Public Policy Forum
Spring Supreme Court Election
by Joe Murray
On April 1, 2003, Wisconsin voters will elect a new member to the Wisconsin state Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice William Bablitch. Justice Bablitch, a former State Senate Majority Leader, served on the court from 1983-2003.
Voters will choose between two highly qualified candidates: 4th District Court of Appeals Judge Pat Roggensack and Barron County Circuit Court Judge Ed Brunner.
Roggensack, 62, practiced law privately from 1980 to 1996, when she was elected to the 4th District Court of Appeals. She was re-elected to the 4th District in 2002. Brunner, 54, was in private practice from 1979-1988, when he was elected to the Barron County Circuit Court. He has served as the Chief Judge of the 10th Judicial District since 1999.
In state Supreme Court races, endorsements are often the focal point for many voters. In the absence of a detailed discussion on issues, which is the norm in Supreme Court elections, voters will look to high profile endorsements of the candidates to get a feeling on their judicial philosophy and, to the greatest extent possible, the political persuasion of the candidates.
High profile endorsements for Roggensack include: Republican Congressmen Mark Green, Paul Ryan and Tom Petri; former Republican Congressman Scott Klug; UW System President Katharine Lyall; Democratic State Representative Pedro Colon; Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff's Association; Milwaukee Fire Fighters Association; retired Supreme Court Justices Louis Ceci and William Callow.
Key endorsements for Brunner include: former Democratic Governor Tony Earl; Democratic Congressmen David Obey and Ron Kind; Democratic State Senator Bob Jauch; Democratic State Representatives Mary Hubler, Gary Sherman, Larry Balow, and Frank Boyle; Brown County Circuit Court Judge Donald Zuidmulder; former Republican Congressman and current Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Harold Froehlich; and Green Bay businessman John Brogan.
The WRA Board of Directors will take a formal position on this race in March and recommend one of these two candidates before the April 1 general election.
California Follows Milwaukee?
Voters in Milwaukee County have witnessed a political revolution over the past year. In April 2002, county voters elected Scott Walker after former County Executive Tom Amendt was forced to resign or face almost certain recall over a county pension scandal.
Amendt wasn't the only candidate to feel the wrath of angry county voters. Seven Milwaukee County Board members were recalled by voters over the same pension scandal. And it appears there may be even more possible recall elections involving Milwaukee Common Council members in 2003.
Voters seem to be taking matters into their own hands when it comes to holding public officials to their word on issues, or enforcing a certain code of ethics on politicians who say one thing and do another once elected (remember George
Petak?).
Just ask California Governor Gray Davis. After narrowly defeating Republican Bill Simon last November to win a second term in the governor's office, Davis may face a recall election later this year.
A taxpayer group called "The People's Advocate" has started the process of recall by submitting petition language to the California Secretary of State. If the petition language is approved, recall proponents must gather approximately 900,000 valid voter signatures to hold a special election. In a state of 35 million people this will not be an easy task. But political pros don't rule out the possibility that Davis could be the first statewide office holder to be successfully recalled by angry voters. His voter approval rating hovers around 30 percent.
Voters in California appear to blame Gray Davis for mismanagement of the state's budget and the state's energy crisis. California is running a budget deficit estimated at $35 billion.
Maybe this is why several new governors around the country are doing all they can to cut spending and return their state to fiscal health without raising taxes. Several governors, both Democrat and Republican, ran on a platform of fixing their state's budget problems without new taxes, including Wisconsin.
Jim Doyle spent months on the campaign trail telling voters he would tackle the Wisconsin state budget deficit by cutting state spending to balance the books in his first term. With a little help from the Republican controlled state legislature, he appears to be doing just that. In spite of the substantial pain inflicted on state agencies and their employees, Doyle is not retreating from his number one campaign promise.
Maybe Governor Davis should take a page out of Jim Doyle's political playbook?
Legislative Special Elections
Governor Jim Doyle has called three legislative special elections. Two state Senate seats and one Assembly seat are currently vacant due to resignations by incumbents who gave up their seats to pursue other opportunities.
- In South Milwaukee, former Democratic state Senator Richard Grobschmidt vacated his seat for a job in the Department of Public Instruction. The 7th Senate District includes Bay View, Cudahy, Milwaukee, Oak Creek, St. Francis and South Milwaukee.
- In central Wisconsin, former Democratic state Senator Kevin Shibilski from Stevens Point vacated his seat to accept a job from the Doyle administration as the new Secretary of the Department of Tourism. The 24th Senate District includes Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Marshfield, and Adams-Friendship.
- In Milwaukee, former Democratic State Representative Antonio Riley vacated his seat to accept a gubernatorial appointment to become the new Executive Director of WHEDA, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. The 18th Assembly District is in the City of Milwaukee.
Primary elections will be held April 1, with the general election set for April 29. The WRA and local board staff will hold candidate interviews with many of the candidates in these races and recommend one candidate to WRA members in their respective districts.
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WRA Legislative Priorities
by Michael Theo
WRA lobbyists have been meeting with Governor Doyle, his cabinet members and individual state legislators to present the top real estate issues for the new legislative session, as we see them. While solving the state's budget deficit clearly presents our industry and members with the greatest potential threats and opportunities, we have presented the following issues for legislative discussion and consideration. A full listing of our issues can be found on the WRA Web site. Here are the highlights:
Tax and Fee Laws
- Property taxes-Protect against increases via changes to school aids, shared revenue or other state programs or mandates.
- Local taxing authority-Protect against new local taxing authority that could unfairly impact real estate.
- Sales tax exemptions-Protect against elimination of existing sales tax exemptions, particularly exemptions for real estate commissions and commercial leases.
- Building and development fees-Protect against increased local authority to levy unfair anti-development impact (or other) fees.
Land Use and Environmental Law
- Non-conforming uses-Eliminate the statutory requirement that prohibits alterations to a nonconforming structure in excess of 50 percent of property's value. Replace with a provision giving local units of government general authority to approve alterations of a non-conforming use and to impose conditions on that approval, but prohibit local restrictions on ordinary repair and maintenance. Also, provide that nonconforming uses destroyed by fire or other casualty or natural disaster may be rebuilt within one year of destruction.
- Tax Incremental Financing districts-Seek expansion of the current TIF district law to provide local units of government with additional tools to attract new economic development and protect against new restrictions on use of TIF districts.
- Moratoria enabling legislation-Authorize municipalities to enact moratoria only to prevent the overburdening of public facilities or a significant threat to public health or safety presented by development.
- Impact fees-Require that impact fees cannot be collected prior to the issuance of a building permit. Impact fee ordinances must include a procedure for individualized assessments of impact fees, an appeals process, a provision for credits (for on-site improvements and for impact fees paid in excess of a development's proportionate share), and cannot be retroactive. Assessed impact fees must be refunded to the payor of the fee if the capital improvement is not commenced within five years. Authorize communities to exempt affordable housing from impact fees (option).
Transactional and License Law
- E-commerce-Revise the state's electronic commerce statutes to facilitate use of transactional platforms and electronic signatures using federal legislation (E-sign) and the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) as the foundation for Wisconsin-specific statutes.
- After-the-fact referral fees-Revise statutes to prohibit brokers from demanding referral fees without reasonable cause and prohibit threats to withhold employee relocation benefits if a broker is not paid a fee for a referral being demanded without reasonable cause.
- License reciprocity-Authorize the Dept. of Regulation and Licensing to enter into license reciprocity agreements with other states.
- Commercial broker liens-Revise statutes to remove the requirement that a broker file a written notice of intent to file a commission lien.
- Fiduciary duties-Revise the statutes to clarify that Chapter 452 duties to parties are not subject to common law if the duty in question is not a traditional "fiduciary duty."
Multifamily and Condominium Law
- Condominium law-Adopt comprehensive condominium law revisions as proposed by a special Legislative Council study committee late last session.
Miscellaneous
- Telemarketing-Revise the new Do Not Call list law to exclude routine and required communications in a real estate transaction from the law.
- Campaign finance reform-Seek substantial reforms to state campaign finance laws that are constitutional and that protect the WRA's ability to effectively participate in the political and legislative process.
- Health insurance coverage-Seek legislation making health insurance more available and affordable for independent contractors and small businesses, including but not limited to, exempting independent contractors from the requirement that their employer pay a percentage of the premium; and creation of a small business group to which independent contractors can subscribe.
- Predatory lending-Revise statutes and/or administrative rules to provide restrictions to predatory mortgage lending activities without jeopardizing the availability of loans to reasonable risk individuals.
- Affordable housing-Seek regulatory and tax relief that promotes additional affordable housing units, including but not limited to revising TIF district laws, building codes, zoning ordinances and density bonuses.
Should you have questions or ideas for other legislative initiatives, please contact
Michael Theo.
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