At the Capitol: Bill Signings Move Forward, Surplus Deal Still PendingBy Dee Pettack, SAA Executive Director The Governor continues to act on legislation sent to him at the close of the legislative session. Several K–12 bills remain under consideration and are expected to be signed. Recently, the Governor signed Act 89, which requires school boards to adopt policies governing appropriate staff–student communications. This legislation comes in response to heightened media attention and a clear desire among policymakers to act on “grooming” related legislation. The law also requires training for all staff on appropriate communications; one option to fulfill that requirement will be the training DPI is required to provide at no cost. The Governor also signed Act 185, which requires DPI to report specific information related to educator license investigations and surrenders on their website. Meanwhile, negotiations over how to allocate the state’s $2.5 billion surplus remain ongoing, with no definitive timeline for when lawmakers will reconvene to take up a compromise. Encouragingly, across all sides of the negotiations, the only major spending item being discussed beyond various forms of tax relief is fulfilling the commitment made in the last state budget to increase special education reimbursement rates to 42% and 45%. The cost to meet that commitment is approximately $200 million and represents a fraction of the overall surplus. Behind those percentages and dollar amounts are students and educators who would directly benefit from the state following through on its promise. Thank you to school leaders across Wisconsin who have taken the time to engage with their legislators and advocate on behalf of their students. Your voices are making a difference. Stay tuned to SAA updates for the latest on bill signings and surplus negotiations.
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