Governor Walker Calls for Special Legislative Session

Governor Walker, through Executive Order# 1 called for a Special Legislative session to address the following issues:

1. Creation of an authority, to be known as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and making appropriations;

2. An income and franchise tax credit for small businesses;

3. Income and franchise tax exemptions for new businesses, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and granting rule-making authority;

4. Adopting federal law as it relates to health savings accounts for state income and franchise tax purposes and providing a penalty;

5. Requiring a supermajority for passage of tax increase legislation;

6. The authority of a state agency to promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of a statute enforced or administered by the agency and to implement or enforce any standard, requirement, or threshold as a term or condition of a license issued by the state agency; gubernatorial approval of proposed administrative rules; economic impact analyses of proposed
rules and emergency rules; and venue in a declaratory judgment action seeking judicial review of the validity of an administrative rule and in an action in which the sole defendant is the state; exemptions from water quality certification and wetland mitigation requirements for certain nonfederal wetlands that are less than two acres in size; requirements for wind energy systems, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and granting rule-making authority; and

7. Limiting noneconomic damages awarded in actions against long-term care providers; actions against manufacturers, distributors, sellers, and promoters of certain products; confidentiality of health care services reviews; use as evidence of information regarding health care providers; reporting of quality indicators identifying individual hospitals; homicide or injury by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire; criminal abuse of individuals at risk; criminal abuse and neglect of patients and residents; evidence of lay and expert witnesses; damages for frivolous claims; and punitive damage awards.

Read the entire executive order >>>