At Issue: Recently Passed Legislation
Recently passed legislation is a feature of the At Issue column in
response to your requests for more information on new laws. Summaries of
1997 Acts 61 through 83 appeared in the May 1998 Wisconsin
Lawyer at page 26. Due to the volume of legislation passed during
the regular and special sessions, legislative summaries appear in the
May through August 1998 issues.
To subscribe to the slip laws (acts), send your order with payment
to: Department of Administration, Document Sales, P.O. Box 7840,
Madison, WI 53707-7840. The subscription period is from January 1997
through December 1998. The mailed subscription price is $70 plus
applicable sales tax. Save mailing costs by picking up your subscription
for $20 plus tax. Pick up orders at Legislative Documents, 1 E. Main
St., Madison, Wis. Mastercard or Visa orders may be placed by calling
(800) 362-7253.
To receive a free, single copy of the entire act, please contact
Legislative Documents, 1 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53702, (608) 266-2400.
Or you can access the acts by using the links below. *
Editor's Note: To view Wisconsin
statutes and acts referenced in this article you must have and/or
install Adobe
Acrobat Reader 3.0 on your computer.
Traffic offenses
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or
revoked operating privilege, habitual traffic offenders, penalties
involving sanctions against an operating privilege or operator's
license, the revocation of operating privileges and vehicle
registrations for failure to deposit security and providing a
penalty.
Effective dates: This act takes effect on the date stated in
the notice published by the secretary of transportation in the Wisconsin
Administrative Register under section 85.515 of the statutes, as created
by this act, or on the first day of the 25th month beginning after
publication, whichever is earlier, except as follows:
(2) The treatment of sections 13.0965, 351.02 (1) (a) 4. and 10. and
351.11 of the statutes and section 167 (1) of this act take effect on
the first day of the 4th month beginning after publication.
(3m) The treatment of section 85.515 (by section 1g) of the statutes
takes effect on the day after publication.
Leasing technical college facilities to others
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Leasing technical college facilities to
others.
Budget bill adjustments
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Evaluating proposed major highway projects;
adjustments to appropriations of the departments of public instruction,
justice and transportation to reflect anticipated federal aid changes;
joint committee on finance approval of any plan for the expenditure by
the department of health and family services of income augmentation
funds for any purpose other than augmenting federal revenues; a study on
paving state bicycle trails; adjustment of agricultural chemical cleanup
surcharges; and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority.
Methods to determine the number of children in a school
district
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: The method of determining the number of
children residing in a school district for purposes of taking an annual
school count.
Effective date: This act takes effect on July 1, 1998.
Motor vehicle pursuit by law enforcement officers
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Motor vehicle pursuit by law enforcement
officers, training of law enforcement officers, requiring the exercise
of rule-making authority and providing a penalty.
Effective dates: This act takes effect on the day after
publication, except as follows:
(1) The treatment of section 85.07 (3) (e) and (8) of the statutes
takes effect on the first day of the 4th month beginning after
publication.
(2) The repeal of section 15.257 (3) of the statutes and the
amendment of section 165.85 (4) (cm) 2. (intro.) and b. of the statutes
take effect on June 30, 2001.
Wrongful death claims
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Wrongful death claims.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to actions
commenced on the effective date of this subsection.
Contracts between gas utilities and individual customers
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Contracts between gas utilities and individual
customers.
Allowing the department of transportation to contract with public
utilities
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Allowing the department of transportation to
contract with public utilities and rural electric cooperative
associations for cooperative acquisition, development, or maintenance of
jointly used rights-of-way.
Parking spaces reserved for vehicles used by persons with
disabilities
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Prohibiting the parking of vehicles in access
aisles adjacent to parking spaces reserved for vehicles used by persons
with disabilities and reports of violations of parking spaces reserved
for vehicles used by persons with disabilities.
Acquisition of hospitals
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Acquisition of a hospital owned by a nonprofit
corporation, a city, a county, the state or the University of Wisconsin
Hospitals and Clinics Authority.
Access to public records
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Access to public records.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to records
access requests made on the effective date of this subsection.
Notifying a juvenile's school board if a juvenile's delinquency
proceeding is terminated
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Notification of a juvenile's school if a
juvenile delinquency proceeding is terminated without a finding that the
juvenile has committed a delinquent act.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to a
proceeding on a petition under section 938.12 or 938.13 (12) of the
statutes that is closed, dismissed or otherwise terminated on the
effective date of this subsection.
Regulating dental hygienists
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: The regulation of dental hygienists, increasing
the membership of the dentistry examining board and granting rule-making
authority.
Effective dates: This act takes effect on the day after
publication, except as follows:
The treatment of section 15.405 (6) (a) and (b) (by section 2) of the
statutes takes effect on Dec. 31, 2002.
Regulating dentists
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Exemption from discipline for dentists who send
impressions, measurements, or patients to dental laboratories for shade
verification.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to patients,
agents of patients, impressions or measurements that are sent to dental
laboratories on the effective date of this subsection.
Underage persons on premises operating under an alcohol beverage
license
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: The prohibition against underage persons
entering or being on any premises operating under an alcohol beverage
license.
Dividing land within an assessor's plat
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Dividing land within an assessor's plat by
subdivision plat or certified survey map.
Underage persons and certain billiards centers
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Underage persons and certain billiards centers
where alcohol beverages are sold and consumed.
Misappropriating personal identifying information
Publication date*: April 27, 1998
Relating to: Misappropriation of personal identifying
information and personal identification documents and providing a
penalty.
Studded tires on school buses
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: The use of studded tires on school buses.
Application process for the development zone program
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: The application process for the development
zone program.
Regulating adoptions
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: The placement of a child with a relative for
adoption and application of the interstate compact on the placement of
children; the time by which a juvenile court must hold a hearing on a
petition for adoptive placement of a child with a nonrelative and a
petition to terminate parental rights that is filed with a petition for
adoptive placement; removal of a child from a foster home, treatment
foster home or group home for the purpose of placing the child by an
agency for adoption; education about adoption and school age parents
programs; who may be adopted; the filing of a petition for adoption by a
relative of a child by adoption; including relatives by adoption in the
definition of "relative" in the children's code; the documentation
required in a permanency plan for preadoptive placement of a child in
foster care or treatment foster care under a voluntary agreement;
payments by an adoptive or proposed adoptive parent for the expenses of
a birth parent or child; the release of identifying information by an
agency that placed a child for adoption or that was appointed guardian
of a child who was adopted; advertising related to adoption; the time by
which a petition for a rehearing on the ground of new evidence must be
filed in a juvenile court proceeding; and providing a penalty.
Kinship care
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: Kinship care, creating a long-term kinship care
program and making appropriations.
Effective dates: This act takes effect on the day after
publication, except as follows:
(1) The treatment of section 50.065 (1) (c) 2. of the statutes takes
effect on Oct. 1, 1998, or on the day after publication, whichever is
later.
(2) The repeal and recreation of section 49.96 of the statutes takes
effect on Feb. 1, 1999.
(3) The amendment of section 20.445 (3) (r) of the statutes and the
repeal and recreation of section 767.29 (2) of the statutes take effect
on the date stated in the notice published by the department of
workforce development in the Wisconsin Administrative Register under
section 767.29 (1) (f) of the statutes, as created by 1997 Wisconsin Act
27, or on Oct. 1, 1999, whichever is earlier.
Reductions in general transportation aids
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: The method of determining reductions in general
transportation aids for late filing of applications for such aid.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to filings in
1998 for aid payable in 1999.
Information to persons accused of OWI
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: Information provided to a person accused of
operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant,
controlled substance, or other drug.
Effective date: This act takes effect on the first day of
the 4th month beginning after publication.
Obtaining title by adverse possession
Publication date*: April 28, 1998
Relating to: The prohibition of obtaining title by adverse
possession to real estate owned by a public body.
Participating in the academic excellence higher education
scholarship program
Publication date*: April 29, 1998
Relating to: Participation by institutions of higher
education in the academic excellence higher education scholarship
program and clarifying the required grade point average for academic
excellence higher education scholarships (suggested as remedial
legislation by the higher educational aids board).
Participating in the Wisconsin retirement system
Publication date*: April 29, 1998
Relating to: Participating employment status under the
Wisconsin retirement system and the filing of certain documents by
guardians of participants in the Wisconsin retirement system (suggested
as remedial legislation by the department of employee trust funds).
Land and water conservation board, renumbering provisions
Publication date*: April 29, 1998
Relating to: Advisory members of the land and water
conservation board and the renumbering of certain provisions of chapter
134 of the statutes (suggested as remedial legislation by the department
of agriculture, trade and consumer protection).
Department of workforce development remedial legislation
Publication date*: April 29, 1998
Relating to: Updating obsolete terminology in the fair
employment, vocational rehabilitation, worker's compensation, minimum
wage, and fair housing laws and deleting an obsolete reference in the
fair employment law (suggested as remedial legislation by the department
of workforce development).
Department of public instruction remedial legislation
Publication date*: April 29, 1998
Relating to: Eliminating obsolete language and provisions
from the statutes governing public schools and the department of public
instruction (suggested as remedial legislation by the department of
public instruction).
Effective date: This act takes effect on July 1, 1998, or on
the day after publication, whichever is later.
Department of health and family services remedial legislation
Publication date*: April 29, 1998
Relating to: Mental health crisis intervention services;
requirements for a Level I local health officer; coordination by a local
board of health of activities of a sanitarian; fetal death reports;
access by a coroner, deputy coroner, medical examiner or medical
examiner's assistant to patient health care records; confidentiality
restrictions on cancer reports; service contracts under community
integration programs; eliminating outdated requirements for bed
assessments for nursing homes and intermediate care facilities for the
mentally retarded; designation by a nursing home of a person to accept
service of notice or mail; required information for licenses for nursing
homes and community-based residential facilities; eliminating a date for
posting notice about the long-term care ombudsman program; eliminating
dates for determinations that nursing homes are institutions for mental
diseases; resident rights and responsibilities for residents of nursing
homes and community-based residential facilities; eliminating dates for
requesting and providing information about nursing homes; evaluations of
integrating services projects; eliminating a requirement for a plan and
report on school-community alcohol and drug abuse prevention and other
services; eliminating a requirement that a person investigating a report
of suspected or threatened emotional abuse of a child determine that the
person responsible for the emotional damage is neglecting, refusing or
unable for reasons other than poverty to remedy the harm; and
prohibiting an adoptive parent from moving for relief from an order
granting adoption or petitioning for a rehearing of such an order
(suggested as remedial legislation by the department of health and
family services).
Veterans benefits
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: Veterans benefits for veterans who are
delinquent in child or spousal support, maintenance, medical expenses or
birth expenses.
Veterans burials
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: The information gathered regarding veterans
burials.
Strobe lights on school buses
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: Requiring strobe lights on school buses.
Effective date: This act take effect on the first day of the
6th month beginning after publication.
State employee leave for disaster relief service
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: Leaves of absence for certain state employees
to participate in providing certain disaster relief services and
granting rule-making authority.
Effective date: This act takes effect on the first day of
the 4th month beginning after publication.
Police access to photographs of operator licenses and identification
card applicants
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: Law enforcement agency access to photographs of
applicants for operators' licenses and identification cards and
providing a penalty.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to photographs
taken on Jan. 1, 1998.
Licensing of motor vehicle dealers, salespersons, sales finance
companies, and salvage dealers
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: The licensing of motor vehicle dealers and
salespersons, sales finance companies and motor vehicle salvage dealers
and providing a penalty.
Effective date: This act takes effect on the first day of
the 4th month beginning after publication.
Veterans education, treatment facilities, and health care
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: Veterans part-time classroom study, veterans
tuition and fee reimbursement, veterans retraining grants, authority to
construct and operate residential, treatment and nursing care facilities
in southeastern Wisconsin, veterans health care aid grants and veterans
housing loans.
Prohibiting installing certain devices in wells
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Prohibiting the installation of certain devices
in wells.
Public comments at meetings of governmental bodies
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Public comments at meetings of governmental
bodies.
Information signs on USH 14
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Authorizing specific information signs on a
certain portion of USH 14.
Qualified domestic relations orders
Publication date*: April 30, 1998
Relating to: Qualified domestic relations orders under the
Wisconsin retirement system.
Load weight limits on trucks
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Load weight limits on trucks registered with
the department of transportation as special interest, reconstructed,
replica, street modified or homemade vehicles.
Selection of election officials
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: The method of selection of election
officials.
Social security numbers in student I.D. numbers
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: The use of a person's social security number in
his or her student identification number.
Effective date: This act takes effect on Jan. 1, 2000.
Statute of limitations for special education appeals
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Statute of limitations for special education
appeals.
Initial applicability: This act first applies to the refusal
or proposal of a school board under section 115.81 (1) (a) of the
statutes, as affected by this act, that occurs on the effective date of
this subsection.
Sex offender registration requirements
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Exempting certain persons from the sex offender
registration requirements and the prohibition on child sex offenders
working with children.
Whistle blower protection for reporting to state officials abuse or
neglect in certain facilities
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Protection against retaliation for reporting to
any state official abuse or neglect in certain facilities, providing a
cause of action and providing a penalty.
Brewer representatives at tasting events on Class B premises
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: The presence of representatives of a brewer at
certain tasting events held on Class "B" premises.
Litigation by incarcerated persons
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Litigation by persons incarcerated, imprisoned,
confined or detained in a jail or prison, the time period for the state
to respond to an action and limiting access to public records.
Effective date: This act takes effect on the first day of
the 4th month beginning after publication.
Property tax exemption exclusion for health and fitness centers
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Limiting the property tax exemption for
hospitals to exclude health and fitness centers.
Effective date: This act takes effect on the Jan. 1 after
publication.
Railroad crossings
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: Stopping at railroad crossings, reckless
driving at railroad crossings, creating a railroad crossing improvement
assessment, making an appropriation and providing penalties.
Rate for the tax on cider
Publication date*: May 1, 1998
Relating to: The rate for the tax on cider.
Effective date: This act takes effect on the first day of
the 2nd month beginning after publication.
*Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes 1995-96: Effective date of acts.
"Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over
the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time
when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of
publication as designated" by the secretary of state [the date of
publication may not be more than 10 working days after the date of
enactment].
Wisconsin Lawyer
