• The Wisconsin State Assembly passed several bills, including increased penalties for threats against jurors and changes to campground trespass laws.
• One bill removes the income cap for families seeking assistance through the Alzheimer’s Family and Caregiver Support Program.
• Debate continues among lawmakers regarding tying funding to proposed bills.

MADISON – The Wisconsin State Assembly passed a line up of bills on June 24 as lawmakers continue to argue about whether funding should be attached to proposed bills.

Here are some of the bills the Assembly took up.

Penalty for battery or threat to jurors

Passed by voice vote, this bipartisan bill would increase the penalty for battery or threat to jurors and their family members.

Under the bill, such actions would be made a Class H felony, allowing judges to prohibit convicted individuals from contacting jurors involved in their cases during their sentence or probation.

Bill co-author Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, said on the Assembly floor that this bill ensures jurors will not be tampered with so that they can “decide the cases on its merits and not because of threats.”

Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, argued that it’s already a crime to threaten battery and a penalty enhancer to an existing crime is “empty messaging.”

“Incarceration has become this Legislature’s default response… Locking more people up, for more crimes and more years does not keep us safe,” Clancy said during the June 24 floor session.

The bill passed in a 28-4 Senate vote on June 18, and is now on its way to the governor’s desk.

Criminal trespass at campgrounds

Passed by voice vote, this bill clarifies private campgrounds are not residences, and therefore guests can be evicted from the property and are not subject to landlord-tenant laws.

Under the bill, campground owners would be allowed to issue written requests to campers to vacate the property, with a list of reasons they are being asked to leave included. The owner of the campground must provide a refund for any payment covering the duration of the stay past the time campers leave.

If guests do not leave promptly after a written request is issued, they may be fined up to $100 or put into county jail for up to 30 days.

Clancy said that this bill “kicks people when they are down.”

“This legislation fails to differentiate between somebody who is trespassing at a party in a campground and someone who’s lived there for weeks, months or years because they have no other housing,” Clancy said on the Assembly floor.

The bill passed in the Senate by voice vote on June 18, and is now on its way to the governor’s desk.

Alzheimer’s family and caregiver support program

In a voice vote, the Assembly passed a bipartisan bill that would repeal the current financial eligibility requirement for services for families caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease.

The bill would remove the current income cap set at $48,000 so more individuals with Alzheimer’s disease would be eligible for assistance from local agencies.

“These families need a lot of support… This bill will help those and many of us who have seen the effects of Alzheimer’s has had on a lot of our family and friends,” bill co-author Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, said on the Assembly floor, adding that there have been leftover funds in the last few years and that it is important to get that money out to families who need it.

The Legislature created the Wisconsin’s Alzheimer’s Family and Caregiver Support Program was created in 1985 in response to a growing number of family members caring for loved ones with irreversible dementia at home.

AFCSP covers a wide range of services and goods including adult day care, in-home help, nutrition supplements, hobby supplies and meal delivery services.

An estimated 205,000 unpaid caregivers support a family member living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute. Caregivers often face significant emotional, physical and financial burdens.

Unpaid caregivers contribute approximately 297 million hours of care annually, valued at over $5.5 billion.

The estimated fiscal budget for this bill is $3.05 million, according to a Department of Health Services statement on April 23.

The bill passed in the Senate by voice vote on June 18, and is now on it’s way to the governor’s desk.

Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.