Wisconsin Property Taxpayers, Inc.
Property Taxpayers United for Fairness and Reform Since 1985
Capitol Report
February 7, 2014
Governor Scott Walker Delivers Remarks at WMC Business Day in Madison
Thursday, February 6, 2014 - Press Release
Madison – Governor Scott Walker today addressed job creators at the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
Business Day in Madison. Governor Walker highlighted the state’s improving economy and expressed his plans for
future growth.
“Today, 95 percent of job creators feel our state is moving in “the right direction.” In 2010, only 10 percent thought
Wisconsin was moving forward,” Governor Walker said. “The positive outlook is great news, but our work is not
done. We will not let up until every person in this state who wants a job has a job.”
Governor Walker announced his Blueprint for Prosperity plan during the 2014 State of the State address, following
news of the state’s $911 million surplus, created by a strong economic recovery and long-term structural reforms
yielding results. Private sector job growth from April to November was the best in nearly 20 years.
Blueprint for Prosperity:
Cut property taxes by $406 million. The typical homeowner will see an actual reduction of $101 dollars on their
next property tax bill.
Cut income taxes by $98.6 million. Targeted to the lowest income tax bracket. Savings for a typical family of four
making $40,000, will be $58. No one will get a bigger savings than that.
Adjust withholding for state income taxes by $322.6 million, so you can keep more of your hard-earned
paycheck. Beginning in April, a typical family of four will see $57.90 more in their paychecks each month.
Increase the Wisconsin Fast Forward program by $35 million to focus on three new areas:
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Invest in technical colleges to eliminate waiting lists for high demand fields including manufacturing,
agriculture and Information Technology;
Help high school students get training in high demand jobs through dual enrollment programs between our
high schools and technical colleges;
Support the Year of the Better Bottom Line initiative, which helps people with disabilities enter the workforce.
For more information on the Blueprint to Prosperity, go to Prosperity.WI.gov.
IoH Supporters Say Passing Bill is Better Than Doing Nothing
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 02/07/2014
The lead authors of a bill that would standardize the rules farm equipment operators must
follow when driving larger implements on roads and highways admit their legislation is not
perfect, but they say doing nothing at all would be a 'much worse' alternative. Speaking at the
Corn/Soy Expo in Wisconsin Dells on Thursday, State Sen. Jerry Petrowski of Marathon and Rep.
Keith Ripp from Lodi explained that current regulations for larger vehicles, which were drafted
in the 1960s, could be enforced on farm equipment today. And that means the heavier tillage and manure handing
rigs used on many Wisconsin farms would not be allowed on the road legally.
"I know many farmers are apprehensive about this bill, but if we don't pass this soon you may be seeing a lot more
of your local sheriff," Ripp said. "We know of at least six counties in our state that have purchased portable scales
and I doubt they invested that kind of money in equipment that they don't intend to use."
The issue of updating implements of husbandry standards, or IoH, began when several custom manure haulers in
Marathon County were told recently by local law enforcement that their equipment was too heavy for the road ways.
Many counties and local townships have also begun cracking down on weight limit violators because they have less
money in their budgets to repair roads and bridges.
"We live in unique times... farming has changed, but the law on this issue has not," Petrowski pointed out. "We must
also consider the fact that more people are moving out of the city limits and building homes in rural areas. When
they see large manure tankers on their roads, they tend to complain and that means officers must enforce rules
that they may have otherwise let go."
Agriculture Attorney Jordan Lamb with DeWitt, Ross & Stevens in Madison explained some of the elements of the
bill. She says a lot of farmers and custom operators have expressed concerns about the legislation, but she assured
them that keeping the law 'as-is' would not be good policy.
"Many farmers don't understand how important this bill is," Lamb said. "It's very important that we get these
changes put on the book because they give operators more room to work with than what they technically have now.
We can also make adjustments to the law after this is passed, but first we need to get this through the legislature."
As part of the current IoH bill, equipment weight limits would be extended from a maximum single axle weight of
20,000 pounds to 23,000 pounds (an increase of 15-percent); and the maximum gross vehicle weight would go
from 80,000 pounds to 92,000 pounds--except where posted and during periods of spring thaw. Anytime an
operator would need to exceed those limits for necessary farm use, they would be required to get a 12-month
permit. The permit must be issued by the town, county or state depending which government unit the particular
roads are owned by. That unit of government would not be able to deny permits, unless there was scientific reason
not to issue them. They do, however, have the right to designate a specific route that the operator must take to get
from the farm to the final destination.
For larger height and width instances, a permit is never required but the operator must abide by certain rules. For
example, if an implement is traveling more than a half-mile down the road and if its width is greater than 16-feet, the
machine must be equipped with reflectors and reflective tape. Equipment that measures at least 20-feet wide must
be accompanied with an escort vehicle with flashing lights. There is no regulatory height for equipment, but it is the
operator's responsibility to make sure their machine does not exceed the height of powers lines, bridges or other
objects.
And the policy would create a 60-foot length limit for a single machine and a 100-foot limit for combinations of two
IoH. For combinations of three IoH the limit is 70 feet, but a three IoH combination may operate at lengths
exceeding 70 feet, to a limit of 100 feet, as long as their speed does not exceed 20 miles per hour.
Petrowski says towns and counties have the choice to opt out of the process, which means local implements would
be free to travel the roads without permits if they exceed the weight limits. Track-driven machines and implements
with floatation tires would still not be made legal under the legislation.
Meanwhile, some of the custom operators at the Expo said the new policies would be inconvenient for them
because they work in many different townships and counties, which means they would need to get approval for
every stretch of road they travel on. But Ripp said changes could always be made after the regulations are finalized.
The measure is currently pending in the legislature. Supporters are hoping it can pass the Assembly and Senate and
be signed by the governor before the current legislative session ends later this spring.
WPT strongly supports the Petrowski/Ripp proposal.
Dairy 30X20 Grant Requests Due
MADISON – Dairy processors need to apply by February 21 to take advantage of the Grow Wisconsin Dairy 30x20
Processor Grant. This new grant from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) can
be used for operational changes that will improve production and profitability.
Grants will be given up to $50,000 per proposal. The funds can be used to develop a new innovation or address an
existing concern in the processing facility.
Applicants must operate or plan to operate a licensed dairy processing plant in Wisconsin. Applicants must also
provide at least 20 percent of the total grant award as a matching contribution.
The Grow Wisconsin Dairy 30x20 Initiative offers grants to farmers and processors as part of its overall goal to
ensure the long-term vitality of the state’s dairy industry and meet the growing demand of the marketplace. A group
of dairy stakeholders met with DATCP staff last October to develop this new grant and discuss industry priorities.
Applicants are encouraged to create proposals that encourage collaboration or could generate insights that would
benefit the entire industry. Examples of projects could be dairy plant modernization, expansion, food safety
assistance, staff training or professional consultation services to develop new processes.
The application is available at GrowWisconsinDairy.wi.gov. For more information, call 855-WI DAIRY (855-943-2479)
or email GrowWisconsinDairy@wi.gov. The toll-free number is also available throughout the year to connect farmers
and processors with available resources and technical assistance.
Lawmakers are on the cusp of making a deal that would ensure the passage of Gov. Scott Walker's proposed property and
income tax cuts. Photo: RichManWisco (CC-BY)
GOP Lawmakers Move Closer To Deal On Walker Tax Cuts
Deal Aims To Appease Legislators Concerned With Structural Deficit
Thursday, February 6, 2014, 6:55pm By Shawn Johnson
Republican lawmakers have outlined the broad strokes of a deal on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed tax cuts.
Walker’s original plan called for depositing about $117 million dollars in the rainy day fund – essentially the state’s
savings account. The plan also grew the state's structural deficit by about $100 million. Some Republican state
senators who don't like the increased structural deficit, which they say goes against what they campaigned on.
To assuage those concerns, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, says there's talk of canceling most, if
not all, of the deposit to the rainy day fund and sending that money to the general fund instead to reduce the
structural deficit.
“It seems like a pretty simple move, in that you just need some type of language to increase the statutory balance,”
said Fitzgerald.
If that idea becomes reality, Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, who is one potential holdout, said he'd vote for the tax cut:
“Yeah, I'm there 100 percent,” he said.
He said it would be hypocritical of Republicans to increase the structural deficit when economic times are good.
“It's hard to campaign that we got rid of a $3.6 billion structural deficit, and then all of a sudden people are saying
‘Well, there's no such thing as a structural deficit and it's no big deal,’” said Olsen. “It is a big deal.”
The change also has the backing of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington: “My preference would be to put it in
the rainy day fund, but if that's what it took to get a deal so that we can get this bill enacted, I think I could live with
that.”
Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said it's not a meaningful change at all.
“They're just kind of moving decks around on the Titanic,” said Hintz. “I mean, the reality is fiscal responsibility is
taking a back seat to election year politics.”
Budget expert Jon Peacock with the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families called the move “superficial.”
“I think it's ironic that some of the Republicans concerned about creating a deeper hole in the next two-year budget
are now proposing not to add to the rainy day fund,” said Peacock. “That's the most fiscally responsible part of the
governor's plan.”
Dale Knapp with the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance said that in the big picture, this latest compromise doesn't make
a big difference.
“It doesn't do a lot,” said Knapp. “You know, on paper, it makes the structural deficit look better. But at the same
time, essentially, they would simply be moving savings from one pot of money – the rainy day fund – to the general
fund.”
Deposits to the rainy day fund are required by state law when tax revenues are coming in faster than projected.
Legislators will have to temporarily change that law to divert this deposit.
Lawmakers could also reduce the structural deficit by reducing the size of the proposed tax cuts. They're not talking
about doing that, at least when it comes to the $400 million dollar property tax cut. Based on comments from
Fitzgerald and Vos, the bulk of Walker’s proposal would remain unchanged, including the property tax cut.
DNR Opens Air Quality Data From 13 Sand Mines
Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 2:32pm
By Chuck Quirmbach
Air pollution data from thirteen of Wisconsin's sand mines and processing plants can now be found online at the
website of the state's Department of Natural Resources.
Concerned citizens have filed a lot of open records requests with the DNR, asking for monitoring data from industrial
sand mines and processors. People especially want to know about fine particles blowing off the sites and toward the
neighbors, as breathing the particulates can cause lung problems.
The DNR's Gail Good says there's now an online map, where anyone with a computer can look up the data collected
by some of the companies.
“The facility sets up the monitor, collects the filters — they use federally approved methods to do this — and they
send the filters out for analysis,” Good said, “then they report their data back to the department and we do some
quality assurance on the data.”
Good says quality assurance means looking to see if the data seems valid. The DNR also does an annual audit of
the monitors.
Good acknowledges the website only has data from 13 Wisconsin sites with permits that require the air monitoring.
She says dozens of generally smaller sand mines don't have to collect and report the air pollution data.
February 06, 2014 12:00 am • ALISON DIRR Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
WINONA, Minn. — The defendants took the witness stand Wednesday as the trial of protesters accused of
trespassing at Winona frac-sand facility.
Mining companies, a Wisconsin county and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls are teaming up on a $232,000,
five-year study probing how the vast tracts of Wisconsin used for nonmetallic mining — including mining for frac sand
— can best be reclaimed.
The project will focus on Chippewa County, a hotbed of the state’s frac sand mining boom, where six industrial sand
mining operations and 73 sand and gravel operations have already opened. Four more industrial sand mines are
permitted.
In the study, Chippewa County plans to work with the UW-River Falls, Onalaska-based Mathy Construction and Texasbased Superior Silica Sands.
“We really only have a limited background or knowledge base here in the county as to how to go about reclaiming
these sites,” said Chippewa County conservationist Dan Masterpole, who oversees reclamation. The county’s
oversight of reclamation efforts, he added, has lagged at nonmetallic mining sites.
Tom Hunt, an emeritus professor of reclamation at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, said that serious
environmental, human health and safety problems can occur if a site is not reclaimed.
“It can become a dumping ground,” Hunt said. “It can become a place for vermin and undesirable species. It can be
a place for invasive species to colonize. It can be a place of potential pollution. It can be a place of instability and
create safety hazards.”
In Marathon County in central Wisconsin, a few abandoned nonmetallic mines dot the landscape. Justin Cavey, a
county land reclamation specialist, said they were mined and abandoned before a 1989 county program requiring
operators to reclaim mined acres went into effect.
Some of these sites, Cavey said, have become dumping grounds. At the shallow ends of what are now ponds, he
sometimes sees old tires or computers. In some spots, pollution threatens to leak from the ponds into the
groundwater while sediment could run off the sites, polluting surface water, he said.
Cavey described the abandoned sites as “land with an opportunity missed.”
Current state law requires mining companies to reclaim disrupted land to an approved post-mining use, including
wildlife habitat, prairie or cropland.
The study will be paid for with money from the county, frac sand permit fees, state and federal research grants, and
donations.
The collaborators want to study ways to cultivate vegetation on the dry soil often left behind at mining sites.
“For the wooded ridgetop sites, we face very significant challenges and will be starting by just seeing what types of
grass and tree species could possibly grow there,” Masterpole said.
Wisconsin is the nation’s No. 1 producer of sand used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process to extract oil and
natural gas. There are at least 124 permitted or operational frac sand mines, processing plants and rail loading
facilities in the state, according to a tally by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
Hunt said local governments must get up to speed quickly to deal with the influx of permit applications. He
speculated that some mining companies may “challenge the regulatory authorities with some push back or dragging
their feet.”
Industrial sand mines and sand and gravel pits have different soil properties, so there could be different end uses,
said project head Holly Dolliver, an associate professor of geology and soil science at UW-River Falls.
“We’re going to have a very valuable dataset on soil health, vegetative success and biological characteristics, and I
hope that data will inform future reclamation decisions,” Dolliver said. She expects to launch the study in late spring
and begin issuing annual reports in 2015.
If the study shows a certain type of reclamation is impossible, it could cause some companies to rework their
reclamation plans, Masterpole said. But, he added, most companies have been “very conservative” in the kinds of
reclamation planned.
Superior Silica declined comment and a representative of Mathy Construction was unavailable. Masterpole said the
county will ask additional companies to participate.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin
Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass
Communication.