It’s been a busy session for Republicans who control the state Legislature. They passed several pieces of landmark legislation early in the two-year period. Those include a right-to-work law and a bill that is dismantling the Government Accountability Board. Yet, some hot button issues ended up dying in committee.
The state Assembly wrapped up its business quickly this month, leaving several measures on the table. One would require public school students to use bathrooms assigned to their birth gender, rather than the one with which they identify. Dozens of people packed a day-long hearing before the Assembly Education committee in November. One student who spoke against the bill was high schooler Blue Campbell.
“Most often I don’t identify with the sex I was assigned at birth. Entering a bathroom that coincides with my biological sex raises my anxiety to an almost unmanageable level and I simply cannot continue to live that way, constantly afraid for my physical and emotional well-being,” Campbell said.
Some thought the bill went too far, says Republican state Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, chairman of the committee. "When adjustments were made to the bill, some thought it didn’t go far enough," he added. Ultimately, Thiesfeldt said, they decided not to advance the bill to the floor.
“Some school districts had already taken measures to deal with the situation and any changes that were made might have caused them to have to back track and there was some reluctance on the part of some legislators to have them do that,” he said.
Another divisive bill never even received a hearing. The item would allow people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. Democratic state Rep. Mandela Barnes of Milwaukee says such a law would have been unworkable.
“Somebody made the comment that it could stop a terrorist attack. One, a terrorist attack is a very scary thought. However, one civilian with very little training attempting to stop a terror attack is an even more frightening thought,” Barnes says.
Barnes suspects that Republicans pushed off the legislation because too many constituents objected.
A couple other proposals that drew scores of people to the Capitol also seemed to vanish. One would ease the sale of water utilities to private corporations; another wouldban the sale and use of fetal body parts for research.
Wispolitics.com editor JR Ross says it’s not unusual for the Legislature to scuttle controversial bills as elections near. “You do the stuff that’s controversial or painful in the first year of the session. Rarely do you see really big issues taken up in an election year because people are nervous and are afraid there will be a price to pay at the polls,” he says.
Ross predicts some bills that died recently will resurface in 2017. A couple state Senators hope to bring one back sooner for a vote – the so-called sanctuary cities bill. It would allow police to investigate a person’s immigration status after they’ve been charged with a crime.
The Assembly passed the measure a few days ago, undeterred by thousands of protesters.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says the bill is not a priority and he probably won’t schedule it for floor debate. The Senate plans to return to the Capitol for at least a day in March.
