The state Legislature met Thursday as part of the special jobs session ordered by Gov. Scott Walker, resulting in the passage of the tort reform bill through the Assembly and the Health Services Accounts bill through both chambers.
As in the state Senate on Tuesday, the voting on tort reform in the state Assembly was highly partisan, passing by a 57-36 margin. Neither a single Democrat voted for the bill nor a single Republican against it.
Democrats proposed an amendment to the tort reform legislation, which seeks to limit business liability, that would allow for state-approved incident reports of abuse in nursing homes to be used in a civil suit, something the bill as it was passed prevents.
State Rep. Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, said the reports are essential for patients in nursing homes if they are ever in a situation of abuse, saying the bill ""put many of our most vulnerable at risk and shield criminals and abusers from liability.""
Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said decreasing business liability has been successful elsewhere.
""It hasn't clogged the courts up in 33 other states, we've seen the evidence of that,"" Fitzgerald said. ""Is it going to provide a little more work for your judges? Yeah.""
Some Democrats, like state Rep. David Cullen, D-Milwaukee, appealed to Republicans to ""do the right thing,"" while others, like state Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, were more volatile in their reactions.
""When I heard that Assembly Bill 1 on the special session on jobs was a bill that was going to protect the worst of the worst, and create loopholes for people who abuse and kill senior citizens and abuse and kill children, I had the same reaction as when I heard Hugh Hefner was engaged to a 24 year-old,"" Richards said. ""You gotta be kidding me!""
The amendment was tabled by a vote of 55-38.
The Assembly, along with the Senate, also passed a bill granting tax credits for contributions to health savings accounts. In both houses the bill passed with greater bipartisan support, with a 66-28 vote in the Assembly and a 21-12 vote in the Senate.
State Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said she hopes to see it help reduce the rising cost of health care and help job growth statewide.
However, state Sen. John Erpenbach, D-Middleton, warned against relying on HSAs for economic development.
""It's a tool, but it's a bad tool,"" Erpenbach said. ""It's not going to create a job. It will put more money in the pocket of the employer, what they choose to do with that is up to them.""
