Greetings all, A quick legislative update for the month. I haven’t updated like I usually do and the reason is; while the legislature is in full session after their summer recess and passing the budget, it is going very slow. With a Republican controlled legislature and a Democratic administration, you can imagine how that is taking place. However, we did see one of our top priorities (Survivor’s Benefits) signed into law as Wisconsin Act 19. Act 19 requires any government entity and Marquette University to provide health insurance benefits to the widowed spouse and/or children after a law…

Posted by wsdsaadmin on Jun 11, 2019 in All News

Greetings all, A quick legislative update: The legislature has been working on the budget and that will remain their top priority, at least for now, until they have something that can get passed. There is not much to update on except for the protective status legislation. Protective Status The bill was introduced in the Senate as Senate Bill 5 by Representative Born and Senator Marklein on January 23, 2019. It was also introduced in the Assembly as Assembly Bill 5 on February 4, 2019. As you may recall, this bill will permit counties to classify county jailers, detention officers, and…

Posted by wsdsaadmin on Feb 18, 2019 in All News, Legislative Updates | Comments Off

Posted by wsdsaadmin on Feb 7, 2019 in All News

Posted by wsdsaadmin on Jun 6, 2018 in All News

April 2018 Legislative Update

Greetings all, For the April Legislative update, Hamilton Consulting Group has put out an overview of the legislative session. Please view the 17-18 End of Session Update document to have a clear idea of what has taken place (17-18 End of Session Update). The governor still has a few bills to sign however, this will give a synopsis of what has occurred over the last couple of years. Badger State Sheriff’s Association Legislative Committee and our Legislative Committee will be meeting bi-monthly for the next year to come up with our legislative agenda for the next session which will start in…

March 2018 Legislative Update

Greetings WS&DSA members, Below is an update on what has been going on in the WI Legislature as the session winds down for the year. The Assembly finished with their floor session last week and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has indicated that absent extraordinary circumstances, the Assembly will not reconvene this session. The Senate has scheduled one more floor session on March 20th. When the legislature adjourns, absent extraordinary circumstances, we do not anticipate it will reconvene until January 2019. After adjournment, legislators will shift their focus to Fall 2018 elections and…

Protective Status Bill Update

Greetings, Just a quick update from the legislature… Good News… The Protective Status Bill for County Jailers passed the Assembly late yesterday afternoon, Thursday February 15, 2018,  on a voice vote. As Caty had stated in her legislative update, it is now in front of the Senate however, Senator Duey Stroebel, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Technology and Consumer Protection, will not hold a public hearing on the bill. Hamilton Consulting Group will continue to discuss this legislation with other Senators and attempt to get this moving in the Senate. The…

February 2018 Legislative Update

Greetings all, At the board meeting during our Winter Training Conference, Caty and R.J., from Hamilton Consulting Group, gave an extensive legislative update on what has been happening at the capitol. Since the end of the session is nearing, it is becoming a hectic time in the legislature as they are trying to push bills through respective chamber before the end. So in an effort not to miss anything going on in Madison, I am attaching the Legislative Update that was distributed to the board on Sunday February 4th. Caty has graciously updated this document so as of today, Tuesday February…

November 2017 Legislative Update

Greetings all. I need to apologize for not doing a legislative update every month however, it seems like there hasn’t been enough time in the day to get everything done. So here is the latest update for November. On Tuesday Nov. 28, 2017, the Badger State Sheriff’s Association and WI Sheriff’s & Deputy Sheriff’s Association held their monthly joint Legislative Committee meeting hosted by Sheriff Gaffney in Marquette County. It had been over a year since we all met in person and BSSA Legislative Chair, Sheriff Podoll, and I thought it would be a good idea to have an in person meeting….

August 2017 Legislative Update

For the August legislative update, you will find a tracking report on legislative issues prepared by our Lobbyists, The Hamilton Consulting Group. http://www.hamilton-consulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BSSA-WSDS-6-23.pdf The Foxconn deal and the budget are the hot issues right now and that is what the focus of most of state government is. The Joint Finance Committee will be meeting on August 24th, the first time since June, so there hasn’t been much movement on the legislation we, as an organization, have been following. So here is a quick update for July/August: Protective Status…

June 2017 Legislative Update

Greetings WS&DSA members, For the June legislative update, you will find a tracking report on legislative issues prepared by our Lobbyists, The Hamilton Consulting Group.  http://www.hamilton-consulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BSSA-WSDS-6-23.pdf WS&DSA and BSSA continue to have monthly conference call meetings to discuss legislative issues we are monitoring. The budget is the hot issue right now and that is what is the focus of most state government. As of Friday June 30, a new two-year budget isn’t likely to be passed by tonight so the legislature will continue to work…

2017 Scholarship Winners

The Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s annual scholarship award program which offers financial assistance to full-time students enrolled in Criminal Justice programs at any Wisconsin college or university.  Six $500 scholarships were awarded to the following individuals, who were selected to encourage educational growth and professionalism among police officers and deputy sheriffs in the State of Wisconsin. District 1 Award Recipient: Lillian Elmer, Polk County District 3 Award Recipient: Alan Leiser, Shawano County District 4…

May 2017 Legislative Update

Greetings WS&DSA members, You will find a tracking report on legislative issues prepared by our Lobbyists, The Hamilton Consulting Group. This is the latest that the legislative committee, along with the BSSA legislative committee, has been working on or watching as the legislation passes through the capitol. On Tuesday May 30, Sheriff Podoll, Sheriff Gossage, Sheriff Picknell, and I were in Madison and testified in front of the Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform in reference to the Asset Forfeiture bill. The WI Chiefs of Police Association also had representatives to…

April 2017 Legislative Update

WS&DSA Legislative Committee Members: Overview Both the Senate and the Assembly convened on January 3, 2017, to inaugurate the 2017 Legislature. Governor Walker has called a special session of the legislature to consider recommendations of his Governor’s Task Force on Opioid Abuse. On Feb. 8, Governor Walker introduced his 2017-19 budget. This kicks off the legislative budget process that will command the legislature’s time for the next several months. The legislature referred his recommendations to the legislature’s budget-writing committee, the Joint Committee on Finance (JFC). The…

Legislative Committee Chair Welcome Message

Greetings all. My name is Jeff Klatt.  For those of you who may not know me, I am the District 4 Director for the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association and also the Legislative Committee Chair.  Between myself, the committee, Hamilton-Consulting, and business agent Sandy, I will try to keep this website updated, as best as possible, with legislative news and things that have been going on in Madison. The current members of the legislative committee are: Captain Jeff Klatt, Chairperson – St. Croix County Chief Deputy Jeff Spencer – Sauk County Sheriff Jim Johnson – Ozaukee County…

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK ENDING 01-29-16

Here is an update on the priority legislative issues we are working on. For a full review of all the bills we are tracking, please see WS&DSA tracking report: http://hamilton-consulting.com/documents/WSDSA_Tracking.pdf   Strip Search Wait Times Bill (SB 248/AB 340): The Assembly Committee on Corrections will vote on AB 340 next Tuesday February 2. We will update you with the vote. SB 248 passed the Senate on January 20.   Asset Forfeiture (SB 521/AB 537): Both the Senate and Assembly Committee held a public hearing on the forfeiture bill this week. Sheriff Cramer testified on…

Legislative Activity for the week ending 01-22-16

Hello everyone, On Thursay 01-21-16, RJ, Dave Graves and myself participated in two meetings on behalf of WS&DSA. The first meeting was with the Attorney General and his staff pertaining to the recent FCC ruling, which set rate caps for inmate calling. Dean Meyer led the discussion and asked the AG to explore action against the ruling. The AG agreed to have his staff review the ruling to determine if the FCC overstep their jurisdiction. The AG asked about the revenue generated from the calls and various uses for those additional funds. Dean explained that in many cases those…

Communicating with our Members – legislative news

Hello, My name is David Graves.  I am the new Executive Director for Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs.  I am also the chairperson for your legislative committee. The week of 09-21-15 was a busy week in Madison.  On Wednesday, 09-23-15, I, along with Charlotte Nenning (the widow of the late Lt. LeRoy Nenning of the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office) testified in front of the Senate Committee on Elections and Local Government in support of Senate Bill 192.  The bill requires a municipality or a county that pays health insurance premuims for its employees who are law enforcement…