_____________
Committee Reports
The committee on Housing and Real Estate reports and recommends:
Assembly Bill 197
Relating to: procedures for reviewing commercial building plans.
Ayes: 10 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Allen, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa and Summerfield.
Noes: 5 - Representatives Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
Assembly Bill 198
Relating to: local government review of commercial building plans.
Ayes: 10 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Allen, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa and Summerfield.
Noes: 5 - Representatives Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
Assembly Bill 199
Relating to: permission to start construction of a commercial building before plan approval.
Ayes: 10 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Allen, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa and Summerfield.
Noes: 5 - Representatives Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
Assembly Bill 444
Relating to: declaring discriminatory restrictions in instruments that affect real property void and unenforceable and allowing an owner of real property to discharge and release such a discriminatory restriction.
Ayes: 15 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Allen, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa, Summerfield, Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
Noes: 0.
Ayes: 15 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Allen, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa, Summerfield, Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
Noes: 0.
Assembly Bill 621
Relating to: temporary limited easements for construction crane booms that pass over adjacent real property.
hist185743Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 adoption: Ayes: 9 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa and Summerfield.
Noes: 6 - Representatives Allen, Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
Ayes: 9 - Representatives Brooks, Penterman, Armstrong, Goeben, Krug, Murphy, Pronschinske, Schraa and Summerfield.
Noes: 6 - Representatives Allen, Haywood, Emerson, Ortiz-Velez, Bare and Clancy.
ROBERT BROOKS
Chairperson
Committee on Housing and Real Estate
_____________
The committee on State Affairs reports and recommends:
Assembly Joint Resolution 99
Relating to: continuity of government (first consideration).
Ayes: 13 - Representatives Swearingen, Green, Brooks, Gustafson, Moses, Schraa, Spiros, Summerfield, Sinicki, Ohnstad, Baldeh, Hong and Cabrera.
Noes: 0.
ROB SWEARINGEN
Chairperson
Committee on State Affairs
_____________
The committee on Veterans and Military Affairs reports and recommends:
Assembly Bill 580
Relating to: admission of spouses at veterans homes.
Ayes: 15 - Representatives Edming, VanderMeer, Allen, Michalski, Penterman, Petryk, Snyder, Sortwell, Summerfield, Tittl, Riemer, Sinicki, Ortiz-Velez, Ratcliff and Goyke.
Noes: 0.
Assembly Bill 772
Relating to: the tuition grant program for national guard members administered by the Department of Military Affairs.
Ayes: 15 - Representatives Edming, VanderMeer, Allen, Michalski, Penterman, Petryk, Snyder, Sortwell, Summerfield, Tittl, Riemer, Sinicki, Ortiz-Velez, Ratcliff and Goyke.
Noes: 0.
JAMES EDMING
Chairperson
Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs
_____________
Governor's Veto Message
January 30, 2024
To the Honorable Members of the Assembly:
The following bill, originating in the Assembly, has been vetoed in its entirety, and was returned to its house of origin, together with the objections in writing:
Bill Number Date of Veto
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 415 in its entirety.
Assembly Bill 415 would redistrict the state's legislative districts.
I am vetoing Assembly Bill 415 in its entirety because I object to maps designed to undemocratically serve the politicians who draft them. The people of Wisconsin deserve fair maps, and this bill is a last-ditch effort aimed at preventing that outcome. The people of Wisconsin have lived under some of the most gerrymandered maps in the country for a decade. Wisconsinites have long deserved maps that are fair, responsive, and reflect the will of the people, and my promise to Wisconsinites has always been and remains that I will not accept anything less.
This bill prioritizes protecting incumbent, gerrymandered legislators by making their future campaigns more convenient for them, not better for the constituents they serve. Moving legislative district lines to ensure Republican-gerrymandered incumbents are better positioned to retain political power does not help root out gerrymandering from our democracy; it further entrenches it.
Wisconsinites want and deserve maps that support a robust, healthy, and deliberative democracy in which elected officials are responsive to their communities and constituents and must work to earn the support and the votes of the people they serve. Assembly Bill 415, in stark contrast, aims to serve the elected officials who voted for those maps. Protecting incumbents is neither what Wisconsin law prioritizes nor requires–and for good reason.
I further object to these maps failing to comply with basic constitutional requirements for legislative districts, a likely consequence of the Wisconsin State Legislature haphazardly amending, advancing, and passing Assembly Bill 415 in less than 24 hours' time.
The results of that rushed process are clear: Assembly Districts 88 and 93, as created by this bill, include non-contiguous territory in violation of our State Constitution. This fact alone renders Assembly Bill 415's maps noncompliant with core constitutional and legal requirements for legislative districts.
Often, in vetoing a bill, the main solace I can offer Wisconsinites is that a bad policy–in this case, unbalanced, unfair maps designed to protect incumbent legislators–is prevented from becoming law. Today, fair maps deserving of the people of this state are within reach. I submitted fair maps to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider in the ongoing redistricting litigation, Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission. These fair maps are responsive to the will of the people, avoid partisan bias, increase the number of competitive legislative seats, and meet all legal requirements. I remain as optimistic as ever that Wisconsinites will soon have the fair maps they deserve at long last.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
