Dodge Co. Board To Discuss Operations Review, Audit
4/15/15 – While the Dodge County Finance Committee forwarded a resolution proposing an operational review of the Human Services and Health Department to the County Board at its meeting Tuesday, Supervisor Janice Bobholz submitted a proposed resolution that calls for an in-depth audit of the four county departments that receive the largest share of budgeted funds: the Human Services and Health, Clearview, Highway, and Sheriff’s Departments. Bobholz says that 11 of the 33 supervisors have showed support for the audit. Meanwhile, the Operational Review would be conducted by Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP and would cost the county around $30,000. It would take an in-depth look at the Human Services and Health Department, and the goal would be for the other major departments to be analyzed in the coming years. Bobholz sees this action as a step in the right direction but says she wants to see the job finished. She proposed looking back two years to see if practices can be changed going forward if there were any issues with how things have been handled in the past. The conversation of reviewing county records began from action at the County Board’s February meeting when approval was given to transfer $1,100,000 to cover a 2014 financial shortfall in the Human Services and Health Department.
Beaver Dam Man Charged With Ninth OWI
4/15/15 – A Beaver Dam man arrested over the weekend for ninth offense drunk driving had cash bond set at $50-thousand dollars Tuesday during his Initial Appearance in a Dodge County courtroom. David Bingham is charged with felony Operating While Intoxicated along with misdemeanor Obstruction and Operating a Motor Vehicle While Revoked. The 51-year-old was pulled over Sunday afternoon in the city of Beaver Dam after motorists observed a vehicle swerving onto the gravel shoulder on Highway 151. When the officer asked Bingham how much he had to drink he reportedly said (quote) “enough.” He allegedly refused a field sobriety test and several beer cans were inside the vehicle. Bingham initially tried giving police a fake name and wound up admitting his real name after the officer found his wallet. A judge will decide next week if there is enough evidence to order a trial. If convicted, the charges carry a maximum prison sentence of over ten years.
Juneau Council Hears About Changes In Library System
4/15/15 – The Juneau Common Council received an update Tuesday night on possible changes in the local library system. The city library is part of a three-county consortium of libraries called the Mid Wisconsin Federated Library System, which includes all public libraries in Dodge, Washington and Jefferson counties. In recent months, the boards of the eight public libraries in Jefferson County each voted to join the neighboring Waukesha County Library System. The matter requires the approval of the Jefferson County Library Board. A public hearing on the matter will be held in Jefferson County on May 12 and a decision has to be made by July, or the merger would not take place. Juneau Librarian Connie Schuett says if Jefferson County leaves, there would be less shared resources available to patrons in Juneau. Those patrons would have to go through an additional step to obtain resources not available in the local library system by requesting an inter-library loan through the statewide system. Jefferson Public Library Director Leann Lehner told the Jefferson Common Council earlier this month that they want to provide their customers with the best experience and (quote) “that is not being done with Mid-Wisconsin.” The Daily Union reports Lehner as saying that the leadership in the system governing Dodge, Washington and Jefferson counties (quote) “is not too concerned about what happens to local libraries and the support…is not there.” Also cited in the article was the recent departure of the Lakeshores Library System from Mid-Wisconsin, which Lehner says resulted in the loss of a number of resources from the catalogue. Public libraries are required to be part of a library system to receive state aid.
Waupun Passes Resolution Opposing Tax Elimination
4/15/15 – The Waupun Common Council approved a resolution stating its opposition to the possible elimination of personal property taxes at its meeting Tuesday night. The resolution is in response to an item that began circulating in the state legislature in recent weeks that would eliminate the personal property tax on businesses. Mayor Kyle Clark finds it difficult to believe that the burden would be passed onto residential property tax payers as has been discussed. He expects municipalities would be told to cut their services by the amount being lost. If the legislation is introduced and passes, Clark projects that Waupun could lose around $250,000 in tax revenue. Half of that would be realized in its TIF District that supplies funds the city uses to pay off debt.
Bill Authored By Watertown Rep. Passes Through Assembly
4/15/15 – A bill authored by Watertown Representative John Jagler passed through the State Assembly yesterday with bipartisan support. The legislation allows motorcycles to have colored LED under-lighting. While it permits the use of the popular lights, it prohibits colors used by first responders as well as oscillating and rotating lights. Jagler says the bill is about motorcycle safety and that he finds it “foolish that a biker could be ticketed for lights which make them more visible to other drivers.” The measure will now go to the state senate for consideration.
Finance Committee Taking First Votes On Walker Budget
4/15/15 – The state Legislature’s finance committee will take its first votes Wednesday on Governor Scott Walker’s proposed state budget for the next two years. Among the panel’s first decisions is whether to keep slicing down Secretary-of-State Doug La Follette’s limited powers. It’s just one of many issues to be voted on by the 16-member finance panel over the next two months or so. Typically, the group considers the most controversial budget items last — which means it will be awhile before we learn the fate of things like the governor’s borrowing package for highway construction, and his 300-million-dollar state funding cut for the U-W System. The final committee package will then go to the Legislature — where you can expect last-minute amendments around late June. The Republican Walker has submitted three state budgets during his four-plus years in office, and his fellow G-O-P lawmakers passed them in time to be adopted at the start of July, when the state’s new fiscal year begins.
Bill Would Allow Online Classes For Driving Schools
4/15/15 – Students at Wisconsin’s privately-owned driving schools are one step closer to being able to take their classroom instruction online. The state Assembly approved the idea Tuesday on a voice vote. It now goes to the Senate. Under the measure, students at private driver-ed schools would have the same ability as public-and-technical school students to take their classwork online. They would still have to take their written tests, their behind-the-wheel instruction, and their road skill tests in-person from their schools.
Micro-Bead Ban Bill Gets Legislative Approval
4/15/15 – A bill to ban micro-beads from soap and other personal care products in Wisconsin was given final legislative approval Tuesday. The state Assembly sent the ban to Governor Scott Walker on a voice vote. The Senate okayed the measure earlier, after scientists found that the plastic exfoliants have ended up in the Great Lakes and other waterways. The bill would prohibit the manufacture of personal care products with micro-beads starting in 2018, and a ban on their sale would begin in 2019. Manufacturers have already come up with more natural alternatives.
Walker’s UW Tuition Item Receives Key Support
4/15/15 – Governor Scott Walker’s new proposal to raise U-W in-state undergrad tuition only by the rate of inflation got some key support in the Legislature yesterday. G-O-P Assembly Speaker Robin Vos calls it a reasonable way to protect parents from huge tuition increases. However, Vos says he’s still against granting autonomy to the university, because he does not believe it would result in a more efficient and economical system. The Republican Walker has proposed freezing tuition through the middle of 2017. He now says his proposed tuition cap for in-state undergraduate students would begin in the fall of ’17, if lawmakers agree to it.
Lawsuit Against Obamacare Won’t Be Revived
4/15/15 – A federal appeals court said no yesterday to reviving U-S Senator Ron Johnson’s lawsuit against Obama-care. A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld District Judge William Griesbach’s finding that Johnson and his aide Brooke Ericson did not have the legal standing to file suit. The judges said it was because neither could prove they were harmed. Johnson contended that the Obama administration gave members of Congress and their staff’s special treatment with federal subsidies for their coverage — exclusive benefits that his constituents back home could not receive. Johnson claimed that his reputation was harmed as a result. The appellate judges did not agree, saying its “hypothetical” to label political damage as a potential harm. Yesterday, Johnson called his lawsuit an effort to “restore the constitutional balance” between the executive and legislative branches. He said he would review the decision with his legal team, and decide what to do next. Johnson can either ask the full Chicago appeals court to take up the matter, or appeal to the U-S Supreme Court.
