WI Act 5 Changes Publication and Effectiveness Process for Acts – Removes Authority of Sec of State

2013 WI Act 5, which modifies the establishment of a publication date for acts, quietly went into effect yesterday.
According to the Wisconsin Legislative Council the act does several things:

  • Removes the authority of the Secretary of State to designate the date of publication
  • Instead, under the Act, the date of publication of an act is the day after the date of enactment unless a different effective date is expressly prescribed
  • The Act requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to publish each act on its date of publication
  • An act’s effective date is the day after its date of publication