Senate passes Great Lakes Compact

Sen. John Lehman issued the following statement today, after the Wisconsin State Senate approved the Great Lakes Compact:

Lehman, State Senate Vote to Approve Great Lakes Compact

Madison – State Senator John Lehman joined thirty one Senate colleagues in voting to approve the Great Lakes Compact. Today’s Senate action ratifies an agreement among the seven states and two Canadian provinces bordering the Great Lakes to protect this valuable natural resource by limiting the diversion of water outside of the area, regulating water usage in the area and encouraging conservation measures statewide.

“Lake Michigan and all the Great Lakes are crucial to the health and well-being of Racine’s economy and all of Wisconsin. Our action today is an historic step to protect this irreplaceable natural resource for generations to come. It is probably the most important, pro-environment vote we will ever have a chance to cast,” commented Lehman.

The State Assembly is expected to take up and approve the compact yet this week. The agreement must also gain the approval of all seven states and be ratified by the U.S. Congress before it goes into effect. To date Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and New York have ratified the compact.

Lehman, who helped develop the legislation as part of a bipartisan working group, said major provisions of the bill are:

--Formal ratification to the compact agreement itself regulating the use of Great Lakes water within the geographic basin and diversion of water outside of the area;
--New statutes for the use of water in the area of the Great Lakes basin prior to the compact going into effect;
--Implementation of the provision of the compact when it is ratified by all the Great Lakes states and U.S. Congress and;
--Establishment of a process for communities statewide to develop local water supply plans.

“Our bill establishes clear rules for current and potential users of the resource and strong regulations on the diversion of water to help protect the quality and quantity of Great Lakes water we enjoy.”

Support for the compact and implementing legislation from environmental and business interests and across party lines in the legislature is recognition of the importance of water to the economic future of the state and significance for public health according to Lehman. Proactively protecting Wisconsin’s water resources preserves access to a safe, reliable supply of water and prevents the struggles of many areas of the country like the South and Southwest where water shortages are increasing costs for businesses and residents and poor water quality is a health hazard.

Lehman concluded, “I’m proud to have been part of the process and cast my vote today in favor of protecting Wisconsin’s economic and environmental health.”

Senate committee approves KRM funding

Funding for the KRM commuter rail continues to get support in the Senate, but is likely headed to its death in the Assembly.

A Senate committee included funding for KRM in its budget fix bill, which passed on Thursday. The bill heads to a vote before the whole Senate on Tuesday. After that, the Senate will have to compromise with the Assembly on a final bill. It's highly unlikely the Assembly will back the plan.

Here's Lehman's statement on the Senate committee's vote:

Senate Finance Committee Adopts Budget Plan
Lehman Votes for Plan That Responsibly Closes Budget Gap, Includes KRM Rail Line

Madison – State Senator John Lehman voted today to advance a balanced and responsible state deficit fix out of the Senate Finance Committee. The bill is slated for a vote before the full Senate next Tuesday.

Lehman commented,” Our budget plan is a balanced and responsible proposal that closes the current budget gap with a mix of cuts and revenue, protects core state programs and gives the go ahead to critical economic development programs like the KRM rail line.”

The Senate plan does not increase sales or income tax rates or property taxes on Wisconsin residents.

Lehman noted that by closing a corporate tax loophole that allows some business to escape paying any state taxes the Senate budget plan delivers a corporate tax rate cut to help out Wisconsin businesses.

Additional highlights of the bill include:

• Authorization for the KRM rail line that will bring in over $100 million in federal construction aid and is estimated to create 3,000 new jobs;

• An additional $40 million in new state spending reductions on top of the $200 million already required in this budget cycle;

• No raids on transportation or any other segregated funds;

• A reduction of the structural deficit of over $270 million compared to the Assembly budget fix;

• Implementation of a hospital assessment that will bring over $400 million in new federal money to increase reimburse rates to hospitals for care given Medical Assistance program enrollees and reduce cost shifting to privately insured patients;

• Protection of local property tax savings including full funding of shared revenue, local school aids including categorical aids and the school levy tax credit.

He concluded, “No one likes our state fiscal situation, but our Senate plan maps out a responsible path forward. We mix spending cuts with investments in economic growth, combine new ways to capture additional federal revenues with closing tax loopholes to help out our local hospitals and reduce the corporate tax rates and at the end of the day have the least borrowing and lowest structural deficit of the three budget repair plans.”

New law requires schools to cover cost of AP tests

School districts will pay the cost of advanced placements exams for students eligible for free or reduced lunch under a bill Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law Wednesday.

This bill allows the Department of Public Instruction to apply for federal funds to cover the costs of these exams. AP exams help students earn college credit while still in high school.

Under previous state law, the local school district was required to pay for these exams. The U.S. Department of Education had taken the state's previous statutory language to mean that only state or local funds should pay for these exams, which has prevented the state from receiving any sort of federal assistance.

“This common-sense fix allows Wisconsin school districts to compete for federal grants to cover the cost of advanced placement exams for low-income students,” said Lehman. “Wisconsin schools have missed out on $140,000 in grants this past year alone."

Lehman noted the lost grant money would have paid for over 1500 AP exams and 95 International Baccalaureate exams.

The next round of grants will be awarded in January.

Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, helped the bill win approval.

Lehman proposing compulsory auto insurance law

What does Wisconsin have in common with New Hampshire? (Besides snowy winters.)

These are the only two states that don't require drivers to have motor vehicle insurance.

Not necessarily for long, if State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, has his way. Lehman is circulating a bill, looking for cosponsors, that would require every driver in Wisconsin to have a valid motor vehicle insurance policy before taking to the road.

“Operating a motor vehicle is a privilege, not a right," Lehman said. "Wisconsin places a number of requirements on drivers like passing written and on-the-road skills tests. It’s common sense to also require drivers to be financially responsible for any injury or damage they might cause in an accident.”

Under Lehman’s bill, drivers would be required to have a liability policy or bond covering them for at least $25,000 for one person and $50,000 for one or more person’s injuries and at least $10,000 in property damage. The new financial responsibility requirement could also be met by having a deposit of $60,000 in cash or securities with the state Department of Transportation.

According to a recent study by the Insurance Research Council, Lehman said, if someone is injured in an automobile accident there is a one in seven chance that the at-fault driver is uninsured: “A person who is injured or suffers property damage as a result of an auto accident should not be doubly punished by the financial irresponsibility of another driver.”

While drivers could not be pulled over specifically to determine compliance with the law, a minimal fine could be imposed for failing to have proof of insurance in the vehicle. Larger penalties of up to $500 would be levied on drivers who fail to maintain the minimum level of coverage.

“Our state laws should help to make our roadways safe and secure and protect responsible citizens. This bill will help advance that cause by requiring every driver on the road to take financial responsibility for any damage or injury they may cause,” he concluded.

Frankly, it makes perfect sense to us. (Maybe because we also lived in New Hampshire for many years.) But then we remember, Wisconsin is one of the few states that doesn't even require motorcyclists to wear a helmet ...

Lehman's tax fix bill passes Senate; faces roadblock in Assembly

State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, is putting up a solid fight for $700,000 in state funds for the Racine Unified School District. But his efforts are likely to fail before Republicans in the Assembly.

Lehman's bill amounts to a wonkish, but important, distinction between levy credits and general state aids. A portion of the recently passed state budget will distribute $79.3 million in state money to school districts. The money was originally supposed to be distributed as general state aid. But the 4-month delayed state budget resulted in the money be given out as a school levy tax credit.

Here's where the change gets interesting: shifting the money to the school levy credit cost 299 school districts across the state an estimated $12 million in state aid. Where did that money go? It was funneled from 70 percent of the school systems in the state to a select 30 percent. How and why the money was moved is best left to policy wonks to explain. But the bottom line for Racine is Unified loses $700,000 in the change - money that will either require cuts or higher taxes.

Lehman's proposal, which passed the Senate on a bi-partisan 25-7 vote, would revert the funding back to the general state aids. It's unlikely, however, to pass the Assembly where leaders said they would not consider the legislation.

It's unclear why the Assembly won't take up the bill, particularly because its leaders have schools in their districts that will lose under the plan. Chalk it up to another example of bureaucracy getting in the way of common sense.

Lawmakers, listening

State Rep. Bob Turner, D-Racine, didn't get home from the legislative budget fiasco in Madison until 3 a.m. this morning. But he and State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, were on hand at the Cesar Chavez Community Center, as promised, at 10 a.m. for a listening session with northside constituents.

After a few minutes to bring the dozen participants up to speed on where the budget is -- short answer: it ain't -- they fielded questions, and strong opinions, from those present.

Questions about voter ID, drunk driving, cigarette taxes, tax breaks for seniors, legislative in-fighting.

CIGARETTE TAX: Partisan wrangling over an increase in the cigarette tax -- Republicans want an additional 75 cents per pack, Democrats want $1.25 -- was particularly galling to one woman. "People are getting sick and tired of government telling them what they can and cannot do. People know smoking is bad for you." A man added, In California you can't even smoke in your own apartment or condo!"

Both Lehman and Turner responded, almost in unison: "I'm never going to vote for that!"

Turner noted, "If my mother was alive, she'd hate my guts for supporting the $1.25 tax. She smoked all her life." Lehman said this is a bigger political issue in northern Wisconsin than here, and predicted there'd be a compromise. The tax increase, on top of already existing state cigarette taxes, is expected to reduce smoking by teenagers. (Neither could remember how much excise tax Wisconsin currently adds to a pack of cigarettes. We, with the benefit of Google, learn in a fraction of a second that it's now 77 cents; Wisconsin tax on smokes ranks 29th.)

SENIORS: "Will our legislature allow retirees to stay in the state," one man asked, adding, "If I lived in Georgia, I wouldn't have to pay any school tax." Others chimed in, "When is the state not going to tax Social Security?" "Why not freeze property taxes at 65?"

Lehman said proposals to exempt the first $10,000, $20,000 or more of property tax were an effort to help all low and middle-income taxpayers, not just the elderly. And next year, exemption of Social Security benefits from state income tax takes effect.

VIDEO GAMING: A question about lax enforcement of video gaming in taverns caused Lehman to note "the struggle between Indian gaming and small taverns. Small taverns are on the decline; they're not the gathering places they used to be." Laws against such gaming devices, he and Turner agreed, are not well-enforced.

DRIVING WITH CELLPHONES was something one respondent wanted the legislature to do something about. "A lot of people have contacted me about this," Lehman said, but he cited studies showing that other distractions -- talking, drinking coffee -- are just as hazardous. "Cellphone haven't changed accident rates," he said. And then he turned the question around, noting that in the cigarette tax discussion his questioners had opposed the government regulating what they do in their homes: "Do you want government going into your car?" Turner added, "There are adequate laws regulating inattentive driving now."

VOTER ID: "Why are you people in Madison opposed to it? Today it's helter-skelter; why not just require everyone to show an ID when they go to vote?" Lehman replied that this is not really a problem in Racine, and Turner recalled that there were fewer than half a dozen vote fraud cases statewide in the last election. Both pointed out that people have to show ID when registering to vote, and said that implementing a specific voter ID card would discriminate against the poor and disabled, who would have to make a special trip to get one. "We try to balance access to the polls and showing who the person is."

THE MESS IN MADISON: Lehman waxed philosophical when asked, "Why is there so little cooperation in government?"

"Redistricting! The creation of safe seats; there are very few competitive seats in Wisconsin. Robin Vos (R-Racine) said to me, 'I'm going to be the Representative (53rd District) as long as I live.' "

Referring to his own State Senate race last fall against Racine County Executive William McReynolds, Lehman said "Mac spent $400,000, and I spent $220,000. Including all that was spent, the race cost more than $1 million.

"There were only four competitive races like that in the state, out of 17 or 18 Senate races this year. Only 8 or 10 Assembly races are competitive.

"Could I even run against (U.S. Rep.) Paul Ryan? I don't think so; that sucker has been redistricted into a safe Republican seat."

Racine County, he said, is lucky in that the 21st Senate district is roughly 50/50, which is why Republicans and Democrats have traded control of it over the past decade: George Petak (R), Kim Plache (D), Cathy Stepp (R), and now Lehman (D). Pointing to his plastic chair in the gym, Lehman said, "You're looking at a guy sitting in a million-dollar seat."

Senate passes KRM funding; Assembly doesn't act

The Senate passed a $13 rental car fee increase to pay for the KRM commuter rail extension from Kenosha to Milwaukee.

The fee increase was included in a $5.5 billion two-year transportation budget, which included a new tax on oil companies. Because of a political fight over the oil tax, the transportation bill was broken out of the state budget.

The Assembly now needs to pass the transportation budget with the KRM funding intact, and the governor needs to sign the bill, for it to become law.

Along with the rental car fee increase, the bill allocated $1 million for the KRM extension, allowed the Regional Transit Authority in charge of KRM to borrow $50 million to build the system, and required the RTA to study extending KRM to the north side of Milwaukee.

The transportation budget passed the Senate 18-14. Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, voted in favor.

The Assembly did not vote on the transportation budget Monday night. It's unclear when they will vote on the bill.

Commuter rail funding in state budget limbo

As the state budget negotiations drag on, I've spent the past two days trying to gauge where the funding proposal for KRM, the commuter rail expansion to Racine and Milwaukee counties, stands.

To recap, the Senate passed included in its version of the new state budget a hike in southeastern Wisconsin's rental car fee to pay for annual operation of the system, which could start as soon as 2011. The Assembly didn't include the fee increase in its budget. The result: a conference committee will decide the proposal's fate.

It's unclear how big of an issue the KRM funding is for either side. It's certainly not on the level of the cigarette tax, education funding or the tax on big oil. But it's not a small item, either. Local legislators on both sides of the issue confirmed that commuter rail is getting attention - it's just hard to say what, exactly, is being said.

Here's what we heard from local legislators on the issue:

State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine

Mason said he gets the senseKRM funding is a tier 2 issue that will come up once the big issues are resolved. He couldn't say what direction the committee was
leaning.

He did say he's pushing State Rep. Jim Kreuser, head of the Assembly Democrats, to fight for commuter rail. Kreuser, who represents Kenosha, is sympathetic to the issue.

Mason added that a recent letter from Racine CEOs backing KRM was a boost for the proposal. The business leaders continue to press the issue, and that's helping commuter rail's chances in the budget process.

State Rep. Robin Vos, D-Caledonia

Vos clearly says he's not opposed to KRM. He is, however, opposed to using the rental car fee increase to fund the annual operation. He's pushing for alternatives, and his opposition to the current plan could influence the conference committee. After all, his district would get a commuter rail station - if he's opposed,
why should legislators from around the state support the plan?

Vos said Wednesday he favors a two-tiered referendum on funding for commuter rail. First, local governments vote on whether they want to hold a referendum on joining a regional transit authority that would fundKRM with a sales tax. Then, residents in each community would vote on commuter rail. Vos said a similar system worked in Michigan, and he feels it's the fairest way to implement commuter rail.

He also suspects the proposal would go down, at least in his district. Vos said he's heard overwhelmingly negative comments from constituents, which makes it easy for him to stand against Racine business leaders.

He added that he believes mostKRM supporters are so desperate to get commuter rail they're backing a flawed funding plan that will lead to deficits in the future.

State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine

A strong supporter of commuter rail, Lehman pushed theKRM funding through the Senate's budget. Now, he's working with the conference committee to get it included in the final draft.

In an e-mail Wednesday, Lehman said KRM is still on the table and the rental car fee remains the most viable funding option for commuter rail. He also noted that in the last week that leaders from Milwaukee, Racine andKenosha counties failed to reach consensus on a broader proposal to fund regional transit. That could clear the way for KRM funding - a possibility Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker discussed on
Wednesday.

Lehman: Public safety jeopardized if no state budget

State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, sent out a press release today listing local projects on hold, or in danger, if a new state budget isn't passed. Wisconsin is the last state in the nation to not have a budget for next year. Here's Lehman's list:

Lack of overtime pay for Department of Corrections workers, including the 1,040 full time employees work at the two medium-security prisons, two minimum-security correctional facilities and the juvenile institution in Racine County.

Grants for a "clean sweep" waste collection project in the Town of Rochester.
A project to reduce infant mortality countywide.

Funding for the Cops 'n Kids reading program in Racine.

No increase in road aids for towns and increase in youth and court aids for the county could increase local property taxes.

Funding for commuter rail to Racine is on hold.

Two new buildings on the UW-Parkside campus are on hold.

No expansion of drug treatment programs for inmates, making it more likely some will commit more crimes.

No funding for GPS tracking of child sex offenders.