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Legislative Information

September 2007 Legislative Liaison Report
By Dave Bloom
 
The following bills are in various stages of the legislative process at this time. For a handout of this information to use when visiting your legislators, click here.

  • AB333: This bill would eliminate the requirement currently in effect that requires ash from training burns be disposed of in an approved DNR landfill. The ash could be buried on site following a training burn. This bill had a hearing on September 12th with the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources. The hearing was very brief and positive for the fire service. WSFCA supports this bill and asks that you contact your legislator asking for their support of AB 333.

  • AB380-Fireworks: This bill sponsored by Reps. Steinbrink and Kerkman introduces the changes recommended by the Fireworks Legislative Study Committee three years ago. The bill improves the statutes related to the sale of fireworks, fireworks permits/displays, shipping fireworks, fireworks wholesalers licenses, disposition of seized fireworks, fireworks enforcement, and provides for penalties. WSFCA supports this bill and asks that you contact your legislator asking for their support of AB 380.

  • AB57: This bill allows for an arbitrator or circuit court option to firefighters and police officers following the disciplinary action of the PFC. This bill will strip all disciplinary authority from the local Police & Fire Commission. This bill had a hearing on March 8th and the Committee has not voted on the bill at this time. WSFCA opposes this bill and asks that you contact your legislator asking that they oppose the bill.

  • SB21: This is a companion bill to AB57, which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Corrections with no action taken at this time. WSFCA also opposes this bill.

  • AB275: This bill creates a presumption that an injury or death of a firefighter due to heart or respiratory impairment or disease or due to a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) arouse out of the firefighters employment and therefore is covered under worker’s compensation law if the firefighter had served five years as a firefighter and had been given a qualifying medical exam prior to employment as a firefighters.

  • AB88: Distinguishing registration plates for first responders. This bill is waiting scheduling for a final vote.

  • SB 50: This bill provides that through agreement with employers semi-annual and annual payments of compensation be made to volunteers. The Governor signed this bill into law but now there is a new bill introduced to change this law and allow payments on a quarterly basis to volunteers, which this law does not allow. WSFCA supports this bill and asks that you contact your legislator asking for their support of this bill.

  • AB321: This bill creates an interoperability council and requires public and private schools to conduct tornado and other hazard drills. WSFCA supports this bill and asks that you contact your legislator for support of this bill.

  • Safe Cigarette Legislation: WSFCA has been working with Senator Robson and her staff for several months drafting safe cigarette language that would be acceptable to a majority of the parties. The draft legislation is under review and a final bill is expected soon. WSFCA supports the Safe Cigarette Bill and asks that you contact your legislator and ask for their support on the legislation.

  • Carbon Monoxide Bill: WSFCA has been working for several months on carbon monoxide legislation for hotels, motels and rental cabins. In mid September, there was a final meeting with legislative drafters and interested parties. It is anticipated that a final draft bill will be ready for the co-sponsors to sign next week. WSFCA supports the Carbon Monoxide Bill and asks that you contact your legislators for their support of the bill.

Fire Service Budget Bill Provisions

  1. There is an amendment in the Joint Finance version of the Budget Bill opening up fireworks permit sales to anyone wishing to purchase fireworks. The Budget Conference Committee accepted this amendment very early in the Conference Committee process but they have also agreed that they could revisit the provisions already accepted by the Conference Committee.

  2. The arbitrator option for disciplined firefighters and/or police officers is in the Governor’s Budget Bill and in the Senate Budget Bill. The Assembly version of the Budget Bill the arbitrator provision was removed. Please contact your legislator and ask that they remove this arbitrator option from the Budget Bill.

  3. The builders convinced legislators to include a provision in the Assembly version of the Budget Bill that would require multi-family buildings with thirteen units or more to be sprinkled. This provision confused and complicated the hearing on the new codes requiring three units or more be sprinkled.
WSFCA opposes these three provisions in the Budget Bill and asks that you contact your legislator asking them to oppose all three provisions in the Budget Bill.

Update on 2006 IBC & NFPA 1 Code Adoption

The Assembly Committee on Housing held a hearing on the adoption of the 2006 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) and the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) NFPA 1 Code. The fire service attended in force and clearly outnumbered the builders at the hearing. The majority of the testimony centered around the IBC provision (if adopted) to lower the number of multi-family units requiring sprinklers in new construction to three or more units. At the end of the five hour hearing a committee member who stated that he is concerned with affordable housing for low income families in Milwaukee, if sprinklers increase the cost of housing, made a motion to pass the code package except for the sprinkler threshold of three or more units. That motion passed on a 5/2 vote. That action allows the Department of Commerce to put in place the new codes (without the sprinkler threshold for three units or more) 30 days after the new code is published.

What happens to the sprinkler threshold of three units or more that was removed from the IBC code by the Assembly Housing Committee? The sprinkler threshold of three units or more in multi-family buildings will now go to the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR). JCRAR has 30 days to hold a hearing and they can extend that time period 30 additional days, which they have done. When JCRAR holds a hearing and they vote on just the sprinkler threshold of three units or more they could pass the sprinkler threshold and make it a part of the new code by having a tie 5/5 vote or of course they could pass it with a majority vote of the members.

What can you do to help the fire service convince the JCRAR committee members that the three or more sprinkler threshold needs to be a part of the new IBC code? Please contact members of the JCRAR committee and ask them to support the sprinkler threshold. The builders continue to argue that the cost of sprinklers in new construction creates housing that is not affordable.

If you have any questions please contact:
Dave Bloom, Legislative Liaison
Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association
2120 Fish Hatchery Rd.
Madison, WI 53713
608-444-3324 cell
608-210-7261 wk.
608-210-7235 fax
bloomd@town.madison.wi.us

Archived Legislative Updates
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006

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