hist195032I am vetoing Senate Bill 52 in its entirety. This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to create a voluntary registration program for commercial deicer applicators, defined as individuals who apply deicer for hire, but excluding municipal, state, or other government employees. The bill also requires the department to establish criteria for training commercial applicators in methods for snow and ice removal and deicer application that protect water quality. The bill further requires the department to certify third-party providers of training that meets the criteria established by the department, maintain a list of registered training providers, and register a commercial applicator, for a period of five years, if the applicator successfully completes a training program approved by the department and passes an examination approved by the department. The department may revoke the registration of an applicator who fails to comply with the requirements of the program.
Additionally, the bill provides that a registered commercial applicator or an owner is not liable for damages arising from a hazard resulting from the accumulation of snow and ice on any private real estate maintained by the applicator when the hazard is caused by snow or ice and the applicator used methods that are taught in a training program approved by the department. Finally, the bill provides that, with respect to a commercial applicator that is not registered with the department, any evidence related to the program or the fact that the commercial applicator is not registered is inadmissible for any purpose in any judicial, legislative, or administrative action, proceeding or hearing.
I am vetoing this bill, which received bipartisan opposition in both chambers of the Wisconsin State legislature, in its entirety because I object to creating such a broad immunity from liability. As I have said before, I believe the presumption should be an open courthouse door to anyone seeking justice and an honest debate of the law of the land, and any immunity or deviation from that presumption should be tailored and finite. In particular, this bill rewrites the rules of evidence in such a way as to disallow evidence related to whether or not a commercial applicator is registered with the department. Generally, with limited exceptions, Wisconsin law provides that relevant evidence is admissible and irrelevant evidence is inadmissible. Under this bill, an unregistered commercial applicator could falsely claim the immunity provision in this bill, and that claim could not be rebutted, due to the fact that the relevant evidence is suppressed.
I am also vetoing this bill because I object to creating an unfunded mandate for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. This bill requires the department to create a new registration program for commercial deicer applicators. Under this new program, the department is required to establish criteria for training applicators, certifying third-party training providers, and maintaining a public list of registered training providers. The bill further provides the department the power to revoke registration. The bill does not provide any funding for the department to carry out these provisions, even as the original fiscal estimate provided by the Department of Natural Resources outlined ongoing costs.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195033I am vetoing Senate Bill 139 in its entirety. This bill would require the Department of Natural Resources to establish a statewide wolf population goal as a part of the Wisconsin wolf management plan.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety for multiple· reasons. First, I object to requiring the department to establish a numeric population goal for wolves, as this does not consider the social, scientific, biological and legal complexities of a recovered wolf population.
I also object to limiting the department's flexibility to address regional or local issues through adaptive management strategies to achieve a healthy wolf population. Adaptive wolf management strategies have been successfully implemented in our neighboring states of Minnesota and Michigan and are successfully used in the Wisconsin deer and black bear management plans. This bill ignores the best available wildlife and social science in favor of a rigid, unscientific approach to wolf management.
Finally, modifications proposed to the state's wolf management plan should be considered as part of the established process of review and recommendation by the Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Board. This process is intended to ensure that modifications reflect the expertise and agreement of scientists, the Tribal Nations of Wisconsin, hunters, farmers, environmental organizations and the general public. This bill disregards years of extensive input and discourse that went into developing the recently revised wolf management plan.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195034I am vetoing Senate Bill 158 in its entirety. This bill would allow an individual without a permanent or training credential to apply for and receive from the Department of Safety and Professional Services a preliminary credential that permits the person to provide healthcare services through a healthcare employer. The preliminary credential may be granted to individuals who attest that they: (a) have not held a license, certificate, permit, or authorization to perform the services in Wisconsin or another jurisdiction; (b) have completed all required education, training, supervised experience, and other requirements for the permanent or training credential within the two-year period prior to applying for a preliminary credential; (c) have passed all examinations required to obtain a permanent or training healthcare credential from the department (other than interviews or oral examinations); (d) have submitted an application for the related permanent or training healthcare credential to the department; (e) have not had a disqualifying arrest or conviction, including an attestation that they have not been convicted of any felony or of a misdemeanor involving bodily harm to, or sexual contact with, another individual; and (f) to the best of their knowledge, they have not had an arrest or conviction that would cause the depart or credentialing board to deny their application.
The bill further requires applicants for preliminary credentials to be employed to provide services within the scope of the credential by a healthcare employer. An applicant's healthcare employer must provide the department with its national provider identifier and must attest that: (a) it has engaged the individual to provide services related to the credential for which the individual has applied; (b) the individual has, to the best of the employer's knowledge and with a reasonable degree of certainty, completed the education, training, experience, and examination requirements noted above; and (c) the individual has passed a background check performed by the healthcare employer that did not reveal any disqualifying convictions.
I am vetoing this bill because I object to potentially reducing patient protections from individuals who have a disqualifying criminal background by allowing unlicensed individuals to receive preliminary healthcare credentials based solely upon their own attestations and employer conducted background checks. The department would have no way to discern the veracity of an employer-conducted background check and no ability to hold employers accountable for false or neglectful attestations. Under the bill, a preliminary credential must be granted prior to a thorough review of a credential applicant's background (and any attendant legal issues) by the department. I appreciate the need for Wisconsin to retain, train, and recruit more qualified healthcare workers across our state; however, I cannot support legislation that seeks to achieve this goal by reducing healthcare patient protections and putting Wisconsinites at serious risk across our state.
The bill, as amended by Assembly Amendment 1, also would ratify and enter Wisconsin into the multistate Social Work Licensure Compact, allowing social workers from compact member states to practice in other member states. It is unfortunate that the Wisconsin State Legislature chose to include in this bill, at a very late date and with no obvious substantive connection to the bill as introduced, an actual worthy proposal to enter the state into the Social Work Licensure Compact. That proposal, originally introduced as a stand-alone bill, would have responsibly eliminated barriers preventing social workers from practicing in compact states, in an effort to increase the number of social work service providers in Wisconsin. However, the potential harm to the state's residents from the preliminary credential proposal is too great. I therefore must veto this bill.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195035I am vetoing Senate Bill 186 in its entirety. This bill modifies the timeline for examination of commercial building plans by requiring the Department of Safety and Professional Services to allow building owners to schedule the next available plan examination appointment, by submitting complete plans to the department and paying all fees, or to schedule an appointment date in the future (a "schedule-in-advance" examination), by paying all fees and submitting the plans at least three business days before the appointment date. This bill also requires the department to allow building owners to identify any previously approved plans that are similar to the new plans submitted for examination and provides for potential refunds or partial refunds in the event of appointment cancellation. Finally, this bill creates exceptions for certain plumbing plan examinations based on the number of plumbing fixtures to be included in the building if plans are prepared by individuals holding certain credentials, including an architect or professional engineer, designer of plumbing systems, master plumber, restricted master plumber, and utility contractor.
I object to this bill because it may increase review times for commercial building plans by requiring two separate pathways for plan review with differing timelines while providing no additional resources or staffing to address the doubling of plan review processes. Under the bill, plan reviewers for schedule-in-advance examinations could receive plans only three business days prior to an examination appointment, which would require staff to be diverted from reviewing other plans to focus on performing evaluations of these plans. These plans may require additional information before being determined to be complete, and incomplete plan submissions may result in appointments being cancelled on short notice or appointments that result in a required second appointment once plans are complete. The current process includes a triage of submitted plans to determine completeness before scheduling appointments to ensure examination appointments are substantively useful.
Moreover, the department has demonstrated success in improving plan review timelines and efficiency using its current system. The Wisconsin State Legislature should allow the department to use its established expertise and experience in plan review to determine the scheduling system that maximizes the limited resources available to prevent project delays, especially insofar as the bill may increase such delays due to appointment cancellations or incomplete plan submissions. Further, if the Wisconsin State Legislature is serious about improving review times, I invite the Legislature to invest in the necessary staffing support to review plans.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195036I am vetoing Senate Bill 187 in its entirety. This bill would expand the scope of examinations of essential drawings, calculations, and specifications that must be accepted by the Department of Safety and Professional Services with respect to public buildings, public structures, and places of employment when such examinations are performed by local units of government that are not appointed agents of the department. This bill would also expand the scope of reviews and determinations for variances that must be accepted by the department with respect to such buildings when performed by non-agent local units of government. This bill further repeals the requirement that local units of government that are appointed agents of the department and second-class cities that are certified by the department forward a portion of plan review examination fees to the department. Finally, this bill requires the department to submit a plan to the Legislature, by January 1, 2025, that addresses how the department will encourage cities, villages, towns, and counties to conduct commercial plan examinations and inspections, and how the department will increase the support for such functions.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the expansion of the approval authority granted to non-agent municipalities, which could put local plan reviewers and inspectors into situations where they feel pressured to choose between public safety or issuing a commercial building examination approval. I also cannot support increasing the burden on the department's already limited resources and staffing with unfunded mandates. The department has significantly improved plan review processes and timelines, and the Wisconsin State Legislature need not interfere with the department's successful efforts to efficiently and effectively improve its own operations.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195037I am vetoing Senate Bill 188 in its entirety. This bill would codify in statute the current administrative rule that authorizes the Department of Safety and Professional Services to grant a building owner's request to start construction for footings and foundations prior to plan approval, and the bill adds underground and exterior plumbing as activities that may be included within such permission. This bill also states that permission to start does not provide assurance that approval for the building will be granted or relieve a licensed architect or professional engineer of responsibility for the prepared plans under review.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the bill's failure to provide the department with the resources it needs to investigate and resolve the likely increase errors in building construction due to the expansion of permissible early-start building activities, which may negatively affect public safety as well as the financial status of the building owner. This bill may require diverting resources away from other vital areas of operation. Further, the department has demonstrated success in improving plan review timelines and efficiency. The Wisconsin State Legislature should allow the department to use its established expertise and experience in plan review to determine which activities are appropriate for early permission to begin construction.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195038I am vetoing Senate Bill 216 in its entirety. This bill would allow all-terrain and utility terrain vehicles to be equipped with whip lights that emit any color in a fixed display.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to allowing all-terrain vehicles and utility terrain vehicles to utilize lights and light patterns that could be ambiguous. First, whip lights could be confused for lights emitted by law enforcement or emergency vehicles. Law enforcement vehicles frequently use non-flashing red and blue lights, and this bill would allow all terrain vehicle and utility terrain vehicle operators to do the same. Second, because whip lights are visible from any direction, the bill would allow for nonstandard lighting configurations such as red lights from the front of a vehicle or white lights from the rear of a vehicle. Such nonstandard lighting configurations could make it difficult to ascertain the direction of travel of an all-terrain vehicle or utility terrain vehicle, increasing the risk of collisions.
Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
Governor
_____________
State of Wisconsin
Office of the Governor
March 29, 2024
The Honorable, the Senate:
hist195039I am vetoing Senate Bill 217 in its entirety. This bill would allow one passenger to ride on an all-terrain or utility terrain vehicle that is not designed or intended for use by passengers if the passenger is in a second seated position.
I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to compromising the safety of riders and operators of all-terrain and utility terrain vehicles. As I stated in my partial veto of 2019 Wisconsin Act 183, if an all-terrain or utility terrain vehicle is not designed for passengers, then it should not be operated with passengers. I agree with law enforcement and the medical community that the safe transportation of passengers is essential to the prevention of injuries and fatalities associated with all-terrain and utility terrain vehicle usage. Respectfully submitted,
TONY EVERS
