MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Latest on the Wisconsin Legislature’s lame-duck session(all times local):
12:15 p.m.
Wisconsin Republicans have agreed on which bills to take up during their lame-duck session next week.
Assembly and Senate Republicans circulated paper ballots to their leadership committees on Friday. The ballots include vague descriptions of the same six bills on each house’s agenda. Rumors had been circulating around the Capitol that Assembly and Senate Republicans would develop separate agendas.
Both houses expect to begin floor debates on Tuesday. The session offers the GOP one last chance to pass laws before Gov. Scott Walker leaves office.
The ballots offer vague, one-sentence descriptions of each bill.
One measure would guarantee coverage for pre-existing health conditions. Another deals with spending federal transportation dollars and individual income tax cuts. The others relate to state agencies’ rule-making process, moving the 2020 presidential primary from April to March, work requirements for state benefits and the composition of state agencies.
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11:35 a.m.
Assembly Republicans plan to take up a half-dozen bills dealing with pre-existing conditions, road funding, moving the 2020 presidential primary during a lame duck session next week.
Speaker Robin Vos circulated a paper ballot to the Assembly Organization Committee on Friday asking for a vote to authorize the session. The ballot includes vague descriptions of six bills on the agenda.
One measure would guarantee coverage for pre-existing health conditions. Another deals with spending federal transportation dollars and individual income tax cuts.
The others relate to state agencies’ rule-making process, moving the 2020 presidential primary from April to March, work requirements for state benefits and the composition of state agencies.
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8:45 a.m.
The wheels are starting to turn faster on a lame-duck legislative session in Madison.
Leadership committees in both the Assembly and Senate are expected to vote by paper ballot Friday to authorize the session. The votes are a formality since Republicans control both committees.
Republicans hope to convene on the floor in both the Assembly and Senate floors next week, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, to take up last-minute bills before Gov. Scott Walker leaves office.
It’s still not clear exactly what they plan to do. They’re considering passing measures guaranteeing health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, weakening incoming Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers’ powers, enshrining voter photo ID rules as statutes and moving the 2020 presidential primary election.
