|
Committee Charges:
|
Francis Thousand, Chairman 5113 Spaanem Ave. Madison, WI 53716 Phone: 608-222-6152 Mobile: 608-770-9759 Fax: 608-222-6152 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
Representative
Roger Rivard and Senator Dale Schultz are preparing to introduce a bill
requested by WSLS to create the Surveying Modernization Act .
We need members of the WSLS to
contact their State Representative and State Senator and encourage them to sign
onto the bill as a co-sponsor.
These calls or emails need to be
made between now and next Friday, February 3rd (The end of the day on Friday is the cut-off
for legislators to have their name added).
Who to call or email
Call or email the office of your
representative and senator. The email and phone directory for each house is
linked below. You most likely will talk to a staff person. Also feel free to
call legislators who do not represent you with whom you have a relationship.
Assembly email and phone directory:
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/W3asp/contact/EmailDirectory.aspx?house=assembly
Senate email and phone directory:
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/W3asp/contact/EmailDirectory.aspx?house=senate
If you don't know who your
legislators are, go to this link and click on "Who Represents Me?"
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/w3asp/contact/legislatorslist.aspx?house=assembly
What to ask for
Ask
them to please co-sponsor LRB 2110 -- the bill from Rep. Rivard and Sen.
Schultz to modernize the state's surveying statutes.
Note:
Many legislators will not co-sponsor bills even if they support them. So don't
be offended if they say they won't sign on or if they are non-committal. The
most common answer you're going to get is going to be "We'll certainly
take a look at that bill and consider it."
This bill:
Synchronizes terminology used in the statutes that relates to land surveying;
Resolves challenges to land platting that have arisen in recent years due to
changing technology;
Modernizes the statutes to reflect the new technology used in this field.
This bill does not:
Fence out other professions;
Threaten or impede on property rights and economic development. In fact, we’ve worked closely with the Wisconsin Realtors Association and the Wisconsin Builders Association to address any issues they may have had.
The
Committee has not met since the last meeting.
Francis Thousand met with Representative Rivard who will be the lead
sponsor in the Assembly and President Bruce Bowden met with Dale Schultz who
will be the lead sponsor in the Senate.
The committee has received comments back from the photogrammetrists and
is reviewing the proposed changes. I
have not yet received any comments. The
LRB is still working on the final draft.
While we have not yet received a draft of the surveyors bill from the LRB, there have been a number of meetings with some of the other parties who expressed concerns over the draft in the last session. Francis Thousand attended a SAGIC (State Agency Geographic Information Committee). Jimmy Rein attended the WLIA regional meeting. Rich Eberhardt attended a WIGICC (Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordinating Council) meeting in Milwaukee. WSLS representatives are meeting this week with other business who opposed the bill last session.
In addition, the Legislative Committee is reviewing a proposed bill. Comments from the committee have not yet been recieved.
As you probably heard the Governor introduced his budget bill this past week. The version I reviewed is labeled SB-27. You can download and read the bill from the legislative website. There are 1345 pages to the bill so I have had an opportunity to read the whole thing but a couple of thinks may be of interest to Professional Land Surveyors. The bill is proposing to change the department we have become use to call DRL. Instead of the Department of Regulation and Licensing with passage of the budget it will become the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS). As part of the change in the department a number of fuctions from other departments will be added to its list of functions. As you may know the Department of Commerce is being shut down and the functions need to go some place and it looks like a number are headed to DSPS. The Governor is also proposing to move erosion control permiting from DNR to this new department.
If anyone else has noticed items that may inpact Professional Land Surveyors, please let me know.
The Legislative Committee has been working since December 2010 on language for a new bill to be introduced in the 2011-2012 session of the legislature. The new bill will include much of the language in the 2009 AB 271 with the addition of new language to change Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 236 and others. The language for the changes to Chapter 236 has been reviewed by the Plat Review Committee, Legislative Committee, Chapters and the membership in general as well as a number of other associations. The proposed changes include language to allow for the electronic recording of the various documents that Professional Land Surveyors create. The language is heading for the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) for drafting into bill form. Once there is a draft, both Committees and the Board will review and if edits are necessary it will be sent back to the LRB for changes. Once everyone approves the draft we will obtain sponsors and introduce the bill. Please return to this page often to keep up on the process.
