Category: Legislation & Regs

From the BJS Email News service: The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) website has been redesigned and is now available at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov. Many new features and tools have been added, and the site’s content has been completely reorganized to allow users to quickly find the information they’re seeking. New features include enhanced search capabilities, prominent …

Wisconsin’s electronics recycling legislation, signed last October, went into effect on January 1st of this year. The law, Act 50, creates an electronics recycling program for certain devices used by Wisconsin households and K-12 public schools. From the Wisconsin DNR’s E-Cycle Wisconsin website: Under the law, manufacturers of covered electronic devices (CEDs) sold to Wisconsin …

The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics heard testimony Tuesday on a bill raising the dollar limit in small claims court. (Assembly Bill 524) The current dollar limit in small claims court is $5,000. The bill would raise it to $10,000 if the person bringing the action has commenced 20 or fewer actions in …

You never know what you’re going to turn up in the Odd Wisconsin Archives. I had to laugh at the story about the “cache of decaying venison and sturgeon” stored a basement room of the Capitol wreaking havoc on the olfactory sensibilities of our distinguished lawmakers. And, funnier still, was that it was of their …

From today’s Wheeler Report: The Assembly adjourned about 3:45 a.m. today, ending the floor sessions scheduled for 2009. Regular sessions will resume January 19, 2010. However, legislative leaders are expected to call lawmakers back to Madison in the coming weeks to take up any agreement that can be worked out between the Senate and Assembly …

The Legislative Reference Bureau has begun work on the Wisconsin Legislative Oral History Project. The project will include recorded interviews with former members of the Wisconsin Legislature, conducted by John Powell, the former Capitol reporter for Wisconsin Public Radio. The goal of the project is to record the oral histories of as many former legislators …

Up for debate today in the Senate is a bill that would crack down on text messaging while driving. Wisconsin Senate Bill 103 would ban text messaging for drivers under the age of 18. [see Senate substitute amendment 1 for the under 18 language] According to the bill, violators would be charged a fine between …

Everyone arrested on suspicion of a serious crime in Wisconsin would be required to give a DNA sample under a bill introduced earlier this month. Wisconsin Senate Bill 336 requires law enforcement agencies to collect a biological specimen for DNA analysis from every adult who is arrested for a felony and every juvenile who is …

Channel 3000.com has a good summary of the changes consumers can expect under the new Credit Card Act of 2009. The Good: “It’s not going to be quite as easy to get into trouble as it has been in the past,” says Michael Johnson, finance instructor at Madison Area Technical College. The Bad: “Those low, …

From the Wisconsin State Journal: The public affairs network Wisconsin Eye said it would end its service to Time Warner customers on Monday night at midnight because the company won’t pay for it. Time Warner serves customers in southeastern Wisconsin and the Fox Valley area — Wisconsin Eye will continue to be available to Charter …