Summary of December 9th Meeting

The meeting was convened at 9:30 a.m. by Bob DuPont, of Regulatory Guidance and Design, LLC. Attendees introduced themselves and identified the organization they were representing.

Mr. DuPont reported briefly on Alliance member recruitment activities. During the past month the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin joined ARC as an Associate member. Also, the Wisconsin Propane Gas Association and the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Wisconsin Association both decided to join ARC as of January 2011, as Associate and Classic members, respectively. Bob also met with the Cooperative Network Farm Supply Committee on December 8th.

Bob DuPont opened discussion of the draft white paper entitled “How to improve Public Safety and Consumer Protection in Wisconsin”. DuPont asked for reports from members who have met with the Transition Team of Governor-elect Scott Walker.

John Mielke and Annie Early reported on meetings they attended with members of the Walker Transition Team. They came away from their meetings with the following general conclusions.

• • The Walker Team is appreciative of the ARC draft white paper, using it during their considerations, but making no commitments relative to the reorganization of Commerce.

  • The economic development portion of Commerce will be dealt with quickly during a special session of the legislature in January. The special session legislation is likely to generally define new agency structures pertaining to S&B and ERS and the Budget Bill will finalize them.

  • The next Budget Bill could address changes pertaining not only to the Divisions of Safety and Buildings and Environmental and Regulatory Services, but also to the Departments of Regulation and Licensing and Natural Resources.

  • If there are portions of Divisions that are working well, in the eyes of their customers, the Walker Team does not want to mess that up.

  • It appears that the Walker Transition Team has a goal of having one less state agency after the Commerce reorganization.

Since the special session legislation was expected to be introduced on January 3rd or 4th, it was agreed that the next Alliance member meeting should be held on January 6, 2011 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. At that time members can discuss the expected proposal regarding the Commerce reorganization.

Bob DuPont next introduced discussion of the Commercial Building Code Program. Bob recalled how the idea about changing the Wisconsin Commercial Code from a minimum code to a uniform code came up during the last Alliance member meeting in relation to the idea for having a more robust statewide permit and inspection requirement for the construction of commercial buildings. Bob asked if there was interest in having further dialogue about these two ideas, saying that the ideas may have interrelationships. Several members expressed interest in having more dialogue about these two ideas.

It was decided to hold a meeting on these two topics; uniform commercial building code and code administration, on January 6, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. to Noon (immediately following the ARC member meeting).

Bill McCoshen arrived around 10:30 a.m., and after a round of introductions he addressed the group making the following points.

• • In his opinion the draft ARC white paper contained great thoughts and recommendations regarding the regulatory components of the Department of Commerce.

  • He expects the regulatory side of Commerce to be decided during the special session of the legislature. The initial legislation is likely to create a general framework relative to the regulatory aspects of Commerce, with specifics to be included in the next Biennial Budget.

  • Bill feels that Governor-elect Walker is not trying to minimize regulatory functions – but simply trying to place them in an appropriate location. He expects the Commerce reorganization to be included in one of four legislative bills planned to be considered during a special legislative session during January and February 2011.

  • The four main topics of expected legislation, according to Bill, are: Economic Development, Tort Reform, Regulatory Reform and Health Care.

Bob DuPont asked Alliance members if they were interested in having dialogue about the internal organizational structure of the Safety and Buildings Division. Bob said that he could develop some information about the current organizational structure along with recommendations to share with the Alliance membership in January. Members in attendance indicated interest in having dialogue about the Safety and Buildings Division organizational structure.

The next meeting of the Alliance Membership was confirmed as being on January 6, 2011, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. followed immediately by an ARC Hot Issues Team Meeting about the Commercial Building Program – Administration and Code, from 10:30 a.m. to Noon.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.