February 29, 2008
Volume #30, Issue #6
AFSCME’S LOBBY
DAY IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5 - Join your AFSCME brothers and sisters at the
State Capitol as we urge lawmakers to support community services and quality,
affordable health care.
Please contact your Take Back Wisconsin staff or the AFSCME Wisconsin office at
608-836-6666 to let
us know if you will be attending Lobby Day so we can coordinate visits with
legislative offices. To sign up
for Lobby Day or to inquire about transportation, call us at 608-836-6666.
REFORMING THE STATE’S OUTMODED JOHN DOE LAW - A bill that would
change Wisconsin’s John
Doe law was approved by the State Assembly on a strong bipartisan vote of 84-13
Tuesday night. The bill,
Assembly Bill 695, offered by Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon), is now before
the State Senate. AB-695
would require inmates and other confined persons to bring their complaints to
district attorneys rather than
judges. The district attorney would have the final word on whether or not an
investigation of the complaint is
warranted.
Another John Doe reform bill, Senate Bill 537, has been authored by Sen. Lena
Taylor (D-Milwaukee). It
enhances the authority of judges to conduct more thorough investigations than
are allowed under the current
John Doe law, before deciding whether charges can be filed. It provides that, if
a judge decides to proceed
with an investigation of a complaint, the judge shall consider the credibility
of witnesses for and against the
accused. The bill spells out the authority of judges to review law enforcement
records, the records and case
files of the district attorney, and any other written records. SB-537 has been
recommended by the Senate
Judiciary Committee and is likely to be taken up by the full State Senate the
week of March 4.
FOCUSING IN ON JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN THE ADULT CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
- A bill to
raise the age of jurisdiction of youth offenders from 17 to 18 is now before the
State Legislature. Assembly
Bill 746 and its Senate companion, Senate Bill 401, aim to keep teenagers in the
juvenile justice system.
Studies have shown that youth offenders in the adult system have higher
recidivism rates and receive fewer
vital services like education. AFSCME supports these bills. We are urging
lawmakers to provide the funding
needed to make this bill work. AB 746/SB 401 proposes to pay the bill in part
with revenue from a $1
surcharge on video games.
One of the studies that revealed the higher recidivism rates for youths in the
adult corrections system was
released by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau on February 1. The
Legislature’s “Joint Legislative
Audit Committee” will hold a hearing on the audit on Wednesday, March 19, at
10:00 a.m. in the State
Capitol.
TREATING ADULTS WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES IN THE WISCONSIN CORRECTIONS SYSTEM
–
HEARING MARCH 19 - AFSCME supports a request by Rep. Joe Parisi
(D-Madison) to have the
Legislative Audit Bureau examine the incidence of adult inmates with mental
illness in the correctional
system. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee will hold a hearing on the Parisi
request on Wednesday,
March 19, at 10:00 a.m. in the State Capitol.
AFSCME will ask the Committee to expand the scope of the audit to include a
review of inmates with
developmental disabilities as well as those who are dually-diagnosed (that is,
with mental illness and DD).
We also will ask the committee to focus on female offenders at Taycheedah
Correctional Institution and to
determine whether the state is providing adequate resources to treat female
inmates.
HOSPITAL TAX - Senate Democrats this week held a hearing on a
proposal to tax hospitals’ gross
receipts, which would bring into the state treasury about $400 million over a
two-year period. The money
would be used to offset part of the state’s Medicaid costs and would attract an
additional $400 million in
federal dollars.
The hospital tax would help close the alarming $650 million state budget
deficit, which was announced
recently by budget analysts who say the deficit is due to lower-than-anticipated
revenue.
The hospital tax was brought up during last fall’s budget deliberations.
Initially, the Wisconsin Hospital
Association opposed the tax but the tax proposal has been modified and now the
WHA supports it.
A NOTE ON THE LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR - Both the Assembly and Senate
will be in session the
week of March 4-8 and most likely at least one day during the week of March
10-14, the last week of regular
session for the Legislature. With lots of big issues outstanding, there is a
tremendous amount of work to be
done. AFSCME will be paying close attention to how this timeline will affect us,
especially with the need for
legislative approval of state employee contracts and the possibility that
lawmakers will need to come back
to Madison to deal with a budget repair bill.
LEGISLATIVE WEBSITES. . .For those "online", here are some good info spots:
Wisconsin State Legislature: www.legis.state.wi.us/
"Who Are My Legislators": www.legis.state.wi.us./waml/
State of Wisconsin: www.wisconsin.gov/state/home
Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau: www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/
Wisconsin Legislative Council: www.legis.state.wi.us/lc/
Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau: www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/
Wisconsin Ethics Board: http://ethics.state.wi.us