A bill will be introduced today to roll back Wisconsin’s minimum coverage limits for auto insurance that were blamed for higher premiums in 2009. Assemblyman John Nygren, R-Marinette, and Senator Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, will hold a news conference this afternoon to announce the measure. Wisconsin drivers would still be required to have insurance. But the new bill repeals almost everything else that former Gov. Jim Doyle and Democrats legislators approved in 2009. Coverage limits for injuries and deaths would be cut in half, and limits for property damage would be slashed by a third. The minimums would be the same as they were before they were raised. Gov. Scott Walker supports the new bill, and so does the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance, which lobbied heavily against the increases.
Motorists howled when some of them saw big increases in their insurance premiums. And at least some Democrats said they had nothing to do with them, even though they voted for the higher coverage mandates. Doyle and trial lawyers argued that coverage limits had not risen in 30 years and did not reflect today’s costs. Wausau attorney Christine Bremer Muggli said repealing the law would be a windfall for the insurance companies. She said they’ll provide less coverage without lowering their rates.
Will Walker bill protect drunk drivers from some liability?
State Republican leaders say they’ll review the governor’s legal liability reform bill after being told it could protect drunk drivers in civil cases. At a public hearing Tuesday, the stepfather of an Oconomowoc teacher killed in one of the state’s most notorious drunk driving crashes said the bill would make it almost impossible to win punitive damages in OWI cases.
Paul Jenkins, stepfather of Jennifer Bukosky, said plaintiffs would basically have to prove that defendants intended to cause injury to collect punitive damages. Bukosky was killed in 2008 by three-time drunk driver Mark Benson, who was under a mix of medications when his car rear-ended the popular teacher’s vehicle and killed her, a 10-year-old daughter and an unborn child. Benson, a former doctor, is spending 30 years in prison for that crash.
The chairman of the committee holding Tuesday’s hearing, Assemblyman Jim Ott, R-Mequon, agreed that a protection for drunk drivers could be a concern. He promised to address it before the bill goes to the entire Assembly. Walker’s office said it would also review the measure. Other critics of the bill said it would hurt victims’ efforts to get justice, while business owners testified the measure would reduce some of their biggest worries. Walker said trial lawyers were releasing what he called “subjective information” about the negative effects of his bill. He said they make a lot of money from liability cases, and they’re the main ones affected financially.
Debate over Madison’s drinking water safety continues
New tests show that Madison’s drinking water has a higher level of a toxic type of chromium than many U.S. cities, but it still meets federal limits
Wisconsin’s capital city tested four of its wells after the national Environmental Working Group took a sample last spring and said Madison had the fourth highest level of “chromium-6” among 35 U.S. cities. One of the four wells had a higher level than what the Working Group found, but the other three had much smaller amounts.
Director Thomas Schlenker of the Madison-Dane County Health Department said the city’s water is “perfectly safe.” But Leeann Brown of the Environmental Working Group called that “hyperbole.” She said residents should filter their water if possible and press the city to improve its drinking water. The State Hygiene Lab conducted the actual tests. It found that chromium-6 made up 80% to 90% of all chromium in Madison’s drinking water.
The federal government only requires tests for general chromium, but the Environmental Protection Agency says it’s considering a specific health standard for chromium-6. Assistant Administrator Peter Silva said recent studies showed a potential health risk for chromium-6 that’s greater than previously thought.
New Asian carp study will move faster, say sponsors
Groups that represent states and cities on the Great Lakes kicked off a $2 million study Tuesday on keeping the invasive Asian carp away. The Army Corps of Engineers is already studying the topic, but the groups say the new study will move at a more urgent pace. It will look at the best ways to cut off the connection between the carp-infested Mississippi River and Lake Michigan at Chicago.
The Army Corps is working on a long-term strategy to close or reduce the connections between the two major waterways. But that $25 million study won’t be done until 2015, and many Great Lakes advocates say that’s way too slow. They say action is needed soon to prevent the bloated carp from gobbling up food and native fish on the Great Lakes and ruining the Midwest’s biggest fishing and tourism industries.
The Great Lakes Commission and the Saint Lawrence Cities’ Initiative are conducting the new study. They say it could provide information to help the Army Corps move more rapidly. Six private foundations are funding the new study, and the groups have hired experts in fish biology, hydrology, engineering and related areas.
The two groups support the idea of separating the Lake Michigan and Mississippi River basins – something the federal government has not endorsed yet. John Goss of the White House Council on Environmental Quality said he welcomes the new study and federal agencies are providing advice for it.
