March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195049I am vetoing Senate Bill 688 in its entirety. This bill applies competitive bidding requirements to school district contracts with an estimated cost greater than $150,000 for supplies, materials, construction, repair, remodeling, or improvement of a public school building or facility. The bill requires a school district to advertise and notice contracts up for bid and accept the lowest responsible bidding without preference for geographic location or other criteria. The bill also provides an exception to competitive bidding requirements for a school board that passes a resolution declaring that the public health or welfare of the school district is endangered by damage or threatened damage to a building or facilities.
Further, this bill increases the estimated cost threshold for county and municipal public work projects for which competitive bidding is required. The bill also adds competitive bidding requirements for certain county and municipal public highway projects. Additionally, this bill clarifies and expands exceptions to procurement requirements for projects that involve donated materials or construction or volunteer labor.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to undermining the local decision of a school board to choose voluntary collaboration with local contractors to build the best value projects to support students. School boards under current law may use competitive bidding if they deem it appropriate. School districts currently choose different methods to provide the best projects for their students and communities, and the state should not interfere in this local decision making.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195050I am vetoing Senate Bill 836 in its entirety. This bill would allow a juvenile court to impose restrictions on a juvenile's conduct during the time between a plea hearing and the conclusion of any fact-finding or disposition hearing for youth not being held in custody.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to codifying criminal procedural concepts into the Juvenile Justice Code. The Juvenile Justice Code reflects its origin in the Children's Code and recognizes that children are not adults. Currently, under both the Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code, if a youth is in custody and the court finds that they should continue to be in custody, it may place them with a parent or other responsible person and may impose reasonable restrictions on the youth's travel, association with others or places of abode during the period of placement. For pretrial releases under the Criminal Procedure Code, courts may impose conditions reasonably necessary to secure appearance in court, protect members of the community from serious harm or prevent witness intimidation. However, unlike these current predisposition and pretrial situations, the bill would give judges the discretion to impose any reasonable restriction after a plea and through the conclusion of any fact-finding or disposition hearing. I am concerned this bill provides no criteria for a court to consider when imposing restrictions, does not require that the restriction be related to the alleged offense, lacks clarity regarding how any restrictions would be enforced, and is broad and unmoored from any justice or public safety purpose.
Our youth and criminal justice systems must be reformed using data-driven and evidence-based approaches that help keep our communities safe while improving outcomes with better cost efficiency. I share the research-based concerns expressed by the Department of Children and Families that the broad, untargeted court conditions this bill would allow at the predisposition stage may increase involvement in the youth justice system and increase the risk of reoffending.
I continue to welcome meaningful conversations with the Wisconsin State Legislature about reforming our youth and adult justice systems through evidence-based, data-driven solutions that reduce recidivism and improve public safety, bolster our justice system workforce, and ensure our communities have the resources they need to invest in public safety across our state.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195051I am vetoing Senate Bill 916 in its entirety. This bill would establish a process that must be followed when the federal government or certain private nonprofit voluntary agencies contact or are contacted by a local government employee or officer regarding potential refugee resettlements in a local governmental unit.
Following prescribed timelines, the bill would require the chief elected official in a local governmental unit to be notified of any such contact, and this chief elected official would then be required to notify every chief elected official and clerk in any local governmental unit within 100 miles of the office of the clerk for the local governmental unit providing such notice. The governing body of each of those local governmental units must then designate a representative to participate in consultations with the federal government or private nonprofit voluntary agencies and to participate in county refugee resettlement committees. The bill further establishes a timeline and notification requirements for public hearings and committee meetings that must be held on a local and county level toward the goal of making a recommendation as to whether the local unit of government should pass a resolution regarding its position on the proposed refugee placement. The county refugee resettlement committee shall then provide each designee with guidance on the potential impacts on the local agencies and on the potential timelines for the resettlement, and each designee shall submit a written report to its local governmental unit.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to creating a consultation process that duplicates and unnecessarily complicates the existing federally mandated consultation process that is already in place.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195052I am vetoing Senate Bill 917 in its entirety. This bill permits teacher preparatory programs to require between one and four semesters of student teaching (instead of only one under current law), provided the institution of higher education that offers the program awards general education credit for the second, third, and fourth full semesters. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to separately report teacher preparatory program results for: (1) all students and graduates of the program; (2) students and graduates of the program who completed one semester of student teaching; and (3) students and graduates of the program who completed more than one semester of student teaching. The bill also requires the department to create a teacher apprenticeship program for students participating in a teacher preparatory program that must include between two and four semesters of in-classroom student teaching.
I object to this bill because it is unnecessary. Our administration has already created existing teacher apprenticeship pilot program, a collaborative effort between the Department of Workforce Development and the Department of Public Instruction, and this bill will interfere with that pilot. The bill creates uncertainty with Department of Public Instruction student teaching requirements and undercuts the Department of Workforce Development's authority to approve and oversee apprenticeship programs, something they historically have managed with great success. It also may cause confusion regarding when and how the State Superintendent can recognize longer periods of student teaching in non-apprenticeship teacher preparatory programs.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195053I am vetoing Senate Bill 932 in its entirety. This bill modifies the state's building program processes in several ways. This bill significantly limits the Building Commission’s authority to authorize limited program or project changes if the commission determines that unanticipated project or bidding conditions require the change to effectively and economically construct the project. Under the bill, the Building Commission would need to seek approval by the Wisconsin State Legislature's Joint Finance Committee if the project cost increases exceed a certain threshold, unless the budget increase is funded solely from program revenue, gifts, grants, federal funds, or other sources. The bill also requires the Department of Administration to submit to the Joint Committee on Finance quarterly reports that identify Building Commission projects for which the Building Commission approved a budget increase or which department estim tes will need a budget increase, and agencies submitting project reports to the Building Commission would also be required to submit these reports to the Joint Committee on Finance.
In addition, when an architect or engineer selection committee is created for a building project, the committee would only be required to use a request for proposal process to select an architect or engineer for projects with estimated costs of $15 million or more (up from the current threshold of $7.4 million), and, if the construction project has an estimated cost of less than $2 million, the committee would not be able to refuse to select an architect or engineer because the architect or engineer is the sole responsible architect or engineer at their firm. The bill allows the Department of Administration to increase this threshold up to $15 million.
The bill creates a new exception to single prime contracting for high-dollar building projects. The bill also provides that a bidder or potential bidder may submit questions to the Department of Administration concerning a project up until two days prior to the end of the bidding period, and the department may issue addenda at any time during the bidding period to modify or clarify the project specifications or extend the bidding period.
The bill also requires the Department of Administration and the Board of Regents to collaborate with energy service companies to identify and execute pilot projects using financing provided by the companies to upgrade facilities, reduce deferred maintenance, and increase sustainability.
Under the bill, each state contract for construction work would be required to state which party is responsible for paying project utility service connection charges and which party is responsible for paying for the costs related to the consumption of utility services at the project site.
The bill also creates a timeline for the Claims Board to hear and make a final determination for claims referred to the board related to infrastructure contracts with the Department of Transportation or construction contracts with the Department of Administration or the Board of Regents.
Finally, the bill transfers $32 million from the general fund to the state building trust fund in fiscal year 2023-24.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the Legislature removing the Building Commission's authority to adapt and respond to the unanticipated needs of building projects that help ensure efficient completion. I further object to the Legislature's ongoing efforts to unconstitutionally obstruct basic government functions through the use of legislative vetoes, as this bill would surely further enable.
The process created in this bill would result in a minimum delay of 14 working days while the Joint Committee on Finance considers a budget increase through a passive review approval process. If a single committee member objects to the budget increase for any reason, then the delay is likely to be far more significant given the committee's infrequent scheduling in recent years. The additional review and approval process created under this bill is likely to create significant delays in the building program and, ironically, result in increased project costs instead. For example, as of this writing, Wisconsinites have waited over 250 days for the Joint Finance Committee to release $125 million to address PFAS contamination across Wisconsin, which was already approved through the biennial budget process last July. I cannot support legislation that would enable the Joint Finance Committee to substantially delay and disrupt state's critical building program, potentially causing increased costs to taxpayers.
In addition, as I have done previously, I object to the risk posed to the state by allowing multi million dollar building projects to be awarded to firms with only one responsible architect or engineer.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195054I am vetoing Senate Bill 933 in its entirety. This bill would modify current law prohibiting transplant hospitals from taking certain actions affecting the organ transplantation and donation process solely based on an individual's disability to add an individual's vaccination status as a prohibited basis for such actions. The bill also adds vaccination status as a prohibited basis for the refusal of insurance coverage for any procedure associated with transplantation or evaluation for transplantation, and the bill prohibits discrimination against an individual in any matter relating to organ transplantation or donation on the basis of vaccination status.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the Wisconsin State Legislature restricting how transplant hospitals and their medical professionals determine how to best serve their uniquely vulnerable patients. Transplant hospital policies and procedures are carefully crafted to give patients the best chance at avoiding unnecessary illness or death during the transplantation and organ donation process. This bill would increase the vulnerability of patients whose immune systems are suppressed via anti-rejection medication by allowing avoidable risks into the transplantation process, and the bill would impede the ability of trained and trusted medical professionals to determine how to best serve their patients.
Medical professionals have an ethical obligation to care for the wellbeing of their patients. The COVID-19 vaccine has proven itself to save lives, especially among the most vulnerable in our state, and has been widely mandated to protect those going through the difficult organ transplantation process.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
