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Capitol Update

May 2, 2017Like us on Facebook
Contents Include:
1.  Catholics at the Capitol Keynote on Human Trafficking
2.  WCC Supports Abortion Ban in State Employee Insurance Plans
3.  USCCB Action Alert on American Health Care Act
4.  Upcoming Hearings of Interest
5.  New Bills of Interest
6.  Websites of Interest
 
Catholics at the Capitol Keynote on Human Trafficking
A video of the Catholics at the Capitol keynote address by anti-human trafficking advocate Colleen Stratton is now available on our website:  www.wisconsincatholic.org.   The video includes an overview of human trafficking in Wisconsin by Sr. Francis Bangert, OSF.
 
WCC Supports Abortion Ban in State Employee Insurance Plans
The WCC offered testimony in support of Assembly Bill 128 (Rep. AndrĂ© Jacque, R-DePere) before the Assembly Committee on Health.  The bill would prohibit Wisconsin's Group Insurance Board from entering into any contract with respect to a group health insurance plan or providing a group health insurance plan on a self-insured basis if, with certain exceptions, the plan provides abortion services to state employees under the Wisconsin Retirement System.   The Committee passed the bill.
 
USCCB Action Alert on American Health Care Act
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to reach out to their Congressional representatives, asking them to ensure that a replacement to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) maintains meaningful coverage for the poor, the elderly, and the chronically ill, in addition to providing essential protections for the unborn.  The U.S. House of Representatives may soon be reconsidering H.R. 1628 , the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA), which would repeal federal spending in
the Affordable Care Act, eliminate the individual and employer mandates, and make deep cuts to Medicaid.  Please join the USCCB in urging Members of the House to protect the most vulnerable.  Take action today!
 
Upcoming Hearings of Interest
(N.B. Only bills of interest are flagged.  In most cases, committees will be considering other bills as well.)
 
Joint Senate and Assembly Education, 10:30 am , Wed, May 3, 412-E
Informational Hearing on:
Update on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
 
New Bills of Interest
SB-199 Solitary Confinement (Johnson, La Tonya) Placement of inmates in solitary confinement.  Referred to Senate Judiciary and Public Safety
 
SB-201  Wisconsin Shares Benefit Drop-Off Mitigation (Darling, Alberta) Mitigating the benefit drop-off in Wisconsin Shares.  Referred to Senate Public Benefits, Licensing & State-Federal Relations
 
SB-204 Housing Choice Voucher Waiting Lists (Darling, Alberta) Waiting lists for housing choice vouchers.  Referred to Senate Workforce Development, Military Affairs and Senior Issues
 
SB-205 Housing Grants (Darling, Alberta) Housing grants.  Referred to Senate Workforce Development, Military Affairs and Senior Issues
 
SB-206    Municipal Grants for Homeless (Darling, Alberta) Grants to municipalities to connect homeless individuals with permanent employment and making an appropriation.  Referred to Senate Workforce Development, Military Affairs and Senior Issues
 
SB-207  Interagency Council on Homelessness (Darling, Alberta) Creating an Interagency Council on Homelessness and making an appropriation. 
Referred to Senate Workforce Development, Military Affairs and Senior Issues
 
SB-208  Young Adult Assistance Tax Credit (Olsen, Luther) Creating a refundable individual income tax credit to provide assistance to young adults and making an appropriation.  Referred to Senate Revenue, Financial Institutions & Rural Issues
 
SB-209 Epinephrine Auto-Injector Use (Olsen, Luther) Supply and use of epinephrine auto-injectors by certain authorized individuals.  Referred to Senate Health & Human Services
 
SB-212 Financial Literacy in Schools (Kapenga, Chris) Incorporating financial literacy into the curriculum of public schools.  Referred to Senate Education
 
SB-215  Family and Medical Leave Insurance (Ringhand, Janis) The establishment of a family and medical leave insurance program; family leave to care for a grandparent, grandchild, or sibling and for the active duty of a family member; the employers that are required to permit an employee to take family or medical leave; providing and exemption from emergency rule procedures; providing an exemption from rule-making procedures; granting rule-making authority; making an appropriation; and providing a penalty. 
Referred to Senate Government Operations, Technology & Consumer Protection
 
AB-271 Solitary Confinement (Crowley, David) Placement of inmates in solitary confinement. Referred to Assembly Corrections
 
AB-280 Financial Literacy in Schools (Krug, Scott) Incorporating financial literacy into the curriculum of public schools. Referred to Assembly Financial Institutions
 
AB-286 Family and Medical Leave Insurance (Pope, Sondy) The establishment of a family and medical leave insurance program; family leave to care for a grandparent, grandchild, or sibling and for the active duty of a family member; the employers that are required to permit an employee to take family or medical leave; providing and exemption from emergency rule procedures; providing an exemption from rule-making procedures; granting rule-making authority; making an appropriation; and providing a penalty.  Referred to Assembly Family Law
 
AB-287 Sober Living Residences (Sargent, Melissa) Sober living residences and making an appropriation. Referred to Assembly Health

Websites of Interest
WisconsinEye - Independent, nonpartisan news service that provides uncut video coverage of state government proceedings, as well as interviews with lawmakers and policy experts.
 
To find out who your legislators are, go to the Wisconsin State Legislature's home page  and type your address in the top right hand corner under "Find My Legislators."

Capitol Update is a periodic e-mail on legislative issues from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
 
Wisconsin Catholic Conference
131 W. Wilson St., Suite 1105
Madison, WI 53703
608/257-0004