67. Wheel Tax Fee Increase
Section 1988m
This section requires the Department of Transportation to charge at least 27 cents per vehicle registration application for municipal or county vehicle registration fees.
I am vetoing this section because I object to statutorily establishing higher fees upon the municipalities and counties that have had to adopt or increase local registration fees to improve their roads after eight years of underfunding by the Legislature.
68. Lieutenant Governor Security
Section 9144 (4o)
This provision puts a limit on the amount that the Department of Transportation is allowed to spend on the security and safety of the Lieutenant Governor.
I am vetoing this provision because I object to limiting cost expenditures in this manner because it undercuts the judgment of law enforcement. Inadequate security measures put the brave men and women of law enforcement, the Lieutenant Governor, his staff, and the general public at large in danger. This provision is politically driven and is intended to undermine the Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the valuable work he performs across the state.
69. Required Interchange for I-41 in Brown and Outagamie Counties
Section 1078d
This section requires the Department of Transportation to expand I-41 from two to three lanes over 23 miles between Brown and Outagamie counties. It further requires an interchange to be constructed at Southbridge Road, French Road and Creamery Road in Brown County.
I am partially vetoing this section to delete the specified interchange because I object to dictating specific design elements for congestion and safety improvements without obtaining the input of professional highway engineers. While the Department of Transportation may decide that the specified interchange is merited, this determination should be left to the department. This veto ensures that Wisconsin's highways will be designed to best fit the needs of its highway users.
70. Initial Applicability of Registration Fee Increases
Sections 9344 (1) and 9344 (4o)
These sections specify that the changes to automobile and truck registrations initially apply to applications received by the Department of Transportation on October 1, 2019.
I am partially vetoing these sections because I object to the confusion that will be created by linking the amount of the fee owed to when the application is received by the Department of Transportation. By vetoing the reference to when the application is received, my partial veto eliminates the potential of two individuals with the same date of application being charged different fees simply because of when the application is received. My partial veto will also avoid circumstances where an individual will mail a registration renewal prior to October 1, 2019, but then require the same individual to submit an additional amount later because of when the application is received by the department. As a result of my partial veto, the registration fee changes will apply to applications starting on October 1, 2019.
71. Noise Barrier in Milwaukee County
Section 9144 (4e)
This provision requires the Department of Transportation to install a noise barrier along the east side of I-41 adjacent to 112th Street, between Clarke Street and Center Street, in Milwaukee County by the end of the 2019-21 fiscal biennium.
I am vetoing this provision because this project is already on the Department of Transportation's project calendar and is thus unnecessary. I also object to legislatively determined deadlines for individual components of large highway projects.
72. Passenger Rail
Section 1082p
This section requires the Department of Transportation to submit a request for approval to the Joint Committee on Finance to use expenditure authority provided under a newly-created appropriation for passenger rail development.
I am vetoing this section because I object to needless oversight requirements that could cripple the operations of a vital transportation option in southeastern Wisconsin.
73. Direct Sale of Motor Vehicles from Manufacturer
Sections 1826g, 1826m and 1826s
This provision allows for the sale of motor vehicles directly by a dealership owned by a manufacturer if that manufacturer only makes electric powered cars.
I am vetoing this provision as I object to significant changes to existing motor vehicle dealership law and the consumer protections they provide to Wisconsin occurring late in the state budget process and without the opportunity for adequate public input and debate.
74. City of Kaukauna Bridge
Sections 184o and 9144 (4x)
These sections require the Department of Transportation to fund the repair of the Veterans Memorial Bridge in the city of Kaukauna on Catharine Street from the appropriation under s. 20.395 (2) (eq). I am vetoing these sections as I object to the placement of the project in the budget, particularly given the lack of additional funding provided to ensure that this earmark does not result in a delay for other needed repairs. At my direction, the Department of Transportation has already been reviewing options to move forward with the Kaukauna bridge project and will continue to do so.
75. Alternative Project Delivery
Sections 46m, 1079m, 1089m, 9144 (4p) and 9144 (4q)
These provisions require the Department of Transportation to establish an office of innovative program delivery, contract for six projects through a "design-build" contractual framework, evaluate potential bids with a technical committee, and submit reports to the Joint Committee on Finance.
I am partially vetoing these provisions because I object to the level of specificity that has been included in the statutes and the restrictions that have been placed on the department, which will make successful implementation of this alternative project delivery system difficult. As a result of my partial veto, the department will be able to implement a contracting model that has proven successful in accelerating transportation related project delivery at a reduced cost. In addition, the department will have the flexibility to implement this system on an ongoing basis without overly prescriptive statutory parameters.
76. Payments to Offset Reduction in Video Service Provider Fees
Section 1073g
This section provides a state aid payment program for ten years to compensate each municipality losing revenue as a result of the bill's reductions to fees paid by video service providers.
I am partially vetoing this section to make the payments ongoing because I object to terminating the payments after ten years. As a result of my veto, the permanent reduction in video service fees will be accompanied by a continuing stream of payments to municipalities to offset this revenue loss. This partial veto has no fiscal effect in the 2019-21 biennium.
77. Economic Development Grant for Milwaukee 7 Economic Development Partnership
Section 9149 (1i)
This section creates nonstatutory language requiring the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to provide $250,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 to the Milwaukee 7 Economic Development Partnership for supporting efforts to secure basing of KC-46 tanker aircraft with the 128th Air Refueling Wing of the Wisconsin air national guard.
I am vetoing this section because I object to a directive that is entirely unnecessary. If the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, working cooperatively with the Department of Military Affairs, believes that it is likely that a grant to the Milwaukee 7 Economic Development Partnership will help secure this basing, the corporation has sufficient flexibility in its current budget to provide such support.
78. Fabrication Laboratories Grant Program
Section 9149 (1g)
This section creates nonstatutory language requiring the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to allocate at least $500,000 in each year of the 2019-21 biennium for the purpose of awarding grants under a fabrication laboratory grant program substantially similar to the program originally created under 2015 Wisconsin Act 55. I am vetoing this section because I object to the Legislature limiting the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's authority. The fabrication laboratories program has been an innovative effort to expand the educational experiences of public school children across the state, but this is a policy more appropriately administered with other educational grant programs. If the corporation wishes to make such an allocation it can choose to do so on its own volition.
Sincerely,
Tony Evers
Governor
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Communications
July 3, 2019
Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Fuller:
hist103878Please add my name as a co-author of Assembly Bill 303, relating to legislative and congressional redistricting. Sincerely,
JOEL KITCHENS
State Representative
1st Assembly District
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July 3, 2019
Patrick E. Fuller
Assembly Chief Clerk
17 West Main Street, Suite 401
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Chief Clerk Fuller:
hist103876Please add my name as a co-sponsor of Assembly Bill 65, relating to prohibiting the sale of vapor products to minors and the purchase of those products by minors. Sincerely,
JANET BEWLEY
State Senator
25th Senate District
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