webpage.
Once adopted, those resolutions remain in effect unless amended or repealed. That means resolutions can, at times, become outdated or no longer reflective of positions that a majority of WASB member boards currently hold. We encourage WASB member boards to review the resolutions carefully.
Gov. Evers signs reading legislation into law
Governor Tony Evers today announced that he had signed Assembly Bill 321, related to updating early literacy instruction, into law as 2023 Act 20.
From the governor’s announcement: read more…
Assembly education committee schedules public hearing on legislation including choking device mandate and pupil strip searches
The Assembly Committee on Education, chaired by Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) will hold a public hearing on Thursday, July 20 at 10:00 am in Room 417 North of the State Capitol.
The committee will receive public testimony on the following bills: read more…
Gov. Evers’ vetoes leave state with $4 billion surplus
Primarily by rolling back tax cuts proposed by legislative Republicans, partial budget vetoes by Gov. Tony Evers leave the state with a projected $4 billion surplus according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
From Wisconsin Public Radio: In the end, Republicans gave Evers less than half of what he wanted for public schools and zeroed out other programs altogether. And Evers used his partial veto to reject a GOP income tax cut for the state’s top two brackets. The end result leaves lawmakers and the governor with some of the same choices they faced when the budget debate began earlier this year. read more…
GOP preparing to sue/propose constitutional amendment over partial veto on public school funding; Former Govs. weigh in
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Republicans are preparing to sue over Gov. Evers’ partial veto that increased public school revenue limits for the next 400 years after the 2023-25 budget cycle.
From Wispolitics.com: “When you say he has the broad authority, that is clearly in question,” Vos said on WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “We do not know that. He has taken the broad authority, but it doesn’t mean that it’s right.” read more…
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