Assembly Republicans pass bills that would put more people behind bars, increase costs

MADISON - Republicans who control the Assembly passed a string of crime bills Tuesday that they said would keep the state safer and put more people behind bars but cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a session that stretched into the night, Assembly Republicans approved a bill to set rules for collecting evidence of sexual assaults. Their plan differs from one passed last year by the Senate, raising the prospect that nothing will get done on the issue.

Tuesday's marathon round of lawmaking came as legislators raced to complete the legislative session by next month.

Some efforts to address crime have backing in the Senate, but it's unclear if the most expensive piece of legislation can pass that house. And all the measures could face vetoes from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has said he hopes to cut the state's prison population in half over the coming years.

Democrats argued Wisconsin Republicans were out of step with their counterparts elsewhere, noting President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers in other states have embraced policies to limit mandatory minimum sentences and allow the early release of more inmates.

“This is the last gasp of the tough-on-crime era in Wisconsin,” said Democratic Rep. Evan Goyke of Milwaukee.

But GOP Rep. Joe Sanfelippo of New Berlin said victims and people living in neighborhoods with high crime “expect the criminal justice system to take care of them as well — not just worry about the criminals."

“Who’s speaking up for the victims?” he asked.

Crime in Milwaukee is down. Last year was the second in a row with fewer than 100 homicides in the city. Nonfatal shootings and carjackings also dropped.

Assembly Bill 805 would require the Department of Corrections to recommend revoking extended supervision, probation and parole for those who are charged with committing felonies or violent misdemeanors while on court supervision. That would lead to judges sending more of those offenders back to prison while their new cases moved through the courts.

The bill passed 61-38, sending it to the Senate. Two Republicans — Reps. Michael Schraa of Oshkosh and Patrick Snyder of Schofield — joined all Democrats in opposing the measure.

The Department of Corrections initially estimated the bill would increase costs by $211 million over two years because of a larger prison population. In addition to the higher operational costs, the department maintains the state would have to build two prisons at a cost of perhaps $350 million each.

The actual cost may be somewhat lower because the estimate was developed before lawmakers amended the bill. Originally, the bill would have required revocation hearings whenever any crime was committed, including minor crimes such as shoplifting.

Assembly Republicans passed a similar measure two years ago and included funding to build a new prison along with it. The earlier effort failed, so they're trying again, but this time they didn't provide the money needed to build correctional facilities.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester said he believes corrections officials inflated the cost estimates for the proposal. Vos contended agency officials under any governor tend to inflate costs related to proposals governors don't support.

But two years ago, the independent Council of State Governments validated the Wisconsin Department of Corrections' cost estimates for similar legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau last week said he didn't know if his house would take up that bill, but he touted other parts of the legislative plan to crack down on crime.

The state’s prisons are already overpopulated and the bills would make them even more crowded. They were designed to hold about 17,800 adult inmates but now house about 23,600.

Another part of the Wisconsin GOP plan would allow judges to lock up teens whenever they commit offenses that would be considered felonies if they were adults. Under current law, there are more limits on when they can be put behind bars.

That measure, Assembly Bill 806, passed 60-38, with Democrats, Schraa and Snyder opposed to it. It, too, goes to the Senate.

The bill could result in locking up more teenagers even as Republicans and Democrats alike have sought to close the state's juvenile prison, Lincoln Hills School for Boys.

Assembly Bill 809 would restrict who can be released from prison early. There are already limits on when inmates can be released early, but Republicans want to tighten them to ensure violent offenders aren’t released early.

That bill passed 61-37, with GOP Rep. Scott Krug of Nekoosa joining all Democrats in opposing it. The measure goes to the Senate.

Rape evidence bill could fail

The Assembly on party lines approved a bill that aims to prevent delays in collecting and testing evidence from sexual assaults that is opposed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, whose Department of Justice carries out such analysis.

The measure differs from legislation the Senate passed in the fall and Kaul said the Assembly's action made it likely rape victims wouldn't get help they deserve.

"It’s extremely disappointing that Assembly Republicans continue to block that legislation and have instead passed a mess of an alternative that won’t become law and that is opposed by those who work day in and day out to support survivors and fight sexual assault," he said in a statement.

Time to address the issue is running short. Assembly leaders want to end their session next week and Senate leaders plan to end theirs in March.

Assembly Bill 844 would set procedures for collecting and storing sexual assault kits. It also would require the department to provide reports to the Legislature every year, give victims the ability to anonymously track their sexual assault kits and give them the right to have evidence tested within 90 days and be given notice 60 days before evidence was destroyed.

But two provisions drew controversy for touching on topics that have divided Democrats and Republicans for years.

The bill would require law enforcement to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when undocumented immigrants were arrested for sexual assault. In addition, the bill would allow students who were sexually assaulted by a fellow student or school employee to automatically qualify for the state's school voucher programs.

Kaul last week said the bill would create unfunded mandates for the Department of Justice and require reporting of information that could erode victim privacy.

Kaul also said the bill could send a message to victims to leave their friends and familiar school instead of requiring the school district to remove an offender and address a negative school environment as a result of the assault.

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said Kaul's opinion was "ridiculous."

"A victim of a sexual assault at a school should have the right to not go back to that school because it’s not just about the perpetrator and the crime, it’s about the school environment that that kid has to go back to," Steineke said. "It’s insulting to everyone who works in public schools."

Sexual assault victims and their advocates in a news conference last week said the bill's provision that requires police to notify immigration authorities could lead to fewer victims reporting assaults if they themselves are living here illegally.

Steineke and Vos rejected the idea that the provision could have a chilling effect.

"I don’t know how it gets the authorities more involved if you’re already reporting a crime," Steineke said.

Kaul was elected in 2018 after narrowly defeating GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel. The contest focused almost entirely over Schimel's handling of sexual assault evidence testing, which Kaul said was too slow.

Kaul said last week the bill set to be taken up Tuesday is designed to fail because of politics, suggesting Assembly Republicans are seeking to block Kaul from getting credit for improving the state's response to sexual assault.

GOP Rep. David Steffen of Howard, the bill's lead sponsor, has said he drafted the legislation to draw support from enough Republicans to move it through the Assembly — suggesting they oppose the bill that passed the Senate and has the backing of Kaul and advocates of sexual assault victims.

He said Tuesday he put forward this bill because he was committed to "delivering results," even as Democrats argued he and other Republicans were preventing getting legislation on the issue to the governor's desk.

Bestiality

The Assembly approved Senate Bill 139, which would make sex acts involving animals a felony. Now, those acts are misdemeanors in most cases, though animal cruelty is a felony in some instances.

The Senate passed the bill in October and it heads to Evers for final approval.

The legislation is in response to a serial horse rapist in the Green Bay area who has eluded incarceration because bestiality in Wisconsin is a misdemeanor. Tougher penalties, police say, will keep the man in prison longer and unable to molest more horses.

UW speech bill

Also Wednesday, the Assembly on a 62-37 vote approved Assembly Bill 444, which would compel University of Wisconsin officials to allow public speakers on campuses regardless of the speakers' opinions and discipline students who disrupt speakers on its campuses.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would put into law a policy already adopted by the UW Board of Regents.

Republican Rep. Shae Sortwell of Gibson joined all Democrats in opposing the bill.

Contact Patrick Marley and Molly Beck at patrick.marley@jrn.com and molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow on Twitter at @patrickdmarley and @mollybeck.