WISCONSIN ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS AND BOARDS (WALHDAB)

Joint WPHA-WALHDAB Public Affairs Committee Conference Call Minutes

Thursday, October 27, 2005 – 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 

Present: Sarah Beversdorf, Kathy Blair, Dale Hippensteel, Jan Klawitter, Kathy Munsey, and Jim Ryder 

Staff: Tim Hoven, Michael Welsh and Heather Westgor. 

Call started at 11:12 a.m. 

Legislation

·         Governor Vetoed

2.   AB 414 – “Smoke-free Dining Act”

·         Brought up for a vote on Tuesday, October 25^th.  It was referred back to Senate/Committee.

·         Not enough votes—negotiations continue.

·         Need to reach a compromise.  Our position remains stoic.

·         Jim Ryder said Sen. Brown called him to oppose.  Thought he had the votes.

3.   AB 278 – Public Nuisance

·         No issue with it—not a major concern right now.

4.   AB 321 & Companion Bill SB 138 – Abortion

·         Passed out of committee on October 25^th.  Will now move forward to Assembly.

·         Opposed to both.

5.   AB 453 – Non-pasteurized Milk

·         Public hearing took place in September.

·         Discussed substitute amendment where dairy farmers can sell to those in cow   

sharing program.

·         Will continue to monitor.

6.   AB 454 – Potluck Bill

·         Passed by Committee on October 19^th.

·         Has since been amended to take “tavern” out.

·         Now neutral.

7.   AB 589 – Meningococcal Bill (Lamb’s Bill)

·         Passed out of Committee on October 19^th and is in front of Assembly on October

      27^th.

·         Amendments:  1.) What it is, symptoms, info. given to students 6-12. Only first 5

years and then only given to 6^th graders.  2.)  No info. sent out to schools

·         Need Amendment Memo

·         Send e-mail out to everyone next week and continue to query our members.

8.  AB 618/SB 305 – Child Safety Seats

·         No safety seat program

·         Passed out of finance on October 26^th.

·         Moving forward.

9.   SB 138

·         Governor most likely to veto.

·         Draft letter to Governor (Michael & Tim)

10.  SB 259 – Brown Bill

·         Passed by Senate and sitting in Assembly.

·         This is a WALHDAB issue and will continue to monitor.

·         New Legislation

1.          AB207 – patient abandonment

2.          AB465 – records retention

3.          AB652 – adding to sexual predator list

4.          AB653 – possession of tobacco by minors

5.          SB325 –  indoor environmental quality in schools

 Other Issues

 Workplan

1. The Workplan is driven by Eric.  Skip until next meet month when we have more people in attendance.
2. Contract with Michael/Tim—Need to negotiate what services we don’t need.  Currently $1200 contract.  Do we need to go up to $1500?  Amend budget if need be.  Dale will talk to Eric next week.

 Legislative Priorities

1. So many things came up this year that were not in our priorities.
2. We will not discuss today but at next month’s meeting.
3. Need to make tobacco issues more generic. Right now they’re too specific.
4. Possibly do a survey to the membership regarding priorities and then let them know how we responded to these priorities in a year.
5. We dealt with a lot of tobacco and reproductive rights issues this year.
6. Need to give members a plan on what we want to do and then set an agenda to be voted on at Annual Meeting.

 Other Business

1. Meeting next month is scheduled for Thanksgiving.  It was decided to move the meeting to Thursday, November 17^th.  An e-mail will be sent out to everyone to see if this day works.

 With no additional business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted,

For more information about WALHDAB, call your local health department or a Board member or visit http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/localhealth/index.htm to locate your local health department.
Rev. 03/05