State lawmakers take action on 'morning after measure,' cable TV bill, 'Frankenstein' veto
by Associated Press ¦ Printed in Oshkosh Northwestern ¦ 12 December 2007 Working late into the night Tuesday, both chambers of the Legislature took action on a number of items, including: Assembly passes cable competition bill MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A proposal lobbied heavily by AT&T that would do away with local cable television agreements in favor of a statewide licensing system passed the Legislature.
It now heads to Gov. Jim Doyle for his consideration.
Supporters say the measure will increase competition in Wisconsin’s cable television market, while opponents say there are no guarantees that will happen or that rates will go down.
Doyle has not said whether he will sign it, but he has been generally supportive of the proposal.
The bill does away with the local licensing agreements that started in the 1970s and replace it with a single statewide license. Getting one license to operate in the entire state was advocated by AT&T as a faster and more efficient way for it to enter the state’s cable market.
Opponents worry that there aren’t enough protections for consumers and that local-access stations will have a harder time surviving under the new system.
The bill has already cleared the Senate. The Assembly on Tuesday agreed with a variety of changes to the proposal made by the Senate,and rejected changes offered by opponents.
The measure does not address complaints over the availability of the NFL Network and the Big Ten Network. State Senate passes measure banning ’Frankenstein’ veto The most expansive veto power of any governor in the country would be curtailed under a proposal that unanimously cleared the state Senate on Tuesday.
The proposal would amend the state constitution to ban the so-called "Frankenstein" veto, which allows the governor to cross out words and numbers and stitch together others to create new laws not approved by the Legislature.
The proposal that passed would take away only the ability to create new sentences and leave intact several other ways in which governors can make new laws or adjust spending levels.
For example, governors could still cross out words within a sentence to change its meaning. They also could cross out individual digits in numbers to create new numbers and reduce spending by crossing out appropriations and writing in lower numbers.
The previous Legislature already approved the amendment. If the Assembly agrees with putting the issue on the April 1 ballot, voters will get a chance to either accept or reject it. Assembly advances morning-after pill for rape victims A proposal that would require hospital emergency rooms to give rape victims the morning-after pill on request won preliminary approval in the Wisconsin Assembly.
The state Senate passed a similar bill in May. The Assembly, which worked into the early morning hours Wednesday on a variety of measures, passed a revised version of that bill on a 56-41 vote just before midnight.
Both houses must adopt identical legislation before it can go to Gov. Jim Doyle for his signature. Republicans who control the Assembly objected to a final reading of the bill Tuesday night, meaning the full body won’t be able to vote to send it to the Senate until January.
Still, the bill’s supporters claimed victory.
"This is about taking care of rape victims," said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, one of the main authors of the Assembly version of the bill.
The bill would require emergency rooms to provide information about the morning-after pill, or Plan B, to rape victims and give victims the drug upon request. Supporters contend the bill will help prevent unwanted pregnancies; critics liken the drug to abortion.
Twelve states require emergency room personnel to supply information about emergency contraception to sexual assault victims as a matter of course, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which promotes sexual and reproductive health.
Massachusetts requires information be supplied upon request.
Of those 13 states, nine require emergency rooms to dispense emergency contraception to victims upon request, according to the institute.
Three Assembly Republicans signed onto the bill, but that didn’t stop other Republicans and Democrats from arguing yet again about abortion.
Rep. Daniel LeMahieu, R-Cascade, said the morning-after pill can prevent embryos from implanting in the womb, amounting to a chemical abortion. At one point he quoted a Bible passage about God knowing babies before they are placed in their mothers.
LeMahieu and Rep. Robin Vos, R-Racine, tried to amend the bill to allow hospitals and their employees to opt out of providing the pill on moral or religious grounds and require hospitals to notify the parents of minors under age 16 before they got the pill, but failed.
Pocan said the changes would "gut" the bill. He argued the proposal would prevent abortions.
"We can walk the walk on having fewer abortions," Pocan said. "The way to do that is pass this legislation and not play politics."
Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, asked a woman in the gallery to stand up. Seidel said the woman had been raped and offered emergency contraception.
She read a statement from the woman in which she said being offered the pill helped her realize she could retake control of her body.
Rep. Ann Hraychuck, D-Balsam Lake, told both sides to stop.
"This is not about what my moral beliefs are. This is not about what your moral beliefs are. This is about victim’s rights," Hraychuck said. "If you vote no for this bill, ladies and gentleman, you are going to be tough on victims, and that is just plain wrong."
About 15 women braved a heavy snowstorm Tuesday morning to gather outside the Assembly chamber in support of the bill at the invitation of Pro-Choice Wisconsin.
They held signs and wore stickers that read "I Support Compassionate Care for Rape Victims." About a dozen still sat in the gallery as debate over the bill stretched past midnight.
Twenty-six-year-old Nicole Relyea of Madison clutched a sign that read "This Is The Face of Compassion." Becoming pregnant from a rape would make a horrible experience even worse, she said.
"We’re not talking about irresponsible teenagers," she said. "We’re talking about survivors of trauma." Assembly passes bill banning teens from using phones while A proposal that would ban teen drivers from using cell phones passed the Assembly, 90-7, and now heads to the state Senate.
Wisconsin would be the 16th state to limit or ban cell phone use by teen drivers if the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle.
The issue has been proposed but failed to pass in Wisconsin numerous times since 1997.
AAA Wisconsin and other advocates argue that the measure would improve safety on the roads. No one was registered as lobbying against the idea, although Verizon Wireless was listed as neutral.
Another bill in the Legislature that hasn’t come up for a vote would only ban text messaging while driving. Senate votes to end pay for fired Milwaukee police officers Fired Milwaukee Police officers would no longer be allowed to collect pay while they appeal their dismissals under a bill the state Senate overwhelmingly passed Tuesday.
State law now allows only Milwaukee police - not officers from other departments - to collect their salaries while they appeal. State Sen. Jeff Plale, D-South Milwaukee, said the law was crafted because former Milwaukee police chiefs have fired officers arbitrarily.
But Mayor Tom Barrett said the law has cost the city nearly $4.4 million since 1990.
The bill’s author, Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee, said the issue is at the forefront again after a group of Milwaukee officers fired for beating a man in 2004 strung out the appeal process. The city paid those officers $494,000 in salary and benefits following their dismissals in May 2005.
Coggs said no other police officer "on the planet" enjoys such a guarantee of pay after dismissal.
The Senate passed the measure 30-3. It goes next to the state Assembly. Assembly declares wild pigs harmful Feral pigs would be considered harmful wild animals under a bill the state Assembly approved Tuesday.
The hogs roam about 25 states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimaged they cause about $800 million in damage to the nation’s farm industry every year.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been battling wild pigs since at least 2000, saying they’re destructive, carry disease and can produce multiple litters each year. The agency doesn’t have hard population estimates but has recorded sightings in 33 of the state’s 72 counties. State officials fear a pseudorabies outbreak in two Clark County swine herds this spring was connected to wild pigs.
The harmful wild animal designation would prohibit anyone from possessing a feral pig as well as introducing, stocking or releasing one into the wild.
The Assembly passed the measure on a voice vote. It goes next to the state Senate.
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